10 minute read
news briefs
UnjumBold Focuses on Home Goods and Organizing
UnjumBold, the home goods and organization shop that opened in December on First Street, in Hoboken, had been a dream of John Forslund and Michael Knight for a long time. But it came to fruition while they were on a Jeep Camping trip through Salem, New Hampshire and Maine.
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In their first year after meeting in New York City, the two fell in love, renovated and sold an apartment in Harlem, renovated and opened a successful Instant Hotel in the Catskills. Then they moved to the New Jersey suburbs and renovated their home there.
“Through all of it, we always tried to support small local shops, especially while we were traveling,” Knight says.
When COVID-19 devastated small businesses across the United States, including Forslund’s bar and restaurant, they finally had the time to focus on “the dream.”
Thus, UnjumBold was born. It offers an array of goods, from dispensers to containers to clothes to baby and dog items, via its storefront and its website. It also offers whole-home, singleroom or corporate organization services, including a complimentary consultation.
“At UnjumBold, our retail products and organizing services are meant to elevate your everyday home and lifestyle, with an emphasis on quality over quantity,” Forslund says. “We focus on women, LGBTQ and black-owned companies, highlighting our local vendors and fair-trade partners.”
Location: 257 First St., Hoboken, NJ. For more info, contact the shop at 201-478-3922 or info@unjumbold.com, or visit UnjumBold.com. To shop sale items, visit UnjumBold.com/ shop/sale-/21. Follow the store on Instagram @unjumbold.
Buying something from Traveling Thrift is like “planting a mustard seed,” say founders Joel and Stepphany Viera. With a presence on Etsy and at artisan markets, Traveling Thrift sells crafts made by indigenous women in Central and South America, and then uses the proceeds in those regions in various ways—from funding children’s cancer treatments to feeding and housing marginalized people.
The Vieras document their work on social media. “Being photographers and cinematographers allows us to reach different places as an excuse to reach many lives,” Stepphany says.
Joel calls Traveling Thrift “a heart project.”
“Those who purchase from Traveling Thrift are helping countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico, among others,” he says. “Since it joins different nonprofit organizations, such as Aldea de Niño, Cajas para el Mundo, and Nuevo Pasos, it allows patrons to help others directly by purchasing products created to help and improve. Every purchase helps sponsor students, put food on a table, build a roof on a school, and so much more. That’s why every item in our store has a story.”
For example, TT helps combat sexual abuse of young people ages 3 to 30 years by providing art and professional therapies and family, independent and youth counseling. It also trains schools, teachers, parents and communities to fight verbal and/or sexual abuse as a punishment for bad behavior.
“Our motto is ‘Seek. Reach. Prepare. Equip.’ That’s our goal for the families and people impacted,” Stepphany says.
First Anniversary Is Sweet for Cake Jars
Cake Jars, an innovative company that sells traditional cakes as elegant single-serving sweets, is celebrating its first anniversary serving Hudson County. Owner Dawn Estrada says she’d been making ice cream cakes professionally for 10 years before leaving that job to start her own business creating a different kind of dessert—“something that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere, with anyone.”
“I thought about all my experiences when eating and serving a cake, from the leftovers and waste to how short the shelf life of a cake is in the fridge,” she says. “That’s when I came up with the idea of putting them in jars. They’re the perfect portion that everyone can enjoy at their own pace, and the bonus part is you can maximize freshness and quality of the cake while simultaneously minimizing waste.”
Estrada created some sample batches for her family and friends to try, and “next thing I knew, Cake Jars was born,” she says. Now using ingredients from local farms and small businesses, she makes cakes in eight-ounce and four-ounce jars and in a variety of flavors, including birthday cake; red velvet; double chocolate; ube (a traditional Filipino flavor); carrot cake; and a seasonal offering (currently mocha).
Cake Jars can be found at farmers markets, pop-ups and local stores, or can they be ordered online and picked up three to five days later at Urban Leaf Café in Nutley, NJ or Grove St Path Plaza Market for all Jersey City and Hoboken orders. They are also available as gift orders or customized for events.
For more information, visit Linktr.ee/CakeJars.
news briefs
Partners in Prevention Offers Free Opioid Training and Toolkit
Partners in Prevention (PIP), a nonprofit dedicated to preventing substance-use disorders and related health challenges in Hudson County, has received a grant to provide prevention education and outreach to doctors, dentists and general practitioners on the dangers associated with prescribing opioids for pain management, as well as education regarding best practices, safe alternatives and use of the Prescription Management System.
These efforts may include direct training, virtual presentations, took-kit development and dissemination and targeted outreach campaigns to local healthcare providers. They will be available free of charge to any Hudson County prescriber or general practitioner.
According to PIP, between January and August 2020, there were 116,363 opioid prescriptions dispensed in Hudson County, with 114 deaths suspected as being opioid related and 569 naloxone administrations. While these numbers represent a decrease from the same period in 2019, New Jersey as a whole experienced a 17 percent increase during this same period.
According to the American Medical Association, more than 40 states have recorded increases in opioid deaths since the pandemic began.
Any medical professional or healthcare organization in Hudson County interested in receiving free resources, a training presentation and the Hudson County Prescribers Toolkit should contact Anthony Menafro at AMenafro@pipnj.org. Learn more at PIPNJ. org or Facebook.com/PIPofHudson/.
