Green Options

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with green blogger Paul Smith from TriplePundit.com and Ecopreneurist.com Triple Pundit is the new conversation place all about integrating people, planet, and profits into today’s businesses. Ecopreneurist covers the latest trends in [...]

Looking for information on solar panels, organic vegetables, or endangered species? You go to one of your favorite green blogs, right? But if you’re looking for a film review, or a preview of an art exhibit, or information on pending education legislation, you head to a different blogosphere… unless it’s eco-focused, you won’t find those things on sustainablog or other environmentally-focused sites.

On Tuesday, the Sundance Channel quietly rolled out an effort to change that. Billed as “film, art, music, design and more as we see it - filtered through that space between the underground and the mainstream,” the new SUNfiltered blog provides an eclectic range of content… and, as with the company’s television programming, green is a part of the mix.

As a company with a sensitive finger on the cultural pulse, it’s no surprise that Sundance has made eco-consciousness a part of the new blog. Of course, you’d also expect them to hire a smart, savvy blogger with an eye for cutting-edge green developments to cover this beat, right?

You’d expect that. What you’ll get, however: me.

Welcome to the Third Carnival of Green Crafts!

Before we begin, let me just thank all of the crafters who participated in this month’s carnival for taking a weight off my mind. After reading all of these posts, I now have NO worries at all about landfill space anywhere in America. Seriously, y’all, crafters are obviously the solution to the trash problem. Go us!

Before we begin, a few administrative notes: We’re pleased as punch to announce that the fourth Carnival will be September 4th at Whip Up. Send in your posts via the carnival submission form today! For background information about the Carnival, please see the Carnival of Green Crafts home page. And in case you missed the previous editions, here are the first Carnival, here at Crafting A Green World, and the second Carnival, at BlogHer.

Thanks so much to all the crafters who shared their posts with us for this edition of the Carnival. Let’s dig in!

Eco-Friendly Materials

Tiny Decor gathered a list of the Top 10 Modern and Eco-friendly Fabric Sources on Etsy. You HAVE to see what she’s collected, there are some real knockouts.

Let’s see, how to introduce a list of my favorite green crafting blogs that aren’t us? Hmm.

“More ways to spend time on the internet instead of working.” Probably true, but slightly too cheeky.

“More ways to spend time on the internet instead of crafting.” Again, probably true, or maybe I’m just projecting my personal issues?

How about: “These are cool, you should read them!”

Slightly dull, but honestly I’m a bit tired today and that may be as good as it gets. So without further ado, here are some of my personal favorite green craft blogs, big and small. Check out our blogroll for more, and feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!

Ever wonder what fashion bloggers are really like? We have! While it would be difficult to try and analyze ourselves, we jump at the chance to chat with other eco-minded online writers to get their perspective on sustainable fashion and its place in the entire green movement.

Launched a month and a half ago as part of the new EcoGeek blogging network, Wearing the Future is all about “straight talk as much as style, so you won’t have to worry about fluffy, PR-soaked, greenwashing nonsense.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the blog’s chief editor and head writer, Kyeann Sayer (pronounced like “cayenne” pepper). As a long-time writer for Treehugger.com, Kyeann has an impressive media resume - she has been featured on CNN, MSN, I.D. Magazine, Domino, Spin, Outside, and Women’s Wear Daily … just to name a few.

In our lively conversation, Kyeann and I talk about the beginning of Wearing the Future, her favorite eco-fashion brands, personal style’s place in the world of green living and more - read on for all the juicy details!

Victoria Everman: How did you get connected with Hank Green of EcoGeek? Did the two of you come up with the idea for Wearing the Future together or was he on the look-out for an editor and writer already? 

There are a number of regional blogs about green building that I follow, more or less, regularly.   Some of them are already in our blogroll (at the right), and we’re working to expand that list.   One of the best, in my opinion, is Green Bean, which covers green building in Chicago and the surrounding counties.  It’s tight in its focus because it deals only with the Chicago region, and it is focused on building projects that have been built or are under construction.  Each article is a case study of a green building in a few paragraphs.

Right now, its founder and editor, Erik, is looking for someone (or, more likely, several people)  to take over the blog for him.  Green Bean is clearly a labor of love but Erik has announced that he has some big changes coming up that are going to take him away and he is not going to be able to keep GreenBean going by himself.  He writes, that, because of a new job,  he is “…relocating to Stuttgart, Germany for 6-12 months, then to New York City.   In addition to this, we’re expecting our first child in April.”

Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive and blogger, was beaten to death Monday when attempting to film a protest on his cell phone.  Villagers were protesting the disposal of waste near their homes in the central Chinese province of Hubei.  According to CNN,

A scuffle developed when residents tried to prevent trucks from unloading the rubbish, Xinhua said.

When Wei took out his cell phone to record the protest, more than 50 municipal inspectors

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This local blog first came to my attention via an article in the local paper about a University of Michigan medical student and his daughter who are operating a blog together that is encouraging people to eat vegetarian meals one day a week (on Wednesdays). The Vegetarian Wednesday blog began just this past summer. Originally founded by Josh Mugele and his daughter Eleanor, there are now a few other writers

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The Gaiam Community site is a great resource for information on not only green living, but also health and wellness, mind-body fitness, and even spirituality. The site contains articles, discussion forums, and videos, but no blog… at least, no blog yet.

In October, Gaiam Community will launch it’s blog, and, judging from their plans, it will quickly attain the status of a "must-read." They’ve already lined up yoga guru Rodney Yee, and Gaiam Real

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Photo credit Scott Beale

Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson are an example of the new media- independent, grassroots reporters and news. The couple runs Ryan is Hungry, a videoblog that interviews and features green gurus, tips, and information. They look for “stories that don’t get covered in the mainstream media worlds of television and newspapers,” and they bring that news to us.

Their medium, video, is powerful

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