In the Spotlight: India's Trending Blogger

MEET JAZZMINE RAINE, CO-FOUNDER OF NORTH INDIA'S FIRST ZERO WASTE GUESTHOUSE!

Briefly describe your sustainable lifestyle.

I travel a LOT. For work, for play, for inspiration. This is why leading a sustainable lifestyle isn't just something I choose to do because I respect the earth, it is important to do to influence others and to reduce the environmental footprint that comes along with leading a life in transit. I've found myself in a few challenging conversations lately with people curious about my lifestyle and how they find my actions to be too inconvenient for them to implement into their own daily life. But when I break it down, it's quite simple to understand how anyone can easily implement more responsible actions into their daily routines. So, some of the things I do to lead a sustainable lifestyle:

Repair - Instead of constantly buying new items to replace old and broken items, I repair them! Simple!

Reuse/upcycle - When pants rip, I sew 'em. When knick knacks fall apart, I get crafty. Creativity definitely comes along with living a sustainable lifestyle.

Carry a backpack or tote - You'll always find me with my AKABA Co. backpack or Hara House upcycled tote bag equipped with my travel mug, waterbottle, reusable cutlery, metal straw and a hanky (that's right, I use a hanky to blow my nose like a grandpa!).

Shop smart - I take my time to research the brands I buy from to understand their values as a company, and how they are positively impacting humans, animals and mother earth, whether it is through upcycling textiles, making edible products from organic and fair trade ingredients, or empowering marginalized communities. And to make sustainable fashion more accessible to me, I spend more but buy less. I'm not about fashion trends. I'm about classics. 

Cleaning Hara House with grey water.

What does your blog offer that's unique in keeping an active following?

Fun and engaging stories that inspire readers to be bold, travel and start their journey in living a more sustainable lifestyle. I encourage my readers to start small by simply changing their mindset; think of how every purchase and action can effect our world economically, environmentally, socially and politically.

Sunshine & Raine was started as a travel storytelling platform. Although it has evolved into a beautiful content agency working with social impact brands (and mainstream brands looking for sustainability consulting!), its core is the story and the stories of destinations I have the privilege of traveling to. A good story has always been the more engaging part of Sunshine & Raine for my following.

My first group at Hara House.

Tell us about Hara House.

Hara House is a zero waste guesthouse located in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. Onsite we operate a rooftop café and community hub providing resources to social entrepreneurs in the area to grow their ventures. Our walking and overnight tours in Bikaner and the surrounding villages are run by and empower locals through economic opportunity. We put aside 20% of our profits to invest in social entrepreneurs and organizations across north India that focus on environmental action and education projects.

We open in October 2018 and couldn't be more excited! We're already hosting groups so if you're headed to India in the near future, get in touch! We're always happy to connect you to some of our responsible vendors and partners across the country as well to help make your travels more sustainable. You can learn more by checking us out online or on Instagram.

Soul Stay, my friend's eco hostel in Delhi.

What are your top three must-do's in India?

1. Meet the real India, travel to the villages of Rajasthan and engage with the local community (product placement: you can do this through Hara House!)

2. Explore the diversity of this beautiful country, from the snow covered Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh, to the desert of Rajasthan, to the jungle of Karnataka, to the backwaters of Kerala.

3. Experiment with street food - there is truly nothing like it!