Green Options

Top 10 Ways to Help Save Our Oceans…

Just below the water’s surface lies a magical world teeming with life and value. Coral reefs are home to 4,000 fish species and provide the world with goods and services — such as jobs, foods, medicines and storm protection — worth $375 billion annually.

But scientists estimate that 70% of all corals reefs could be lost by 2050 if current rates of destruction continue — from factors ranging from overfishing to climate change.

Planting biofuel crops on converted forestlands or other ecologically valuable lands has already become a hotly debated practice.

Now, a new report co-authored by Nature Conservancy scientists says that biofuel crops could also become invasive species — and that the risk needs to be evaluated before these crops are planted.

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If you just happen to be in Seoul this weekend, you won’t want to miss the 2008 Earth Day celebration.

No, contrary to the hopes of men across Korea, actress Kim Tae Hee will not be there wrestling in fruit salad to save the Earth. And though the celebration is on April 20 (420 to cannabis lovers), smoking a joint will get you swiftly arrested in South Korea. No fun? Don’t dispare.

There’s a great lineup of events planned to generate awareness of environmental issues and bring Koreans more in touch with their green side.

Here’s a schedule of events that will take place this Sunday in Seoul Plaza, outside Seoul City Hall.

Top international environmental news for during the week of April 6 - 13:

Europe — World’s first commercial tidal turbine installed (EcoGeek)

“The world’s first commercial tidal turbine has been installed in its home in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough.

Though it has yet to be turned on, it will be the first commercial power-producing tidal generator when it is (sometime later this year). The turbine has two 16 meter-wide rotors and will be able to run for 18-20 hours a day. The turbine was installed off the coast in an area known for fast moving waters, and because the rotors will only spin 10-20 times in a minute, it is unlikely to disturb marine life.”

Source: EcoGeek. Hot in media: Digg EcoGeek, Digg TimesOnline.

Africa — Tree-Nation (Tree-Nation)

“Tree-Nation is an ecological project with a focused objective: To plant 8 million trees in Niger, Africa to fight desertification! Large-scale plantation of trees will increase the land’s productivity and re-generate the soil.

In my experience as an eco-fashion and textile design instructor I have always been in awe of the trend reports and style forecasting that move this growing field forward. One of the first steps designers take when starting off a new line for a season is clip what inspires them and create a “vision”, “mood”, or “inspiration” board. Here is a simple one I made with a few eco-designs that inspire me this spring:

going clockwise:  
1. Love tube dress by Katherine Hammett. She is a clothing activist by placing her messages in bilboard letters on tees for men and women. Very well known for her activism in the fashion industry. With her profits she worked on and commissioned research to find out the real impact the clothing industry has on the planet and discovered a complete disaster. Tens of thousands of deaths a year from accidental pesticide poisoning from growing cotton, millions with long-term acute poisoning, slavery type conditions across the industry, pollution and long-term contamination to rivers and aquifers. Katherine’s long held vision has powered into this century with new campaigns and these hopeful slogan tees, dresses and gear now sold on her re-invented site.
2. Darling designs like this moon-swing top from William Good  are so cute! Go Good Will with the new initiatives to re-sell by re-vamping the reject piles that mostly go to landfills. William Good is the name for this start-up that will sell styles to the masses.

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? 

I simply love this new recycled and reversible swimsuit out now by Victoria’s Secret. I’m really impressed with how the company is shaping up and evolving from their troubled past.A fresh start for them was making their catalog green a couple years ago (thanks to the amazing activists and the will inside the organization) thank goodness. The guest designer for this adorable green suit is Aaron Chang. Chang is a well known surf photographer turned swim wear designer. Aaron is creating sexy swimsuit lines from 100% recycled plastic soda bottles. He started off with organic cotton.Swimsuit themes are inspired by the natural world with sunsets, oceanscapes, botanicals, and animals, all of them brilliant and colorful.. They are also reversible so it is like getting two suits for the price of one. Such a smart, sweet and simple concept. Image Source 

I’ve been admiring luxurious hemp fabrics and found this Virdis Luxe interview to share here :: Focused mainly on sheer silk hemp, “Viridis Luxe creative team of Hala Bahmet and Amadea West designed a collection of fashionable sweaters, skirts, wraps and tunics… Their hands-on approach to beautiful, sustainable creation involves long fiber hemp harvested by hand, along with the use of all-natural dyes and routine supervision to ensure healthy factory working conditions.’

Feelgood Style is a weblog about beauty with integrity. Our site is devoted to the future of sustainable fashion, beauty and health that balances substance with style. Style is and has always been a reflection of our dreams, imagination, and aspirations for our selves and our world. And in a time of growing consciousness about how our choices literally do change the world — style is more important than ever. Because ultimately it is not simply awareness and concern that matters — it is our inspiration and our willingness to embrace intriguing new ways of caring, living, and being that will create our future. This blog is about sharing that inspiration and dreaming with joy about that future.

We’re about caring for the earth while caring for yourself. We’ll share the best in beauty, fashion, and style that is on the path to making a more sustainable and elegant world.

Every season, new trends, patterns, colors, and styles, arrive, but nowadays even “new” has a new meaning. Because new inventions like solar textiles, smart wearables, and design printing, promise to make our future both stylish *and* smart, while new materials like organic fibers and new practices for their creation strive for ever greater harmony with our environment and society.

As I monitored the results of Tuesday’s primaries, mostly thanks to my Twitter friends, I was once again struck how the candidates and general population are ignoring the greatest issue facing human kind: climate change. Media outlet after media outlet proclaimed the economy as the greatest concern of voters; however, the connection to the environment seems to be lost in the hype. Not only is environmental degradation caused by our hunger for rapid, continual economic growth, but the environment also offers the solution to leading us out of recession.

Whether you like it or not, we live in a corporatocracy where decisions are made in favor of short term profits in contrast to the long term effects on our environment. When we expect that our economy will perpetually grow without considering the environmental consequences of corporate decisions, we are doomed. This is what the presidential candidates should be talking about: how can we ensure a stable economy that protects the environment. The solution is green jobs.