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

Tin Can Lights

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by Starre Vartan · 07/30/06

Continuing the recycling theme from the bags, below, are these lanterns are made from used tin cans. Designed by Lennie Kaumzha, and sold at fairs and traveling art shows, each one is unique, created by Lennie in his studio.

That’s Lennie peeking out from his lamps

Using an oxy-acetylene torch with a pencil-thin flame, Lennie burns original designs into tin cans without drawing or stenciling. The cans are then shaped by hand. The action of the heat on the metal turns the tin dark, almost pewter-like.

I think these are such a perfect example of doing something beautiful with what others would just toss in the trash. I also love that this artist has made a living creating these lanterns since 1989! Go to Metal Magic to learn more about Lennie, his art, and where they’ll be next!

bags, design, eating, Recycling, trash, travel

You Might be an Eco Chick If….

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by Starre Vartan · 07/12/06

….it breaks your heart when you see people fill their grocery carts with pounds of cheap hamburger, Cheetos and soda and you just want to sneak your bag of organic apples into their sack when they’re not looking.

….you secretly laugh at the huge SUV drivers when you’re filling up at the gas station. Then feel guilty because you too are filling up at the gas station.

….you listen for the recycling truck on pick up day and then watch to make sure they put all your various sorted bags in the right sections of the truck.

bags, car, gas, Organic, Recycling, soda

Sustainable Art Blooms in London

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by Starre Vartan · 06/25/06

Photo by Edmund Sumner

I love it when art and sustainability meet and create something wholly unexpected, something that’s fun, and gets us to think a little differently than we did before. The London Oasis is a flower-shaped sculpture, which, like a real flower, absorbs the sun’s energy (with photovoltaic cells); it’s also powered by a wind turbine and a hydrogen fuel cell. The energy goes to power five pods that you can walk into to get away from the stress and heat of the city. Inside the pods you can enjoy cool, clean air, relaxing sights and sounds.

Rainwater is collected by the petals to irrigate a garden below the flower and the flower puts on a light show at night.

Architect Laurie Chetwood told edie:

“This is all in the knowledge that their enjoyment is not costing the planet as the Oasis is self-sustaining; harnessing and recycling natural resources.”

Can you imagine a whole city filled with such flowers in different shapes and sizes? (Maybe NYC could use this as the basis for installing street-toilets!! Wouldn’t that be nice….)

See more in stories here and edie here.  Thanks to Remy C for the link.

Energy, garden, London, News, NYC, oil, PETA, Recycling, resources, sculpture, sustainability, sustainable, water, wood

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

Victoria's Dirty Secret

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 04/24/06

I was reading Business Week online and noticed this interesting piece on Victoria’s Secret. Limited Brands, the parent company of VS, has been publically indicted for its blatant use of virgin fiber in their catalog production that reaches quantities as large as 395 million produced anually. This paper ends up in the garbage, or if we’re lucky, in the recycling bin.

The destruction of the forests of the Southern U.S., where nearly 6 million acres are logged annually, and the continuing decimation of the endangered Canadian Boreal Forest has generated concern internationally. The organization largely to blame for bringing this flagrant deforestation to the fore is Forest Ethics, a group who seek to hold corporations accountable for the destruction of, yep, you guessed it, our forests! 225 protests took place accross the U.S. on April 11th of this year, putting pressure on the company to terminate its contract with International Paper, who have been criticized for destroying endangered woodlands. Since the campaign began, VS has begun using 80% recycled content for their clearance catalogs but their current contract is still largely using pulp derived from endangered species.

business, catalogs, corporations, deforestation, Eco-Chick, ethics, garbage, paper, produce, recycle, recycled, Recycling, wood