Starre Vartan
Starre Vartan is founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick.com and the author of the Eco-Chick Guide to Life. She's also a freelance science and environment writer who has published in National Geographic, CNN, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Pacific Standard, the NRDC, and many more. She lives on an island in Puget Sound with her partner and black cat. She was a geologist in her first career, and still picks up rocks wherever she goes.
The Five (New) Rules for Driving Green
So you have a car, and not only do you feel a wee bit of carbon footprint guilt every time you start the engine, you just plain can’t afford $71 a pop to fill up the tank. But for whatever reason, you can’t quite give that fossil fuel fiend sitting…
NIMBY Greenwashing Uncovered, Plus Prius Naughtiness
More fun (and faster) than a barrel of monkeys, from Zaproot. (P.S. There aren’t any actual monkeys in this episode, but there is a little murder and some mayhem).
Help Fight Chocolate Extinction!
First the honeybees (and duh, the honey) and now chocolate is on the decline? Say it ain’t so!! According to this CNN article on the subject of chocolate extinction, “Yields are declining all across the cocoa plantations of West Africa, where two thirds of the world’s supply is grown, as…
Organic Stereo Cute Tunicness
Call me a kid, but I love the little-girl-in-a-tunic look that’s so prevalent this summer. I like wearing them over short-shorts since I’m a little tall to rock them purely as a dress, but I’m betting my more petite sisters could definitely get away with it. I like that I…
You Might Be an Eco Chick If…..
…….you have so many tote bags that you end up giving the person at the checkout line behind you a couple to keep them from plastic-bagging it. You think that maybe some free reusable bags is all that it will take to convert them. …….you get crazy dehydrated because you…
Nau's Not Dead!!
I was really bummed when I was planning on featuring some of Nau’s new summer fashions on this site and I got to their homepage and learned they were closing shop. But then….. ……they confounded us all by throwing a HUGE summer sale which had ridiculously good deals as part…
Shopbop.com's Earth Friendly Category
I’m not sure how long this has been around, but the fabulous shopping site, Shopbop has a whole category (alongside Top Sellers and What’s Hot) called Earth Friendly, featuring clothes, shoes and accessories that are made of organic cotton, bamboo, and other sustainable fabrics. Needing a new flowey summer piece…
Independent Handbag Design Awards
Scarola’s bag of bags I was so excited to see a sustainable bag win the Audience Fan Favorite prize at theIndependent Handbag Design Awards. Suzanne Scarola of Bellabags made her bag (above) by knitting plastic bags by hand. This candy-wrapper bag by Ecoist won “Best Green Handbag” Helen Marcoschamer of…
The Best Nonmilk Cappuccino EVER!
A thing of beauty, no? I’m so excited (or maybe it’s a caffeine buzz)! But I just made the best cappuccino I’ve ever had in my life (see above- I was so happy I took a damn picture of it). I recently bought a Bialetti Mukka glass cappuccino maker from…
Aussie Wind Farm Shoutout and Greenwashing Ha-has!
Well this is the first mention I’ve seen of my original home state, New South Wales (that’s in Australia) in the news for awhile, and it’s all about the giganto wind farm they want to build there. Go Aussies! ALSO: Let’s make fun of companies that greenwash, it’s oh-so-fun!!
