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.
Change Handbags
Change Handbags is a small company run by two moms, Meg and Sara, so they know how to make a bag that’s useful and fabulous. There’s the super-tough shopping/beach/carryall bags that you can have customized for fundraisers or an organization, or just use for shopping or the gym (made from…
Travel and Leisure Green Travel Bible
Travel and Leisure Magazine really did it up this month for their ethical travel issue. Unlike some green theme issues, every inch of this one is packed with great resources for all of us who love to jet off into the unknown but have terrible, terrible guilt about the environmental…
Why Greenfest? Here's the Answer
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…
Fab Green Thanksgiving Weekend Sales
OK, so I totally forgot and just bought used books despite the fact that I was trying to partake in Buy Nothing Day. If you’re also doing a little shopping this weekend (trying to get a head-start on holiday gifts, of course!), then check out one of these eco-friendly boutiques:…
Ecospot Winners!
Current TV and The Alliance for Climate Protection have just announced the winners of their “60 Seconds to Save the Earth Ecospot contest”, which was open to everyone. A panel of celebrity judges including George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Orlando Bloom and Rihanna, as well as Alex Bogusky of leading ad…
Betty Belts!
The Talia belt is made with recycled glass beads, ceramic tiles, and vegan leather The Selena belt is made from farmed mother-of-pearl and vegan leather Poking around on the internet for some new eco-friendly accessories recently, I found Betty Belts, which makes the super-gorgeous waist-wrappers above. The designer of Betty…
My Dream (Hobbit?) House
My friend Chris Baskind says this house is for “upwardly mobile, fashion forward hobbits.” I THINK that describes me…. OK, I’m having a severe case of house lust. Have you ever seen a cuter little abode? Check the website for more pictures, as well as plans and details of the…
See Jane Work (in Green)
Flora Recycled Notebooks Colorful Recycled Tabs Because I spend so much time at my desk, I feel totally justified buying cool stuff for it. Plus, I like pretty, designey things, not plain. See Jane Work has lots of fun stuff for the office, but I’m especially excited because they have…
Green Guru: Environmental Costs of Dried Fruit, Battery-Powered Mowers, and Red #40 on Hummers
Since I write this column for Audubon Magazine, I thought I would share my (laboriously researched) advice with Eco Chick readers. In considering the hidden costs that come with shipping fruit—trucking it around the globe in refrigerated containers—I’m wondering whether it’s more energy efficient to eat dried fruit? —Justin Van…
Mad Mats!
These cool rugs, called Mad mats, are not only made from recycled plastic, they are inexpensive too! And since they’re made from plastic, you can use them on your patio, porch, or deck, or in the garden, or even in a kids’ room (or college dorm). To clean, just hose…
