Diamonds. They’re there for a girl when she needs them. As they sparkle back at you, you’re reminded of a time in your life, or a place, a person or cherished memory.

But what’s even better than those feelings a diamond evokes, is the pride you have as you rock a piece that was ethically sourced and manufactured responsibly.

I discovered Anjolee– the largest purveyor of high-quality, ethically sourced diamond bracelets online, and it was pure rapture. They manufacture every single item they sell which allows them complete control over the quality of their products. And they mean business when it comes to their sourcing. Anjolee fully complies with the Kimberly Act of 2003, ensuring that all of their diamonds are strictly certified as conflict-free.

Here’s another reason I know you and I can be boastful about an Anjolee piece: They love Mother Earth as much as we do. Their strict, green jewelry manufacturing process involves the refining, recycling and clean disposal of all materials used during the process.

Since the products met our site’s standards, it was time to do some serious window shopping. I have to admit that I sort of felt like a little girl in FAO Schwartz. “Ohhh, I like this one. No wait, that one!!” The site is easy to navigate and you can custom-design a piece to your fancy that meets both your taste and budget (let’s be honest, we all have restrictions!).  What’s great is that since you’re buying from Anjolee directly, they’re able to offer affordable prices below retail.

So whether you’re in search of a stunning Diamond Bracelet, Diamond Tennis Bracelet, Gemstone Bracelet, Tennis Bracelet, Necklace, Diamond Earrings, Diamond Jewelry or more, it’s impossible not to find an item that’s perfect for you, the earth and the people who produced it. Anjolee jewelry will be a great addition to that little holiday wish list of yours. Not only will you look good wearing it, but you’ll feel good wearing it because there’s a happy story behind Anjolee’s jewelry.

I don’t really consider chocolate an indulgence- more like a part of my daily diet (I’m so not kidding about that!). And that means I eat a lot of chocolate; probably about a bar a week. And seeing that I enjoy it so much I def look for high quality, Fair Trade and organic brands only. After all, as much as I love chocolate, it’s NOT a necessity for life!

I choose ethical brands because the conventional ones (Hershey’s, I’m looking at YOU!) not only tend to use lower-quality cocoa that tastes terrible, but doesn’t pay farmers fair wages and might even be involved in taking advantage of child labor and/or environmental degradation from the cocoa farming. That ain’t sweet and I won’t contribute to it!

A cocoa farmer in Madagascar (that’s a cocoa fruit he’s eating, the flesh is delicious, and the seeds are what cocoa is made from).

Madecasse chocolate is one of the best chocolates I’ve tried, flavor-wise, so much so that I quickly devoured the samples the company sent me and bought some more at the market! Creamy and rich, without any waxiness (many inexpensive chocolates use cheap fats and oils to create a creamy mouth-feel, but it’s just fat, not real flavor; Lindt, I’m looking at YOU here!). Truly, one of my top 3 fave chocolates, Madecasse is now on regular rotation in my household.

Madecasse is made from the best ingredients, and simplicity is key; the 80% cocoa bar contains just cocoa, sugar, and cocoa butter. Contrast that with Lindt, who add barley malt powder, palm kernel oil, caramel flavoring, and a bunch of other junk in their darkest chocolate.

The sea salt and nibs bar is hands-down the best I’ve had of that variety (Knipschildt, who is based in my current hometown in Connecticut makes a great one too).

Vanilla is an important ingredient in most chocolate; these women are sorting and drying vanilla bean pods.

The company was started by three Peace Corps volunteers, Brett, Tim and Joe, who worked in Madagascar, and not only is it Fair Trade, but Joe told me, “we make the entire bar there, from training and empowering farmers to tying the raffia tie on the packaging.”

All the chocolates are available in the company’s web store, and I have found them in NYC at Whole Foods and Westside Markets. Outside NYC, check here for a store close to you that carries Madecasse; it’s worth it!

The newest installment of Harry Potter (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1) came out this past weekend and the world could not wait to see their favorite actors battle with the evil wizards that aim to take down the good (for good!). If you are a fan of the series, you’ve seen Emma Watson’s Hermoine mature from a timid, supersmart wizard-in-training to one of the most powerful Muggles on-screen.

Actress Emma Watson, who plays Hermoine, has also grown up, from cute girl to fashion icon, with her latest modelling contract for Burberry. But Watson’s more than just a poster girl, she’s an ethical fashionista too, having recently collaborated with the UK’s super-sustainable line People Tree.

