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

Eco Chic Weekly – October 20, 2008

Green Girls Global shows off the gorgeous jewelry made from antique and reclaimed glass by artist Laura Bergman.

Eco Chick dishes about four of the season’s sexiest sustainable shoes!

Victoria Everman reviews the effective, affordable, and artistic oral care line from Radius.

Safia Minney shares her eco style tips with Greenmystyle.com.

Fashion, Evolved. blogs about poverty and fashion for Blog Action Day.

GreenGirls.tv presents their weekly video wrap up.

Green Cotton reports on her recent trip to Belize!

Get a glimpse of the highlights from the European fashion weeks on DC Goodwill Fashions!

Green Gretchen got engaged and tells us all about conflict free diamonds!

Fig+Sage gives us the scoop about Saffron Rouge, the new organic line by

Green for All

I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about Van Jones and his Oakland-based campaign, Green For All, and I’ve got to say, I’m intrigued.

Premised on the idea that a clean-energy economy can help lift people out of poverty, Jones’ campaign advocates for the creation of what he calls green collar jobs (manual labor positions that benefit the environment, like solar panel installers and home weatherizers) for the impoverished or those left behind by the outsourcing of blue collar jobs. The idea seemed feasible enough that both the House and the Senate passed the Green Jobs Act (H.R. 2847) of 2007, directing $125 million annually for greening the nation’s workforce, including job training for 35,000 people every year. Unfortunately, the President has vowed to veto the bill because of its workforce training component. Hmmm….

Sounds a bit fishy to me that someone who’s recently claimed to be an advocate for alternative energies (despite believing that nuclear is a good “alternative”) would veto a bill like this. Especially if he looks to his Allies a bit further east.

Here in Germany, the environmental movement has meant a boom both to the economy and to the workforce. Two of the largest Photovoltaic panel manufacturers opened factories in the former East, significantly lowering unemployment in the part of the country with the highest unemployment rates. These same solar companies are now billion-Euro industries, even though Germany gets as less sun than most of the United States.

The boom has also created and expanded blue collar jobs in Germany. While I can’t speak to the costs of training (the education system here is very different than the US’s, with most universities only now, after quite a lot of controversy, beginning to institute tuition fees – at a measly 500 Euros/semester), their Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training knows a lot about green collar jobs and what’s required in a new sustainably developed marketplace. They’ve qualified 5000 people to become building energy experts and trained many more to install solar panels both for electricity generation and water heating. Still, they know there is more to do and they’re creating new programs each day to do it. As their website says, it’s no longer a lack of energy efficient technology that’s creating problems with every household going green: “the ‘bottleneck’ turns out to be in the awareness and confidence of the customer and in the skills of the specialist craft trade workers, rather than in the technical development of energy efficient systems.”

So, Mr. Prez, how are we going to get those specialists in the US if you don’t want to provide the training? Do you really plan to keep importing German-trained workers to take care of this? I guess I shouldn’t complain. I have to love Germany for training my husband in his green job for a fraction of the price he’d have paid in the States. But what about those people unable to come to Europe for training? Thank goodness organizations like those of Van Jones’ exist to pick up your slack.

Bring the Trees Back to Armenia!

Two different regions in Armenia, Shikahogh Reserve, which is now protected thanks to the work of the Armenian Tree Project and other groups (L) and the Gabion (L).

I’ve been a big fan of the Armenia Tree Project (ATP) since I first wrote about them for E Magazine a couple of years ago, and it’s not just because I’m 1/4 Armenian. The truth is, like most mixed-ethnicity (I’m also English, Lebanese, German and Scottish, whew!) Americans decended from immigrants I don’t feel particularly attached to any one country. I’ve certainly never been to Armenia and know little of the culture there. But reforesting a country that has had it’s forests decimated by people just trying to keep warm is not only important for the people that live there, but also in the fight against global warming and to improve air quality worldwide.

This map shows the deforestation in Armenia; the dark green is where forests exist now, the light green is where they were historically.

