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

Waterkeeper and Lexus Hybrid Living and RFK Jr. and James Blunt, Oh My!

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by Starre Vartan · 12/08/08

Sara Brancato of The Four Hundred sustainable design showroom, Starre Vartan of Eco Chick, and Lara Miller, eco fashion designer. Check out our awesome shoes! I’m wearing the Melissas by Vivienne Westwood.

Last week was a busy one, kicked off by the Lexus Hybrid Living/Waterkeeper salon at the home of William Wachtel and Annie Zabar.

James Blunt performing in the living room!
Image by Remy C.

It was a fairly intimate evening, with RFK Jr. speaking and James Blunt performing in the host’s living room. Delicious organic food, VeeV acai liquor cocktails, and green networking was enjoyed by all.

I especially enjoyed meeting Kristine Stratton, the director of Waterkeeper (which is the umbrella organization for the Riverkeepers, which started on the Hudson River and now watch over the environmental health of 182 rivers around the world).

RFK Jr.’s speeches always make me cry a little. I love the Hudson River so much, and he speaks about it so eloquently!
Image by Remy C.

I got to tell Kristine how I interned with Riverkeeper when it was still based in my hometown of Garrison, NY in an old farmhouse just a few miles from my beloved Hudson River. I was only 20 when I worked with them; that internship was one of my first lessons in how to take environmental passions and put them into action.

Lexus Hybrid Living brand specialist in a Linda Loudermilk suit, and Elizabeth Harrington of Greenopia!

Greenopian Elizabeth Harrington and I were so busy talking to all the fabulous folks in attendance, we didn’t even realize the other one was there until later in the evening! I’m glad I found her! Greenopia has been growing by leaps and bounds and is now the web’s largest source for vetted green business listings (available on your iPhone, Palm or Blackberry), so you can find eco friendly resources wherever you go.

Starre Vartan, Nicky Deam (PR Coordinator for Stella McCartney), and Adi (model for Stella’s Eco Line)
Image by Remy C.

I was really excited to see some of Stella McCartney’s organic capsule collection designs being modelled, live, by Adi, who changed from the suit above, into a gorgeous sheath later in the evening. Besides being a top-tier fashion designer, McCartney’s commitment to animals and the environment is long-standing. I’m looking forward to her upcoming collections, both her eponymous line and those for LeSportSac and Adidas (both of which contain some ecofriendly materials and some conventional).

RFK Jr. posed with the awesome valet staff in front of all the (hybrid!) Lexuses. Cute!
Image by Remy C.

The lovely and fabulous Pangea Organics ladies wearing gorgeous frocks by Bahar Shahpar and Lara Miller, respectively.

Model Adi wearing Stella McCartney’s eco line suit of organic linen with reused buttons and a killer drape.

All images by Starre Vartan unless otherwise credited.

Christmas, Events, Hudson River, water

Love Lost and Hope Found at "Design for the Other 90%"

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by Starre Vartan · 05/25/07

Text by Guest-Blogger Josh Wiese
Images by Starre Vartan and Josh Wiese

Have you ever just known that the person who’s call you’re eagerly awaiting is the one for you? I mean THE ONE. It’s this strange penetrating feeling you just can’t shake. You want to. It doesn’t make sense, I mean you just met.

I met her at a bar in the West Village on a Friday night. She was a friend of a friend, and we all hung out, sharing drinks, stories and laughs. Her stories were amazing, her soft smile and big eyes were irresistible. After a whole pitcher of margaritas with friends, we couldn’t help but get up from our table and dance. She told me about the view across the Hudson River at night, said it was beautiful, and we walked to the park.

We climbed over a berm and sat on the grass overlooking the water. I’ve never been more impressed with the soft glow of lights shining from the Jersey hills and those few lonely stars bright enough to cut through Manhattan’s night sky. It was a perfect evening with the perfect girl. I was lost in her eyes, lost in the moment. We kissed.

I fell in love that instant, and couldn’t wait to see her again. I’ve never been good in situations like this; I’m way too compulsive and eager. It seemed best to pace myself. The next day, just to let her know that she was in my thoughts, I sent a text. I waited. Checking my phone every five minutes, then every hour. No text back. I waited until Monday to call. No answer, but I left a message. No call back.

Thursday I called and left another message, this time suggesting a Saturday trip to check out the new exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum called “Design for the Other 90%“. The show looked really exciting: world-changing innovations, cool gadgets, and all with a humanitarian bent, it was totally up my alley. Finally, on Friday afternoon she sent a text saying that she’d call and meet me there. Yes! Saturday was going to be fantastic!

