Spruce tailoring meets functional yet form-flattering fit. The trench coat, or trenchcoat, is a true statement in sophisticated style. An enduring symbol of modern elegance, it has wrapped the famous frames of fashion icons from Audrey Hepburn to Gwyneth Paltrow to uber-it-girl Sienna Miller.

Now us eco-chicks can get in on the trench-trend with the Ellissa coat from Theory’s Green Capsule Collection. Available only at Barneys and Theory retail stores nationwide, this double-breasted spring/summer item is expensive, $515 to be exact. But, if you value fashion and beautifully crafted organic sateen, then this might be splurge worth splurging for. Ruched belted waist, seam pockets, button-tab detail at cuffs and center vent—or just look at the picture below. To purchase your Ellissa trench visit Theory or Barneys.

I’ve been a fan of Kate D’Arcy’s line, Toggery, for some time. Her comfy, simple, and stylish pieces are all a little more than basic, with great detail. Best of all, they come in COLOR! and lots of it. Kate’s an ecofashion designer who works in way more than neutral. The better to accessorize with!

Kate explains a bit about what dyes she uses and why, and the inspiration behind her line in this video:

Toggery by Kate D’Arcy from Style House PR on Vimeo.

Raquel Pinderhughes, Ph.D.’s “GREEN COLLAR JOBS : An Analysis of the Capacity of Green Businesses to Provide High Quality Jobs for Men and Women with Barriers to Employment” is a really interesting case study assessing “…the potential of Bay Area green businesses to provide high quality green collar jobs to men and women with barriers to employment.”

Green collar jobs are blue collar jobs in green businesses – that is, manual labor jobs in businesses whose products and services directly improve environmental quality (Pinderhughes, 2006). Green collar jobs are located in large and small for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and public sector institutions. What unites these jobs is that all of them are associated with manual labor work that directly improves environmental quality.

Green collar jobs represent an important new category of work force opportunities because they are relatively high quality jobs, with relatively low barriers to entry, in sectors that are poised for dramatic growth. The combination of these three features means that cultivating green collar jobs for people with barriers to employment can be an effective strategy to provide low-income men and women with access to good jobs - jobs that provide workers with meaningful, community serving work, living wages, benefits, and advancement opportunities.

The study focuses on seven major questions around green collar jobs:

1. To what extent are green collar jobs good jobs?
2. To what extent are green collar jobs suitable for people with barriers to employment?
3. To what extent are people with barriers to employment interested in green collar jobs?
4. Are green business owners willing to hire workers with barriers to employment for green collar jobs?
5. To what extent are the green collar job business sectors growing?
6. What strategies are needed to grow the number of green collar jobs?
7. What strategies are needed to ensure that workers with barriers to employment can gain access to green collar jobs?

I was psyched to learn that Berkeley businesses provide so many green collar jobs (probably more so than other areas of the country). What is also cool to see reinforced by this study, is the idea that working to help the environment doesn’t require an advanced degree, and that green collar jobs can be a great means to providing low-income workers with jobs that will better the planet and community.

To read the Executive summary of the research study, click here.
To read the more extensive report, click here.

We spend one third (that’s 33.3333 . . . percent) of our entire life “in bed” (disregard promiscuous college students). Yet, the importance of healthy bedding is often overlooked, considered excessive and far too expensive. Yes, some bedding items (i.e. the throw pillow) are unnecessary, but soft, cozy, non-toxic bedding is a must.

Luckily, there has never been a better time to indulge in organic bedding and bath too! Under the Canopy, the leading organic fiber company is offering a massive bed and bath sale.

If you’re in the market for some organic bedding or bath towels you won’t want to miss these prices. Discounted by—at least—a third, these organic and luxurious linens are a dream come true.

Under the Canopy pillowcases are down to $29.99 from $40.00.

Organic cotton towels down to $5.49.

Under the Canopy Organic Cotton duvets, sheets and blankets all on super sale too.

WORLD OF WASTE: America’s Mass Consumption in Images

Look at this image.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

Pan out . . .

Photo by Chris Jordan.

Pan out a little more . . .

Chris Jordan. Plastic Bottles, 2007. 60×120″

That right there, is 2,000,000 plastic bottles. The amount of plastic bottles Americans throw out every five minutes.

Welcome to the work of Chris Jordan, a Seattle-based photographer and environmental advocate. Jordan takes beautiful photographs of waste. His hope: to disgust us to change.

Look at this one, a 7 foot long image of 60,000 plastic bags. That’s the amount of plastic bags we use in the U.S. . . . every five seconds. Are you disgusted yet?

