New Year · Eco-Chick

Browsing all posts tagged with New Year

Team Eco Chick’s Favorite Natural Beauty Products for a Healthy (Skin) New Year!

I know plenty of progressive, conscious ladies who eat organic, work out regularly, and even choose eco fashions over conventionally-made clothes when they can, but get stymied when it comes to makeup and beauty products. We all have our go-to’s, those tried-and-true products that will do what we want, when we want them to. Unfortunately, many of those same products contain toxic ingredients (check yours at The Cosmetics Safety Database to find out what carcinogens or neurotoxins might be lurking in your faves).

To make switching to organic or at least less-toxic products easy, try this two-step process. Pick a product you use every day (moisturizer, mascara, or lipstick), and look around for a more natural version. Once you find a couple in your price range, that seem like they might work for you, try them both. Choose which one works best, then adopt it as your ‘new regular’. Then, when you feel ready, try another product. Over the last five years I’ve replaced my pthalate-laden perfumes, conventional makeup, moisturizers, body washes and other shower necessities (like shaving cream) to natural versions, slowly but surely. Check out some of our team’s picks below for inspiration:

Starre Vartan, author, publisher of Eco-Chick.com

Starre Vartan Loves:

I’m a total mascara junkie! And I’ve tried them all, from natural to not. My favorite by a long shot has got to be Lavera’s Volume mascara in black. It has never flaked out on me, which is unusual because pretty much every other mascara I’ve ever used gives me raccoon eyes. Fortified with jojoba and wild rose oil, it smells delicious and goes on smoothly, no clumping. I have long, relatively thick lashes, with blonde ends, so I don’t need a thickening mascara; if you do, you might find this one too thin. But it’s perfect for me as it darkens and lengthens my lashes and the brush allows for easy manipulation and fine-tuning of application.

My go-to powder is definitely Tarte’s provocateur pressed mineral powder in Light. It’s thick enough to even out my skin tone, but never feels cakey. I usually don’t wear foundation, and find this powder to be enough coverage for me, plus it’s got an SPF of 8.

Alicia Lubowski-Jahn, Eco Art and Design Correspondent

Alicia Likes:

Moksa Organics is a carbon neutral certified company that produces a sustainable line of affordable hand made soap, body lotions, body oils and baths salts. They won me over with their super yummy-smelling, chemical-free, organic bar soaps packaged in 100% postconsumer waste. The soaps are made with fair trade, unrefined bulk ingredients blended with essential oils. Each soap is named after an awesome place on earth and a portion of its sale benefits a designated environment group.

I love the simplicity of Sprout Wellness’ lip, body, and face products. True to their tag line “detoxify your life”, Sprout is inspired by a process of elimination– especially nasty ingredients like preservatives, animal products, petrochemicals, and fragrances. Although it’s a cliche, they actually do smell so good you could eat them and, indeed, they are made with plant and essential oils and kitchen-cupboard ingredients like organic almonds, organic oats, organic apple cider vinegar, and sea salt.
More »

health, makeup, Natural Beauty, New Year, nontoxic

Soy's Eco Creds

1 Comment

by Courtney Tenz · 01/30/09

Last month, when Starre asked us all for our New Year’s resolutions, I didn’t have to think twice about them because I’ve been thinking so much about these goals over the last year. But I just put all my eco goals for the year out there for the world to see without elucidating and that raised this question:

Why is soy considered “not necessarily doing better for the environment”? I thought that tofu was a good nonmeat protein alternative.

Here’s my attempt at answering that question, but bear with me: there’s a big debate about soy so there’s a lot of nonsense out there and I don’t want to rumor-monger. And along those lines, I won’t get into the health issue regarding soy (I know one dietitian who says it’s good for you and another who says only in moderation and though I trust both of them, the truth seems to be a few years away yet).