I made my way to the Upper East Side by around two on Saturday afternoon, but three o’clock came and no call. Three-thirty and then four p.m., still no call. Did she know the museum closed at six? Four-thrity, and I stood outside the museum grounds checking my phone again and again – nothing.

I was crushed. (Even the New York Times showed up!)

I sat on a bench, lost in my thoughts and tried to come up with excuses for why she didn’t call. Soon enough, excuses gave way to old fashion wallowing in self-despair. But here was still one hour left to check out the exhibit. So I sulked up to the ticket attendant, paid my twelve dollars, and walked slowly into the museum yard.

“Design for the other 90%” is an exhibit about the 5.8 billion people, or 90% of the world that have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted. They have no evening forays out to West Village bars, no manicured berms overlooking the Hudson River and Jersey shore, and bear the burden of much heavier worries than whether or not a certain beautiful girl will ever call them back. The exhibit takes a close look at some of the recent innovations designed to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who need them most.

Worldbike prototype: helps the rider move large quantities over distances but it still safe and comfortable to ride. Hey, here’s a great way to fight global warming!

The exhibit is set up in the Cooper-Hewitt’s large garden lawn. It’s like a beautiful maze, and around every corner, set up as if it might be in the field and ready to use, a curious object or structure stands out, begging your attention.

Instead of carrying water (a job that is primarily women’s and children’s work the world over, and can take several hours a day) people can now pull larger quantities in this heavy plastic wheel.

In spite my unshakable conviction that Friday evening was love at first site, and Saturday afternoon was love lost, my problems seemed to fade with each passing step. Every display told a story about overcoming a desperate situation. Every design was hope realized, and with each, my heart lifted.

Drip irrigation systems hydrate plants more effectively and keep needed water from evaporating, preventing waste.

Inexpensive pumps and filters give life saving access to clean water and help efficiently irrigate crops. Easily installed virtual utilities combine street lighting for safety with a Wi-Fi mesh for communication and information. Paired with the advent of a 100$ laptop, isolated and poor schools are connected to the richest libraries in the world via the web. Cooking becomes safer and less expensive by using bicycle parts and vanity mirrors to build solar dishes that power informal kitchens. It’s amazing how much can be done with so little, and it’s all on display.

A solar stove!

Some of what I saw was simple and familiar, but innovative in how it was applied to life in these communities. Some of it was complicated, totally new, but equally innovative in it’s application. “Design for the other 90%” is not about 10% of the worlds population coming to aid of the rest. It’s not about charity. It’s about designers working directly with the end users of their products, emphasizing co-creation to meet to their needs. According to the exhibit’s curator, “Many of these projects employ market principles for income generation as a way out of poverty. Poor rural farmers become micro-entrepreneurs, while cottage industries emerge in more urban areas. Some designs are patented to control the quality of their important breakthroughs, while others are open source in nature to allow for easier dissemination and adaptation, locally and internationally.”

The underside of this lean-to roof (holes are for air-exchange) shows that design can be sustainable, beautiful, inexpensive and help people who need immediate shelter, all that the same time.

I spent the hour wandering around, reading about each exhibit piece, and the power of people coming to help one another. My spirits were lifted.

Bench made of reclaimed wood from Katrina-damaged homes.

In one afternoon I moved from heartbreak to inspiration, from self-despair to tears of hope. Yeah, it’s a little embarrassing, but they were actual tears. I’m not sure if the tears were the result of being left weak after a self-inflicted emotional roller coaster that I could have easily seen coming (unanswered texts and unreturned calls), or if it was the beautiful stories, one after another, told through each piece in the exhibit. Stories about hope and overcoming the senseless poverty that affects so many of our fellow sisters and brothers around the world. And while my love at first site never texted or called again after that, hope for other things, greater things, replaced that strange and penetrating feeling I just couldn’t shake.

For more images of the exhibit by Josh, go to Picasa.
For more images of the exhibit by Starre, go to Flickr.

car, children, corn, design, designer, designers, Energy, exhibition, farm, Fashion, filter, Food, gadgets, garden, Global Warming, health, Home, Hudson River, Lighting, local, Manhattan, media, mom, New York Times, NYTimes, Plants, plastic, poverty, schools, spa, sport, Starre Vartan, sustainable, Tea, transportation, urban, waste, water, women, women's, wood

Nukes 'R'nt Us

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by Starre Vartan · 08/21/06

Model and Environmentalist Betcee May, and tireless Environmental Activist Remy Chevalier want to pull the plug on Indian Point, followed by Vermont Yankee and Millstone.

