About

Your guide to the good life.

To us, the good life is not a destination but a journey. We want to see more positivity in the world, and believe in the transformative power of good news.

We know that it’s possible to create a world where we all can live the good life, without causing harm to the planet and those who share it with us. Why? Because we’re constantly discovering people and companies working toward a greater good. Our mission is to spread the word and give you the tools you need to live consciously and sustainably.

When you have the right attitude and the right information it is easy being green. We want to share with you a positive, inspiring vision of a future that is both sustainable and achievable. Through thoughtful writing and reporting we want to help you consider your daily choices, reconsider assumptions, pose questions, uncover opportunities and, most of all, make you think about what it means to be a Goodlifer.

"Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued." -- Socrates, Philosopher, 469 BC - 399 BC

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Johanna Björk, Founder & Editor-in-Chief

jbjorkA graphic designer by trade, Johanna’s career has followed a winding road through real estate marketing, art fair parties, neighborhood branding, magazine design, fashion styling, travel writing, sports and entertainment marketing, and non-profit organizations.

She realized what bound all these experiences together was a desire to tell stories, and decided to start Goodlifer as a way of expressing this passion, with words as well as visuals. Fed up with negative doom-and-gloom prophecies, she wanted to offer a positive outlook for the future, and envisions Goodlifer as a place for like-minded people to come together and share great discoveries, thoughts, tips and reflections on a new definition of the Good Life. We’re all in this world together, let’s make sure we have a good time!

Johanna loves kale, wishes she had a greener thumb, and thinks everything is just a tad bit better with champagne. She is currently trying to figure out how to become a global nomad and split her time between the East Coast, West Coast and Sweden.

johanna [at] goodlifer.com
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Marc Alt
Marc Alt is a designer, humanist and futurist. He has dedicated his career to connecting design, technology and ecology in the service of making a world that works for all living things. Marc was founder and co-chair of AIGA Center for Sustainable Design and served on the advisory boards of The Designers Accord and Design Ignites Change. He has been an advisor to companies such as BMW, MINI USA, Volvo, AECOM and OgilvyEarth and is actively involved in a number of urban mobility and smart cities initiatives. He was an Adjunct Professor at the NYU MFA Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and is a frequent guest critic. Marc lectures internationally and presents workshops on living systems, urbanism, mobility, resiliency, ecological design and ancestral knowledge. He is founder of Open Source Cities, a technology and design platform for the future of cities (currently in development).

marc [at] goodlifer.com
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Stephanie Zonis

Stephanie Zonis was born with a spoon in her mouth — a tasting spoon, that is. She began cooking (especially baking) at a very early age, and for a short time even ran a highly illegal baking business from her long-suffering parents’ house when she was in high school. After acquiring a Master’s Degree in Foods, she eventually discovered the Internet in 1997. She’s been writing about food and developing recipes, especially where chocolate is involved, ever since. During those few moments when she’s not cooking or writing or thinking about food, Stephanie enjoys reading, walking, political discussions, and volunteering at a local no-kill cat sanctuary. She has been a member of a medieval re-creation group for longer than she’ll admit and loves absurdist humor.
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GUEST CONTRIBUTORS

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Jane Alt

If Jane’s adolescent self met her adult self today, the younger version would be shocked (and probably appalled). With aspirations of becoming a corporate CEO at 18, Jane came to her senses after 4 years of college plus 12 years in the business world and traded them in for “the good life”. Choosing to be a stay-at-home mom to her son Jake (and her garden), Jane is passionate about organic gardening, reading about gardening, all kinds of music, good food and wine, and her family (sometimes in that order). She is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz and proudly participated in the vote to name the Banana Slug as the official school mascot way back in 1986. When Jane’s not cleaning the garden dirt out from under her fingernails or listening to radioparadise.com, you can find her delivering library books to homebound seniors or knitting. A dyed-in-the-wool, native Californian, she lives in Marin County with her husband Roger and their son Jake.
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Kate Andrews

A British born design writer and communications consultant, Kate is educated at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth, holds a first class honors in Graphic Design, a Merit Award from The International Society of Typographic Designers and in 2008 she was accepted as a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts (RSA). Kate is currently studying a part time MA in Design Writing Criticism at London College of Communication.

After graduating, Kate briefly worked as an editorial designer before quickly recognizing a severe lack of ethically responsible and socially responsive creative practice. Strongly believing that communication design can effect social change, Kate dedicated the next eight months to research. Documenting her insights and discoveries on a number of design platforms Kate rekindled her life long passion for writing. She loves reading, dancing and is proud to admit her love for surrealism.
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Sergio Baradat

Cuban born with Catalan roots and raised in the Miami, Baradat came to New York to study at Parsons School of Design, New York. Committed to beauty and order, his original art ranges from home furnishings to product design, conceptual illustrations, book covers to promotional and institutional graphics. He has received numerous awards for his work, has been commissioned to design several U.S. postage stamps and is featured in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design in New York and The Postal Museum in Washington DC.

