Four Best Reasons To Go "Green With Envy"

PROTECT PLANET EARTH FROM FASHION VICTIMHOOD





















By A. Scott Walton
Nothing says "I love you" like a second-hand shirt, or sweater or pair of sunglasses. Mother Earth will thank you in the form of millions of safe tree acreage if you join the "30 Days of Green" team challenge that ebay is staging in partnership with the Hearst magazine empire. Through it, some 74 million readers will be exposed to the benefits of adding "lightly loved" items to their wardrobes. (Saving gallons of gas by buying a used PDA, for instance, or sparing the air with a pair of vintage shades). Esquire supports the initiative with a fold-out spread in its April '10 issue that spotlights eco-friendly ways to renew the way you look while reducing your "footprint". For example: goods from Freemans Sporting Club, of New York, are made from warehoused bolts of fabric originally woven a half-century ago. The Atlanta-born cartoon hero, Captain Planet, even gets a shout-out. Talk about standing the tests of time...
GLASS IS IN SESSION: Some bottles of wine (or beer, for that matter) please the palate so much that it seems a shame to toss them away once they're drained. Even worse, all of our discarded glass can leave a nasty aftertaste to our already choking landfills. Stepping into that void of glass reclamation is the bubbly designer, Kathleen Plate, who is expanding her popular SmartGlass jewelry business into 'gem-quality' home furnishings (lamps, curtains, chandeliers) made primarily from bottle fragments.
Plate's initial Home Collection is now available at Atlanta's Environment Furniture store in the resurgent West Midtown district.
YEN FOLDS FINE: How much would you be willing to pay in cash, right this minute, for a sleek, solar-powered device that folds up smaller in your hand than the typical iPhone it's designed to recharge? Well, the portable new SolarFold and SolarFan charges by AmbienTec can be yours quite readily if you happen to have the U.S. dollar equivalent ($250 est.) of yen on hand and you happen to be somewhere in Japan to spend it. This dynamic duo absorbs the sun's energy and than feeds it to handhelds via USB cord. Go online to learn how to purchase the SolarFold or SolarFan before the world is able to buy them at retail like they're going out of style.
SWEDE RELIEF: Anyone interested in learning how the fashion industry can start easing the burden its practices place on the environment should take an encouraging stroll through the “Eco Chic” exhibit at New York’s Scandanavia House this spring. The collaborative effort between scores of Swedish designers recently lauded during New York Fashion Week opens at the Park Avenue institution on May 5 and ends, essentially, when interest in the sustainable fashion demo wanes. Apparel by brands such as Righteous Fashsion, Reflective Circle, Swedish Hasbeens and Nudie will then depart for a world tour. Fashion material and manufacturing take a huge toll on the planet. “Eco Chic” may be proof positive that the price needn’t be so steep.
“Eco Chic” presented by the Swedish Institute, May 5, 2010-until, Scandanavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York City, free.

Sources: Treehugger.com, Popsci.com