So the closest thing I have for an answer is to say, as I said in that previous New Year’s post, that I try to lead a one-earth life as it is so the things that I’m working on are pretty specific to me and what I think I can handle doing. I mean, it would be silly for me to say I’ll cut back on driving when the only time I get in a car is when I visit my ‘rents in the US which doesn’t happen all that many days in the year. And so, for me, the next step my vegan lifestyle has to take is less processed food and that means removing soy from my diet and eating more veggies and beans. Of course, eating tofu is not as much of an eco-sin as eating meat. As Starre said in her recent post to the new Pres:

Meat production is the most energy- and water-intensive food you can eat. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Department reports that 18% of greenhouse gases come from meat and dairy production. Go veg at least half-time Mr. President, and you will save your heart, your colon, and the planet.

Going local while veg is the next best thing you can do for you and the planet. Soy, however, doesn’t grow here in Germany and it’s not always easy in the US, either, to get locally-grown and processed tofu (especially that made from soy that hasn’t been genetically engineered, which is a huge enviro no-no in my book, and which accounts for 85% of US grown soy). In some of the countries that export soy to the US, it has become such a viable crop due to biofuels and its use as a cattlefeed that eco havoc is being wreaked in some places, and I don’t want to get behind that anymore by buying beans from Brazil. Or from anywhere else. So if I can swap a mushroom burger for a tofu burger, I will. At least, that’s what I’m resolving to do. But for everyone else, well, that’s up to you.

agriculture, Amazon, book, Brazil, car, driving, eating, Eco-Chick, Energy, epa, fall, Food, gas, Germany, Greensolutions, health, local, meat, New Year, New Year's, Obama, processed food, rum, solutions, soy, style, vegan, water

Dose of Reality: Happy New Year

4 Comments

by Katie Kish · 01/02/09

“The science is beyond dispute… Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”

I never thought I’d see the day when the President of the USA would be considered “more green” than the prime minister of Canada. I’m happy to say, that I truly believe Obama is just that. (Although…to be fair – being “more green” then the Canadian government isn’t super hard right now.)

The future looks mostly friendly with Obama on leading the way. Originally there was some skepticism over his support for “clean coal” support – but won the environmentalists back with his incredibly aggressive and undeniably ambitious plan for climate change and renewable energies. This plan focuses on an attempt to reduce 80 % emissions from 1990 levels by 2050 along side auctioning 100 % of the pollution permits. If he holds true to his plan it will also include a $150 billion investment for green jobs and clean energies.

He is calling for 30% of all the government’s electricity to come from renewable energy within the next 11 years, and 25% of ALL U.S.A electricity to come from sustainable/renewable sources by 2025. All “new buildings” would be carbon neutral by 2030 and U.S oil consumption would drop by at least 35%. He opposes oil drilling in the Arctic, supports Nuclear energy (although doesn’t want it stuck under Yucca - but did accept $159 800 in contributions from Exelon) and supports labeling foods for GMOs and country-of-origin.

So it looks as though that America is rolling into a new year with some bright light ahead of them. To the east Spain is putting forth intense efforts to start a competition for the biggest and baddest solar energy device this world can offer. They’re not even going to keep it to themselves, but have said that they will export the technology to places such as Algeria and Morocco.

The 20MW solar tower is also a forerunner for an even more ambitious idea, one that Abascal [Abengoa’s CTO] hopes will become a standard for CSP plants in future — a 50MW version that could generate electricity around the clock. “During the day, you’d use 50% of your electricity to produce electricity and 50% to heat molten salt. During the night you use the molten salt to produce electricity.”
Molten salt technology is in its early stages but Abengoa is testing the idea at a power plant in Granada. So far the company has demonstrated that it is possible to store up to eight hours of solar energy by heating tanks containing 28,000 tonnes of salt to more than 220C. “This will make it possible to have almost constant production or at least it will be able to produce energy for most of the day,” said Abascal.

India is doing it’s part by introducing such technology as the solar rickshaw!

