Emma explains that it’s like a small environmentally-friendly version of eBay. Yet the merchandise is strictly apparel with three categories of men, women, kids. Love the tailored coat offering pictured.

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Founded by Donna Karan and Sonja Nuttall, the Urban Zen Foundation has the mission to create, connect, collaborate, and “to raise awareness and inspire change in the areas of well-being, preserving cultures and empowering children.” Being both well-known fashion designers in the US and UK respectively, they bring both credibility and immense skill and creativity to their efforts to “design forums, partner with exisinting organizations and bring together experts to define solutions and implement action.”

UZF has a retail/giving center. Here you can browse fashion and fine art, such as these famous photographs on auction, that have been donated by world renowned photographers to help the Urban Zen Foundation causes.

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Meet Tavi, a fashionable teenager from Chicago and founder of Clothing with a Cause.

She shares: “clothing is one of my main passions and I’ve decided to combine it with my concern for the genocide in Darfur for my Bat Mitzvah Tzedakah service project.”

Over the summer for her charity project Tavi posted stylish fashion textiles sold with all profits going towards STAND. STAND is an amazing American student organization helping to end the current genocide in Darfur.

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I will donate each and every dollar generated from this article to charity. That is determined by the number of views that this article receives. So help get this article as many views as possible. On digg, yahoo, reddit, e-mail it, tweet it. Do whatever you can, every view will help. All proceeds will go to one of the charities listed below for cancer research. Thanks for your help.

A few days ago I learned that someone very important to me’s mother was not in good shape. She has been fighting cancer for many years now. Fighting the fight that unfortunately many of us have seen, either first or second hand. This article is dedicated to her. Please send your thoughts, prayers, positive energy or whatever you personally believe her way.

Cancer is defined as any group of cells that display uncontrolled growth. Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic code that create the cells in our body. These abnormalities could be caused by pollutants, chemicals, sunshine, hormones, microbes, or just random bad luck. There are many ways to damage the fragile DNA that lives inside almost all of the cells in our bodies.

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For one day — August 8, 2009 — children around the world are invited to perform simple, yet important, little acts of kindness.  Their goal this year is to have one million children participate in the Great Kindness Challenge.

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Social media is about connecting people and providing the tools necessary to have a conversation. That global conversation is an extremely powerful platform for spreading information and awareness about social causes and issues. That’s one of the reasons charities can benefit so greatly from being active on social media channels. But you can also do a lot to help your favorite charity or causes you are passionate about through social media.

Below is a list of 10 ways you can use social media to show your support for issues that are important to you. If you can think of any other ways to help charities via social web tools, please add them in the comments. If you’d like to retweet this post or take the conversation to Twitter or FriendFeed, please use the hashtag #10Ways.

1. Write a Blog Post

Blogging is one of the easiest ways you can help a charity or cause you feel passionate about. Almost everyone has an outlet for blogging these days — whether that means a site running WordPress, an account at LiveJournal, or a blog on MySpace or Facebook. By writing about issues you’re passionate about, you’re helping to spread awareness among your social circle. Because your friends or readers already trust you, what you say is influential.

Recently, a group of green bloggers banded together to raise individual $1 donations from their readers. The beneficiaries included Sustainable Harvest, Kiva, Healthy Child, Healthy World, Environmental Working Group, and Water for People. The blog-driven campaign included voting to determine how the funds would be distributed between the charities. You can read about the results here.

You should also consider taking part in Blog Action Day, a once a year event in which thousands of blogs pledge to write at least one post about a specific social cause (last year it was fighting poverty). Blog Action Day will be on October 15 this year.

2. Share Stories with Friends

Another way to spread awareness among your social graph is to share links to blog posts and news articles via sites like Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, Digg, and even through email. Your network of friends is likely interested in what you have to say, so you have influence wherever you’ve gathered a social network.

You’ll be doing charities you support a great service when you share links to their campaigns, or to articles about causes you care about.

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The American Himalayan Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the people and ecology of the Himalaya.

The Himalaya, roof of the world, is a magic place where the magnificence of the world’s highest mountains is mirrored in the rugged beauty and unique culture of the people who live in their shadow.

In these remote regions people often live without basic health care and education. Economic pressures have forced environmental degradation. And traditional ways of life are in danger of disappearing.

The American Himalayan Foundation was founded twenty-five years ago to respond to some of these pressing problems.  What we do is very basic: build schools, plant trees, train doctors, fund hospitals, take care of children and elderly, and restore sacred sites throughout the Himalayas.  We also assist and encourage Tibetans to rebuild and maintain their culture both in exile, and within Tibet.

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A group of eco-bloggers is collecting cash for charity and letting us choose who benefits!

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Clove, a brand new salon in midtown Atlanta, strives to have more than the best products and service in town. Owner Tomeca Kanu and manager Carla Kootsillas are dedicated to giving back to the community and running the greenest business they possibly can!

Tomeca bought the salon while in the middle of what turned out to be sort of a rough year. A car accident meant she had to be on bed rest just as the business was getting going. She wasn’t able to take care of the day-to-day operations for a while, which is when Carla came on board to help out.

After Tomeca’s recovery, Carla says the two of them, “took a hard look at the business and what [they] could do with it.” They wanted it to be more than your run-of-the-mill salon. They wanted to “do something [they] felt good about.” The result is a beautiful salon with great service, a mellow atmosphere, and, the best part, a conscience.

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[Vegan Green Tea Cupcakes. Photo (and cupcakes!) by Becky Striepe]

Meat production has gotten a lot of coverage for its impact on the environment lately, but what about all those dairy cows? Whether they’re slaughtered for meat or milked, we’re still talking cows and all the impacts that go along with raising them. The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale organizers strongly feel that veganism is better for the planet and its inhabitants. Check out their intro to veganism to learn about the story behind animal products like eggs and dairy.

