How House Of Marley’s Sustainable Bluetooth Speakers Made My Summer
This post was sponsored by House of Marley, all thoughts my own.
This summer I was outdoors more than ever before. After a difficult few years for many of us, I knew that the only way to sustain myself was to cling to joy alongside the work. Activism and advocacy can feel tiring and ceaseless at times; balance became key, finding the spaces where I felt free and cultivating ways to switch off. Because I’m incredibly fortunate to live on the coast, this predominantly involved open water swims, scrambles to hidden coves and watching the sunset over the waves.
Accompanying us on these adventures and moments of respite was always a soundtrack. Sometimes chaotically shuffled, sometimes meticulously curated by a rotating cadre of music lovers, but a necessity nonetheless.
The problem, until this summer, is that I’ve never had a speaker that was quite up to the task of the outdoor lifestyle I’m hoping to carry into autumn as much as possible.
Enter House of Marley.
Who are House of Marley
House of Marley was founded in collaboration with the Marley family to carry on Bob Marley’s legacy, particularly his love for music and the planet. Created as a conscious brand from the beginning, they help people enjoy music in high quality through thoughtfully crafted eco options that also support global reforestation and ocean preservation. Their audio options are some of the most sustainable on the market and include headphones, turntables, accessories and speakers that are reliable, durable, and conscious down to the tiniest component.
Everything House of Marley make is designed to deliver the Marley ‘Signature Sound’: perfectly providing each detail in a recording including every nuanced choice, surge of energy and swell of emotion. Each product undergoes custom tuning to deliver the most impeccable, realistic and powerful quality possible, while remaining transparent on the sustainability of each material chosen and where it’s used.
A commitment to sustainability
This level of transparency is rare in the electrical space, particularly when it comes to audio products, but House of Marley believe it’s not just about sound. The qualities and uses of every material component in a Marley product are carefully considered and mindfully sourced to create items with the lowest impact possible. They provide details for every material they use on their website including:
- Bamboo: one of the world’s fastest-growing plants that also doesn’t require pesticides or fertilisers. It has a higher compressive strength than wood and a tensile strength that rivals steel.
- REGRIND™ Silicone: a material created specifically for House of Marley, made by upcycling post-process and post-consumer waste.
- REWIND™ fabric: weaved from a mix of reclaimed organic cotton, reclaimed hemp and recycled PET.
- Aluminium: an easily reusable and infinitely recyclable material, reducing the number of materials entering the waste stream and requiring no new mining as it comes from a closed loop system.
- Recycled paper: used for product packaging and made from material recovered from the waste stream.
Alongside production, House of Marley.’s commitment to global reforestation is embedded into their ethos. Each year a portion of money from sales is contributed to One Tree Planted, a global reforestation NGO that works on planting projects across North and South America, Asia, and Africa. Their work aims to improve air quality, act as a carbon sink, balance the water cycle, and improve biodiversity while also providing resources for health and work for people. Since 2017 these donations from House of Marley have funded the planting of 340,400 trees, with 37,600 trees set to be planted by the end of 2022.
They also partner with the Surfrider Foundation to protect the world’s oceans and beaches, through an activist network spread across Europe, Australia, Japan, Morocco and Argentina. This work aims to protect beaches and clean water, remove plastic pollution and tackle climate change, and lead a new generation of coastal defenders.
The Get Together 2 Mini speaker: my review
Beyond their sustainability credentials, I may have just found the speaker of my dreams in House of Marley’s Get Together 2 Mini speaker. Wireless, portable and incredibly powerful, when on the go this beauty promises 15 hours of play time, so it even has enough to accompany late night beach trips waiting for the super moon to rise (yes, this is something I like to do). Quick charge technology and a USB charging port make it easy to fit around your schedule, and their Bluetooth technology offers a 30-metre range from your device, even when you’re scrambling across the rocks.
Designed specifically for outdoor fun, it’s also water and dust-resistant to withstand the elements, while still offering smooth, vibrant audio. It features three sound EQs so you can customise the listening experience to your needs: Bass Boost for nights of dancing, acoustic for your favourite podcast, and Marley Signature Sound for smooth, balanced listening. Plus it has an impressively deep bass that doesn’t compromise the sound quality, and you can pair the Get Together 2 Mini to the entire Get Together 2 speaker range to create your own tailored surround sound system.
I’ve been using this speaker for a while now, and I truly can’t imagine anything better on the market than this. I’ve recommended House of Marley for years, and already have a pair of their earbuds, so it’s not exactly surprising that I would love this speaker too. It’s perfect for my outdoor needs and everyday adventure, but I also use it indoors for podcasts while I cook or chilled music while I work. It’s a welcome addition to my home (which really needed an actual speaker rather than me poorly attempting to blast sound out of my phone) that works incredibly well while also being beautiful and blending in with my personal taste seamlessly.
Plus, it’s truly the most sustainable option out there right now, and it will be used and loved for many many years to come.