By Lucille Chi •
July 1, 2008
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Emma Pezzack (a.k.a. the Organic Glamazon), one of our amazing Feelgood Style authors,
is beautifully featured here for a live interview with Current_
Here’s to true natural beauty! Futurenatural offers environmentally sound style products that make you look good on the outside and feel good on the inside. Emma Pezzack, the owner of Futurenatural, offers some insight into her world of high quality skin products that are backed up by a socially and environmentally conscious business. ~ Current Review
By Julie Sammons •
June 25, 2008
Looking to light a ‘green’ fire under your employees, partners, or potential funders? Need a little eco-inspiration of your own?
If a single picture is worth a thousand words, a compelling or amusing video presentation may be worth a turnaround in your small business culture, increased buy-in from partners, or the flow of funds from sponsors. Entrepreneurs must be well-versed in the art of persuasive presentations, yet finding appropriate images and video content to add to the mix can be challenging.
Enter the latest DVD release from Arnold Creek Productions entitled Naturally Successful: Entrepreneurship That Redefines the Bottom Line. Highlighting some of the sustainability movement’s most compelling speakers, this 78-minute video “features interviews with some of the country’s top business consultants, educators, authors and speakers who are inspiring entrepreneurs worldwide.” Consider emailing clips to your team to kick off a sustainability discussion or launching your next presentation with the words of leaders such as:
View a preview and purchase the full-length feature, browse the Sustainability Shorts clips, and explore the full sustainability video series on Arnold Creek’s website.
By Raz Godelnik •
June 24, 2008
This post was originally published on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.
Two weeks ago we started with a new series ‘My Green Bookshelf’, where we’re taking a look at the reading habits of interesting people from the green world with special focus on their green reading.
As a small token of appreciation to our guest on the series, Eco-Libris will plant with its planting partners 50 new trees on behalf of each and every participant!
Today we are very excited to have with us a special guest from France: Sophie Young, the founder of g=9.8 (http://www.g98.fr/).
g=9.8 is an organic lingerie and loungewear brand g=9.8 offers a unique combination of seductive ecology: naturally sensual, combined with the velvety touch of pine fiber. Yes, all the sexy items manufactured by g=9.8 are made from a fiber originating in the branches of white pine (the pine trees used to produce this material are grown specifically for this use and new ones are replanted to replace ones used for production). Production is made locally in France.
Sophie graduated in 1995 from the University of Architecture in Paris. Her work focused on the creation of a recycling site in the center of Paris, visited as a museum. In 2005, after several years working in architecture, she founded g=9.8 in order to create a line of underwear respectful of eco-principles, such as minimizing the water consumption in the industrial production, eco-packaging, waste recycling and eco-marketing.
Well if I was to honor a rubber tube design award, the winner would be the Pieces Goddess, Christa De Leeuw Van Weenen for Zuss Fashion Design in The Netherlands. This freaky, fashionable, wearable art is not only cool, it’s fashionable recycling at it’s best!
Sorry, this Strapless Adventure sun dress is SOLD. But you get the idea. Check out the site. All items could be appropriately displayed in an art [...]
Oh how I get my kicks discovering unique designers with eco style! Just in time for the Summer Solstice, I share admiration for Enamore, founded by designer Jenny Ambrose 20004 in the seaside city of Brighton, UK.
This striking empire-line Jeanie Halter Dress is made from a blend of hemp and Tencel®. It has delicate strawberry shaped organic cotton lace detail and ruby-red satin bow detail.
Know that Tencel® is a [...]
By Lucille Chi •
June 14, 2008
This season, in search of the hottest summer organic tee, we @ FGS had the most serendipitous opportunity to interview Gali of brilliant BAN T-SHIRTS ~ Deconstructing Society->
1. How do you brainstorm designs for the shirts? More specifically, what is your favorite tee and why?
My inspiration for the designs comes from reading and using a little bit of imagination. It’s the kind of thing that takes practice, I think the more you exercise your imagination the more pleasing the results are. My favourite tee right now is Only sheep need a shepherd. It just represents what my site is about - doing things your own way and not following the crowd. It can be interpreted in various ways: religious, political, ideological, etc.
2. What does the word “Sustainability” mean to your organization?
Sustainability is about leaving the Earth in a better state than we found it. To me that is the simplest way of describing it. We are increasing the number of organic t-shirts that we have available, and I hope that soon they will all be organic. We also use American made shirts because we believe that the employees get a living wage.
By Lucille Chi •
June 7, 2008
Yoga has been an interest of mine for quite some time now. We are joined now by Ginger Coy, a dear old friend of mine, who has recently completed a yoga teacher training and shares with us some of the ways yoga has changed her life.
1. Since you’ve become a yogi, what are some of the health benefits you’ve enjoyed?
I feel much more solid, integrated and aligned. I have a much healthier body, mind, spirit and heart and a vastly improved outlook on life. When I first started I did not have the endurance, balance, coordination, and strength that I have now. I had very little upper body strength. I couldn’t push up into a backbend (Urdhva Dhanurasana, Full Wheel) or lower down to Chaturanga Dandasana with skill and ease. Now I am stronger than ever!
