Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Miessence: Organic Food for My Skin

My personal quest to find a skin care line that isn’t toxic like most conventional skin products and WORKS is finally over! I recently discovered a brand, Miessence owned by Australian based company, ONE (Organic and Natural Enterprise) Group that perfectly fits those 2 needs.

Since that time, I’ve become a true Miessence addict! Their price range is comparable to something you would buy from Aveda or Origins, but the ingredients are sooo much better. Miessence has signed the The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and their products are certified USDA Organic, Australian Certified Organic, and certified by the Biological Farmers of Australia.

Miessence® is currently the only skin care product on the planet that has submitted to, and complies with, the rigorous processing and labelling requirements for certified organic food products.

So, in my book if it’s good enough to eat, then its good enough to put on my face! And more importantly, all of their products are amazing and make my skin look + feel great.

Right now I’m in love with their Balancing Line (for combination skin) of face products. I would recommend ordering a bunch of their samples to try out all their lines to see which one works best since their sample sachets are only $1 and that way you don’t have to commit. In additional to a traditional skin care line, they also sell shampoo and cosmetics (I’m going to try these next). Right now they only sell online. If you’re ordering from the U.S. go here.

Green Tahoe!

I hit up south Lake Tahoe this past weekend for some great hiking and R&R and was super happy I went. Right now is a great time to go since it’s right after the ski season has ended but before the summer crowd takes over the town (waay cheaper + less crowded).

A few fun things to make sure to check out if you’re there:

Hiking! The area has some of the most amazing views I’ve seen since I’ve been in Cali. Make sure you bring lots of water if you’re not used to the altitude change— (Lake Tahoe hiking is about 7,000 feet above sea level depending on where you hike) it’ll help with the adjustment.

Vikingsholm Trail: This is a good way to ease into Tahoe hiking. About a mile down to a really cool replica of a Viking castle on the shore of the lake. Coming back up is a little more strenuous.

Food! We had a kitchen and cooked most of the time, but the Wide Awake Organic Cafe was amazing and well worth spending a little extra $$ on. We ate here twice and I was psyched to learn that everything except the bagels are organic (soon they’ll be switching to vegan + organic bagels). My favorite here was the asparagus frittata. Their fair trade organic lattes were also amazing enough to end my caffeine-free stint!

I had heard about Elevation 6310, but didn’t have a chance to check it out just over the Nevada border. Their specialty is late dinner and organic cocktails. Mmmm… organic fruit-infusion vodkas!

Biking: there seemed to be some really great bike trails in the area which I’m looking forward to checking out the next time we visit. Bike trails amidst amazing views of the lake + forest sounds good to me!

"50 Simple Steps to Save the Earth from Global Warming"

50 Simple Steps to Save the Earth from Global Warming by the Green Patriot Working Group is a really accessible guide of 50 simple steps to take to help protect the planet, with great additional resources listed to learn more.

Although the average eco-conscious person is most likely already aware of at least some of these steps, I found a bunch of tips that particularly good reminders:

• Send an email a day to corporations/your government to urge against global warming and other environmental causes you believe in
• Check your tire pressure: “Under inflated tires can cut fuel economy by up to 2% per pound of pressure below the recommended level”
• Be a carbon-neutral gardener by using a push mower, using only organic fertilizers + pesticides, and reducing your lawn (lawns are not sexy!).
• Invest in the Solution by investing your money in green funds such as Green Century, Domini Social Investments, which is something I want to start doing.
• Buy organic supplements. I didn’t realize how many non-organic dietary supplements use ingredients that are derived from petrochemicals!

The Designer's Accord

At this year’s AIGA’s Compost Modern event I was really excited to be introduced to The Designer’s Accord, “a coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, business consultants, and corporations, who are working together to create positive environmental and social impact.” Originally referred to as the “Kyoto Treaty of Design,” the coalition was formed by designer, Valerie Casey of IDEO as a collective way to increase intelligence about sustainability within the business community.

To join the Accord, you must follow the coalition’s guidelines of:
1. Do no harm;
2. Communicate and collaborate;
3. Keep learning, keep teaching;
4. Instigate meaningful change;
5. Make theory action

Depending on your level of involvement in the coalition, your specific guidelines for upholding these 5 main guidelines are different. Members are divided into 3 categories: Adopters (design firms, corporations, educational institutions), Supporters (artists, freelance designers, students) or Endorsers (organizations).

For example, the guidelines for “Design Firm Adopters” are:
1. Publicly declare participation in the Designers Accord.
2. Initiate a dialogue about environmental impact and sustainable alternatives with each and every client. Rework client contracts to favor environmentally responsible design and work processes. Provide strategic and material alternatives for sustainable design.
3. Undertake a program to educate your teams about sustainability and sustainable design.
4. Measure the carbon/greenhouse gas footprint of your firm (includes operations and client engagements), and pledge to reduce your footprint annually.
5. Advance the understanding of environmental issues from a design perspective by contributing actively to the communal knowledge base for sustainable design.

It’s great to see that as more people take an interest and are more informed about the environment and the impact we have upon it, that green practices within the design field are finally being seen as mandatory vs. being optional. The Designer’s Accord is a great place where designers can educate themselves and find tools to educate their clients about what “being green” in our field really means.

There’s a great article in Business Week about Casey and the Accord here. An interview with founder, Valerie Casey about how the Accord came to be created can also be found here.

Green Cleaning Resource

photo by Bianca de Blok

Cleaning products are up there on the list of “things I hate to spend $$ on” — they come in a close second to toilet paper. So basically any type of green home remedy I can make in place of buying conventional cleaning products is great in my book! They’re always cheaper than what I could buy at the store and healthier. I also get a kick out of knowing that what I clean my sink with also helps to bake cookies (like baking soda)!

Recently I came across this great website run by the Allergy and Environmental Health Association of Ottawa (scroll down to Safe Alternatives to Common Household Products) with all of the formulas for green cleaning that you could possibly want. I’ve never seen such a comprehensive list of formulas.

Here a few that I hadn’t seen elsewhere:

Rug or carpet cleaner: 2 cup cornmeal + 1 cup borax – sprinkle, leave for about 1 hour then vacuum

Tub/tile cleaner: ½ cup of baking soda + ½ up of white vinegar, or drop 1000mg Vitamin C, leave overnight then scrub

Silver polish: place in container: 1 quart warm water + 1 tbspn baking soda + 1 tbspn salt + piece of aluminum foil

Antibacterial spray: Add tea tree oil to vinegar/water solutions and spray on mold

Roach repellent: chopped bay leaves + cucumber skins or place borax in cracks

Drain cleaner ½ cup of white vinegar + ½ cup of baking soda. Cover tightly 1 minute then flush. Next ½ cup of salt + ½ cup of baking soda + 6 cups boiling water. Let sit several hours then flush with water.