The solar version reaches a pretty impressive speed of about 15 kilometres per hour and, fully-charged, the battery can keep going for 50-70 kilometres. The goal is to develop the current four Soleckshaws into more advanced models in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Hopefully these sorts of technologies will only keep going so that the everyday rickshaw driver can afford one. But for less costly environmental efforts we can turn to Japan where they’re using recycled bottles to save people’s lives.

All over the world there are people devoting their lives, or simply just doing their best to help save the environment. I look forward to this new year, when I suspect that we’ll see many changes in America, Canada and all over the world. Although some of the governments may not have the best plans, at least they’re starting to have plans at all. And it’s going to take the effort, passion and devotion of every single person to see some major changes starting to take place.

So Happy New Year! I hope this coming year brings you lots of green-filled surprises and cool new technologies for us all to try out. Throughout the year I’ll keep you updated on coral reefs, endangered species, deforestation, pollution and the hardships that people are facing because of global warming and other environmental disasters.

“We are not acting as good stewards of God’s Earth when our bottom line puts the size of our profits before the future of our planet.”
— Obama Oct. 14, 2007, in a speech at an interfaith forum on climate change

arctic, car, carbon, climate change, coal, consumption, deforestation, eating, Eco-Chick, electric, electricity, emissions, Energy, Food, Global Warming, green jobs, India, model, models, New Year, nuclear, Obama, oil, Plants, Pollution, produce, recycle, recycled, reduce, rum, spa, sustainable, Technology

New Year's 2009 GreenSolutions

5 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 12/30/08

Editor’s Note: This year I asked all the Eco Chick contributors to send me their New Year’s Resolutions, and they really impressed me with their plans! I bet you will be too- interesting to note the similarities (reducing plastic, teaching kids about environmentalism, cooking more) from all these writers, and the differences. I’ve noted where everyone lives so you can get an idea of where these Greensolutions are coming from.

We’d love to hear your Greensolutions! Leave them in the comment box to solidify your plans and inspire others!

Kim Jordan Allen, Connecticut, rural/small town

Teach my children about personal responsibility and the environment: using minimal amounts of water (my son just learned to wash his hands and wants to stand at the bathroom sink as long as possible with the water running, so that is a great opportunity to teach,) recycling, caring for plants and animals, and generally enjoying nature.

Spend Less Money: in general, as we know, spending less minimizes one’s carbon footprint. With times being what they are, there is great incentive to grow it, make it, recycle/reuse it, sew it, or fix it. In our house, with kids, food is usually the biggest expense. Buying organic and local can be pricey sometimes, so focusing on not wasting anything and utilizing every crumb is my goal.

Clear out all the old piles of random odds and ends that need to be disposed of: plastics, batteries, CFL’s, cell phones, and other household waste. Earth911.org is my savior for this stuff.

Eat as little processed food as possible and eat local: To avoid those sneaky ingredients that seem to be in everything, like corn syrup, soy lecithin, whey powder, etc. I am trying to cook my heart out and buy less boxed goods.

Melissa Goldberg, New Jersey suburbs

Reduce my family’s waste — In my household we recycle everything and anything that can be. This year I would like to move that one step forward and rather then recycling more, I would like to reduce the amount of waste that my family generates.

Jar and freeze more food for the winter months — This past summer our garden was abundant with veggies. With our CSA and garden we were giving food away. This summer I plan and learning more about storing my food for the winter months so we have a freezer full of great veggies rather then depending on what is available in the market.

Help get my community on the road to sustainability — For the past year, myself along with 10 other members of my community were part of a Sustainable Task Force where we created a road map of what we think our town needs to do become more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint. In 2009, we hope to move this along by putting the suggested tactics into action.

Make my house more energy efficient — Built in 1955, our home has many places where we loose heat especially our front door. I would like to upgrade our front door reducing the draft and saving energy.

Teach children the importance of helping our environment — I would like to create a program in my son’s school to teach the children the little things they can do to help our environment. It is hard to teach the parents so let the kids do it for me!

