Starre Vartan · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts by Starre Vartan

Starre Vartan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick and author of The Eco-Chick Guide to Life (St. Martin's Press). A problogger and oft-quoted green living expert who has been featured in the NYTimes, Elle, Glamour and Whole Living, she is a contributor to The Huffington Post, Inhabitat, and Hearst's The Daily Green, and is currently editor-at-large for Coco Eco Magazine. An active ecofashionista, she has style edited for Plenty magazine and coordinated runway shows. She splits her time between Connecticut and NYC and calls Sydney, Australia her second home, even though it was her first (as that's where she was born and most of her family resides). When not writing, blogging, or researching her next book, she is trailrunning, trying to cook, or snowboarding.

http://www.svartan.wordpress.com

This author has contributed 692 posts.

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Sweet and Super Green Wedding Gifts

4 Comments

07/14/07

Summer is wedding time, and if you’re like me, you might be running out of ideas for great, eco-friendly gifts. I try to give native trees or bushes from my local nursery (a great gift because they add value to a home, are not too expensive, are pretty, and they suck up CO2 to boot!) But some friends are not into planting and landscaping, or live in apartments in New York City, which is why I’m so excited about Uncommon Goods. Seriously, not only is their stuff ‘not the usual gift crap’, to quote myself, but they also have a whole recycled section (10 pages of it!). Check out some of my favorite picks below.

Lamps Made of Old Circuit Boards, $220-$280

Basket Made from Wine Barrels, $215

Recycled Glass Plates, $72

And if you’re feeling particularly generous…..

Chair Made from Old NYC Street Signs (really lights up!), $3,700

Recycled Pinball Machine, Now a Table, $2,800

Bush, farm, Hair, Home, local, New York City, NYC, plates, recycle, recycled, reuse, summer, trees, wedding, Wine

Melissa Etheridge's Call to Action

3 Comments

07/10/07

For all y’all who didn’t watch Live Earth, you missed this inspiring speech by Ms. Etheridge made right in the middle of one of her songs. She is definitely an artist who knows how to work a crowd and her passion show right through the crappy YouTube recording. A Must-Watch for all you jaded folks out there.

Go to 4:15 to hear the rocking speech that made me teary-eyed…

Besides seeing Dave Matthews up close (just 8 feet from my lusty hands), Melissa’s speech was my fave part of Live Earth.

spa, Tea

Navy Showers

13 Comments

07/10/07

As I think I’ve mentioned before, one of my biggest enviro-sins is bathing. That is, I love long showers, swimming-pool like baths, hot tubs, pools, the ocean, lakes, puddles and running through sprinklers (I think it comes from my Australian roots of being a die-hard swimmer). Point: I love water. And I especially love bath products in that water. But as summer heats up here on the East Coast, I’m feeling my usual remorse that I spend too much time with the shower head (hey! Get your mind out of the gutter!).

And then I came across this really quite funny video about Navy Showers:

And this slightly sexier response:

And it got me thinking about my water- and energy- wasting ways, and then I took some action. If you’re like me ladies (and I pray you’re not, because I’m a hairy beast), you might need to shave your legs every time you shower. It takes me almost five minutes to do both my legs, usually with the water running down my back. So, my version of the “Navy Shower” is now showering as usual, then turning the water off when I shave my legs, and then rinsing off. I did it once already, and it worked out perfectly, plus I didn’t feel as rushed while shaving, thinking about all the water I was wasting. I think next time, I’m going to condition my hair at the same time, and then rinse that off at the end too, so it will give my hair extra moisture. Let me know if you try this chick version of the Navy shower and if it works for you!

Australia, bath, Energy, Hair, spa, summer, video, water

Liveblogging from Live Earth!

8 Comments

07/07/07

—Giants Stadium, 2:45 PM EST
I’m here at Live Earth in New York, which is the last show in the worldwide music celebration so we can Save Our Selves (SOS).

KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is up first, after a lackluster intro by Mr. Six-Degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon. Are you watching? If not, you can tune in online here. What do you think so far? KT is wearing some really cute metallic leggings under black shorts.

A Tip form uber-tan Carson Daly in the press room:
“I’ve learned when I stay in hotels and I leave for the day to unplug my blackberry and cell. And when I go to work I’ve started taking a mug for my coffee….or beer!”

Thanks Carson. Always a fount of useful information and pithy comments! NEXT!

4:05 PM EST

Checked out the musical stylings of and Keith Urban and Alicia Keyes, Taking Back Sunday, and Ludacris. Personally I’m waiting to hear Dave Matthews, Smashing Pumpkins and The Police.

When asked about what she does at home, KT Tunstall came to talk to the press and had some smart things to say (the girl really knows her environmental issues!) A couple comments:

“I do a lot of little things at home, but I’m rarely at home. I’m getting my flat in London renovated, and I’m using sheep’s wool insulation, reclaimed wood, and solar panels. As a touring musician I have to fly, but…I’m offsetting my carbon with Global Cool.
With this (concert), I thought god, six other massive events are going on just like this. I think everyone is aware of (global warming), but not that many people know what to do about it. Short films, and information available on the Live Earth. For me the best thing about it is promoting respect for other people on the other side of the planet. It’s about creating a relationship beetwen us and people in China and India and showing that we’ll help eachother and are connected to eachother.”

