Hi hi! Here’s a quick ice-breaker for you: if there’s ONE thing to know about The Verticale, it’s that community and founder stories are at the root of everything we do. 

This week, we announced that we’re joining forces with Marmalade, and now we’re bringing you even bigger news: we’ve just launched a Founder Community— a network of founders supporting founders and sharing their favorite brands on the internet with you. My favs?

• Suze Dowling’s “Enjoy Daily Life” (Founder of Pattern Brands)
• Phoebe Yu’s “Positive Change Starters” (Founder of ettitude)
• Sachi Singh’s “Rituals I Love” (Founder of Rootless)

So, if you’re looking to procrastinate with some killer “window” shopping, you could browse some of the incredible lists this community has put together. 

Now back to this week’s conscious news & finds…

— Ioli Baltas, your brand-obsessed editor

Conscious World ✨

• What to know: it-girl Stanley bottles have kickstarted “the leadening”
  
• Gifts for any nature loving men in your life
  
• A to rot in your bed this weekend
  
• For the DIY girlies, meet your eco-friendly  
  
• And so begins the NYC laundry pod crackdown
  
•  Hot girl walk with man’s best friend ()
  
• Your fav socks may have hormone-disrupting BPAs in them
  
•  BTW theverticale.com just got a whole new look
  

Things to Buy

Plastic faux-pas. If there’s one thing Americans can pride themselves on it’s our good teeth (????). Brushing your teeth twice a day, you’ve probably already realized our oral hygiene routines are riddled in plastic– which is, yeah no.

Our editors love Bite (aptly named tbh) which has come to the rescue with a , a little something to anytime anywhere, a plant-based swap to this, and the . Oh and did we mention it’s completely plastic free?   

Don’t let those awkward (braces-having) pre-teen years go to waste…

Best of Lead-Free Bottles

On the hunt for the new it-girl bottle (bye, Stanley)