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

Westport Connecticut’s Kaia Yoga: For a New Year Filled with Health and Peace

Recently, I had the chance to check out the newest Kaia Yoga in Westport, Connecticut (there’s two locations in Greenwich too), and walked away from my visit with the wonderful post-yoga calm and a pleasantly full belly.

The former was due to an invigorating Vinyasa class in a gorgeously lit studio; the latter was the direct result of a smorgasbord of raw, mostly-vegan foods and juices I had the opportunity to try while I spoke with the center’s co-founder, Stan Woodman (the other half of the team is his wife, Gina Norman).

“The practice of yoga is a detox itself,” Stan told me. “When you do yoga, you are really feeling your body, and you can really feel how bad food affects you, so you make different choices.” The juices on offer, which are made fresh daily and can be taken to go or enjoyed in the super sunny cafe area (Yep, it has WiFi!), are the next step in ridding the body of toxins after a good practice. The center offers 1, 2, and 3 day juice cleanses too, a great way to kickstart a spring refresh (or get back on your New Year’s Resolutions bandwagon).

Food from the Westport Kaia Yoga mostly raw, veggie cafe.
More »

ENDoutdoor: New Sustainable Trail Sneaks for the Green Outdoorschickie

Many people think that when you live in the suburbs you are only surrounded by tiny plots of land with mowed lawns and white picket fences. That’s not the case for me. I am very fortunate to live within a half mile of a forest reserve of more than 2,000 acres of undeveloped land. Twice a week my friend and I take an 1-1.5 hour hike — no matter the weather, no matter the season, we take her dog and hike.

So I was really excited when I was offered the opportunity to test out a new brand of high-performance eco-friendly trail shoes. Now I’ve seen eco-friendly clothing and everyday footwear. Never before have I seen green footwear for athletic and fitness needs — think Nau for the outdoor fitness enthusiast.

Launching August 1st, ENDoutdoor (END) is a new sustainability company that is focused on designing outdoor gear that performs well without all the “bells and whistles”- no pumps or air cushions that don’t really do anything. By keeping it simple, END reduces components, material and manufacturing waste. END’s stated goal is to reduce waste up to 59% in the first season compared to the top rate trail running shoes.

Their trail shoes are made from renewable, sustainable or recycled (RSR) materials wherever possible. The company’s goal is to reach 100% use of RSR in the next 3-5 yrs. END shoes are being manufactured in China. China, I know what you are thinking! However, the company made a conscious decision by going to China. They believe that China is the best choice because they want to be part of the solution by working closely with manufacturers to make the processes as eco-friendly as possible. END is teaching Chinese manufacturers how to produce environmentally, not just low-cost. The company hopes this focus spreads beyond just the producing of END’s shoes.

One of the most interesting features of END’ manufacturing process is that all materials used to make the shoes are sourced within 1 hour of the production factory, cutting down on transportation pollution. Additionally, all wastes are recycled back into the shoes, and the shoes are shipped in lightweight containers, cutting down on use of fuel for shipping. Importantly, END shoeboxes are made of recycled and recyclable material.

So how do they actually perform in the field? I love them. I have been hiking in the END Stumptown 12 oz running shoes (pictured above) that use 35-59% less material; rubber, foam, resins and glues (compared to the top five trail shoes by Outside Magazine in 2007).

From the feel, they sure seem like it. They are comfortable, light and stable. No fancy colors or logos. I even went hiking the other day with my husband and we took a new route. We had to cross a river that we both fell in. My END sneaks dried out in the the sun in about an hour and my husband’s Adidas Sambas (not the best hiking shoes) were still wet that night!

More »

The Green Yoga Association

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.
More »

Not Your Granny's Panties

Ahh for the love of lingerie! If you head over to the Natural Store by Enamore, you’ll come across these tasty little vittles of silken fantasies and bow-tied dreams. Ayten Gasson, a Central Saint Martin’s Graduate, collaborated with Enamore on these particular girly-girl pieces. The hemp-silk and vintage lace collections are so delicate and sensual – and the french knickers, (according to Elle McPherson if you read the U.S. issue of Fitness Magazine) stated, “Makes any tookis look good” orrrr something along those lines.