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.
How to Light Up Africa?
In this image from the Smithsonian, you can see the lights of Europe at night, whereas most of Africa is dark. As an inveterate night owl, reading this article in the Independent really made me think. The piece makes the point that most Africans don’t have access to electricity in…
If You Must Dryclean….
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…
Country Home's Planet-Friendly Projects for Fall
Reuse is the oft-forgotten part of the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra (though the DIYers are usually reminding us!) Country Home Magazine has taken up the idea in a big way in several great features in September’s issue. Along with celebrity green-auteur Danny Seo’s “Fresh Thinking” column where he transforms flea-market…
You Might Be an Eco Chick if…. You're Into True Green Confessions!
I’m loving this new site called True Green Confessions. They run from the the banal…. I used to reuse zip-lock baggies, but lately I’ve gotten so tired of washing and drying them, that I’ve started to just throw them out. to the hilarious…… I saw this site, and thought it…
That's Tope!
dbclay started out by making duct tape wallets, selling them at a street booth in Portland, Oregon, and they have morphed into a whole line of seriously cool-looking wallets with version 3. All the wallets are made from Tope, a material that’s similar to vinyl, but without all the horrible…
“We want to protect our lands, but we also need to awaken the people in The North. You are living in a dream, what you are doing is destroying the Earth.”
Talk about an Amazon woman! Anthropologist Zoe Tryon is working with the Achuar people of the Ecuadorian rainforest to help both protect their culture from undue outside influence while still giving them the skills they need to deal with those same outsiders who see their land as a place to…
Would You Get Naked to Draw Attention to Climate Change?
Aletsch Glacier sans birthday suits I feel like it’s been naked people all over lately! I was just at the beach in Martha’s Vineyard (which is why there were so few posts last week) and I stumbled across the ‘nudist’ part of a far-flung beach, and now this news! Greenpeace…
Toggery Collection by Kate D'Arcy
Kate D’Arcy with some of her Fall designs Designer Kate D’Arcy, 26, is a new up and coming ecofashion designer, and I was lucky enough to get to check out her line in person last week. Kate’s debut line for her label Toggery, is made up of basics with flair,…
The 11th Hour, A.K.A. Leo's Movie!
As almost anyone who reads this site knows, we are at a critical point in human history, and I truly don’t think its hyperbole to write that we are utterly screwed if we don’t make some seriously smart choices regarding our environment in the next few years. This conceit is…
For a Fun Night Call….360 Vodka!
As those who know and love me are aware, I love vodka. And though I: -eat organic, local food (except for my unfortunate pineapple habit, which I’m twelve-stepping my way through….did you know to get 1 lb. of pineapple to our plates, it takes 40 lbs of CO2! Serious bummer.)…