In his free time, Baradat is an amazing cook, frequent dinner party host, art aficionado and hardcore lover of music.
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Anna Brones

Anna Brones is a writer and digital communications professional with a love of travel, food and bicycles. A believer in connecting passionate people to do good, she uses her marketing and production savvy to work on cause driven issues and amplify stories that need to be told. She is also the founder and editor of Foodie Underground where she pens stories of kale and sea salt.
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Abigail Doan

A homespun upbringing on a family-operated sheep and dairy farm in New York State’s rolling Hudson Valley set Abigail on the path to pursuing ‘the good life’ right from the get-go. Today she divides her time between Manhattan, an ambitious home restoration project near Siena, Italy, and entrepreneurial adventures in Sofia, Bulgaria. An internationally exhibited fiber and environmental installation artist, Abigail’s eco-textile artwork is featured on Greenmuseum, Art Cloth Text, Landviews, the Textile Arts Center blog, and in the handbook, Green Guide for Artists. She has been a regular contributor on sustainable style and textiles for EcoSalon, Ecouterre.com, HAND/EYE magazine and her own art and fashion blogs, Ecco*Eco and Lost in Fiber. She is also a curator of exhibitions and events related to ideas about “fashioning self and the environment.” Future dreams of melding art, family, and sustainability include the thrifty recycling of textile scraps from her domestic sphere, teaching family recipes to her twin toddlers, and building a house from scratch in the American Southwest with her very resourceful and dashing husband.
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Amy DuFault

Amy DuFault is a sustainable fashion writer and editor whose work has been published in EcoSalon, Ecouterre, Huffington Post, Organic Spa, Coastal Living, Yahoo News, The Frisky and other online and print publications. In addition to being a former co-owner of an eco-boutique and repping for many designers, she also coaches and connects the sustainable fashion community.
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Claire Fountain

Founder of For the Taste of It, Claire Fountain is witty, passionate and lives a sweet life of all things food. Claire believes in sharing her knowledge of baking and cooking along side her holistic approach to eating with all of you. As a food writer featured in books and publications, with a background teaching cooking classes, vegan baker and personal chef, to name a few ventures, Claire loves the science, history and lore of food. Recipe development, catering and researching… Claire keeps it joyous in and out of the kitchen. Though born and raised in Mississippi on biscuits and ranch dressing, she practices what she preaches in her own daily food choices, with taste being at the forefront. She currently writes and bakes in New York; spending time supporting local agriculture, sustainable food and promoting conscious consumption with sexy vengeance.
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Alexander Hogan

Alexander Hogan occupies his days teaching and conducting research as a professor of political science. Like many of us, he searches for the balance and peace in a hectic, materialistic world. He is a passionate home chef and foodie who resides with his wife and impressive house plant collection in Houston, Texas.
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Charlotte Kellogg

Charlotte Kellogg is a freelance writer and aspiring graduate student from the Seattle area who, now that her loans are paid off, is currently considering whether to go abroad or go to graduate school. She hopes to someday work for the PEW Research Trust.
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Ulla Kjarval

Ulla Kjarval is an NYC based photographer, food blogger and grass-fed advocate. She believes that grass-fed beef production could help to save the struggling rural communities of upstate New York. It is also good for the cow, our land and our bodies. Her family operates Spring Lake Farm in Delaware County, New York. Ulla’s blog is entitled Goldilocks Finds Manhattan.
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Krista Peterson

Krista Peterson is a recent graduate of the University of Central Florida and an aspiring writer. As a Health and Safety Advocate, she has a passion for the wellness of our community and environment. She uses writing to spread awareness of such issues to encourage others to live the healthiest and most eco-friendly friendly lives possible.
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Millicent Rees-Jones
Growing up in 1960s Chicago set the scene for Millicent’s love of gifts.  It was a time when gifts were all about the thought and not the expense and giving the right gift was a widely practiced art.  Her company One Gift brings back the nostalgia of a childhood where time and sentiment were part and parcel of the gift.  Her love of gift giving encouraged her to extend the same care, attention and imagination of her own gift giving to help others experience the satisfaction and joy that ‘getting it right’ can create.
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Claudia Romana
Claudia Romana is an experienced designer and stylist. After working for a variety of companies such as Hubert Franco, Giordano Hong Kong and J.Crew she founded her own label, Claudia Romana Enterprises, Inc. under which she designed exclusive resort and golf apparel. Her designs were featured in publications such as The New York Times, Golf for Women, Golf Digest, Shape Magazine, Women’s Sport and Fitness and the book “Golf the Woman’s game.” Her collections were carried by some of the most prestigious country clubs and specialty stores in the US as well as internationally.

In her capacity as creative director she traveled the world for inspiration, to source products and to promote her collections. The places she visited made her rethink her priorities. Products made in one country and shipped accross the oceans to be consumed in yet another have an impact on the lives of the people making them, selling them and using them.

She became more and more aware of the interconnection between the different elements involved in the design and production process. Having always been more interested in timeless style rather than fast paced fashion, she now sees a trend away from mass market to a more individual approach. Her current projects are focused on the beauty of unique, handcrafted items and the responsibility that comes with using precious resources.