Emma’s line is called “Love from Emma” and though it’s technically for girls, there are some really cute pieces ladies of any age could rock. To ensure the sustainable characteristics are met, People Tree works with 50 Fair Trade groups in 15 countries. That means more work for more artisans. In other words more work means better conditions which leads to the alleviation of poverty (now that is cool.)

The methods used to make the beautiful collections are eco-sound. Most of the cotton used is certified organic and Fairtrade and all of the dyes are natural. Most of the materials are local so nontoxic textiles are chosen. The artisans know how to make the best of these methods so the collections are beautiful while still being low-impact. Artisans are also employed, so the collections include handwoven fabrics.

Emma Watson revealed her collection this summer, championed via (megagreenie himself) Prince Charles and demonstrated that the talents of the screen star go way beyond cute witchery. Her collection for People Tree is adorable and unique. I love the details that she has keen look-out for and which can be seen in such sustainable, chic items as, The Salmon Pink Grecian Dress, The Loretto Button Dress, and The Kitebrook Shorts.

Emma Visits Bangladesh…see how the fabrics for the People Tree collection are made!

You know how every now and then, you take a bite of something and it’s so insanely good, your eyes involuntarily roll back into your head? Moments like those are few and far between for most of us, especially because food that divine is often outrageously decadent or made with rare, expensive ingredients. But sometimes what makes that food so delicious – even beyond brilliant flavor combinations and expert preparation – is the knowledge that every single aspect of its production was handled with the utmost care and responsibility.

Call me crazy, but for me, that’s why Fair Trade Certified foods taste even better than food made with the same exact ingredients but produced in a way that screws over the environment, workers and community that created it. Would you treat a bar of Hershey’s chocolate the same way that you’d treat a bar that is not only organic, but sourced directly from well-paid Mayan farmers? Nope. While you might scarf down a cheap candy bar without a thought, this chocolate is special.

For Fair Trade Month, I got to try a few certified food products including a bar of Green & Black’s dark chocolate, some La Yapa quinoa and a tin of Rishi Wild Berry loose tea. All of these products are certified by Fair Trade USA, an organization that ensures that products labeled ‘Fair Trade Certified’ meet strict criteria including fair price, fair labor conditions, direct trade without unnecessary middlemen, democratic dealings between the producers, community development and environmental sustainability.

Not only were the raw ingredients that went into each of these products sustainably grown by knowledgable farmers in a healthy working environment, those farmers often spend Fair Trade revenues on social and business development projects like scholarship programs and organic certification.

Are any of the products I tried unbelievably, eye-rolling good? Maybe not (though give a good chef that La Yapa quinoa – a brand owned by farmers in the salt flats of Bolivia – and your odds are definitely favorable). All of them were delicious, no doubt about that.

But beyond that, there’s a wonderful satisfaction in knowing that your purchase not only did no harm, but helped improve the quality of life of farming families and their communities – and this knowledge will induce you to slow down and savor that bite of chocolate, and truly enjoy that cup of tea.

Learn more about all kinds of Fair Trade Certified products at TransFairUSA.org.

In honor of Earth Month, THREE lucky Eco-Chick readers will win and Eco-Starter Kit from Target. Making small changes, even during typical daily routines such as brushing your teeth and washing your hair can have a positive impact on the Earth.

The Target Eco-Starter Kit includes the following items (for more ideas visit the new eco-boutique):

Target Eco-Starter Kit:

* Home Organic Towels
* Dr. Bronner’s Organic Fair Trade Shikakai Soap
* Burt’s Bees Shampoo and Conditioner Value Pack
* Conair ECO Ionic 1400-watt Dryer
* Radius Source Toothbrush 3-pk
* H2O Eco Bottle (stainless steel)
* Reusable Tote Bag GiftCard
* Standard Reusable Shopping Bag
* Organic Archer Farms Fruit Bars

To win, leave a comment below telling us which product you’d most love to try and why. When you fill in the comment field, it will ask for you email address. This is the address I will use to contact the winner, so use a real email. There are three winners for this one!

Deets and Promises: Eco Chick does not sell, lease or lend any email addresses we collect. Giveaway ends Friday, April 23rd 2010. Good luck!

“Per FTC guidelines I am disclosing that Target is providing the product which will be given to the three readers.”

