Meet Renee Manzari | Social Entrepreneur, Earth Lover and Founder of Livity Yoga

We had the good fortune of connecting with Renee Manzari and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Renee, how does your business help the community?
Livity Yoga designs and manufacturers a unique line of sustainable yoga products sourced discarded from recycled plastic bottle for the yoga industry. The company is a member of 1% for the Planet with a goal of creating a sustainable business model around preventing plastic waste from polluting our oceans to expand our social and environmental impact.

Livity Yoga facilitates the collection of ocean-bound plastic bottle through its partnership with Plastic Bank to obtain the raw materials necessary to manufacture yoga mats and yoga props while simultaneously reducing plastic pollution. Plastic Bank partners with local collectors in coastal communities to carry out an incentivized program to collect and recycle plastic bottle waste into manufacturing material. This results in more employment opportunities and funding for development in coastal communities to positively impact the communities it works in.

We recently spearheaded a massive pivot of our business model to shift into a circular business structure in which we intend to make all of our products from fully recycled materials and reduce ocean-bound plastic with a “Take Back Program” and accept old yoga mats for downcycling into new mats or other products.

Our vision is to use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis by: i. building the first circular economy brand in the yoga space ii. designing the best quality and innovative sustainable yoga products from recycled materials for eco-conscious yoga consumers, and iii. empowering people to participate in the circular economy to reduce plastic bottle waste as part of the sustainability movement.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
As a child growing up in Jamaica, Renee saw firsthand the damage to coral reefs and the killing of marine life from plastic pollution. When she began taking up a daily yoga practice to help her recover from endometriosis, she was astonished to learn about the raw truth of yoga mats and their contribution to this.

Although yoga is an industry grounded in sustainability and healing, yoga equipment is largely not produced with the same values and goes against everything yoga stands for. Yoga mats, namely, are typically made from PVC.

Recycling and reusing plastic products and supporting research and innovation to develop new products to replace single-use plastics are essential to prevent and reduce plastic pollution. So Manzari took it upon herself to find a solution. After extensive research, she founded Livity Yoga in 2019.

Livity Yoga was launched with the mission of saving our planet and bringing people together through a shared passion for sustainability and yoga. The company has evolved into a social enterprise dedicated to tackling plastic pollution waste in our oceans while designing a unique line of sustainable yoga products.

The end goal is for plastics to never again end up in the ocean.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are two books that inspired my journey on becoming a social entrepreneur. These are Elon Musk and Electrify. The first book spotlights the technology and vision of Elon Musk that focuses on solutions to improve the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emission. Electrify also that talks about sustainable energy solutions to solve climate change

Website: www.justlivity.com

Instagram: @livity.yoga

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-manzari-7203411a

Twitter: @livity_yoga

Facebook: livityyoga