Alicia Lubowski, New York City

To Connect With Nature: Since I am a city dweller, it is easy to feel disconnected from nature. Sometimes, for example, I long to see a full starry night sky and not what I think looks like a star, but is actually an airplane or some other unidentified flying object! I intend to be more thankful for the land, the seasons, and natural resources that enliven and sustain the urban environment and to relish thoroughly those sublime windows onto nature’s majesty.

To Smile at The Morning Glory: I am kind of a vampire and so a big item on my agenda is to become more of a morning person. For those who know me, this statement might make them laugh in disbelief or take bets on my feeble willpower. I’d like to wake up at dawn to watch the sunrise and shift to the new solar surprises and rhythms of that time and space.

To Do Without Have To: I’d like to cultivate more contentment, playfulness, and appreciation for doing things that sometimes feel like a push, a “have to”, a rule, and a burden. I want to work on expressing sincere gratitude, freedom, and enthusiasm rather than acting from feeling like I “have to”, be it a deadline, a moral judgment, or a routine schedule. I am thankful for increasingly greening my life, which gives me a chance to exercise living with conscious intention, community, and joy.

To Sweep Away the Plastic: I’d like to continue to eliminate conventional plastics and try harder to get rid of the sneaky ones that show up encasing natural toothbrushes and other well-intentioned sustainable purchases.

To Forge New Paths: While the economy going down the drain makes this a very difficult time, I hope 2009 will generate new beginnings full of inspiration, hopefulness, and unimagined promise.

Ann Benoit, Berkeley, California

1. Avoid buying any new books until i check my local library to see if they have a copy. If they don’t have a copy, I can check to see if they will order it. Donate any books + magazines that I own but don’t use to libraries or other local organizations.

2. Use my bike and walking to run more errands on the weekends

3. Make a more conscious effort to conserve energy in my apartment

4. Consume less! If this economy has taught me anything, its that I don’t need to buy as much. Using what I already have in new ways is a lot less wasteful and a lot more fun!

Danelle Brown, New York City

Prepare more meals and reduce on takeout- Not only is this resolution healthier for me, its economical, and reduces the waste that is generated by takeout containers.

Refill my printer’s ink cartridges verses purchasing new ones- I used to just drop off my empty ink cartridges to Staples, have them recycle them and purchase new ones. About a month ago, I walked by a local store that refills all HP & Epson Ink cartridges and it’s about time I walk in.

Educate, inspire and strengthen women’s confidence and awareness of our bodies’ natural abilities, strength and amazement. More and more, women are becoming disconnected to their bodies. With the addition of common medicine, pills, surgeries, products, media and many others causes, the sacred functions and natural beauty that lives within every woman is slowly slipping away.

Stephanie Rogers, North Carolina

Expand my organic garden and use water from a rainbarrel as much as possible. I grew veggies for the first time last year and this year, I plan to grow even more, but I’m going to do everything I can to use water wisely. I’m going to make my own soaker hoses as well.

Buy more food in bulk to reduce packaging, save money and lessen my dependence on packaged foods. Staples like flour, sugar, dried beans, rice, nuts and pasta are available in big bins at my local health food store and I plan to use these as well as the food I grow myself as the basis of my diet.

Get more involved in my community. I hope to join green efforts in my area, get to know more people, and eat and shop local even more than I already do. I love Western North Carolina so much and as a transplant I feel like I need to earn my place here and give back a little.

Courtney Tenz, Cologne, Germany

My hubby and I have already done a lot to keep our carbon footprint as close to one earth as we can (from going completely carless for the last three years to sharing our four walls with neighbors to help keep energy usage low) but this year we’re trying to move beyond thoughts of pollution control and more into the realms of lowering our already low consumption. So here’s what I’m attempting to do in 2009 to keep from adding to our overflowing landfills:

1. Plant a veggie and flower garden. Schrebergartens are all the rage in Germany and this year, we plan to get our hands on one. Small plots of land, these gardens were introduced post-war to keep people from starving and the tradition of growing your own food remains strong (seriously strong, as the only way to get one is to find someone who’s no longer able to care for it). Since we live in the most populated part of the country, land space for home gardens is rare and the balcony doesn’t quite cut it if you want to grow more than tomatoes and herbs so we’ve got the word out that we’re on the hunt for a
garden to call our own … and when we get our hands on one of these, we promise to share all the space with our friends. Nothing says loving like a pumpkin patch of your own!