2. Do you have any poses or breathing exercises that help to restore health and vitality to the body to feel better?
Downward facing dog is a great pose to release the hamstrings and increase flexibility for stiff backs and arms. It is an inversion which has a cooling effect and is great for the nervous system. It will also help increase wrist strength and arm strength.
When practicing yoga, it is important to remember to breathe through your nose. It is calming to exhale twice as long as you inhale.
By Deb Hiett •
June 2, 2008
Green Design and Feng Shui on a Budget, and What’s Coming Next
Recently I had a chance to ask a few questions of Kim Nadel, NCIDQ certified interior designer, LEED Accredited Professional, and co-founder of the Brooklyn-based NICHE environmentally smart design group. Kim is currently on the MFA faculty of the New York School of Interior Design teaching Green Design, and co-authored The Green Pages: The Contract Designer’s Guide to Environmentally Responsible Materials and Products.
Kim was chosen by Hospitality Design magazine as one of the top 20 leaders in the industry to influence design in a positive direction. She has enjoyed lecturing throughout the country to designers and architects on green living since 1995 and her work has been published in a variety of publications including Interiors and Natural Home and Garden. Kim’s broad knowledge allows her to work within a diverse range of creative projects that promote green living and inspire others to create in a sustainable way. Presently Kim is incorporating the principles of Vastu into her work, and her designs are featured in Kathleen Cox’s Vastu book Space Matters.
What is the single most important thing individuals can do (in terms of interior decorating) to improve the feng shui or vastu of their home, if budget is a primary concern?
Editor’s note: Leather hasn’t come under quite the scrutiny of other animal products like fur, but our friends at Life Goggles ask a good question today: should an environmentalist wear the stuff? To answer the question, LG blogger Adam interviews Katleen Baum of georgette, a Belgian store that specializes in “animal friendly footwear.” This post was originally published on Thursday, May 8, 2008.
Katleen Baum and her twin sister Liesbet run georgette, an online and real world shop in Antwerp which specializes in animal friendly footwear. The website is a delight. Handily written in English, you navigate with a flea circus and clicking on a link can give you a nice surprise. Oh, and the shoes are great too. Katleen spoke to Life Goggles about reconciling veganism with wearing leather.
“Ever since we were kids, we were always fascinated with fashion and shoes. And also with animals. From the moment we realized that the animal we saw in the country, ended up on our dinner plates, we did not want to eat it anymore. So we became vegetarian and evolved to veganism. No biggie, right? But as time progresses, you start to question other things…
Every vegetarian or vegan, some day, will be confronted with the same dilemma: how to reconcile a strict vegetarian-vegan diet with wearing leather?
By Lucille Chi •
May 2, 2008
Red Flower is an inspirational natural beauty care company that believes the tradition of bathing is deeply connected to nature. I’ve become quite intrigued with their blend selections and cleansing rituals. In a recent interview I asked:
1. What does the word “sustainability” mean to red flower? We all have different definitions, and honor and appreciate those organizations such as yours that are moving into a holistic healing approach to working and living. To Red Flower “Sustainability” means:
- sustainable sourcing locally.
- working with the lumber industry to use otherwise wasted material.
- producing at 100 percent wind powered plant.
- to use soy based inks, to use recycled and recyclable packages.
- to conserve water and energy.
- to meet the criteria of bio dynamic, bio compatible and bio degradable.
- to create petrochemical free, dye sulfate and paraben free products.
- to use whole essential oils and natural certified organic ingredients.
- to educate and learn.
- to stay on an ever evolving path.
- to consider the lifecycle of every product.
By Lucille Chi •
April 25, 2008
Nau is an outerwear company created by a team of individuals committed to the power of business as a force for change. Intrigued by the brand I recently intervied Andrew Wilkins the talented Brand Communications Specialist for the organization.
Your site is a provocative blend of visionary activism, story-telling, and creative organic outerwear designs. In addition on your about page I noticed how humble your organization is.
1. What are some cool ways your collective (staff, writers, designers, engineers, biz folk) communicates? Do you have any neat team building tips to share?
Rule #1: Team building = lots of trust falls. No, just kidding. I wouldn’t say we do anything particularly outrageous in this arena. We have a pretty typical ‘information age’ headquarters with an open floor plan—not even the CEO has his own office. Right now, the company is still quite small, so there is lots of opportunity for cross-communication between departments when we’re, say, waiting to use the microwave in the kitchen/overflow conference room. It’s a very entrepreneurial atmosphere. Anyone can feel comfortable bringing up an idea to any other person in the company.
2. Tell us more about the Collective. I see there is a place to submit a story and I’m tempted. I saw this educational film about H2O and the mini documentary “Sliding Liberia” was a truly moving story. Would you elaborate on this project and how to participate? Where you forecast this project going in the next five to ten years?
