Clockwise:

1. The Luna Bikini via Green is Black, is a repurposed lycra bikini, with tie back halter triangle cupped top, and bottoms with a gathered tie in the middle back. They are made in the USA and sweatshop free.
2. From Nau on, and thank goodness, Nau is back in business this summer with their classic looks in full effect this season, especially with their July specials. Celebrate the return of this brilliant organization with comfortable styles and cozy items half off all month.
3. Moo Shoes presents Novacas “Claire” summer sandals 100% free of animal products: “We see you wearing this beautiful sandal with a diaphanous blue wrap dress on the Riviera. Its adjustable ankle strap will keep your feet looking classy long after sunset. Plus, it’s so light-weight we doubt anyone will notice you tip-toeing home at dawn.”
4. Loup Charmant’s (a.k.a. the charming wolf) PURE collection is made from 100% organic cotton, check out this simple bikini made with love.
5. Wildlife Works offers a sexy,“soy-organic cotton blend, the puff-sleeve V neck that boasts a sophisticated fit, with a soft drape and about 4% stretch. The shirt falls on the hip.”

While I wrote a preview of tonight’s episode of Big Ideas for a Small Planet this morning on sustainablog, Lucille’s right: it deserves a mention over here at Feelgood Style. So tune in (in about 45 minutes Central time) for the award-winning series’ focus on fashion tonight. Get a look at Del Forte Denim’s use of organic cotton, Nau’s sustainable methods of both creating and selling outerwear, and Revolution Cleaner’s greener alternative to traditional dry cleaning. And keep an eye on the extra coverage that appears during BIFASP, and the documentary that follows: word is that our own Jessa Brinkmeyer’s Pivot Boutique may be on tonight.

And while I’ve got you, throw your name in the hat for a green giftbag from the Sundance Channel. It’s easy to do: just subscribe to Green Options Media’s biweekly newsletter.

Impatient? Can’t wait 45 minutes? Here… take a sneak peak at tonight’s episode:

Got thoughts about this episode, or any of Sundance’s programming included in The Green? Share them on our discussion forum.

Image: the team at Nau, courtesy of Special Ops Media.

In addition to Del Forte, tonight’s episode features outerwear company Nau, which, unfortunately, has announced that it’s going out of business. Given Nau’s very sustainable approach to both garment design and retailing, watching this portion of the show felt bittersweet: let’s hope that their ideas for producing and selling greener fashion survive them.

Of course, fashion has environmental impacts after the sale, and the third “big idea” presented in tonight’s episode involves product care. Denver, Colorado’s Revolution Cleaners is one of many professional cleaning operations that have foregone the traditional “dry cleaning” process (which involves some pretty nasty chemicals) in favor of less toxic alternatives. Revolution uses liquid CO2 as a cleaning agent, and is implementing other practices such as hanger and plastic bag recycling.

In addition to the stories of these innovative companies, Big Ideas for a Small Planet has the usual mix of expert commentary: tonight’s contributors in include designers Linda Loudermilk and Carson Kressley (yes, that’s Carson from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), Ecofabulous blogger Zem Joaquin (go bloggers!), Rachelle Carson-Begley, and Simran Sethi.

Following Big Ideas for a Small Planet, The Green present the documentary film Escape from Suburbia. Gregory Greene’s film

…considers the possibilities as it examines the burgeoning grass-roots movement to “power down” from energy-intensive habits. Mixing the stories of ordinary citizens with expert analysis, the film offers an inspiring look at how people are changing their lives and their communities by pulling up stakes, organizing conferences, and even re-thinking local economies.

Another great night of green TV. Of course, you can still enter The Green’s “What’s the Big Idea?” contest — the entry period runs through May 20th. And keep an eye out for another contest announcement right here at sustainablog… I’ll have that up shortly. And, finally, if you want more green fashion, stop by Feelgood Style.

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?

There are several ways we generate content for the Collective section of our website. Often times, we brainstorm ideas that we farm out to videographers. Other times, professional videographers or other artists come to us with ideas that we fund. We also encourage anyone to submit a story, be it a video, a slide show, or an essay and, if we like what we see, we will pay for it and post it. 

For us, the Collective is a venue for storytelling about positive change. To facilitate this exchange of ideas, we hold monthly ‘Collective Commons’ events at each of our stores to premiere new pieces and invite speakers to engage the community in a thoughtful dialogue. In the future, we could see possibly doing longer-form films and submitting them to film festivals, or even someday hosting our own film festival. 

3. Explain the Partners for Change initiative. I am impressed with the list of partners you’ve garnered! How did this develop and grow? 

The Partners for Change program was born out of a desire to show that business could be more than just the relentless pursuit of profit—that with a few tweaks, business could become a force for social and environmental good. As part of that, Nau donates 5% of every sale to a non-profit organization of the purchaser’s choice from our list of environmental and humanitarian partners. That puts us at roughly 70 times the national average for corporate giving as a percent of sales.  Currently, we have 31 global and regional partners. When you purchase on our website, you get to choose from all 31 organizations.

When you purchase in a store, the global choices are all the same, but the regional choice vary by market. As we add new stores in new markets, we will continue to partner with additional regional organizations. So far, we’ve donated over $223,000 through Partners for Change; not bad for a company that has yet to turn a profit! 

