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

Leanne Marshall's New Eco Friendly Collection at BlueFly

That’s Leanne on the right!

Project Runway 5 (and Eco Chick fave) Leanne Marshall is debuting her eco friendly line for Bluefly today!

Check it out; gorgeous stuff with Leanne’s signature flair for color and drape. There are nine pieces in all, which range from $98-$990. The two tops, the skirt, and jacket are bamboo, organic linen, and tencel, and the dying method is earth-responsible too. The gown is not made from ecofriendly materials.

Check out a video interview I did with Leanne here.

Bamboo: Ecofriendly or Not So Much?

I’ve heard bamboo flooring is more eco-friendly than traditional pine or oak. Is this true?
—Cara Truhlar, Montpelier, VT

At first glance, bamboo is as green as it gets. It grows like a weed (technically, it’s a grass) and can reach harvestable height in three to five years. This crop—also native to the Americas—sequesters carbon more efficiently than slow-growing oak forests, which can take 10 times as long to reach maturity.

Bamboo is grown most extensively in China for commercial products, but—here’s the hitch—it can become invasive if not properly managed. Widely acclaimed for its prolific growth, bamboo doesn’t usually require fertilizers and pesticides for optimal yields. However, once it’s cut, most bamboo is treated with chemical preservatives, as is the case with some other mainstream flooring materials, says Brad Salmon, president of the American Bamboo Society. These issues should factor into a product’s measure of sustainability.

The Forest Stewardship Council, the main green-wood accreditor, has just started evaluating U.S. bamboo producers, and so far it has okayed only one company, Smith & Fong Co. If you’re shopping for bamboo flooring, it’s best to start with taking a hard look at its source. Bamboo grows in some of the most threatened ecosystems in Southeast Asia and Central America.

Look for planks made from farmed, not wild, bamboo. Also “keep its whole life cycle in mind,” says Stowe Hartridge-Beam, program manager for indoor-air quality at Scientific Certification Systems, an industry-recognized third-party certifier. “How is the product manufactured and transported? Is it recyclable when it reaches the end of its life?” He says these questions must be asked of a bamboo floor salesperson or the manufacturer; they should be able to provide answers. Remember, bamboo, like any wood, needs additional sealants if you want to use it in a place that gets wet, like a bathroom or kitchen.

Ask for varnishes and glues that have low volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and that also adhere to California Section 01350, the highest air-quality standard for these products. Always buy the most sustainable products you can afford. You’re worth it.

For more details on the bamboo debate, specifically bamboo that’s used for clothing, check out the excellent coverage on The Greenloop’s blog.

This question and answer originally published in the Green Guru column of Audubon Magazine written by Starre Vartan.

Green Schools 101

Green schools are inarguably the right decision for our children and the environment. Though up-front costs are higher, green buildings save enough in operation and maintenance expenses to pay for their original construction in a matter of months. The money saved on energy bills (the annual energy savings from a single green school is generally in the 6-digit range) can be reallocated to pay for important school initiatives, additional teachers, better computers, or thousands of textbooks. Green schools also prevent the unnecessary production of millions of tons of CO2. Overall, buildings are the largest contributors to US CO2 production. Renovations and new school construction represent the largest construction sector in the U.S.—$80 billion in 2006-2008, about 27% of the US construction market (source: McGraw-Hill).

Given the enormous financial and environmental benefits, green schools seem an obvious choice, but red tape, laws and up-front costs often prevent their construction. The highly localized nature of school budgets creates a bureaucratic disconnect between capital funds (used for construction) and operating funds (used for utility bills). The difference in funding sources makes it difficult for schools to realize the potential operating-cost savings of a green building investment.

To help school boards realize the financial and environmental benefits of green building, The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has launched the “Green Schools Advocate” Program. The program will select and train national volunteers to advocate green schools to local school boards and state boards of education.

About 75 advocates will be chosen and will be invited to attend a two-day training camp at the USGBC’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Training camp will cover the benefits of green schools, LEED for Schools certification, and tactics to propel the decision-making process of building, renovating, and maintaining green schools. Advocates will learn to present the case for green schools to district governments, the local media, and other stakeholders including PTA groups.

The “Green Schools Advocate” program is a rare opportunity to make an impact in a range of causes. Green schools provide healthier learning environments for our children and reallocate money squandered on energy bills for better educational initiatives. To boot, green schools act as community exemplars, teaching tools and levers for mainstreaming green building practices into homes and offices around the US. Most of all, green schools would save millions of unnecessary tons of CO2.

If you want to get involved or think you might make a stellar “Green Schools Advocate” email The United States Green Building Council at buildgreenschools@usgbc.org. Or visit the USGBC’s Green Schools Website buildgreenschools.org for more information.

Eco Chick News Tweets!

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How The Media Abandoned the Environment, at new techie-with-a-heart-of-green EcoTechDaily.

Check Chris Baskind’s op/ed on the lack of environmental coverage in mainstream media:

No, you’re not imagining things.

