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

Video: Olivia Zaleski Covers the Clinton Global Initiative

Olivia interviews the CEO of Avon, Andrea Jung at the Clinton Global Inititiative

The Clinton Global Initiative was begun in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton in order to “…help turn good intentions into real actions and results.” Focusing on finding solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, the nonpartisan organization holds a yearly conference to discuss, highlight and take steps to solve the top issues of the day. Naturally, as the conference has grown, so have acknowledgement and inclusion of environmental issues.

Olivia speaks with Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland

Oliva says of the experience:

“Attending CGI is a great highlight in my career thus far. I feel incredibly inspired. Up next, attending not just as a member of the press, but as a commitment maker, contributing to an innovative solution to a great global need . . . someday!”

Former Eco Chick contributor and CNN/Fortune Green Business correspondent Olivia Zaleski was on hand to check out the CGI and fills us in on what went down.

Olivia Zaleski reports from inside the Clinton Global Initiative, where global leaders are gathered to create practical solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues through the development of specific and measurable commitments to action.

In their second video report from the Clinton Global Initiative, correspondent Olivia Zaleski and filmmaker Gabriel London show us how public and private power is being applied, in the form of specific and measurable commitments, to help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
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Nau's Not Dead!!

I was really bummed when I was planning on featuring some of Nau’s new summer fashions on this site and I got to their homepage and learned they were closing shop. But then…..

……they confounded us all by throwing a HUGE summer sale which had ridiculously good deals as part of their liquidation. It just reminded me of why their stuff was so awesome and this time their collection was filled with color! It seemed so sad that just when they had reached some sort of apogee/critical mass, they closed.

But turns out they’re back! Some former Nau employees got a company called Horny Toad to buy the concept and Nau is returning! Rejoice in the ecofashiony goodness of a company that was really trying to change the dominant retail paradigm.

Via: Wend Magazine’s great blog.

San Francisco Green Fest This Weekend— Be There!

Green Festival, The World’s Largest Environmental Expo and a joint project of Global Exchange & Co-op America is coming to San Francisco this weekend (Nov 9,10, 11) Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Concourse Exhibition Center. Tickets are on sale here.

At the Green Festivals, we’re celebrating what’s working in our communities, for people, for businesses and for the environment. Here, green means safe, healthy communities and strong, local economies. Green is the color of hope, of social and economic justice, of ecological balance.
Join us for these huge parties with a purpose. You’ll enjoy more than 200 visionary speakers and 400 green businesses in each city, great how-to workshops, green films, yoga and movement classes, green careers sessions, organic beer and wine, delicious organic cuisine and live music.

If you’re in SF this weekend, make sure to check it out! On Friday evening at 7 pm the Fest starts out with a special event, “The Environment as Our Extended Body” led by Deepak Chopra.

Mixt Greens: Eco Gourmet

Eco-gourmet. It’s what you get when a brother who’s passionate about food teams up with his sister and her husband who are passionate about environmental sustainability.

If you’re in downtown San Francisco during the week, make sure to stop at my favorite lunch place, Mixt Greens, a great place to get an organic eco-gourmet salad.

Not only are their salads super tasty and organic, (i’m in love with their berry nutty) but their business practices are environmentally friendly. Mixt Greens’ two locations (both on Sansome in the financial district) were built following the USGBC’s guidelines for green building. In addition, all of their take-away packaging is made from corn (containers, cups, straws, lids and bags), and they compost 80% of their daily waste. Mixt Greens is also a Certified Bay Area Green Business.

Although mainly geared for take-away, both of Mixt Greens’ locations have a fun well-designed atmosphere to eat inside or outside.

Greener Printer: eco-friendly printing

As a graphic designer (print based), I’m aware of the huge impact commercial printing has on the environment. Luckily there are great eco-friendly printers out there like Greener Printer in Berkeley, CA who can help reduce the impact of printed materials.

The 4 areas Greener Printer focuses on are: 1. Water Conservation, 2. Solid Waste Reduction and Recyling, 3. Energy Conservation and 4. Pollution Prevention. In addition, Greener Printer prints on treeless and recycled content papers, exclusively prints with low VOC soy and other vegetable-based inks, uses energy efficient equipment, and offsets 100% of their energy usage with windpower. They are also a certified Green Business.

To give an idea of what they offer, Greener Printers prints business cards, calendars, brochures, postcards, catalogs, posters and many other print communication items. For non-local clients, printing is super easy— just upload files to their site and get the orders shipped (all jobs are shipped “climate cool“).

In short, if you have materials printed for yourself, your organization or your business, make sure to consider printing with environmentally responsible printers. At this point, the costs for eco-friendly printing are reasonable, the finished products are beautiful and the reduced footprint is considerable. Check here and here for info and tips on printing green.