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

Fall Eco Fashion Beats the Chill In Style with Keds, Loomstate and Eileen Fisher Organics!

It’s official. Fall is off to a cool start! The best part about fall is the chance to start anew: new initiatives (turn off that a.c. and switch to eco-bulbs), new motivations (make lunch), and new clothes! You want to look street smart even when it is cold and this new apparel is both warm and eco-chic.

The limited-edition eco-conscious Loomstate poncho!

Since there’s been a chill in the air, there’s never been a better time to sport a cute overlayer. But with the season not quite winter the hustle and bustle of a thick wool coat overwhelms. Eco-Chick has a solution! In mid- October Loomstate, a men’s and women’s eco-conscious brand, presents their limited edition poncho in celebration of Barney’s CO-OP’s 25^th Anniversary.

Pair the chic poncho with organic denim and prepare to be enviable!

The poncho is made from organic cotton canvas and recycled blankets. It’s cute brown and blue colors make it an essential wardrobe piece to pair with the cutest of cotton organic skinny jeans, for they go the best with the sneaks, like these from Eileen Fisher. Not only are these jeans made from cotton grown without pesticides, they are dyed (jean dyes are notoriously polluting) under the Global Organic Textile Standard. And if you’re not into this style, Eileen Fisher offers a whole line of organic denim on their site and in stores.

Made from non-polluting organic cotton canvas, these sneaks are eco-chic.

Sneakers are a must – whether you’re running around, walking home from work, or taking a stroll in a local pumpkin patch. Whatever you’re up to, cute comfortable sneakers are essential! Keds are superclassic and come in various colors – but this month they’re eco-chic too! Introducing Keds Organic Champions, chic footwear made from one-hundred percent organic cotton, stitched eyelets, and tea-stained laces. The sneakers are 55$ and can be purchased at www.keds.com. 

Don’t back down for the fall chill. Beat it. Sport this super cute outfit and be an eco-chick.
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The Easiest, Fastest, Tastiest Summer Lunch: A Mezze Plate

Clockwise starting with the pretzels: Happy Herbert’s Spelt mini-pretzels, Hawthorne Valley Farms lacto-fermented Dilly Beans, Sabra pine-nut hummous, organic Cali fig, organic local carrot, organic local pear, herbed goat cheese, organic green grapes (on sale).

I’m a busy Eco Chick and I like it that way; I run two websites, am working on my next book, do public speaking, travel/research near and far to keep up with all that’s new in green, teach, run a home (I do most of the house cleaning and lawn and garden care myself) care for a dog and two cats, work out six days a week, and have a very active social life. I love my life but a few months ago I recognized that it could use a bit of balance.

So I started closing my computer at a reasonable hour, extended the time I spent working out, am reading a lot more novels (which I LOVE) and made a promise to myself that I would eat more healthfully, which included these basic ideas:
-eating a wider variety of non-wheat carbs (Spelt, quinoa, oats, and wheatberries)
-doubling my produce intake
-cutting out pretty much all processed foods
-reducing alcohol consumption
-limiting dairy to small amounts and mostly goat- or sheep-milk products (lower in fat and much tastier!)

But I didn’t have much time, especially in the middle of the day for lunch, and then I hit upon an idea: The Mezze plate (a middle-eastern appetizer or main meal composed of various appetizers) which can really be made up of whatever’s on hand (I mix and match ethnic foods with abandon). Balance the carbs, produce and protein yourself, watch the calories, and voila! The fastest, easiest lunch ever!

Try any of the below combined with a generous quantity of fresh, raw, local, in-season fruits and veggies; I like to listen to my body and really try to figure out what I’m craving so that I’m paying attention to what I really need:

-edamame salad with sesame seeds (high in protein and fiber)
-baked sweet potato (I buy the small ones and bake 3-4 at once and keep them in the fridge: high in beta carotene and fiber)
-tabouli
-nut butters (try almond, macadamia, or Brazil nut rather than peanut for variety)
-kale (cook a bunch of kale with organic olive oil, salt and pepper and you can keep in the fridge for a week)
-bean dips (kidney and white bean with spices and herbs is always an easy one)
-lactofermented veggies (kimchi, sauerkraut, or others)
-bottled artichoke hearts (low-calorie liver cleanser)
-big dill pickles
-Japanese (nori) seaweed salad
-black bean and corn salad (I mix black beans with Trader’s Joes Corn salsa)
-Organic corn chips
-cold soup (gazpacho or cucumber is great in the Summer!)
-hard boiled (organic, free-range or local) eggs
-high quality, small batch hard cheeses made from raw sheep, goat and cow’s milk (keep this quantity small as they are quite nutritious but also high in calories)

I finish my mezze plate off with a generous portion of organic dark chocolate, almost every day. If you follow my Twitter stream, you’ll see which ones I’m trying, but I’ll also be posting about all my faves soon!

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.

Get Out of the House!

Don’t start hibernating yet, there are a ton of great green events coming up!

Swap-0-Rama-Rama

When: October 8th, from 1pm to 8PM
Where: 3rd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn

What’s Swap-o-rama-rama?

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores creative reuse through the recycling of used clothing.

I’ll be there! Come say hi if you see me!

Ear to the Earth Festival

When: October 6-14

Where: Throughout New York City (check here for venues)

A little bit about Ear to the Earth: 

Why are we doing this?

We are, all of us, faced with impending environmental disaster and disruption on a global scale. Yet collectively we are relatively passive as we go about the details of our lives.

As composers, musicians, and sound artists working on Ear to the Earth, we asked ourselves: What can we do? How can we inspire active sensitivity and engagement in environmental issues? How can we maintain our own sensitivity to the world?

Listening to the world is one good way to become more sensitive to the environment. Listening through the ears, sensibilities, and talents of sound artists is yet more compelling and engaging. And creating environmental sound art is active participation and involvement.

Amazon Watch Party featuring Q’orianka Kilcher (she played Pocahontas in the movie The New World with Colin Farrel and Christian Bale) an organic lunch, and speeches by indigenous leaders from the Amazon basin.

When: October 12, (Indigenous People’s Day)

Where: the Gallery One San Francisco One Embarcadero Center  (Clay & Battery), San Francisco

Amazon Watch’s Mission Statement:

To work with indigenous and environmental organizations in the Amazon Basin to defend the environment and advance indigenous peoples’ rights in the face of large-scale industrial development-oil and gas pipelines, power lines, roads, and other mega-projects.

Non-Plastic "Tupperware" — It Actually Exists

Like many people, the idea of non-plastic “Tupperware” was until recently— an urban legend to me (much like inexpensive, attractive and comfy shoes). I’d heard of people who owned the fabled goods, but had never actually seen it myself or knew where to buy it.

On a mission to find out, I discovered that although not as ubiquitous as Tupperware, non-plastic food containers do exist! These products will long outlast their plastic counterparts and won’t warp, stain or absorb odors the way conventional plastic containers do. Plus the concerns many people have with plastic leaching into food isn’t an issue.

My favorite glass container set is Pyrex’s “10 Piece Storage Set with Lids”— the lids are really durable (think: no leaking of soup into your work bag) and since they’re Pyrex, they can go in the oven/microwave for reheating (although I’d remove the lids). Plus the set is pretty reasonably priced ($20 for 5 containers w/lids).

My other new non-plastic favorite for transporting leftovers/lunch is ReusableBags.com’s “Stainless Steel Vacuum Food Jars/Containers” which hold almost 2 cups liquid/food. They’re the perfect size to fit in a bag (less bulky than the glass ones) and keep the contents hot/cold for long periods of time. Plus they’re made of low nickel content stainless steel, which is safe for liquid/food exposure.