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

Eco-Hypocrisy

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 02/21/08

An enviro-moralism, substantiated by the current sense of ecological responsibility, has permeated modern discourse. Al Gore said, “this is not a political issue… it is a moral one.” One is judged by their use of plastic bags, their vehicle, their light bulbs – their consumption. The idealism has become dogmatized, which in turn allows for judgment based on this moral code. Nature has been deified, made ‘God-like’, perpetuating social persecution of those who are ‘un-godly.’ Celebutantes, politicians, ecomoms, musicians, businessmen, and hippies alike are analyzed, critiqued, chewed-up and spit-out, often by those attempting to initiate change.

The guilt and eco-anxiety mentioned in Patricia Leigh Brown’s recent NYT/IHT article on EcoMoms touches on the internalization of this ‘right and wrong.’ People torment themselves over decisions. The consumptive race leaves one feeling despondent. Perfection in all things eco and environmental leads some to self-flagellate or harshly judge others.

Allowing for contradiction or hypocrisy grants an acceptance and a willingness to “do what one can” while avoiding the eco-neurosis caused by either never feeling one is doing enough or by constantly living on a soapbox. Assuming that one can live without inconsistency, in an idealized state of eco-harmony, is naive and perpetuates a form of fundamentalism. As we have seen, fundamentalism leads to judgment, hatred, and violence. Perhaps accepting the potential for imperfection permits one the true ability to change?

bags, business, consumption, ecomom, farm, meat, mom, moms, Music, News, plastic, plastic bags, soap

Why Greenfest? Here's the Answer

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by Starre Vartan · 11/23/07

by Guest-blogger Katherine Cure

Katherine Cure sipping organic fair-trade coffee from one of the second-hand mugs that were available for use during Greenfest

“Greenfest? What’s that?” the tanned middle-aged East Bay native eating next to me asked, as I outlined to him my reasons for coming to San Francisco for the weekend. So I briefly cultured him on the green, before my mussels arrived. I explained what was about to happen: a three day festival that would display products, media representatives, fashion designers, energy producers and builders, all with green on their label. San Francisco, a known promoter of sustainable and environmentally safe practices (including bans to the use of plastic bags and Styrofoam takeout containers), was the chosen venue for what would be the last green fest of the year. “You should come,” I said, and indulged in my Italian dinner.

Little did I know, even after attending the same event the past month at the nation’s capital, what I was to encounter the next day. Multitudes of San Franciscan and East Bay residents invaded the premises, packed the aisles, and even had to be forced out (myself included…) from the organic beer and wine stand, at 8 o’clock, when it was time for closure. San Francisco’s Green Festival was a success. Good news for organizers Global Exchange and Co-Op America, who with this one, finished a series of four green festivals around America. Good to see the green spreading.

Zach the Poet

Be them hippies or more conservative looking types networking for their companies and local eco-initiatives, I was lucky to encounter a number of very interesting personages. One of my favourites, although I could not really see the environmental in his initiative, was Zach, a poet who sat with his blue antique typewriter and wrote poems about everything with the most beautiful smile. A poem about falling in love, he made for me. Green or not, his presence is the epitome of the immense variety that gathered at the festival.

The anti-plastic bag brigade

Products on display represented pretty much every possible marketable category: food, beauty products, baby diapers, accessories for pets, eco-fashion, building materials and even medicinal mushrooms! Tasty samples of organic farmed produce, fair trade coffee, tofu, multigrain crackers, chocolate, cheese and the powerful drink maca (intense stuff), guaranteed a healthy bite and a full tummy. Eatwell Farm a California-based organic lavender farm selling fresh lavender in bundles and in little cloth packages (that reminded me of my grandma’s closet) as well as oils and hydrosols, was one of my favourites. The extremely creative aisles of eco-fashion representatives clustered in the upper right level, was another one of my faves. Features included colourful displays of clothes and accessories with guaranteed sustainable materials and fair trade products whose profit will reach the communities that made them, instead of some retail store.

The Hippy Gourmet Team

Vibes were loving and energetic; people smiley, switched on and empowered. Puppet shows, reggae bands, live percussion and a couple of wanderers performing skits, culminated the green experience. Once you passed the front door, where I was stopped more than once having of course forgotten my badge somewhere, you were inevitably immersed in the environmental wave.