This thought-provoking tee isn’t organic, but it is available on American Apparel stock shirts, so at least you can choose a fair-trade option. I think this is totally genius, and includes all the heavy metals that have worked their way into the bodies of every human being on the planet- like it or not. These heavy metals are known disease-causers and are pumped into the air and water by coal- and oil-burning power plants, garbage incineration, plastic-production plants and others- and are distributed planet-wide.

• Learn how to make ethical fashion choices and upcycle your existing wardrobe this week on Green Girls Global.
• Check out the Eco Fashion World interview with Maroussia Rebecq, founder of the Andrea Crews Collective.
• Eco-Chick has rounded up some Eco Fashion News from around the web!
• The Eco Diva goes local with Etsy.com!
• Learn about Bangladesh Garment Factories Going Fair Trade at Ethical Style!
• Check out Curatorial’s Limited Edition Collection featured on Feelgood Style.
• Green Grechen discusses the impacts of milk silk.
• Want to see some of the best organic fashion on sale today? Green Lashes and Fashion has a round up!
• 8 Ways to Get the Closest Eco Shave for Men and Women–on Greenopia!
• Inhabitat is featuring the very drool-worthy Noon Solar Bags.
• Modern Hippie Mag has a question about hair oil in their Ask the Beauty Chick column.
• Are You a Green Beauty? Take the Quiz on Planet Green!
• Upcycled bags are better the second time around…so says The Alternative Consumer!
• Join in the Vintage Jewelry Obsession this Fall at The Green Girls.
• The Thrifty Chicks are Standing Naked in a Thrift Store.
• Treehugger dishes on the 7 Common Cosmetics Ingredients You Need to Avoid!
• Fashion, Evolved interviews Jaszy McAllister creator of ethical, beautiful Jaszy’s Jewelry.

The Alabama Chanin show, titled “The Songbirds” last Friday was definitely a down-home version of a fashion-week event, and all of us in attendance couldn’t have been happier about it. It was relaxed, it was filled with music, it was, in these stressful times, a relief.

Following the anti-runway trend, the models at Alabama Chanin’s show donned different outfits, posed for photographers (I loved taking shots at my leisure and playing with the light), ate and drank and even mingled a bit. And why not? They are people too, and after all the stories of the catwalk coterie biting it in amped-up runway shows, I’ll bet these girls were happy to behave like (gorgeous) human beings rather than skinny-legged stompers.

Natalie Chanin, designer of Alabama Chanin

I also had time to speak with Natalie Chanin, the creative force behind her label of completely handmade clothes (there is NO machine-sewing in any of the pieces and in fact each one is made by hand in cottage-industry production made up of women working from their homes). She told me that she’s coming up on ten years of designing (first for Project Alabama and since 2006 for Alabama Chanin) and explains, “I’ve planted a lot of seeds, and now I’m letting them grow.”

A model with the folksy/country musicians who kept it light, mellow, and energized.

Besides branching out into home furnishings (a natural for her incredible overdyed, hand embroidered fabrics) Natalie is moving and expanding into accessories, including both hats and jewelry (The bijoux are unexpected combinations of metals, metals that incorporate fabric elements into their patterns, and actual fabrics). She has also been working with a small-batch indigo dyer (who dyes in a church in the Bronx) to create Alabama Denim, which was shown in several pieces.

The detail on each of these is just knock-your-socks-off amazing. Some pieces have been worked on by more than five women.

Natalie continued her garden metaphor, apt since cotton (the primary fabric used in her designs) and indigo, (used to dye them) both grow from the Earth. She explained her collection: “What we have right now is very round, and I need to be patient and it needs space to grow. This is the time to garden.”
And in case you were wondering, all the fabric used in the designs is 100% organic cotton and is “grown-to-sewn” in the southern USA.

Note the layered skirt on the left, which worked even on a slimmer design; this is an easy look to wear and versatile too (models sported cowboy boots or sky-high stilettos; all seemed to work with the designs).

The details on the designs are gorgeous and look handmade and hyper-organic, which I love in an age of white buttonless pods and glass everywhere.

A close-up of the pretty layering; a perfectly easy way to wear the pattern-on-pattern trend.

Love the 1920′s feel about this. Maybe a bit of recession-chic?

Check out the natural Indigo-dyed Alabama denim on the model at right.

The all-white collection inspired all sorts of cloud-and-snow fantasies in me- the texture of white embroidery on soft white cotton was just magical.

