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

Observer Ethical Awards Announced: No More Weaseling!

The shortlist for the fourth annual Observer Ethical Awards, in association with Ecover, is announced. Last year’s awards saw Divine Chocolate scoop Ethical Business of the Year, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Celebrity Campaigner of the Year and Ken Livingstone Politician of the Year. Thousands of entries have now been whittled down to 33 shortlist nominees. Why the Ethical Awards?

Ethical issues have been variously pitched as cool, transformed, rebranded and even normal (praise indeed given their former tie-dye/wind-chime hugging roots). This is all absolutely valid, but for our fourth awards, I’d like to pitch the ethical outlook as being simply vital.

Inevitably, given the current fiscal climate (politely described as “challenging”), some leaders and big businesses will try to weasel out of environmental and social justice commitment or scale back previously “ambitious” plans to become low carbon. If you like, this is the opposite of greenwashing but just as pernicious.

The best defence against such weaseling, when commitment to a better planet is more important than ever, is mass engagement and enthusiasm for new and better ideas, campaigners and their projects. And the Observer Ethical Awards are all about enthusiasm. Each year this is reflected in the fact that you vote in your thousands for the people and ideas you think make a real difference.

The entrants were judged by a combination of reader votes and by a celebrity panel that included; Jo Wood, Ben Okri, Rick Edwards and Deborah Meaden. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on Wednesday 3 June.

The Observer Ethical Awards are instrumental in bringing green issues to the forefront of consumer minds and making businesses reassess their attitudes towards sustainability. The awards recognise those who pioneer a sustainable future and identify products, ideas and companies that make ethical living possible.

For the full shortlist or more information on the Observer Ethical Awards, check this page out.

Eco Chick's Totally Unofficial and Entirely Subjective Earth Day Fashion and Beauty Awards

Everyone’s doing awards these days (Treehugger’s Best of Green, The Daily Green’s Heart of Green), and most of the sites include some kind of public participation and voting of some sort.

Well, I wanted to do awards for some of my favorite things from the past year, and the only voter was ME! I’ve been doing the green thing for quite some time and I like to think I know a little something, after all! (Really I wasn’t organized enough to get a post up last week and didn’t know how to tabulate votes and stuff).

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite fabulously green things from the past year:

Best Eco Fashion and Beauty Coverage from a Mainstream Publication

1st Place: Lucky Magazine wins this one hands down! The last year has featured not one, but TWO beautiful, entirely ecofashion spreads, and at least four natural beauty articles (including one with the fantastic Summer Rayne Oakes). Their support of eco fashion designers and boutiques is unsurpassed, and in their inexplicable (and totally enviable) way, they make everything look extra fabulous and totally easy to incorporate into one’s own life. Check their online eco sourcebooks (including beauty, denim, shoes and more) for ideas and brands that have been covered in the mag. Thanks Lucky!

2nd Place: Elle Magazine has done some serious work this past year covering eco friendly designers, in the always ahead-of-the-trends way that only Elle does. Elle gets special mention for digging up lots of amazing jewelry designers who use recycled metals, unusual materials (ancient walrus tusks anyone?) and Earth-friendly processes in their designs.

Honorable Mention: Shape Magazine isn’t a fashion mag- I read it for the strength training tips because I’ve become an obsessive gym rat in the last six months (it’s the BEST way for dealing with stress and makes your legs way more sculpted than a vodka martini). Shape gets kudos not only for their kick-butt strategies and healthy-eating tips (though more veg recipies would be nice!) AND their love-your-real-body stories, but sprinkled throughout each and every issue are small ways to go green (from products to new foods and drinks to actions and new companies), indicated with a little green leaf. Their April environment issue featured several great eco articles; thanks to the (no-doubt superfit) women at Shape for connecting the dots between women’s health and the health of the planet.

Best New Beauty Product Trend

1st Place: Oil! We spent the nineties and aughts banishing fats and oil from our diets and from our skin care routines (and from our skin). Well, turns out, our bodies need (good) fat and our skin definitely need oil- in fact, as Eco Chick beauty writer Stephanie Rogers pointed out, one of the best ways to a less-oily complexion is to use some good oils on your skin, since the skin overproduces oil when it’s lacking it- so organic facial oils actually cut down on shine. I swear by Saaf facial oil- it is completely organic, smells amazing, and both Stephanie (oily combo skin) and I (dry/very dry skin) use it with great results. I also use facial oil for my decolletage and neck before I go to bed.

2nd Place: Getting Beautiful from the Inside Out- One of the simplest ways to get great skin and hair, prevent aging, and reduce acne is a healthy diet filled with lots of high-antioxidant fruits and veggies, healthy fats from sources like nuts (especially coconut), green tea rather than coffee, and of course, plenty of filtered tap water. I’ve been supplementing my pretty damn healthy (except for the aforementioned martinis) vegetarian diet with aloe supplements and Murad’s Pure Skin Clarifying vitamins , which have worked wonders on my skin by providing a boost of yellow dock, burdock, Vitamin E, and Zinc.

