Here is her latest interview with the truly cool UK based women’s board sports magazine Cooler.

Mary Osborne, 26, talks us through the trials and tribulations of life as one of the world’s best female surfers, from the joys of writing books and winning comps to the difficulties of finding a date… Form an orderly queue chaps.

The trip plan is to work on new designs, spend time with the artisans I work with there and also to work on the clean water project I started there two years ago, which is now getting additional support from Waterkeeper Alliance.

We also hope to catch a few waves!

Stay tuned for more!

Smiles from Taipei,

Donna

“The easiest marketing promise to make is to say you’ll do something green if people consume what you sell. That you’ll support one green cause or another. No one is in charge of checking out your story, and my guess is that 90% of the time, it leads to a net negative–more landfill, more carbon, more waste.” Read on…

Those of us who have had environmentally and socially responsible businesses from the start have been seeing this coming. It’s a frequent topic of discussion in the Coop America Green Business Network my company belongs to. We call it Greenwashing. It’s nice to see companies wanting to “do good”, but there are many companies like my own that were actually founded on a model of social and environmental responsibility from the very start because business can’t be just about making money. I personally knew starting my business back in 2003 that I would never be able to sleep at night if my life and business model were solely based on profits, so I built giving back and ethical manufacturing into by business model. I just don’t see the point of doing business without giving back.

Another concern is that in the race to be green, social responsibility often gets put on the back burner. I believe ethical manufacturing and business practice is almost more important than “greening”. Ideally, a company should practice both, and all of the COOP America screened and approved Green Businesses do, but there are many who, as Seth pointed out, simply buy their credibility by outsourcing with an organization that plants trees.

The people who come in my brick and mortar shop every day get it when they walk in and feel the good energy in the place. They sense it when they touch a belt or a necklace and put it on. They even sign the petition on my counter that is to help prevent a Walmart from coming to our beach town. They just get it.
I wish everyone could see the difference between the real deal and the ones who are just jumping on the green bandwagon.

(sigh)

GREEN GIRL LOVES:
Betty Belts
April 27 2008
by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff

There is nothing cooler than a woman who surfs. She’s always jetting off to exotic places like Mexico and Malibu, board-bag in hand, devil-may-care attitude in full effect, trailing the scent of wax and patchouli… Okay I may have gotten a little carried away there. The truth is, most women who surf seem to be like my friend A, who got on a board one day and just felt like she was home. Like the rest of us, she takes care of her life, kids, job—but she also gets up a five a.m. every so often to dive into freezing cold waves that pick her up, toss her around, and occasionally rub her nose in the sand. Sounds painful to me on all fronts, but still, I envy her. It takes so much courage to go out there in the dark! And she’s got this self-possession now, that probably comes from the fact that she got back up and rode that m-f-ing wave to the sand—she takes that with her all the way through her day.

So I imagine Donna von Hoesslin is a lot like my friend A, except instead of going to a desk job after surfing in the wee hours she shakes the salt out of her hair and ambles over to the Ventura, CA-based headquarters of Betty Belts, where she designs and imports hand made belts and jewelry featuring beadwork, sustainably farmed mother of pearl, recycled glass and wood bead designs. Here’s how…
(Read rest of article here and check out the Green Girl Guide Blog)

Betty B. Cuff made from Sustainable Sono wood.

Where: Downtown Ventura, 400 Block Main Street
When: Friday April 18th, 7-8 PM
Look for the Shiny Red Betty Bus!

Mary Osborne on the street with her fish. Photo copyright David Pu’u

Sierra Partridge, Mary Osborne and Hailey Partridge posing with some Navy dudes who decided to join our street shoot. Photo copyright David Pu’u.

Sierra looking like a rockstar in her zebra dress and the Jeanette recycled glass necklace along with my matching Jeanette bracelet and leather bangles in black and special edition white. Photo copyright David Pu’u

That’s me, Donna, in the front with my girls! I’m wearing the Chelsea Heart necklace. Photo copyright David pu’u

Jeanette is looking way too HOT. Don’t get burned!
Photo copyright David Pu’u

The Betty Belts Surf Team wants you! Hailey on the far right wearing the Adonia belt in black. Photo copyright David Pu’u

I love this shot of Mary and I walking down the street. Photo copyright David Pu’u.
Bo Stanley is looking sweet and stunning in Navy. She is wearing the Silver Ball Necklace and the Open Heart Cuff. My favorite red hoop earrings in my collection are named after Bo, the “Bo” earrings. Photo copyright David Pu’u

Mary’s friend Alex showed up and decided to play. That’s the Betty Bus behind them, my 1961 Chevy Corvair Greenbrier, lookin’ cherry! Photo copyright David Pu’u

It’s always so much fun getting everyone together for a shoot like this.

We’ve done others in the past year that I will try to post soon!

Smiles and Aloha,
Donna