From New Zealand to Nigeria to New York, groups around the world are holding vegan bake sales during the last two weekends of this month. They’re encouraging both vegan and non-vegan groups to hold events, as long as the baked goods at the sale are completely vegan. To help facilitate, they’ve set up a page of vegan baking tips and vegan recipe resource guide. Each participating group is working to benefit a cause that matters to them. Check out some of the participating groups:

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Thank goodness I’ve recently found Hope USA Cotton Organic. This organic cotton looks sturdy yet breathable, perfect for the season.

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During WWI and again in WWII, women and families picked up knitting needles to help in the war effort. The American Red Cross organized many volunteer groups that knit various items for soldiers serving overseas. Socks, sweaters, helmet liners, scarfs, caps and blankets were just a few of the items that were knit up and shipped to those serving.

During WWII, the knitting effort was further encouraged and women were told to “knit for defense” and “knit for victory.” Patterns and tutorials were readily made available to those who wanted to feel like they were contributing during this trying time, even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was seen supporting the war effort in this way.

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However, are you just getting those cute lil fuzzy birds for your children for a holiday? No coop, a little bread, and that’s all you need?

Not so much, folks. You can pick up chicks without putting their health in jeopardy.  And give yourself a big ol’ pat on the back while you do.

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Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a rare disease which is currently the #1 genetic killer of children around the world. It is also 100% fatal, with no current treatment or cure available. Massachusetts-based Tracy Seckler is trying to change that. The mother of a bubbly son, Charley, Tracy has set up an organization called Charley’s Fund along with a catalogue of wearable merchandise based on the theme of belief.

Believe bracelets, believe necklaces, believe hats and clutches- every single purchase goes towards funding medical research for this disease that her son is dying of, along with so many other children all across the world.

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I take for granted the fresh air I breathe and the fact that fresh water and trees surround me and there isn’t a smell of industry or pollution. I’m aware of how fortunate I am but I just don’t think about it everyday like I should. I remember a visit to a big city a few years back and feeling like I could not breathe. I remember the smell and not enjoying how the automobile pollution made me feel. I was told I would get used to it but I never did and when it was time to leave I couldn’t wait to be home and breathe fresh air. Not that the city wasn’t fun and exciting but the air was very different.

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Planning a romantic day this Valentines? Yes? No? Well, just in case, here is our lovely green Valentine guide for the upcoming holiday:

1. Love Notes: Give your sweets a personalized note that you craft yourself or share the love with virtual notes like WWF E-cards and Nature Conservancy Valentine E-cards.
2. Blooms: Organic Bouquet has wonderful ways to give fresh flowers and help charity at the same time, and Local Harvest is  another favorite flower source of ours that always brings the freshness of the flower-farm into your home.

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   ]]> http://feelgoodstyle.com/2009/02/10/our-feel-good-red-hot-sexy-and-sweet-green-valentine-guide/feed/ http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/08/british-company-turns-fire-hoses-into-fashion/ http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/08/british-company-turns-fire-hoses-into-fashion/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:17:11 +0000 Adam Williams http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/08/british-company-turns-fire-hoses-into-fashion/ A company in London has struck a deal with the London Fire Brigade, scoring a win-win. EaKo takes old hoses off the fire department’s hands, turns them into products — bags, wallets, place mats, belts and more — and then sells them, splitting the proceeds with the Fire Fighters Charity.

   EaKo’s Web site says:

   EaKo is constantly thinking about waste. The instant we met the London Fire Brigade we fell in love with their old hose. Although we started in London, EaKo now collects hose across the UK and in order to thank Britain’s Brigades, 50% of our profits go back to the Fire Fighters Charity. We scrub away all the soot, grease, and everything else that builds up after 25 years of active duty, and in the process reveal a truly remarkable, truly green textile.

   The company also reclaims waste coffee sacks, scrap sail cloth, used air-traffic control flight strips, repurposed sunglasses and optician’s boxes, pewter for our belt buckles, and decommissioned office furniture textiles.

   Photo: EaKo

   ]]> http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/08/british-company-turns-fire-hoses-into-fashion/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/08/send-your-dear-johns-to-st-judes/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/08/send-your-dear-johns-to-st-judes/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:34:07 +0000 Cate Nelson http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/08/send-your-dear-johns-to-st-judes/ Oh, what to do with all those holiday cards that still deck your mantle? I mean, besides plant the ones that your greenie friends gave you.  You could certainly store them away for a cool craft for next year.  As in, “Collage ‘em, kids, then send off to grandma!”

   But if you’re not nearly that crafty, put all your used seasons greetings to good use: recycle them.  And it only takes an envelope and a few stamps, depending on how much love you’ve received lately.

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   ]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/08/send-your-dear-johns-to-st-judes/feed/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/01/07/green-crafter-profile-recycled-jewelry-by-garbage-of-eden/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/01/07/green-crafter-profile-recycled-jewelry-by-garbage-of-eden/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:07:03 +0000 Becky Striepe http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/01/07/green-crafter-profile-recycled-jewelry-by-garbage-of-eden/ Garbage of Eden Designs artist Stephanie Huffaker takes plastic that would be headed for the landfill and turns it into lovely necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

   

   On top of diverting plastic from the waste stream, the Brooklyn, NY artist aims to raise awareness about plastic’s effect on our water supply through her designs.

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   ]]> http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/01/07/green-crafter-profile-recycled-jewelry-by-garbage-of-eden/feed/