Small Bracelet Big Impact: A review of the brand Fahlo and their impact on climate change and wildlife reservation

The best notification to improve my mood while annotating for English class?

“Foxe’s most recent location has been updated, click the notification to track and view her journey!”

The name however is misleading — “Foxe” isn’t my fox. It’s my polar bear. 

I purchased the $16.95 polar bear package from myfahlo.com, which included a Venture bracelet and most importantly, the ability to track a real-life polar bear in the Hudson Bay area. 

Inspired by one of my friends who was interested in “adopting” a polar bear, it’s proven to be a cute way to learn more about the environment and the challenges animals are facing due to climate change. 

Fahlo is a brand that partners with non-profit organizations to create bracelets — with each purchase you are given a real-life animal to adopt and track across the world. However, the bracelet isn’t the tracker, a gps transmitter is used with the animals for customers to track their own animals through the app. Since its creation in 2018, Fahlo’s been fortunate enough to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to help recover from the effects of human industry on the environment.

By combining a bracelet and an interactive tracking experience, Fahlo’s goal is to educate their customers about wildlife and excite them about conservation.

Fahlo is currently partnered with six organizations: Sea Turtle Conservancy, Polar Bear International, Saving the Blue, Save the Elephants, Global Penguin Society and their newest partnership, Ewaso Lions. You’re able to choose an animal to track — from elephants to sharks to polar bears — and a bracelet that matches the animal’s aura.

I remembered the videos of starving, underweight polar bears struggling to stay on ice that always pop up on my “for you” page. My animal choice was simple: the polar bear. 

Fahlo’s website explained that polar bears’ biggest threats stem from global warming. These animals thrive in cold temperatures and live on ice, but their habitats are being restricted due to warmer temperatures. I appreciated how the Fahlo website opened my eyes to the near extinction of this species and made me more aware of how our actions are affecting these animals. 

I chose the igloo blue bracelet and placed my order, with ten percent of proceeds from the sale donated to Polar Bear International. 

My order arrived three days later. I didn’t hesitate to wear the dainty Venture bracelet — made of blue marble beads surrounding a polar bear bead in the center — to school. The information card included with the bracelet introduced me to my new polar bear friend, Foxe, that I now track and see her whereabouts.

According to the card, Foxe was first seen wandering the tundra at seven years old, and was pregnant the last time scientists spotted her. These fun facts made me feel like Foxe was my actual pet polar bear. 

I was most excited about the QR code, placed in the bottom corner of the card, where I can track Foxe’s movement and journey throughout her life on the Fahlo app. Her location updates every week, so I can look forward to that little notification once a week for a few years, depending on the life span of the polar bear you are paired with.

The tracking map shows small points along the way that Foxe has traveled, along with seeing the exact time she made it to each different location. It includes other details, like how far Foxe has traveled since her last location and her average speed since her previous location. This easy to read tracking map has left me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next notification to pop up a week later, guiding me to Foxe’s newest location around the Hudson Bay.

As I’ve joined the Fahlo family, I’ve expanded my knowledge about polar bears and other animals Fahlo supports. Animals in need will benefit from any kind of help — whether it’s buying a bracelet and tracking an animal or donating to an animal conservation. Fahlo says it best on their website: One small bracelet, one big mission.