2. Make my own things … from duvet covers to curtains to pillow covers. I may have nearly failed home ec but the rule I’ve set is that in redecorating my house this year, I’ve got to do the textiles all on
my own. That way I know no sweatshop was used, no crazy chemicals were sprayed on my bedsheets, and best of all, I won’t be throwing away any packaging.

3. Which brings me to: Banishing plastic permanently from my life. I’ve got glass jars instead of plastic tossaways, porcelain instead of plastic platters, and I always use canvas bags. Still, my plastic
garbage pile keeps getting higher (here we have to sort it out to be burned – my worst nightmare but not unusual) because of all the packaging. So this year, I’m searching for the brands that believe in
sustainable packaging and not buying those individual-wrapped cookies and chocolates that I don’t need anyway. And I’m getting my hands on a reusable water bottle.

4. I’ll also be skipping some of my previous indulgences this year by eating less soy, sugar, and chocolate. I may be vegan but a vegan who substitutes meat with soy schnitzels and soy nuggets and soy milk and soy yadda-yadda is not necessarily doing better for the environment. So I’m going back to basics in my cooking and ditching the replacements. Who needs a soy burger when you can have an mushroom one? And sugar and chocolate, well, I could go on and on about why they’re bad for the earth but I’ll be more vain here and just say my body could seriously do without so much of it.

Starre Vartan, Connecticut urban suburbs

Dance More: I love to dance, it doesn’t cost much, and it makes me piles happier than a bunch of new stuff (yes, even more than new shoes!) I’ve always tried to get into meditating every day- my new rule is that I either have to dance OR meditate every day- I think I can do this!

Work Less: I’ve become something I never thought possible in my slacker youth- a total workaholic. I LOVE what I do, but I’ve gotta cut back- it’s aging me!

Swim More: If asked to list my top 10 favorite things to do in life, swimming would come in at 3 or 4 (with dancing taking the other spot)- I will swim in almost anything and am planning on topping last year’s list of new swimming explorations. Also, I’m going to get a super-comfy, flattering, eco bathingsuit that I LOVE! Yes, I will share my search with all you lovely readers.

Do Less of the Stuff I Don’t Like and More of The Stuff I LOVE: Which encompasses all of the above….and more!

Greensolutions, New Year, New Year's

Fix It, Don't Toss It!

5 Comments

by Katherine Cure · 01/13/08

After arriving at warm home town Barranquilla, Colombia, I was in the process of putting away my winter clothes, when inside my jacket’s pocket I found an unfamiliar object. I reached inside and out came a pair of earrings. “Nice”, I thought. And tried to remember where I had gotten them from. Not mine. Must be my friend Johanna’s, to whom I last lent my jacket.
Taking advantage of the situation (a new pair of earrings for the New Year), I was going to try them on when I realized they were broken; the piece to fit in the earlobe was missing.

Mmmh… what to do? Throw them away? Sadly, I must confess that was my first thought; but then I stopped and asked myself, “Where will these earrings go? Once they reach the garbage, what will happen to them?” It was then that I decided to save the lovely pair. What would it take? How long, how much would it cost? Is jewelry commonly recycled; turned around, from person to person? Or are we stuck in the buy-buy, throw-throw cycle? All these questions arose in my mind as I set out to quench my earring fixing curiosity.

My first stop was at my cousin’s, Colombian designer Melissa Chams (above), who owns a boutique about five blocks away from my house. “Can you fix this?” I asked. “Sure”, she said. Two minutes later, I was in front of a new pair of earrings, a living memory of my now far away friend Johanna, and a happy conscience for having contributed to waste reduction.