With U.S. gasoline prices edging toward $4.00 a gallon; oil prices at an all-time high, demand for materials such as copper outstripping demand; worldwide food shortages; major cities running short on water; Antarctic ice sheets crumbling into the Southern Ocean; and continued uncertainty over our climatological future, you’d think the environment would be front-and-center on the evening news. And you’d be wrong.

14 New Species Discovered in Brazil, from The Daily Green

Dan Shapely reports that there are indeed new things under the sun (at least to humans). Check the gorg flipbook!:

….at the top of the Serra Geral in Brazil’s Cerrado region, where 14 new species have been discovered during an expedition to the wooded savanna.

Another new Bike Chic page (I keep writing about this subject; check it here and here) and Carectomy has found another one!

If full body Spandex isn’t your speed, check out Cycle Chic, a London-based blog that offers tips on how to look devastatingly hot (wear designer pants from Stella McCartney, or your boyfriend’s t-shirt), stay sweat-free (don’t go too fast and sport a light, summery dress), and “cycle yourself slim,” all while biking to your intended destination.

7 Sexiest Green Stars of 2007

The results are in!
Well, not really. This list is based on my humble blogger opinion. Use the comment section to claim which celebs float your green boat. With enough feedback, I hope to compile a list based on “popular,” not personal, opinion.

Sheryl Crow
2007 was a great year for Sheryl Crow. In addition to advocating “one square per restroom visit,” the singer raised mainstream green awareness by touring the country in a biodiesel-powered bus. With Laurie David at her side, Crow threw the smack down on Karl Rove. After the former senior White House advisor scoffed at global warming evidence, Sheryl got feisty. “You work for us,” the singer said famously. Now, flip me a burger . . . b*tch!

Brad Pitt
Obviously! No “sexy list” is complete without this corn-fed, Oklahoma-born, man-boy from Missouri. Rugged good looks and a hard body (PEOPLE named him Sexiest Man Alive . . . twice) are fascinating, but thanks to the stalkerazzi, we’re also privy to this benevolent gentleman’s every good deed. Following a laundry list, Pitt finished off 2007 with a massive green building project in Katrina-devastated New Orleans. Pitting (ahem, excuse me) a team of world-renowned green architects for projects, Brad is determined to start an unprecedented green building trend. Adopt a green house (not one of his children) at MakeitRight9.org.

Sienna Miller
It’s hard to keep track of this British beauty’s breakups, make-ups . . . and then again breakups; yet, Sienna’s eco-record is as clear as the see-through bra she sports in Hippie Hippie Shake. An ambassador for UK-based climate-change campaign, Global Cool, Miller recently launched the carbon-neutral clothing line Twenty8Twelve. In October 2007, Sienna received an EMA Futures Award—an honor given to those who use their talent and celebrity to draw attention to the problem of global warming. Yay! Now we can raise our beers to eco-activism and sexy starlets . . . it’s Miller time!

Adrian Grenier
Unlike the character he plays on TV, Entourage star Adrian Grenier cares about the environment—no he doesn’t drive a bright yellow Hummer in “real life!” Grenier prefers driving a Prius, living in a fully “green” house (solar roof, reclaimed floors, recycled blue-jean insulation, blah, blah, blah), and offsetting. In 2007, Grenier drew massive attention to Charity Water, a non-profit initiative that sets up drinking water and sanitation infrastructures in the world’s most impoverished communities.

Word in the ‘Hood says Grenier is “fully committed to educating any lady who dares walk into his green life.” According to environmental gossip site Ecorazzi.com, Grenier said, “if a woman isn’t environmentally conscious, she will be after going out with me.”

Too bad, I’m already environmentally conscious . . .

Al Gore
I had to! This greenie may lack chiseled abs and cheekbones. Nonetheless, in 2007 Gore turned us on with unbridled activism and inspirational gusto. You go Gore!

Hayden Panettiere
Emerging from the cesspool of Disney celebs comes Hayden Panettiere. Though best known for her kiddy-porn appeal and role on NBC’s Heroes, Panettiere is raising praise and eyebrows as a young advocate.

This past October, Panettiere thoroughly pissed off Japanese fishermen during their annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama. The young star paddled a surfboard out to a cull of captured dolphins. Though blocked from freeing the enmeshed porpoises, Panettiere’s kafuffle drew great attention to animal conservation and her bubble-butt.

Dolphin saving aside, Panettiere reportedly continues to drive a pimped out Porsche SUV . . . ugh, teenagers!

Leonardo Dicaprio
Hardly jaded by my accolades, international stardom, Oscar-nominations and embarrassingly attractive girlfriends, Leonardo DiCaprio has become one of today’s most prominent environmental voices—many say he is following in Al’s footsteps. In 2007 he produced and narrated the 11th Hour, said to be an unofficial sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. Leo’s film stars my favorite environmentalist of all—and someone who should be on this list: David Suzuki.

For more from Olivia Zaleski check in with her on The Huffington Post.