Claudia Romana lives in New York, Paris and a small village in Germany called Seefelden.
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Kate Snack

Kate Snack is a Social Media Strategist at Ethical Ocean (@EthicalOcean), North America’s online ethical marketplace that connects eco-friendly buyers and sellers, and promotes sustainability for a future of ethical consumerism in the e-commerce industry. She is a lover of all animals, and bound to life by music, language and culture. Achilles’ heel: Pineapple.
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Lukas Volk

Lukas was different from the start. Born a bit jaundiced, he spent a few days in an incubator and attributes this to his longing for warm climates and curling up at night in a toasty bed. After spending the first 22 years of his life in South Florida he took a job opportunity on the west coast where he soon realized his passion for protesting, self awareness and good deed doing. Currently he is experimenting with an organic raw vegan food diet and diminishing his waste impact to 20% that of an average person.

On an average day you could find Lukas protesting in the streets of San Diego, collecting cigarette butts from gutters for art projects, or enjoying a superb late night bike ride with his SLR strapped to his back for some experimental night photography.

4 total comments on this postSubmit yours
  1. Dear Goodlifer Team – 

    Have to say, that we love your site. From one fashionista to another! We loved reading Johanna’s interview with Nicole Lenzen and obviously all of your fashion pieces speak directly to us. 

    Check out some of the interviews and written by creator and found Amber Gordon. We have some great editorials about so many people within the fashion industry. From models, to photographers, designers, creative directors all around the world.   

    Would love to feature content on your site if possible!

    Reference our interview pieces and check out all our Instagram pictures and videos from NYC Fashion Week

    http://www.imaginefashion.com/interviews
    http://instagram.com/imaginefashion

  2. Hi Goodlifer Team,

    Hope you’re having a great day! I’m one of the founders of SafeSleeve, a health-conscious startup from Southern California. A friend of mine sent me your blog and I wanted you to see our Kickstarter for an Anti-Radiation wallet case for the iPhone 6: kck.st/1qOJRNB

    We’re now a week in and the initial response has been incredible; we’re almost surprised by the amount of people awaiting something just like our product. We are already over 40% of the way to our goal with 20 days still to go!

    Please share our Kickstarter! We think it’s something your readers will appreciate.

    Thanks for taking the time to check it out and feel free to contact me with any questions.

    Best,
    Travis
    kck.st/1qOJRNB

  3. Hi Johanna,
    Thanks so much for adding me to your Instagram family. Gave me a chance to meet your family. But more importantly, your site has re-inspired me to dive deeper and celebrate more those aspects of my life that truly nourish me – good food, art, beautiful clothing with stories worth telling, and rich ideas that form a better world. You are truly the real deal and I look forward to following your work.

    Cheers,
    Oceana

  4. Dear Goodlifer-Team,

    our agency is currently organizing the 8th Frankfurt STYLE AWARD – an international talent contest that supports young fashion & design students. The city of Frankfurt am Main is the contest’s patron and with the strong support of the Fraport AG, the Italian chamber of commerce, the trade fair Texworld and media partners such as Not Just a Label and Superior Magazine, we give young talents the chance to let their creativity reign free.

    The motto of the Frankfurt STYLE AWARD 2015 is PIONEERING DESTINY and fashion and design students worldwide can submit their sketches online till February 16th 2015 within at least one of the categories BLUE REVOLUTION, ECOLOGICAL GREEN and OVER THE RAINBOW.

    They get the chance to win awards worth 50.000 Euro.

    Especially with our category “ECOlogical Green” we want to focus on sustainability and “Sustainable Design”. Old things shall be given new life.
    Since goodlifer.com perfectly cultivates the idea of sustainability it would be of much interest for us to be promoted on your website.

    Together we could raise the awareness of sustainability as well as that of our business.

    Good reasons to participate in the Frankfurt STYLE AWARD:

    • The International Talent Contest offers a one-of-a-kind talent springboard for newcomers
    • Designs are evaluated by an international and interdisciplinary jury
    • 60 nominated talents are invited to attend the Finale in the FRAPORT FORUM at the Frankfurt Airport
    • Designs are presented in front of an audience of experts at the Gala
    • Prize money, non-cash prizes, internships and dream trips worth up to 50,000 euros
    • Finalists’ garments exhibited in the PIONEERING DESTINY COLLECTION
    • Additional international presentation opportunities within the partner country

    It would make us very happy if you could share the International Call for Entry 2015 within your network.

    Feel free to ask for suitable images and further information.
    We look forward to hearing from you.

    Kind regards from Kronberg,

    Viktoria Eizenhöfer

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About

What constitutes the good life? It’s a question we’ve asked ourselves since the dawn of time and something we all strive for. To us, the good life is not a destination but a journey. We want to see more positivity in the world. Thinking happy thoughts makes for happy people, and happy people are more productive, innovative and at peace with the world. We believe in the transformative power of good news.

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