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

Ann Benoit is Eco-Chick's West Coast/Art and Design Correspondent. A graphic designer living in Berkeley, California, Ann is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Artists and owner of the design studio Annthology.

http://annthology.com

This author has contributed 49 posts.

AUTHOR FEED

My Cosmetics and Yours…

8 Comments

09/01/07

In a recent search to uncover exactly what i’ve been putting on my skin/hair, I came across the cosmetic safety database, a great website created by the researchers at the environmental working group. On this site, thousands of products have been tested and you can type in any of your products and check to see the degree of toxicity that it contains.

The results of a search will tell you if ingredients in that product are linked to: cancer; developmental/reproductive toxicity; violations, restrictions & warnings; allergies/immunotoxicity; and other concerns for ingredients used in the product. It will also let you know if the manufacturer has signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics or conducts animal testing.

Frankly, I was shocked to look up some of the products currently living in my medicine cabinet. For example, I typed in Aveda Botanical Exfoliant. I had assumed that a company like Aveda would be using fairly ok ingredients, right? Well ingredients in it are linked to: cancer; developmental/reproductive toxicity; violations, restrictions & warnings; allergies/immunotoxicity; organ system toxicity and contamination concerns just to name a few! Not to mention that Aveda (now owned by Este Lauder) hasn’t signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. This product scored a 6 out of 10 (10 being the worst) hazard rating.

Although I’m not necessarily going to throw out all of my products and rush to buy new ones (that seems like a huge waste and financial commitment), finding better alternatives to my current products and replacing them when I’ve finished is the new plan. When the database brings up a rating of a product, there is a link that tells you which other products have less toxicity.

allergies, Cancer, cosmetics, farm, Hair, skin, waste

renourish!

1 Comment

07/20/07

Finally! A comprehensive green resource for graphic designers! I was delighted to be forwarded a link to renourish.

renourish is a resource for the graphic design industry. When green design is usually discussed, most people think of buildings, products or even cars, but what about packaging? Shouldn’t magazines, business cards, brochures and websites be green? At renourish, we’re helping to start the conversation on green graphic design by providing defintions, tips, and links to sustainable resources designers can use to make their work a little greener.

Brilliant! Renourish has great topics that run the gamut of paper, ink, printers, packaging, green design firms, sustainable living, etc. Having all of this info in one place is genius. Although green design is something that most designers are concerned about and interested in, I haven’t come across a comprehensive site like this before. I would like to see the site eventually include green vendors (other than paper & printing). I’ve been compiling my own list lately and I think that would be a great resource to have accessible to more designers.

Another green design link to check out run by AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Designers) here.

AIGA, business, car, cars, design, designer, designers, farm, graphic design, magazine, magazines, paper, resources, sustainability, sustainable

Paper or Paper

5 Comments

03/24/07

San Francisco might be the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags! The ban (if passed) would require the use of compostable or recyclable bags by grocery store and large pharmacy chains in the city. It is estimated that 180 million plastic bags are distributed annually in the city by markets, pharmacies and other businesses. I’m crossing my fingers that this will get passed and other cities will follow suit…

bags, business, cities, farm, paper, plastic, plastic bags, plates, recycle, recycled

Casual Car Pool

No Comments

03/24/07

Every weekday morning, mostly in the East Bay, you see them lined up like lemmings — sedans, SUVs, pickup trucks and the odd sports car, creeping along the curb. Coming up the sidewalk toward them, dressed for the day’s battle with the city, are the hardy commuters.
— San Francisco Chronicle

I recently started commuting into San Francisco every day for a full time job, and was lucky enough to learn about Casual Car Pool, a 30 year old informal organization (started as a social experiment) that pairs commuters up with drivers that want to cross the Bay Bridge, avoid the toll, and be able to ride in the carpool lane. Casual Car Pool started in Berkeley and Oakland and has spread to other areas in the Bay Area.

It works like this: in order to cross the Bay Bridge, cars need to pay a $4 toll entering the city. BUT, if cars have at least 3 people in them, they can ride in the super fast (6 times faster) carpool lane AND bypass the toll completely. Thus, its beneficial for drivers to load up their cars to save the time and money (and the environment). Riders (like me) benefit because we don’t have to pay the $3.20 BART fare to go into the city everday and enjoy a more peaceful commute (no fighting for a seat on BART). Basically everyone wins.

In order to participate, there are designated areas in the East Bay and San Francisco where riders line up and drivers come by to pick up. Most pick-up areas are located near some form of public transportation. Casual Car Pool’s web site is strictly informational, listing pick up sites and additional information.

With a resource like this, its more feasible for commuters to avoid driving their own cars and save time, energy, and money by riding in a casual carpool. In addition to Casual Car Pool, 511.org has a RideShareMatch Service to promote carpooling by matching people up for ongoing carpooling. The quote below speaks to the genius of the car pool idea:

The greatest wasted “mass transit” resource in our region remains the empty seats in most commuters’ automobiles. If more workers throughout the region followed the model of casual carpooling pioneered in the Bay Bridge corridor, we would have a powerful new tool to reduce traffic congestion at no taxpayer cost.

For really interesting reports on the evolution, etiquette and quirkiness of casual carpooling, this and this article are great reads.

automobiles, car, cars, design, dress, driving, Energy, farm, model, paper, reduce, sport, transportation, waste

Greener Printer: eco-friendly printing

10 Comments

02/21/07

As a graphic designer (print based), I’m aware of the huge impact commercial printing has on the environment. Luckily there are great eco-friendly printers out there like Greener Printer in Berkeley, CA who can help reduce the impact of printed materials.

The 4 areas Greener Printer focuses on are: 1. Water Conservation, 2. Solid Waste Reduction and Recyling, 3. Energy Conservation and 4. Pollution Prevention. In addition, Greener Printer prints on treeless and recycled content papers, exclusively prints with low VOC soy and other vegetable-based inks, uses energy efficient equipment, and offsets 100% of their energy usage with windpower. They are also a certified Green Business.

To give an idea of what they offer, Greener Printers prints business cards, calendars, brochures, postcards, catalogs, posters and many other print communication items. For non-local clients, printing is super easy— just upload files to their site and get the orders shipped (all jobs are shipped “climate cool“).

In short, if you have materials printed for yourself, your organization or your business, make sure to consider printing with environmentally responsible printers. At this point, the costs for eco-friendly printing are reasonable, the finished products are beautiful and the reduced footprint is considerable. Check here and here for info and tips on printing green.

business, car, catalogs, conservation, design, designer, Energy, farm, graphic design, Green Business, Home, local, paper, Pollution, recycle, recycled, Recycling, reduce, soup, soy, waste, water