LOS ANGELES: Jaden Smith’s environmental consciousness was born when he was out surfing at about age 10. He saw plastic water bottles bobbing in the ocean beside him, and he was so upset by it that he told his parents.
Then he learned in school about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, those floating “islands” of garbage and plastic debris, and insisted that his family do something about it.
The result is Just, an eco-friendly bottled water company founded by Smith and his famous dad, Will Smith. The company makes its packaging from almost entirely renewable resources, including “plastic” derived from sugarcane.
“This was a company born out of a child’s love for the ocean,” Will Smith told The Associated Press during an interview with the father-son entertainment duo about their company’s new offering: flavored water. They established the company in 2015, but the elder Smith said he wanted to wait until it gained momentum on its own merits before revealing the brand had celebrity backing.
“We did not want this to be a celebrity brand,” he said. “We’re just about to launch our second product and we felt like there were enough people who already have accepted the brand and it wouldn’t look like celebrities trying to sell some water.”
Jaden Smith’s passion for the company’s mission — reducing plastic and carbon dioxide emissions globally — is evident when he speaks about it, as well as in various videos he’s released talking about climate change, sustainability and renewable resources. The 19-year-old said he’s visiting schools to spread awareness about the problems caused by plastic and pollution and to inspire young people to help find solutions.
“School and education is where it all starts, because that’s where it started for me,” he said, adding that he tells students: “I just want you to know that I came up with this idea when I was your age, and that means you have the infinite ability to come up with any idea or any way that you want to change the world.”
He said his goals for the company also include producing classroom furniture from used water bottles as a way of repurposing materials and diverting them from landfills.
Will Smith, speaking by phone from Atlanta, where he’s beginning work on an Ang Lee film, said he’s been inspired by his son’s commitment — both to the cause and to himself as someone who can create change. The 49-year-old superstar said that’s the most valuable thing he’s learned from his children (including daughter Willow, 17, and son Trey, 25): “That you have to freely and unapologetically be true to you above all things.”
“There’s a certain expectation that has developed of me over the years, and in watching Jaden and all of my children, I’m learning to get free again to be me and do me without the absolute concern of every single moment trying to live up to an image of who I am,” Smith said. “I found a really brand new freedom through watching my kids and how they tend, specifically Jaden, to not concern themselves with anything above honesty and truth and integrity to themselves first and foremost.”
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Hollywood star Will Smith and his son create eco-friendly water company
Hollywood star Will Smith and his son create eco-friendly water company
Lunar New Year bowing service in China stokes controversy
- Customers could hire proxies to bow and show respect for family members
- Odd jobs app UU Paotui withdraws service after online outrage and mockery
BEIJING: A Chinese odd jobs mobile app has canceled a service that let users hire proxies to bow to their elderly relatives during Lunar New Year family visits, sparking scrutiny of China’s “hire-anyone-for-anything” service sector. Promotional images of the now-deleted service depicted an orange uniform-clad delivery worker on their knees bowing, forehead nearly on the floor, in front of a smiling elderly couple. Online responses ranged from outrage to mockery.
“Filial piety should not be commoditized,” one Weibo user said, referring to the culture of respect for and deference to older family members.
Visiting loved ones and offering good wishes are an important part of the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, although bowing is not widely practiced today.
“After careful consideration, we have voluntarily removed the services that caused controversy,” said odd jobs app UU Paotui, based in central China’s Henan, in a Wednesday WeChat post.
As of Friday, the app still offered a New Year greeter service — with immediate dispatch options — but the 999 yuan ($144.77), two-hour bowing-for-hire package was no longer visible.
Buyers of the now-deleted bowing package could hire gig workers to buy and send gifts, “perform traditional etiquette,” and offer “one minute of auspicious blessings” to loved ones, among other services. The services were meant to help people living far from their families and those with mobility issues maintain traditional customs, UU Paotui said, adding it would offer triple compensation to customers who had already booked.
People who have moved away for work typically return home to visit their families for the most important festival on the Chinese calendar, creating a travel rush commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration. In a nod to the increasingly virtual nature of social life in China, UU Paotui suggested replacing the in-person visits with an app could help avoid awkward social interactions.
“If you don’t want to have social anxiety during the new year, the experience has to be online!” said a Monday Weibo post announcing the service.
Time-poor consumers boost proxy services
Proxy services are not uncommon in China, where labor costs are relatively low and convenience is at a premium for urban consumers.
Outside the holiday period, UU Paotui users can hire someone through the app to accompany them to hospital, feed their pets, or wait in queues at restaurants and other busy locations.
A Wednesday commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, called the bowing service “very awkward” and urged closer scrutiny of the proxy service industry.
“Real innovation should meet needs while also safeguarding values,” it said, pointing out that paying a proxy to cover work shifts, for example, could come with legal risks. The controversy comes amid increasing concern for China’s often overworked delivery workers, who can sometimes be seen sprinting through shopping malls and residential compounds to deliver an order on time.
President Xi Jinping met delivery workers on Wednesday to wish them a happy new year and acknowledge their hard work.
“The city couldn’t function without workers like you,” he said.
“Filial piety should not be commoditized,” one Weibo user said, referring to the culture of respect for and deference to older family members.
Visiting loved ones and offering good wishes are an important part of the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, although bowing is not widely practiced today.
“After careful consideration, we have voluntarily removed the services that caused controversy,” said odd jobs app UU Paotui, based in central China’s Henan, in a Wednesday WeChat post.
As of Friday, the app still offered a New Year greeter service — with immediate dispatch options — but the 999 yuan ($144.77), two-hour bowing-for-hire package was no longer visible.
Buyers of the now-deleted bowing package could hire gig workers to buy and send gifts, “perform traditional etiquette,” and offer “one minute of auspicious blessings” to loved ones, among other services. The services were meant to help people living far from their families and those with mobility issues maintain traditional customs, UU Paotui said, adding it would offer triple compensation to customers who had already booked.
People who have moved away for work typically return home to visit their families for the most important festival on the Chinese calendar, creating a travel rush commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration. In a nod to the increasingly virtual nature of social life in China, UU Paotui suggested replacing the in-person visits with an app could help avoid awkward social interactions.
“If you don’t want to have social anxiety during the new year, the experience has to be online!” said a Monday Weibo post announcing the service.
Time-poor consumers boost proxy services
Proxy services are not uncommon in China, where labor costs are relatively low and convenience is at a premium for urban consumers.
Outside the holiday period, UU Paotui users can hire someone through the app to accompany them to hospital, feed their pets, or wait in queues at restaurants and other busy locations.
A Wednesday commentary in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, called the bowing service “very awkward” and urged closer scrutiny of the proxy service industry.
“Real innovation should meet needs while also safeguarding values,” it said, pointing out that paying a proxy to cover work shifts, for example, could come with legal risks. The controversy comes amid increasing concern for China’s often overworked delivery workers, who can sometimes be seen sprinting through shopping malls and residential compounds to deliver an order on time.
President Xi Jinping met delivery workers on Wednesday to wish them a happy new year and acknowledge their hard work.
“The city couldn’t function without workers like you,” he said.
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