Over 70% of Armenia’s trees are gone (trees used to cover 25% of the land there, now they cover less than 8%) leading to erosion, landslides, flooding, loss of wildlife habitat, and degraded farmland. Trees were, and still are being cut down to heat homes. So importantly, not only does the ATP plant new trees but they also educate people (especially young people) to care for their local ecosystem, and the group is also working to find alternative fuels to help people keep warm without resorting to chopping down trees.

Gratuitous cute Armenian girl with apricots. Love her hat!

A little background….

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia sought its full independence in a war with Azerbaijan. From 1991 to 1994 economic blockades prevented heating oil from coming into the country. “That resulted in massive burning of wood, from furniture to books to trees in forests and parks,” explains Jeff Masarjian, executive director of the nonprofit Armenia Tree Project, founded in 1994. “With little if any insulation in houses, and no alternative sources of fuel for heat and cooking, the people had little choice. Poverty is the greatest enemy of the forest.”

Although heating oil is now available, deforestation remains an ongoing problem because firewood is often the more affordable choice. “If the deforestation isn’t reversed immediately, the World Bank estimates that all the forest could be gone in 20 to 50 years,” says Masarjian. “Eighty percent of Armenia could turn to desert.”

So, if you know someone with deep pockets, or you have a bit of change floating around in yours, consider giving to the Armenia Tree Project. Right now a guy named Harry Mangurian is matching all donations to the group, so whatever you donate will be automatically doubled. With the money 33,000 new trees will be planted, which not only improved the environment, but gives needed money to low-income Armenians. Instead of being under such economic duress that they log trees illegally, folks will be paid to plant trees instead. A win-win!

For reference in case you don’t know where Armenia is…I always forget!
Armenia is a mountainous country located between Turkey and Azerbaijan, above Iran and below Georgia.

Love Lost and Hope Found at "Design for the Other 90%"

Text by Guest-Blogger Josh Wiese
Images by Starre Vartan and Josh Wiese

Have you ever just known that the person who’s call you’re eagerly awaiting is the one for you? I mean THE ONE. It’s this strange penetrating feeling you just can’t shake. You want to. It doesn’t make sense, I mean you just met.

I met her at a bar in the West Village on a Friday night. She was a friend of a friend, and we all hung out, sharing drinks, stories and laughs. Her stories were amazing, her soft smile and big eyes were irresistible. After a whole pitcher of margaritas with friends, we couldn’t help but get up from our table and dance. She told me about the view across the Hudson River at night, said it was beautiful, and we walked to the park.

We climbed over a berm and sat on the grass overlooking the water. I’ve never been more impressed with the soft glow of lights shining from the Jersey hills and those few lonely stars bright enough to cut through Manhattan’s night sky. It was a perfect evening with the perfect girl. I was lost in her eyes, lost in the moment. We kissed.

I fell in love that instant, and couldn’t wait to see her again. I’ve never been good in situations like this; I’m way too compulsive and eager. It seemed best to pace myself. The next day, just to let her know that she was in my thoughts, I sent a text. I waited. Checking my phone every five minutes, then every hour. No text back. I waited until Monday to call. No answer, but I left a message. No call back.

Thursday I called and left another message, this time suggesting a Saturday trip to check out the new exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum called “Design for the Other 90%“. The show looked really exciting: world-changing innovations, cool gadgets, and all with a humanitarian bent, it was totally up my alley. Finally, on Friday afternoon she sent a text saying that she’d call and meet me there. Yes! Saturday was going to be fantastic!

I made my way to the Upper East Side by around two on Saturday afternoon, but three o’clock came and no call. Three-thirty and then four p.m., still no call. Did she know the museum closed at six? Four-thrity, and I stood outside the museum grounds checking my phone again and again – nothing.

I was crushed. (Even the New York Times showed up!)

I sat on a bench, lost in my thoughts and tried to come up with excuses for why she didn’t call. Soon enough, excuses gave way to old fashion wallowing in self-despair. But here was still one hour left to check out the exhibit. So I sulked up to the ticket attendant, paid my twelve dollars, and walked slowly into the museum yard.