The new Alabama Chanin jewelry collection (here laid out for the models) was a study in texture and pattern – and color!

Button detail on one of the gorgeous long coats that are an Alabama Chanin signature.

Hats laid out for the models, with their handmade labels

Starre Vartan with an Alabama Chanin coat (I want one of these so much! Perfect with jeans and a tank, over a dress, with shorts and boots….eminently wearable!

Check out The Alabama Stitch Book: Projects and Stories Celebrating Hand-Sewing, Quilting and Embroidery for Contemporary Sustainable Style to learn some of the secrets behind Natalie Chanin’s designs (and use them as inspiration for you own!)

There’s nothing in the world that comforts and calms me quite like a good cup of tea. I’ve been a tea drinker since I had my first cup as a preteen, and I’ve got a huge basket in my pantry full of dozens of varieties. Every day, it’s like I’m opening a gift when I get to try out a new tea. Recently, I was given a few bags of Choice Organic Teas, and I gotta say, I’m in love. There’s a great variety to choose from, they’re organic and they’re fair trade.

My fave is the Rooibos Red Bush Tea + Vanilla, and I’ve also tried Original Chai, Green Moroccan Mint and Irish Breakfast – all fantastic (check out the full list of fair trade teas).

About Choice Tea’s decision to go fair trade:

In 2000, Choice Organic Teas became the first tea crafter to adopt Fair Trade Certified tea in the United States.

Choice Organic Teas partnered with TransFair USA to write the guidelines that established a Fair Trade Certification process for the tea industry, as the hierarchy of the tea estate owner/manager to the worker who plucks the tea differs greatly than from the coffee industry. TransFair USA previously established Fair Trade certification in the United States for the coffee industry in 1999.

Fair Trade certification addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest workers in economically developing or third-world countries. Products from economically developed countries such as Japan and the United States cannot qualify for Fair Trade certification.

Choice Organic Teas have been certified organic by Quality Assurance International, the USDA, and the Organic Consumers Association.  The fair trade varieties are certified by TransFair USA.

Choice Organic’s tea varieties are available in 16-bag boxes, bulk bags and loose leaf. They’d make a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season!

Check out Starre’s post about her favorite teas for more tea-licious suggestions!

Last Sunday kicked off “Break the Silence” Congo Week. (I know, we’re a bit late!) From now until October 25th, students from the US, Canada, England, Belgium, Germany, France, Brazil, Jamaica, Norway, Korea, Ghana, Mali, South Africa, Columbia, and others are running events to raise awareness about what is going on in the Congo.

What is happening there is one of the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today. The United Nations said it is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War Two. However, hardly anything is said about it in the media; though last weekend, The NYTimes published an article to shed some light on the story.
Basically, militias are being sent into the Congo to break the spirits of the people there through rape and violence so that they can mine and steal the resources of the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) such as Coltan (used to make computers, cell phones, DVDs, kid’s game consoles, etc), copper, and diamonds and then sell it to the corporations.

Guess who some of those are? (It’s companies in the US, Europe, and Asia who supply us with all our cool stuff).  How often do you buy a new tech gadget? Are you quick to go for the refurbished tech piece, or the brand spankin’ new edition that gets updated yearly? All those gadgets are made from special base metals in the Earth, and are incredibly valuable in a poor continent like Africa- valuable enough to rape and kill over.

This long-standing war also feeds into the epidemic of AIDS. Through the rapes, the virus has spread. Thankfully, there are inspiring people like YOUTH AIDS activist Suzanne Africa Engo who is taking a stand and raising awareness for the AIDS epidemic. Right now she is on her journey, running 858 miles from NY to Oprah’s studio in CHICAGO. Check out her site and blog to see how you can help her on this journey. 

A simple solution of free trade can help disintegrate the use of rape as a war tactic. Pressure manufacturers to reclaim/recycle materials that we already have, and not to finance the militias (take action in a number of ways here). Do we really need to buy a new Laptop or DVD player every year or two or three that is made of raw materials that are gotten through murder, torture, and rape?

I know this is all over whelming but a little bit of effort to make a change goes a long way for any cause. We as human beings need to take a stand for our given rights to love, have peace and own our bodies…for the sake of humanity.  Invoke democracy. Speak to others, write to authorities, demand free trade, research, ask for help if you need it.  VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Be the change that you want to see and help create the world that you would want to bring your own children into.”