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

H&M’s Spring 2011 Conscious Collection: Eco Fashion Breezes into April

H&M is making good on its promise to continue expanding their commitment to using sustainable fabrics. Their upcoming Spring, 2011 collection, Conscious Collection is the follow-up for Spring 2010′s Garden Collection. Utilizing organic cotton, Tencel, and recycled polyester, the all-white collection means that it will work with everything from denim to silks.

“It’s no longer just about organic cotton. The possibilities for creating a complete fashion statement with eco smarter materials are huge now. By designing recurring Conscious Collections we have the opportunity to show in a variety of ways what’s possible using more sustainable fabrics,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M head of design. “Shades of white are the season’s biggest fashion trend. White creates a romantic feeling with lace and broderie anglaise, but it is also the basic color in a sporty, relaxed style and in a preppy tailored look for men.”

More »

Ani Phyo’s Healthfully Decadent Raw Coconut Kream Recipe

Dessert has always been my favorite part of any meal (though I do love apps!) and while I’ve managed to tame my sweet tooth in the last few years, I’ve by no means eliminated it. (By tame I mean I can get my sweet-happys from maple syrup, honey, and desserts made with fruit and less sugar.) Frankly, I’d rather carry around an extra five pounds than skip desserts, in all their toothsome glory. But I try to concoct or uncover desserts that are healthy as well as tasty. Just because it’s dessert doesn’t mean that it has to be a nutrition wasteland!

So stumbling upon Ani Phyo’s wonderful raw dessert cookbook (with 85 recipes!) was a coup. As you may already know, raw foods retain all sorts of wonderful enzymes, vitamins and minerals, plus are less ‘predigested’ (I know it’s a bit gross, but that’s basically what cooking is; partial digestion of food before you eat it). That means your body has to work a bit harder to digest, which makes you feel full longer and is actually really good for your gut. All of which means you get more nutrition and eat less when you go raw. While I’m not a raw foodist by any means, I’m going on my 19th year of vegetarianism and love the way whole foods that are minimally processed taste and make me feel. And the more I’ve read about the benefits of raw, the more I try to incorporate it into my diet.
More »

Artful Undergarments: Rio Wrenn’s R.A.W. Eco Lingerie Collection

Portland, Oregon based textile designer Rio Wrenn has a unique vision for lingerie, combining modern eco friendly materials and dying techniques, antique constructions and ethical manufacturing to create her line, R.A.W. “I started R.A.W. in 2007, which is inspired by vintage undergarments ranging from the 1800′s to the 1950′s to modern day,” says Rio. Her collection of corsets, bras and undies has a special look, and with the Summer and Autumn 2010 trend of exposed undergarments, she’s right on target with perfect base layers for style mavens and lingerie fans alike.

And not only is Rio a conscious creator of unique pieces, she’s an advocate for women’s bodies and all the curves that go with them, and explained that her corsets aren’t meant to be restrictive or to reshape a body (she’s a fan of hips especially). “Corsets are actually very therapeutic, they make you stand up straight! I think people have a bad vision of corsets, but I don’t make them to be oppressive, they should be comfortable and supportive,” she says.

Each piece in R.A.W.’s collection is also a work of art and are handmade in Portland. Rio is a visual artist, but found that fine art was often out of reach to many people; fashion is a way to take a creative project and make it more accessible, wearable and affordable, she says.
More »

Barefoot Walking and Running: Best of Both Worlds with Vivo Barefoot Sneakers

My Viva Terras. Cute on the trail or off.

Last summer, I was walking up from the beach at Gay’s Head on Martha’s Vineyard. (They’ve renamed the place Aquinnah, but I’m sticking with the original name, thank you very much) and then headed up the steep dunes, and over the top. When I got to where the sand meets the more rocky soil, I stopped to put my Chakos back on, but then decided to go barefoot instead.

As I walked up the path, seagrasses waving in the setting sun all around me, I could feel what was beneath my feet change. It started more sandy, and warmed from the sun, then small pebbles cropped up, and as I went around a bend, I felt the ground cool and dampen and the pebbles recede into the soft, more claylike walkway. As I headed up another rise, warmth again seeped between my toes, and as I reached the road to wait for the bus, the concrete burned my feet and I put my shoes on.

On that ten minute walk, I remembered something I knew as a child, which is that you miss tons of information from the earth when constantly wear shoes. I used to spend entire summers essentially barefoot (I grew up at the end of a dirt road in the Hudson Valley) and when I was 8 I could have told you how long it had been since rain from the viscosity of the mud that pushed between my toes since I spent hours I playing in the wetland next to my house. I don’t know if I could tell you that now, though I’m certain I could learn again.

Men’s Vivo Barefoots at the Terra Plana store.

So when a couple months ago I heard about the barefoot running movement, and the new book, Born to Run, I was intrigued. The premise is that our fancy $200 uberpadded sneakers are actually BAD for our bodies when running, and can actually cause or exacerbate injury. Which makes sense if you think about the fact that we have only been wearing such contraptions for about 20 years (flat, unpadded Converse All Stars were the sneaker of choice for basketball players for years). So I went hiking with a friend in Connecticut and took off my sandals and did a bit of trailrunning with naked feet, which was fun as long as I was careful (and this forces one to focus on each step, which is interesting). And then…

More »

People Won't Change for the Environment (on my campus)

A recent article outlines a pretty simplistic poll conducted in London about people’s willingness to change their behaviour for the good of the planet.

A straw poll of 15 British men and 15 British women between the ages of 25-75 in central London, showed all were willing to make small changes for the environment, such as recycling, but few would commit to more fundamental changes to behavior.

The outcome was pretty surprising. People will “try” to drive less, and others take a shot at proper recycling. But no one is ready for a change in their lifestyle. This inspired me. I was sure I could find better numbers and results here in Toronto, Canada. We are supposed to be eco-friendly up here, right?

More »