The Five Lights Center of Shiatsu Studies, in New York City, is offering six Zoom courses through its online educational program, to meet the increased demand for distance learning. All six are approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork for massage therapy CEUs and can be studied virtually from anywhere in the world. The first livestreamed course, Level 1: Introduction to the Primary Meridian, will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 26 and 28 and June 9, 11, 16 and 18.
The other five courses are Introduction to Shiatsu Workshop; Massage Table Shiatsu; The Five Element Theory and Introduction to Water, Wood and Earth Elements; Introduction to Metal and Fire Elements; and Introduction to Shiatsu Treatment Plan.
“Shiatsu is a good fit for a massage therapy practice because shiatsu harnesses the power of touch, elevating it to a new level of sensitivity, enhancing the client’s experience,” says Kumiko Kanayama, founder and director of the Five Lights Center. “Also, shiatsu teaches body mechanics that focus on the therapist’s core, or hara, allowing practitioners the ability to work longer, not harder. All shiatsu techniques are easily brought to the massage table and can be adapted to almost any professional massage practice.”
The Five Lights Center is the oldest shiatsu practice in the United States. It is dedicated solely to training and supporting the shiatsu community through its educational programs, social media connectivity and weekly Global Shiatsu Virtual Gatherings.
For more information, visit FiveLightsCenter.com.
Lucky Honeybee Expands from Candles to Soap, Apothecary Goods
Melissa Buesing-Glick loved scented candles and lotions, but she didn’t love the fragrance headaches she got from many mass-produced brands. Environmentally conscious and a curious DIYer, she began researching and testing various ingredients for fun. The result was a line of eco-friendly, hand-poured soy beeswax candles, Lucky Honeybee. Nearly 10 years after those first experiments, Lucky Honeybee has branched out from artisan candles to natural handmade soap and apothecary goods.
Buesing-Glick opened Lucky Honeybee Goods + Gifts last summer, in the Heights section of Jersey City. It features the Lucky Honeybee line as well as a selection of apothecary goods, eco-friendly items, greeting cards and handcrafted wares by local makers, including tote bags, incense and housewares. Among the most popular candles is Japanese cherry blossom, blended with hints of magnolia, sandalwood and sweet tonka, she says.
Last month she added something new to the shop: a liquid soap refill bar. “Customers can refill their containers with eco-friendly hand soap and dish soap, two of the biggest culprits of household plastic waste,” she says. “We’ve got an eye for the environment on every aspect of our practice. From domestically produced wax, to ethically sourced oils, to choosing recycled content for our packaging, we pay attention to the details so you don’t have to. We know life is hard; we make stuff that makes you feel good.”
Location: 487 Palisade Ave., Jersey City, NJ. For more information, visit TheLuckyHoneybee.com. For information about wholesale candles or apothecary goods, email Info@TheLuckyHoneyBee.com or call 551-233-9030.
When Dr. Sura Devi D.C. founded Nalu Chiropractic, her holistic family practice located in the heart of Jersey City, she envisioned a sanctuary for women, a special place honoring their body, mind and spirit. “I wanted to create a safe place for women to truly connect with themselves and enjoy some peace in their body so they can return to their lives with more energy and joy,” Devi says. “The unique care we offer at Nalu Chiropractic supports the health and well-being of a woman during the different seasons of her life—helping heal her fertility issues and enjoy better alignment during pregnancy, postpartum healing and balance through motherhood and beyond.” A resident of Jersey City, Devi grew up in Manhattan and opened her first practice there 10 years ago. After meeting her husband, a longtime Jersey City resident and fellow chiropractor, she moved here to start her family Dr. Sura Devi D.C. and share holistic chiropractic with her new community. Her specialties at Nalu Chiropractic include various aspects of women’s health and well-being, such as fertility, pregnancy (Webster Technique) and postpartum healing, as well as pediatrics.
“It brings me great joy to serve the women and families of Jersey City,” she says. “I am truly honored to be part of this amazing and diverse community here.”
Location: 75 Montgomery St., Ste. 201 Jersey City, NJ. For more information, visit NaluChiro.com.
Local Environmentalists Decry PPE Pollution
It was a single blue latex glove, abandoned in a communal laundry room, that inspired a New York City college student to reflect on a parallel pandemic: PPE litter.
“The loss of life during this pandemic has been a hard enough cross to bear,” wrote Anne Carter Davis, a sustainability management student at Columbia Climate School, on the school’s news site, State of the Planet, in March. “Gloves and masks discarded aimlessly in public only serve to undermine our triumphs over this scourge.”
Since spring of 2020, when masks became our ticket to a semi-normal life, environmentalists have been warning about the long-lasting effects of this new pollution stream. By mid-summer, the New York Times was reporting that “some local governments, like Suffolk County in New York, have instituted fines for littering involving masks and gloves.” The NYT quoted Adrienne Esposito, executive director for locally based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, urging people to properly dispose of their PPE: “The bottom line is we don’t want a public health crisis to add to the plastic pollution crisis.”
Unfortunately, that’s what’s happened. In December, marine conservation organization OceansAsia estimated that 1.5 million masks entered the world’s oceans last year. And in April an ABC News report noted that New Jersey’s Clean Ocean Action environmental group “removed 1,113 masks and other pieces of virus-related gear from New Jersey beaches last fall.”
Ideally, we’ll keep PPE off the ground and out of landfills too. That means choosing a reusable alternative—like cloth masks—whenever possible.