Chris Jordan. Plastic Bags, 2007. 60” x 72”

Disappointingly, the jpegs on your computer screen can barely do justice to Jordan’s massive, high resolution photographs, most of which take up entire walls in galleries. Each image illustrates a grouping of America’s waste. But, as Jordan so often prefaces, capturing dissipation in a single photograph is impossible. The true scale of our mass consumption’s accumulation is invisible. Its magnitude is undetectable as it is spread throughout garbage dumps, storage units and landfills from Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island to a fermenting heap in Kenya.

Given the disconnect, Jordan uses “computer shenanigans” or photo shop to illustrate the true scale of our nation’s waste. He starts out with a single image, multiplying it over and over and over again to reach the statistic of our consumption. This image, for example, represents the number of cell phones America discards every few minutes.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

A few hours go by. We discard more cell phones. The heap grows larger.

Photo by Chris Jordan.

A day goes by. 426,000 cell phones discarded in total.

Chris Jordan. Cell Phones, 2007. 60×100″

To explain the shocking magnitude of our waste, Jordan has also released a video installation, Intolerable Beauty and Running the Numbers. The video premiered via the Ingeo NatureWorks Creative Gallery in New York City on Earth Day (Aprill 22nd) and will travel around the world in conjunction with Ingeo Earth Month ending on World Environment Day (June 5th). You can catch Jordan’s video as it travels with Ingeo’s Earth Month exhibit (popular stop off points include Paris and Tokyo) or you can find the film on Jordan’s website (chrisjordan.com).

I encourage you to watch this film. It is mind-blowing and depressing, but also inspiring. As Jordan says in his own words, “ it may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.”

For larger images visit Olivia Zaleski’s blog on the Huffington Post.

Last summer, totally by chance, I met David Lurey, a traveling yoga teacher who preaches the values of being a green yogi. As a member of the Green Yoga Association, Lurey travels to studios around the world and consults teachers, students, and owners alike on how to make the yoga practice more environmentally friendly.

After Lurey left, I started working with a local yoga studio to help them green their practice and embarked on some research that eventually culminated in an article that appears in the Jan/Feb issue of E Magazine. Check out the article or have a look at the Green Yoga Association’s website if you want to know more about their philosophy - a sound one, I think.

One of the problems I’ve encountered, though, over the last few months of research and consultation is that, as with nearly everything else in the world, people are slapping the label “green” on yoga and not doing much to actually make it earth friendly. Or the steps some have been taking are baby steps … whatever works best without their having to change much of anything. Nothing infuriated me more at a recent “green yoga” conference than to listen to Nicki Doane and Eddie Modestini, who run an incredible sustainable studio on Maui, speak eloquently about the changes people can make to their everyday lives to be more sustainable while the conference organizers handed out plastic bottles of water - plastic that would, eventually, get burned according to local recycling rules (this is not an unusual thing so if this offends you, check with your local recycler to see if that’s what eventually becomes of your plastic bottles).

Instead of getting mad, though, I decided it’s time I help nudge this green yoga movement along by posting a few things to do to green your yoga practice that don’t involve buying anything. Though I devised this after talking to members of the GYA, it’s important to note that these are not their guidelines nor would they necessarily agree with me on all of this. I am a hard-core eco freak who does yoga not a hard core yogi who’s interested in all things eco and these guides reflect that preferential order.
Read More »

When I first had the twins, it was a bit of a search to find organic and sustainably crafted products. For the most part, when it comes to clothing or toys, our first choice is always to use hand-me-downs or purchase used stuff from others. If it has to be new, New Born Mom is a great option. After researching the companies and baby gear they wanted to carry, NBM managed to maintain their modern aesthetic, but keep it green. They are still building their site, but they have some quality items.
New Born Mom is offering a discount to our readers: Get 10% off your entire purchase when you use the promo code: NBM108 (lasts through June 15th, 2008)

Did you know: the majority of Americans do their banking by snail mail? Yes, the most common US payment method is the handwritten check, stuffed in an envelope and stamped with 39 cents . . . or is it 41 these days?

This is silly. Not only is the paper check outdated it’s also a poor choice for the environment. Consider the trees milled, water wasted, energy expended and ink produced to create checks, checkbooks, paper statements, invoices and payment confirmation letters. It adds up to a lot of squandered resources.

The frequency with which we receive paper bills is illusory. Daily influxes of bright-white billing envelopes can lead us to believe paper bills suddenly appear—inconsequently—in our mailboxes, but every paper bill must be produced, transported by plane, train or United States Postal Service delivery truck—chocking up serious damage in fuel emissions. A recent study vetted by the Environmental Protection Agency claims the paper billing routine requires more than 674 million gallons of fuel a year. That’s an eventual 3.6 million TONS of greenhouse gas!

Electronic bill payment is more than just a planetary mitzvah. It’s also ingenious security against identity theft. Experts have long warned against mailing sensitive financial documents. Most banks concur that online transactions are safer than paper billing methods. According to a Javelin Strategy and Research study, almost 85 percent of identity theft cases are due to paper-related issues such as lost checkbooks and stolen bills, statements and check payments. With electronic transactions, however, sticky-fingered banditos won’t even have the chance to view your stats, let alone engineer a heist.