4:45 PM EST

And the music just keeps coming!! I feel like I can barely keep up with these 30-minute sets!

Taking Back Sunday photo by Brian Clark Howard

Backstage, Taking Back Sunday had this to say about their ‘greenie’ ways, which were surprisingly comprehensive. What was most interesting to me about them was that it seemed that Fred Mascherino, was the most environmentally-oriented of the group, and he in turn got the rest of the band, and then their team and their fans, involved in being eco. See how it only takes one person to make change?

“I’ve been passionate about this issue for years. But ever since an Inconvenient Truth, it’s helped me learn all the things I’m not doing. I recently purchased a vegetable oil burning 1982 Rabbit. I’ve also switched to wind energy in NJ, which only costs me about $3-$5 a month. ” (He’s referring to the option that most U.S. utilities have that offer alternative energy programs, for just a few cents more every year.)

My favorite quote from the group?

“(Global Warming’s) not just hippie folklore anymore, it’s mainstream.”

AFI

The band AFI, which admittedly, I don’t know very well, endeared me with a few cute statements, though they also kinda pissed me off when they mentioned that they weren’t polticial. WHAT? If there was a time to take up politics, it is NOW.

We are apolitical,” said lead singer Davey Havok. But when asked if he would date someone who’s not green, he said, “I’m vegan, so I can only eat green.”

LOVE IT!!

Dave Matthews Band, by Brian Clark Howard

Dave Matthews said (in his endearing, rambling way) that he sometimes feels like what he’s doing is insignificant, or not enough even though the band has been involved in green initiatives for years.

” I could turn cynical pretty quickly, I hop on planes and ride buses, and we’re aware of a certain amount of hypocrisy in that.”

He redeemed himself when he said,

“I grew up camping and can see that the world is finite. It doesn’t seem like it’s absurd idea that it can run out of gas. The idea of the well drying up doesn’t seem that far-fetched. In the end, what kind of world we leave for our children or grandchildren? I think it’s an effort we should make.”

And then he got apocalyptic when he said, “I’m not saying we can save the planet, but we may as well grab for straws as we go down.” Dave, where’s the positivity, enthusiasm and love for which you’re known?

When asked if he supports Al Gore in a run for president, Dave said, apolitically (BOO!!), “I want to see my Mom run for president!”

9 PM EST

I was up front and center (very up front, and very center) for Smashing Pumpkins’ set, which was musically amazing, though I’m disappointed Billy Corgan didn’t take the opportunity to plug anything other than the Pumpkins’ next album. EWWW. I’m a big fan of theirs, and was dancing like it was 1997, but why didn’t the alterna-god make a statement about what he is doing to alleviate the climate crisis? Billy, where were you?

OK, more tomorrow…Sting’s new passion, Randy Jackson’s domestic disputes over water consumption, Anne Curry’s inexcusable ignorance about green and Roger Waters’ enviro-inspiration from his fathers’ WWII war service (??)

But until then…what were your impressions? I LURVED Melissa Etheridge’s amazing speech about why we should all be in the streets to change the world (not to mention our current administration), and Robert Kennedy’s plea for us all to get involved. So I’m an issues dork. But also got into the Police performing “Roxanne”, and Roger Waters doing Pink Floyd’s “Money”.

What were your favorite moments?

car, carbon, cars, children, coffee, consumption, eating, Energy, Events, farm, films, gas, Global Warming, Home, India, London, mainstream, mom, Music, oil, Politics, positivity, singer, Tea, urban, vegan, vegetable oil, water, wood

Organics ARE Healthier, But What Will Really Convince People to Change?

2 Comments

07/06/07

Gulf of Mexico dead zone caused by fertilizer runoff from conventional farming. Image from NASA.

Yet another report comes out announcing that organic food is higher in nutrition (in this case, heart-healthy flavonoids in tomatoes) than conventionally-raised crops. While that’s not really surprising to me, I choose organics and vegetarianism not for the personal health benefits, which are a definite bonus, but because I know that organics are grown without soil- and water-destroying chemicals including pesticides and herbicides.

For just one example of the effects of conventional farming, fertilizer runoff from Midwestern farms pollutes the Mississippi River and has contributed to a 20,000 square mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Organic produce doesn’t use artificial fertilizers, poison the laborers who pick it, and non-chemical farming is healthier for wildlife that lives on or around crops.

But it seems to me that to get people to really care about any environmental topic, from organics to global warming, you have to make it about them, directly effecting their personal health or the health of their families, or about their safety, or as a means to save money. Why don’t people see the big picture about these issues and do the right thing because we’ve only got one Earth?

{democracy:7}

Thanks to Michael Schwarz for the link!