By Darrah De Jour

Yogamatic.com is gaining a lot of attention these days as the only customize-able, eco-yoga mat out there. The Santa Monica-based e-commerce company has been featured on Extra, The Ellen Show, E! and in the hallowed pages of leading magazines, like Shape and Marie Claire. Taking individuality to the next level, Yogamatic.com lets yoginis design their own custom, one-of-a-kind yoga mat.

Whether a hobbyist or professional photographer, take your craft to the mat. Upload a photo onto Yogamatic.com- and Voila – you are the matrix of your one-off eco-mat. Nobody else in the gym or at the resort will have your eco-mat. Plus, you can also choose from over 200 designs in their online Gallery. Images range from the Dalai Lama to Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, foraying into pop art and even more irreverent images (i.e. “Strip.”)

Made from natural rubber and recycled content, the mats are printed using water-soluble ink, so they are non-toxic. There is no lead, phthalates or chemicals. Ever. You can collect different mats and gift them this holiday season. Active in philanthropy, the two-year old company got a boost when Donna Karan and Calvin Klein created exclusive mats where 100% of profits benefit “Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.” And now Alice + Olivia designer du jour, Stacey Bendet has two mats with her classic neon flavor, sold in A + Os Malibu Lumber Yard store and at Aliceandolivia.com. Five percent of proceeds on all mats purchased from YM benefit the leading environmental charity Global Green.

With their new web-series POSERS: Yogastyles of the Movers and Shakers, Yogamatic.com is turning stereotypes about Yoga upside down. This edgy “yogamentary” captures a wide array of vibrant Los Angeles personalities. Actors, musicians, captains of industry, and celebrity instructors offer their take on Yoga and how it has impacted and transformed their daily life. Including Academy Award nominated actress Mariel Hemingway, Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Michelle Branch, celebrity instructor Mandy Ingber, Skinny Bitch bestselling author Rory Freedman, Yoga Works’ Vinnie Marino (recently hailed “L.A.’s Yoga King” by the New York Times), Eco Gift Festival Founder Tommy Rosen, instructor Kia Miller and many more…Check it out.

Andira Rain Tees was founded by Beth Doane in 2005. The word “Andira” describes a tall tree that grows in the Brazilian Amazon and has been been used medicinally for centuries by indigenous people. Due to logging and deforestation, the species is rapidly disappearing.

Andira Rain Tees are 100% organic cotton and designed by youth living in endangered rainforests across Central and South America. The illustrations are what they see around them and each Rain Tee features their name and thoughts about what’s happening.

For every Rain tee sold, the non-profit Kids Saving the Rain Forest will receive a tree they can plant to replace one that has been destroyed. Though a sapling is by no means an equal to a tree hundreds of years old, it is a small start.

World Rainforest Week is October 12th-18th. Take a moment this week to learn more about what’s happening in the rainforests around the world and what you can do to make a positive difference.

Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis.

TOMS Shoes has an aggressively philanthropic business model, giving one pair of shoes to a child in need for every single pair they sell. Their hugely successful line of canvas slip-ons and newly released “wrap boots” sell to major national retailers like Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, American Rag, and Greenloop. Up until just last week, Founder Blake Mycoskie and team have flown to exotic locales like Argentina, South Africa, and Ethiopia to personally fit kids with brand new pairs of TOMS, distributing more than 85,000 pairs around the world.

Doing shoe drops abroad seemed to make the most sense to Blake, considering most kids in the US have access to shoes. He recently realized though that some American children, like victims of natural disasters, were stuck with ill-fitting hand-me-downs or had to share shoes with siblings. So Blake decided to finally bring his “shoe drops” home to the US by organizing a handful of TOMS signature DIY shoe parties, dubbed Style Your Sole, at four different school districts in Mississippi still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Each child received a brand new pair of white canvas TOMS to paint in their own unique way. Needless to say, they were very excited! Another brilliant idea from TOMS.

For two years, TOMS Shoes has been a shining example of a For Benefit company. Toms has a One For One program; for every pair of their Argentinian-style canvas shoes (known as alpargatas) sold, one pair of TOMS is given to a child in need. Founder Blake Mycoskie and team have travelled to Argentina and South Africa for their soon-to-be-famous “shoe drops,” where they fit the kids personally with the new shoes.

This season, Blake’s come up with a new out-of-the-box design-”The Wrap Boot.” Inspired by his polo playing days in Argentina, Blake modeled The Wrap Boot after the “polo wraps” wound around the bottom of a horse’s cannon bone during a match, which serve as both decoration and tendon support. The Wrap Boot is made with a classic alpargata base and a stretched elastic upper with velcro closures, and comes in five colors. If you’re a TOMS fan, welcome to your new Winter shoe.

With the launch of this new boot, Blake has made it a TOMS Shoes mission to eradicate Podoconiosis, a debilitating condition found primarily in rural districts of Ethiopia which causes swelling and ulcers in the lower legs and feet. The disease is 100% preventable by wearing shoes that are able to keep the soil completely away from the skin, so TOMS has pledged that for every pair of wrap boots purchased, they will give a pair of specially-designed footwear to an Ethiopian in need.

In addition to playing polo, this Renaissance man also has a past with screenwriting and directing, so Blake headed back to Argentina to shoot a short film to promote his new shoe. If you’re in SoCal, there is a screening tonight of No Polo Widow at Huntington Surf and Sport in Huntington Beach starting at 6pm. The Toms team will be there in full swing with music, food, drinks, and of course, shoes. Vicky and Fernando Aguerre (Founder of Reef) will be hosting. The film is a little bit Disney, a touch Almoldovar, and a healthy dose of 80′s style Cinemax after hours. Fyah. If you are one of the billions of people who do not live in Southern California, you can check out the scintillating No Polo Widow right here on In The Loop…

No Polo Widow from TOMS Shoes on Vimeo