Sticky-fingered banditos come in all shapes and sizes. Beware, they’ll get you when you least expect it.

So slay the raging paper beast, and take control of the clutter pilling up on your desk. Make the digital switch. To learn more about all the issues surrounding electronic bill payment, as well as to calculate your financial footprint, visit PayitGreen.org.

Calendula, also called the Pot Marigold, is a beautiful plant for the garden, and its edible blooms are prized for their cheerful beauty. But did you know it can also be used for a variety of health purposes? Calendula Officinalis is a great herbal treatment for all manner of skin ailments including burns, bruises, sprains, rashes, chafing and open wounds.

Calendula is antimicrobial and antiviral, and is generally prepared as an oil or salve for easy application. It’s a great alternative to Neosporin and other petroleum-based wound salves, as it will speed healing and prevent infection. It decreases swelling, kills bacteria, speeds tissue regeneration and prevents scarring. As it’s anti-inflammatory, it can also be used to get relief from itchy, irritating varicose veins.

Many women like to rub Calendula on their growing bellies when they’re pregnant to prevent stretch marks. Another great use is to soothe childbirth-related postpartum pain – you can soak cotton pads with the oil and freeze them for instant relief. Similarly, it can be safely used to treat a baby’s diaper rash naturally and effectively.

You can purchase the herbal oil or salve from an herbal supply company, or make it yourself if you grow the plant in your garden. Herbal oils generally have a base of olive or coconut oil, and salves add beeswax to give them a thicker texture.

It can be applied as massage oil, rubbed on with a cotton ball, or simply smoothed onto the affected area. Calendula is often seen in beauty treatments such as moisturizers and soaps, and its benefits can be received that way as well. It combines well with Comfrey and St. Johns Wort, two other herbal remedies for the skin.

A few great products that include Calendula are Kiss My Face Honey & Calendula Moisturizer, Kiehls Calendula Herbal Extract Alcohol-Free Toner and Weleda Calendula Baby Cream.

Who can deny, the unsolicited distribution of phone books is absolutely absurd?

First of all, phone books are terrible for the environment. Just consider the massive amount of energy consumed for their production and distribution. 540 million are doled out every year. And even though many are 40% post-consumer recycled, phone books still require enormous quantities of paper, ink and oil. When we throw them out—usually within five seconds of finding them on the doorstep—they steal space in the local landfill.

Second, NOBODY EVER USES PHONE BOOKS! Honestly, when’s the last time you opened one? They’re absolutely outmoded dinosaurs. Who needs them when there’s Google 411? Besides everybody knows the best escort services are listed in the alt-weekly?

Ok, ok. I’m being a bit extreme. Of course, not everyone has internet access and many people use phone books for local listings. Yet, given today’s information age, is it not possible to have a strict solicit-only system for these energy and resource sucking manuscripts? I raise my glass to such a concept. If you agree, here are some simple ways to join the fight against useless phone book distribution.

1. Opt Out
Visit PaperlessPetition.com to request that your name and address be removed from the Yellow Pages printed directory mailing list.

2. Get Just One
If you still want to get one phone book, not 10 at a time. Call the individual titles directly. Tell them how many books you want a year and to stop unloading duplicates on your front porch.

AT&T/YellowPages (formerly SBC and Bell South):
1-800-792-265

Dex:
1-877-243-8339

Yellow Book:
1-800-373-3280 or 1-800-373-2324

3. Write a letter to the Yellow Pages Association

Yellow Pages Association (YPA)
Global Headquarters
Two Connell Drive, First Floor
Berkeley Heights, N.J. 07922-2747
(908) 286-2380
(908) 286-0620 (Fax)

4. Go to the Commander and Chief
Hit up the president of the Yellow Pages Association for some one-on-one fire.

Mr. Negley (Neg) Norton
President, Yellow Pages Association (YPA)
Two Connell Drive, First Floor
Berkeley Heights, N.J. 07922-2747
(908) 286-2385
Neg.Norton@ypassociation.org

5. Sign the Petition
Tell congress to make unsolicited phone book distribution illegal. Sign the petition at PaperlessPetition.org.

6. Recycle
Now what to do with all those old phone books collecting dust? Recycle them of course. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for every 500 phone books recycled, 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 17 to 31 trees and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity are saved. That’s enough power to serve an average home for 6 months.

In most cases, you can simply toss your old phone book in your curbside paper-recycling bin. Some regions, however, require phone books be dropped off at specified recycling centers. To learn the rules for your district, visit the “Keep American Beautiful” recycling directory.

If you don’t want to recycle your old phone books re-purpose them for something useful. Yellow books make great booster seats, cockroach killer and x-acto knife cutting surfaces.