By: Amy Newsome
Maybe you’ve seen the handsome insulated tumblers with the Moscow Food Co-Op name and a lovely line drawing of the Palouse on the shelves between the dining area and coffee bar? Those vessels are created by a unique company called MiiR. Based in Seattle, MiiR designs all of their products (drinkware and bags) with four concepts in mind: “minimal, sustainable, functional, and enduring.”
At the age of 20, MiiR founder, Bryan Papé, had a life threatening skiing accident. As he waited and hoped for rescue he pictured what could be said about him at his funeral. That led him to the revelation that more than anything he would want to be remembered as generous. So after he recovered he set out on a mission to put himself in a position that he could be substantially philanthropic. He has done just that, with his company he has been able to donate over $930,000 to more than 45 humanitarian projects. They’ve helped fund clean water and sanitary toilets to places such as Kathmandu, Nepal; Demra, Bangladesh; Kolkata, India; Kyegegwa, Uganda; Buchanan, Liberia; and San Pedrito, Honduras. They have also funded bicycle access projects in as close as Boise, Idaho to as far away as Mazabuka, Zambia. They’ve also supported some unique projects in King County in Washington such as “America SCORES Seattle” which offers a program combining soccer, poetry and service-learning to students in low income elementary schools. In a separate project in the Seattle area they have also helped to provide elementary and middle school students with hands-on learning experiences regarding environmental factors impacting watersheds such as storm water, wastewater and urban freshwater ecosystems.
With their “Product to Project” approach, each product sold has a corresponding project linked to it, so when you purchase an item you are given a code that you can look up online to see what project your purchase is supporting. One current project is funding Viva Farms in the Skagit Valley of Washington. Viva Farms is a nonprofit farm business training program. It provides bilingual training in sustainable and organic farming practices, help with accessing farmable land, equipment, and marketing. So far MiiR has provided $35,000 for a new well and irrigation system which makes 45 more acres of land farmable for up to eight farm businesses.
MiiR’s mission states “We exist to empower people for a better future.”
MiiR Company Snapshot
Founded in 2010
Headquartered in Seattle, WA
LEED Certified Building
Certified B Corporation
1% for the Planet
This information and more can be found at: miir.com
Amy Newsome thinks it is a great exercise to ask ourselves how we’d like to be remembered.