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

Summer Rayne Oakes Opens Up: Business, the LBD, and Her Passion for Bugs

Summer Rayne Oakes

I happened upon one of the “How I Wear Eco Fashion” posts here on Eco Chick mid-March to find a woman named Summer Rayne Oakes. With her deep-rooted passion and awesome sense of sustainable fashion, I knew I needed to ask her just how she does it all, and never seems to have a hair out of place. I couldn’t make it to her place to browse her odd collection (more on that later), but I did have the loveliest of chances for an email interview.

Eco Chick: I’m a junior in school and I find what you do completely inspiring. What would you tell aspiring environmentalists, journalists and eco-fashion lovers?

Summer Rayne Oakes: The coolest jobs are those that haven’t been created yet. Go out and invent your life.

Summer on Day 31 of The Uniform Project
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Eco Chick’s Heroines for the Planet: Aysia Wright

The lovely and fabulous Aysia Wright

She founded one of America’s first dedicated eco-fashion online shops (and an Eco Chick fave!), The Greenloop, and led the search for the new green “it” girl. Now, we’re turning the spotlight on trailblazer Aysia Wright herself to learn more about what’s next for The Greenloop and Project Green Search, and her must-have wardrobe staples.

Stephanie Rogers: What are your top 3 must-have fashion staples, and why?

Aysia Wright: I’m a super casual person, so for me, whatever those staples are have to be comfortable, practical and nearly seasonless. You won’t see me glammed up very often, so this is truly going to be about staples. As most who know me know, I live in my ‘pre-loved’ Frye boots, so for 1, I’d say a great pair of boots that work with a variety of outfits…or at least you can pretend they do.

Number 2 – a great pair of jeans that fit you well in all the right places, lend length to your legs, make your butt look great and can go from casual to dressed up, meaning a good dark wash, not weathered.

Number 3 – a racer back tank. Wear it alone to show off sexy shoulders, or double duty over a long sleeve fitted tee for definition, color, contrast. See. So very basic, no frills for me.
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Eco Chick’s Heroines for the Planet: Danielle Nierenberg

If it’s true that there are sayers and there are doers, Danielle Nierenberg falls firmly into the latter camp. Danielle is currently traveling through sub-saharan Africa to highlight stories of hope and success in sustainable agriculture and blogging about it at WorldWatch.org.

A Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and co-Project Director of State of World 2011: Nourishing the Planet, Danielle is a widely cited expert in sustainable agriculture issues and the spread of factory farming. She knows better than most of us how our eating habits affect the world, and the experiences she shares on her blog will blow you away.

So of course, Danielle fits right in as an Eco Chick Heroine for the Planet! I talked to her about women in agriculture, global food issues and what we can all do to help.

SR: We were surprised to learn through your blog, Nourishing the Planet, that 80% of sub-Saharan farmers in Africa are women and that women make up the majority of farmers worldwide. What are some of the unique problems that female farmers face?

DN: Although women produce most of the food and raise most of the livestock in Africa, they rarely have access to land tenure, credit, agricultural extension services, and are under-represented in farmers groups, associations, unions. But by increasing women’s participation and representation in these groups, women and men farmers alike can work together to improve gender awareness, as well as improve their access to loans and agricultural inputs and land tenure. As a result, women are able to earn a greater income, which translates into better nutrition for their families. But womens voices often go unheard, or even ignored, and that has to change.

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Eco Chick’s Heroines for the Planet: Josie Maran

She’s a top model, actress, hot mama, businesswoman and one of the world’s most recognizable women in green. So it’s only natural that Josie Maran would be the first in a fun new series of interviews Eco Chick will be doing with green movers and shakers, Eco Chick’s Heroines for Planet Earth!

The organic beauty entrepreneur has brought natural, eco-friendly cosmetics to the masses with Josie Maran Cosmetics, a brand that proves beyond a doubt that going green can be glamorous. Pure, gentle and non-toxic, Josie Maran Cosmetics are also sophisticated and always in tune with the season’s hottest trends.

I talked to Josie about weird trends, foundation faux pas and what’s next for JMC.

SR: What’s the ugliest makeup trend you ever tried and wore out the door?

JM: I’ve always kept it pretty subtle except for bright red of course. But i remember wearing bleeding blue eye shadow with too much black eyeliner, dirty brown skin, and sloppy hair to an event once…ooops!

SR: Do you see women on the street and want to tackle them and redo their makeup?

JM: There are many faux pas but the worst is when you can see that dark foundation line under the jaw line. Blend ladies! The whole point of foundation is to look like you are not wearing makeup.

SR: Do you spy any big trends in makeup for 2010?

JM: I spy lots of gold with pops of turquoise for the eyes and confident blush wearing women!!

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Behind the Scenes of the Project Green Search Model Competition Finals

Project Green Search, the first-ever green model competition, has a winner! Rachel Avalon hails from Los Angeles, California, and beat out over 130 other serious contenders for her new title as Green It Girl (read more about Rachel and her plans here). But before the winner was chosen, there were activities, photo shoots and some very good times.

The Ten Gorgeous (and Green to the Core!) Finalists Photo by Courtney Dailey.

Judging Project Green Search was lots of fun; I got a chance to go to most of the activities with the finalists and got to know them; what an impressive group of young women! From an Indy racecar driver to a natural nutritional counselor, to a college activist and an environmental educator, this was a talented and driven group of contenders. And as you can see, all of them were gorgeous too! The judging crew and I (see below) had our work cut out for us.

The judges! From left to right: Michael Zaliski, CEO of Omniquest Media, Anna Griffin, editor-in-chief of Coco Eco Magazine, Starre Vartan, author and publisher of Eco-Chick.com (I’m wearing an organic cotton dress by Doie), Remy Chevalier, Co-founder of Project Green Search, Deborah Lindquist, ecofashion designer, Josie Maran, former model and force behind Josie Maran Cosmetics, and Darren Moore, host of AlterEco and founder of Ecovations.

Day One: I got a chance to meet all the girls at a breakfast at our hotel, The Standard on Sunset Boulevard. Everyone was so excited to be there, and Taryn from EcoDivasTV started filming right away, and off we went!

Vanessa Meier even looks gorgeous in curlers! At Shades salon in LA. Image by Remy Chevalier for Lu Magazine.

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