If you’ve been following Eco Chick for awhile, you will know that we are anti-nuclear power, even though there are some environmentalists who think that nukes are the answer to fighting CO2-belching coal plants which promote global warming. We are not one of them. (Here I use the royal we, you know, the editorial…)

Here on the East Coast, Indian Point is the worst of the worst. Even if you believe it has a perfect safety record, (which it emphatically doesn’t) it’s way too close to major population centers (like the most densely packed part of the country, including New York City) and would be a perfect terrorist target. I, along with other folks, including Remy Chevalier, are working to shut it down. Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties in New York state and Bergen county in New Jersey have all passed resolutions to shut the behomoth down, and numerous school boards, municipalities, labor groups and others have done the same. Eliot Spitzer, candidate for Governor in New York, promises to shut it down if he wins the race.

Clearwater and other boats doing the protest thing. Don’t you want to join in?

You can read more about the details in this article I wrote for the Fairfield County Weekly, as well as checking out Riverkeeper’s site, attending the Rock the Reactors event in November, or attending the sail/gathering organized by the Clearwater on the Hudson River (that means in a boat, either yours or on board the Clearwater) on August 27th to protest ongoing safety violations at the plant.

coal, Global Warming, Hudson River, India, labor, model, New York City, News, nuclear, nuclear power, nukes, Plants, solutions, Target, water

Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival

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by Starre Vartan · 06/19/06

I had the best time at the Hudson River Clearwater Revival this weekend! It is one of the oldest environmental summer festivals in the country (over 35 years!) and still going strong! In fact I think there were more people this year than I’ve seen in awhile. I attended this gathering as a kid (when I wasn’t away at camp) and it has always bookended my summers- Clearwater Revival as summer starts, and the Garrison Art Center’s Arts & Crafts Fair towards the end. Clearwater is more that just having fun though. The price of admission goes towards educating people about the importance of the Hudson River from the Clearwater sloop.

All proceeds go directly to support Clearwater’s environmental research, education and advocacy to help preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as communities in the river valley.

The Clearwater has quite a history, a true story of locally-based action eventually having a national impact.

Back in the mid-sixties, after centuries of accumulated sewage pollution and industrial dumping of toxic chemicals, the Hudson River was deemed “dead”. The river’s fragile ecological system was devastated. Not a single fish was found in many areas; the level of commercial fishery dropped dramatically and the once-thriving oyster harvesting industry became almost nonexistent. Recognizing this incredible social and environmental tragedy, Pete Seeger, a popular musician and respected activist, decided “to build a boat to save the river”. Holding small, fundraising river concerts throughout the Hudson River Valley, he literally passed his banjo among the crowd, collecting contributions to build the elegant tall ship that would become a symbol of environmental advocacy, the flagship of the American Environmental Movement, the Sloop Clearwater.

Later, Pete Seeger and the Clearwater org helped pass the original Clean Water Act and more recently forced GE to clean up the PCB’s they had dumped in the river.

I helped out at the E Magazine table, ate vegan soul food at Nyota’s Ting, listened to more music than I could keep track of (the stage was solar powered), caught some rays on the grass next to my beloved Hudson River, talked to lots of folks about tomorrow night’s POMED event in NYC, went shopping for some great new clothes (I’ll be highlighting some of the great stuff I found in future posts), signed petitions (one was to close Indian Point) and generally chilled out and appreciated the day.

The weather was beautiful, and the company was excellent. If you’d like to see more photos from the day, go to Remy C’s site.

book, clothes, Crafts, fish, Food, Hudson River, India, Lighting, local, magazine, Music, NYC, Pollution, Shopping, soul, style, summer, vegan, water, weather

Nuclear Power is NOT the Wave of the Future

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by Starre Vartan · 05/16/06

Betcee May emerging from the Ruins of Indian Point, Illustration by Justin Theodoro Teodoro

There’s a new movement to shut down Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Westchester County, New York. Having grown up about 10 miles from this reactor, I am first in line when talk turns serious of getting rid of it. Rock the Reactors is planning a “shut down the plant” concert in November, and Democratic candidate for governor Eliot Spitzer is running on a platform of shutting the aging beast, (which is located only 24 miles from NYC) off.

There are a host of organizations, like Riverkeeper, who can fill you in on the whys and the hows of the issue. Their site explains how the plant (which was recently cited for leaking waste into the Hudson River), is not economical, not safe, not secure from terrorists, and certainly not environmentally friendly (though there are plenty of folks, from the Bush administration to some enviros, who think that nuclear power is the only way to alleviate our dependence on fossil fuels).

Bush, Energy, Hudson River, India, media, News, nuclear, nuclear power, NYC, Politics, trike, waste