“Design for the other 90%” is an exhibit about the 5.8 billion people, or 90% of the world that have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted. They have no evening forays out to West Village bars, no manicured berms overlooking the Hudson River and Jersey shore, and bear the burden of much heavier worries than whether or not a certain beautiful girl will ever call them back. The exhibit takes a close look at some of the recent innovations designed to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who need them most.

Worldbike prototype: helps the rider move large quantities over distances but it still safe and comfortable to ride. Hey, here’s a great way to fight global warming!

The exhibit is set up in the Cooper-Hewitt’s large garden lawn. It’s like a beautiful maze, and around every corner, set up as if it might be in the field and ready to use, a curious object or structure stands out, begging your attention.

Instead of carrying water (a job that is primarily women’s and children’s work the world over, and can take several hours a day) people can now pull larger quantities in this heavy plastic wheel.

In spite my unshakable conviction that Friday evening was love at first site, and Saturday afternoon was love lost, my problems seemed to fade with each passing step. Every display told a story about overcoming a desperate situation. Every design was hope realized, and with each, my heart lifted.

Drip irrigation systems hydrate plants more effectively and keep needed water from evaporating, preventing waste.

Inexpensive pumps and filters give life saving access to clean water and help efficiently irrigate crops. Easily installed virtual utilities combine street lighting for safety with a Wi-Fi mesh for communication and information. Paired with the advent of a 100$ laptop, isolated and poor schools are connected to the richest libraries in the world via the web. Cooking becomes safer and less expensive by using bicycle parts and vanity mirrors to build solar dishes that power informal kitchens. It’s amazing how much can be done with so little, and it’s all on display.

A solar stove!

Some of what I saw was simple and familiar, but innovative in how it was applied to life in these communities. Some of it was complicated, totally new, but equally innovative in it’s application. “Design for the other 90%” is not about 10% of the worlds population coming to aid of the rest. It’s not about charity. It’s about designers working directly with the end users of their products, emphasizing co-creation to meet to their needs. According to the exhibit’s curator, “Many of these projects employ market principles for income generation as a way out of poverty. Poor rural farmers become micro-entrepreneurs, while cottage industries emerge in more urban areas. Some designs are patented to control the quality of their important breakthroughs, while others are open source in nature to allow for easier dissemination and adaptation, locally and internationally.”

The underside of this lean-to roof (holes are for air-exchange) shows that design can be sustainable, beautiful, inexpensive and help people who need immediate shelter, all that the same time.

I spent the hour wandering around, reading about each exhibit piece, and the power of people coming to help one another. My spirits were lifted.

Bench made of reclaimed wood from Katrina-damaged homes.

In one afternoon I moved from heartbreak to inspiration, from self-despair to tears of hope. Yeah, it’s a little embarrassing, but they were actual tears. I’m not sure if the tears were the result of being left weak after a self-inflicted emotional roller coaster that I could have easily seen coming (unanswered texts and unreturned calls), or if it was the beautiful stories, one after another, told through each piece in the exhibit. Stories about hope and overcoming the senseless poverty that affects so many of our fellow sisters and brothers around the world. And while my love at first site never texted or called again after that, hope for other things, greater things, replaced that strange and penetrating feeling I just couldn’t shake.

For more images of the exhibit by Josh, go to Picasa.
For more images of the exhibit by Starre, go to Flickr.

It's the Environment, Stupid!

Zannel has a contest going on for all you budding videographers. Of course we here at Eco Chick know what the biggest challenge of the near future is; creating a sustainable and healthy environment. Without that, nothing else much matters, does it? This is not to put down anyone who works for peace, against poverty or racism, or works tirelessly for free speech, which are all noble causes (and all tied, in one way or another, to the health of people and the environment), but to say that right now, I believe our one unifying effort is to minimize our impact on the only home we have.

Here’s the deets:

The X PRIZE Foundation is always looking for new ideas around what people consider to be the largest, most challenging issues facing humankind today, and this is our “soap box” for you to be heard. Tell us what grand challenges you think the world ought to be thinking about. And while we’re interested in the opinions of individuals, we’re also interested in the opinions of the group. An X PRIZE committee will review the videos that receive the most votes to determine a winner.