Jennifer Horning and Kirsten Muenster

The greatest acquaintance at the festival, (other than Coicoi and Ninka, my girlfriends from Berkeley), ends this tale. Jennifer Horning and Kirsten Muenster, the first one a lawyer and the second a jewellery designer, approached the E Magazine booth where I was volunteering, to talk to me about Ethical Metalsmiths, their initiative for delivering sustainable jewellery. A lot of issues are behind the rings we wear and that beautiful necklace we covet. We might be unaware, especially in underdeveloped countries, of the poor work the gold, emerald and silver mines that provide designers with raw material for their creations, under inhumane conditions. Not to mention the environmental impacts of mining. But rather than refuse jewellery (thank god!), supporting empowered women like Jen and Kirsten who wish to find fair and eco-friendly solutions to these issues, might be the answer. By recycling existing pieces, getting certification for the materials used, or just helping in making mining practices fair, these loving, knowledgable and fashionable ladies, to whom I give my ten, are striving to make a difference.

For more on Ethical Jewelry, see this E Magazine article.

accessories, Baby, bags, Beauty, beauty products, clothes, coffee, design, designer, designers, eating, Eco-Chick, Energy, environmentally safe, ethical, Fair Trade, fall, farm, Fashion, Food, health, Jewelry, Lavender, liver, local, magazine, media, News, oil, oils, Organic, pets, plastic, plastic bags, produce, Recycling, solutions, sustainable, sustainable materials, Tea, Wine, women

If You Must Dryclean….

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by Starre Vartan · 09/03/07

My little pile of separated drycleaning materials

I do have some clothes that need drycleaning and as I’m getting ready for Autumn, I’ve been making sure my sweaters and wool pants from last Winter are ready to go. You never know when you’re going to wake up in the morning with frost on the window (I can’t wait!). Besides seeking out and patronizing PERC-free or wet-drying cleaners, (sometimes called ‘organic’ cleaners) as they use fewer harmful chemicals, there are other ways you can make your drycleaning process less wasteful. For more information on why to avoid PERC, and a lowdown on the various types of alternative cleaning available, go here.

As I was organizing my closet, I had a bunch of the plastic hanger bags, paper hanger covers, and of course, hangers piling up on the floor. What to do? Well, I pulled them all apart, making little obsessive piles of the various components:

-The paper bits were folded and added to my paper recycling.

-The plastic bags were tied off on the ends, tightly (since they have that hole there for the hangars to go through), and will be used for garbage bags.

-The twisty ties go into my kitchen drawer where I will used them for everything from keeping my tomato plants held up to attaching my cat’s tail to her leg (just kidding!).

-The hangers will go back to the cleaners so they can reuse them, since I would never hang my clothes on them in my closet. Not only do they ruin the shoulders of your shirts, but have you ever seen the scene in Mommy Dearest with the wire hangers? My grandma raised me, and she had similar, though less-violent feelings about such hangers. Using them would result in my grams turning over in her grave.

-The plastic clothespin thingies and/or safety pins that keep skirts on the hangar also go back to the cleaners for reuse.

Don’t just throw a wad of plastic, paper and wire hangar into the garbage, reuse and recycle! Of course, if you can avoid drycleaning (by buying clothes that don’t need to be) in the first place, that’s the best way to go.

autumn, bags, cleaning, clothes, epa, farm, garbage, mom, Organic, paper, Plants, plastic, plastic bags, recycle, Recycling, reuse, waste

Paper or Paper

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by Ann Benoit · 03/24/07

San Francisco might be the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags! The ban (if passed) would require the use of compostable or recyclable bags by grocery store and large pharmacy chains in the city. It is estimated that 180 million plastic bags are distributed annually in the city by markets, pharmacies and other businesses. I’m crossing my fingers that this will get passed and other cities will follow suit…

bags, business, cities, farm, paper, plastic, plastic bags, plates, recycle, recycled

Eco-Minded

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 05/05/06

I have been thinking about what I do on a daily basis to minimize my environmental footprint. There is always more, but here are some examples of what I do:

1. Recycle everything – including plastic bags, bread bags, etc.
2. Support local farmers by participating in CSA’s and purchasing food at coops.
3. Save my own recycling and garbage and take it to the dump myself once a month-cutting the need for garbage pick-ups.
4. Keep lights off unless I need them.
5. Keep the heat low/off.
6. Seek clean power sources.
7. Carpool or bicycle.
8. Find apparel at second hand/consignment stores or seek out sweat-shop free/organics.
9. Participate in activism – donating – volunteering – educating (although I don’t do this as much as I’d like.)
10. When on a hike or just hanging out in the woods – pick up garbage/recyclables and carry them out.
11. Convert the office to recycling.
12. Use energy star appliances.

I know I’ve left stuff out… What do you do?

activism, bags, car, CSA, Eco-Chick, Energy, farm, Food, garbage, local, Organic, plastic, plastic bags, recycle, Recycling, wood