Honorable Mention: DIY Hair and Face Masks- I’ve been using the inside skin of papayas and mangos as a natural fruit acid treatment, and avocado and honey hair masks for the last couple of years, but lately I’ve seen quite a few mainstream pubs pushing this old-school hippie idea. Probably because it’s super-affordable with so many women are looking for less-expensive alternatives to high-priced treatments, this one is way low-impact on the planet too (no packaging!).

Best New Ecofashion Trend

Talla Cuteness

1st Place: Attention to Dyes- never before have there been so many natural or low-impact dyes been available (well, since the Industrial Revolution anyway; before that ALL dyes were pretty ecofriendly). And none too soon! Heavy metal pollution from dyes is a serious concern in Third-world Countries where our clothes are colored-up. From Virginia Johnson’s graphic printed scarves, to Talla’s bright floral patterns on silk, there are tons of eco designers working to find more sustainable dyes. While natural colors still tend to dominate (see Barney’s house line by Philip Lim and John Patrick Organic’s dreamy prairie visions) as a color-lover I never have any problem finding fun, bright colored outfits from my fave eco fashion designers. In fact, I’m wearing a fun Mediterranean-blue organic linen dress by NaturevsFuture right now!

2nd Place: HOT Shoes- This year saw ecofriendly shoes go from ‘cute and totally wearable’ to ‘Damn!!’ Cri de Coeur doesn’t seem to make an unsexy shoe (even their boots scream ‘yank me off and do me!’ – or maybe that’s just me) to Olsen Haus’ sharp yet kicky vegan stilettos and Charmone’s yummy pumps.

Best Tech to Green Up Your Life on the Go

1st Place: iPhone Applications- So Apple is hardly the greenest computer company on the planet (far from it, and shame on you Apple!) but I have an iPhone and despite the fact that I’ve broken one and had one stolen, I keep going back- the applications are awesome! From HopStop, that helps me navigate the ever-confusing isle of Manhattan (I’ve saved money and gas NOT hopping in cabs because I get such good directions from HopStop instead) to Craigsmobilelist, there are just lots of ways you can use your phone to cut down on energy use, and shop smarter. How great that one can find local green businesses (restos, dry cleaners, green salons, and more) at Greenopia.com (there will be an iPhone application coming in the next month, for now you can search using the web browser). Power of information, for the planet!

2nd Place: Proliferation of Laptops as Primary Computer- They use 90% less electricity than a desktop, and these puppies are powerful, as well as portable- what could be better? I’ve been using a Macbook as my only computer for about a year now and I’ve been able to do everything I need to do, and I’m on a computer all day, every day as a blogger, writer and editor.

Eco Chick "Best Green Health and Beauty on the Web"

Nigel’s Eco Store has honored us in their recent “Green Web Awards 2008″ as one of the best sites for health and beauty! We are especially excited after taking a look at the judges’ panel, which is packed full of green luminaries.

Thanks for the recognition, Nigel’s!

I'm Blogging for Elle's Green Issue!

Go check it out! I’m the guest-blogger for Elle Magazine’s annual Green issue (on newsstands the month of April)! I’ll be reposting some of my pieces here, but for more- plus all the behind the scenes reports from their other bloggers, go to the Elle Tell All blog.

Besides the blog, their online content is great- with new stories every day, and some of the mag content is available here (though it’s worth picking up the issue if you get a chance because it’s not all featured on the Elle site).

Quality, Not Quantity: Organic and Natural Toys

When we first started to register for baby gifts we knew that we wanted to avoid being inundated with primary colored hunks of plastic that scream encouraging jargon (“great job!!” said the machine…) whilst playing a neon light show that could stimulate anyone into a state of ADD. Now that my kids are playing more and starting to cruise around, I have been looking into more wholesome toys they can interact with; nibble, drag, pummel, hug and so on. There are a few toy sites that have good, quality toys. With today’s toxin scares, purchasing well-made, non-toxic toys takes a bit of research but is worth the effort. Here are a few toys and sites that we love. Sometimes it costs a bit more to buy something sustainably produced, but to us it is better to have a few good toys than hundreds of pieces of landfill fodder. Not all toys on these websites are organic or ‘natural,’ (depending on what that means for you) so, as with all things, read the fine print. There are a few sites that have mostly organic and natural items, such as Tiny Bird (see below.)
This dragon from Lana Organic is colorful and well-made.
Under the Nile makes quality toys and clothing that seems to last forever, surviving many washings. These stuffed grapes have been in our house since the babes were born and they still play with them. Under the Nile also makes fantastic organic swaddling blankets that really make the best baby burrito!
Tiny Birds Organics carries lots of environmentally conscious toys. Plan Toys, the company that makes this rolling snail, has won many awards for their eco-friendly toys that stimulate imaginations and promote development.
This organic ball, made by Sigikid looks soft and inviting. All of their products are made using traditional Bavarian craftsmanship and are machine washable.
Uncle Goose blocks use naturally derived inks and sustainable wood. These blocks are well made and have so much to look at: pictures, numbers, letters. We love them.