4. What are your visionary company goals for 2008 and beyond?

 In the practical sense, we just opened a new store in LA at the Beverley Center and we plan to open 4 more stores in 2008 (San Francisco, Boston, and second stores in the Portland, OR and Seattle, WA markets). In May, we plan to relaunch our website to more broadly integrate our content and product offerings and streamline the user experience. We just released a new line of men’s and women’s denim jeans and our fall line, due in late August, will feature a collection of bags and travel accessories that we’re pretty excited about. Philosophically speaking, our long-term goal is to prove the viability of our ‘business unusual’ concept and show that a corporation can balance the interests of its shareholders, the environment, and the public—in other words do well by doing good.

 5. I was watching the design team share their process ~beauty, performance, sustainability ~ and I really like your holistic approach from the people in the factory to the end wearer. Will you discuss some of the ways this is put into practice at the company daily? 

As you saw in the video, the main place we incorporate Beauty, Performance and Sustainability is in the design of our clothing. We want everything we make to meet the highest standards of form and function, and do it in a way that’s easy on the planet. What good is a beautiful pair of pants you can’t sit down in? An eco-fiber shirt that looks and feels like a medieval penance device? The most dialed-in, ‘look-at-me-I’m-high-tech’ ski jacket that’s too gaudy to wear anywhere but the mountain (if you must even wear it there)? By combining all three aspects, we create garments that are durable in every sense of the word—multifunctional and exciting to wear for years.  

For instance, if you look one of our hardshell jackets, the Shelter Jacket, it’s as technical as any from the top apparel makers, but the difference is that it would be as much at home on a mountain trail as on a main boulevard. The lines are clean, not cluttered with unnecessary features; the colors are subdued, not neon bright; the fit is body-conscious but with enough room and give for movement. It’s waterproof, breathable and best of all, it’s made with 100% recycled polyester and designed to be recycled again at the end of its long life. Beyond that, I’d have to say we try to incorporate the same ideas into everything we do, from our store construction to the design of displays to our various marketing efforts.  

6. I am stirred by your blog, the ‘Thought Kitchen’ and would like to include it on our Feelgood Style blogroll! Is it a shared inspiration across the organization?  

There is a group of folks within the company who are primarily responsible for the content of the blog, though any employee is welcome to participate, should they feel inclined. There are weekly, informal editorial meetings and each completed piece is filtered through an editorial process. 

You’ll notice that the main difference between our blog and most other ‘corporate’ blogs is that we rarely discuss Nau itself. Instead, we choose to focus on the thoughts and ideas that inspire us to do what we do—the ethos of the movement we seek to embody. Besides the Thought Kitchen and the Collective, we also have an email newsletter, Off the Grid, which serves as a major means of communication with our customers, highlighting content from our website and providing updates on new product launches, events, and breakthroughs in our own sustainability efforts. You can sign up at http://www.nau.com/.  

In Portland last weekend, I had the chance to visit two single-manufacturer boutiques in their home town, and I am happy to report that, at least when sales are on, store traffic was bustling.

My favorite brand in terms of creative styling and wow design is Nau. The brand started by an idealistic but experienced team, many of whom met while working at Patagonia, is all about sustainability whether in sourcing, distribution or retailing. Using fabrics created from recycled polyester and plastics, as well as organically grown cotton and cashmere, Nau’s clothing is surprisingly and pleasingly hip for a company focused on outdoor wear.

Nau isn’t just focused on its own efforts to green the world, it also raises awareness of the efforts of a number of local and international nonprofit organizations, by asking customers to select from among them for a donation of a percentage of purchase. Donating to environmental organizations is almost a must for sustainable businesses. (See my recent post on Brilliant Earth.) But Nau does something I haven’t seen anywhere else and that is they pay YOU to have them ship your purchases to you, to the tune of 10% of your purchases. It’s a great incentive to help Nau cut down on store sizes and product transportation costs.

My only complaint about Nau is that the store I visited is in a high-end mall, which requires driving to get to from anywhere, as far as I can tell. However, we can all shop at Nau.com.

In my next post, I’ll tell you about my visit to another Portland-based clothing line that came highly recommended and didn’t disappoint.

Although backpacking can be one of the most eco-friendly vacations one can take (let's face it, you're walking everywhere), can backpackers lessen their eco-footprint? Although environmentalism has always been on the radar of those who enjoy the outdoors, there are more and more options that allow backpackers and hikers to make greener choices to preserve the nature that they love getting away to.

First and foremost, getting to and from the trailhead can be a major source of carbon impact. Consider taking the train or bus instead of driving or flying. The Appalachian Trail has multiple sections that are serviced by train or bus, as does the Pacific Crest Trail, and the John Muir Trail. And if you take the train you don't have to worry about your car getting broken into while you are on the trail. If worse comes to worst, you can (gulp) offset your travel.

Second, remember to obey leave no trace principles. Sometimes, after a long day of elevation gains, unexpected rain, and blisters, you might not feel like packing out the leavings of washing dishes, or the thought of a roaring campfire trumps the knowledge that you probably shouldn't make one, or you feel like wandering off the beaten trail. It may seem like your actions don't really make a difference on your favorite trail, but according to Leave No Trace, backpackers have a significant impact on the wildlife, water sources, and vegetation of their favorite habitats.