Posts Tagged ‘green’

An Eco-Friendly Shampoo That Actually Works

Friday, August 5th, 2011

After searching for over five years and spending upwards of $30 a bottle on recipes that left my hair lifeless, I’ve finally found an eco-friendly shampoo that works. 
As if a 92% biodegradable formula containing no silicons, no dye, no parabens and a 50% post consumer recycled plastic bottle weren’t enough, Garnier Fructis’ Pure Clean is infused with antioxidant Acerola Berry. 

My hair looks and feels great- no Seinfeld low flow shower hair.  To top it off,  all 25 ounces sell for under $7.  

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Well, West Elm’s Figured it Out

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

In the mid-priced budget, there’s less and less need for a professional designer when retailers like West Elm have nailed a look that reflects a well lived and traveled life.

Have you seen their latest catalogue?  It looks like they robbed Nathan Turner’s shop to be able to offer their latest items at such affordable prices.   Add that West Elm is at the forefront of pushing retail one step further to help sustainable products go mainstream as a growing number of their items are 100% green and there’s little reason go elsewhere.

For years I’ve been teaching designers and the public about eco-friendly and healthy resources.  Lately my push has been for awareness of the people who make the goods we buy.  West Elm’s latest partnership is with Aid to Artisans.  I’m terribly impressed that a huge retailer has realized a way to profit and create economic opportunities for artisan groups around the world.

 

This season they are focusing on All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association. The  Indian women’s yarn co-op creates one of a kind, hand loomed and hand woven pillow and throws without the use of any electricity.  Pieces from Stray Dog Designs can also be found at West Elm.  Stray Dog Designs has been an enormous part of pre and post Haitian Earthquake artisan commerce among a lengthy, charitable, corporate agenda .

With Certified 100% Organic Cotton textiles for bedding and bath, FSC certified furniture and accessories that are rapidly renewable, reclaimed or recycled, chic and totally within your budget, West Elm has NAILED IT.

Add the new collaboration with A-List Design partners like Allegra Hicks, Benjamin Moore and David Stark and it’s clear that West Elm has made the taste for champagne on a beer entirely possible.

I’m not saying you’ll be able to pass their furniture on to future generations, but clearly West Elm understands  a green, triple bottom line.  They’ve got great style and you can feel good (physically, socially, mentally) about what you buy from them.

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Oysters and Gowanus Canal

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

When I think of oysters,  glamorous appetizers, champagne and  the resulting amorous night ahead flood my mind.  When I think of urban canals, especially Gowanus in Brooklyn, I can literally smell the stench of sewage filled waterways.  In my experience dilapidated waterways and oysters are no match.  Good thing Kate Orff thought otherwise.

Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York

 America’s leader in upcycling industrial wastelands (think High Line Park), fabulous New York City is the breeding ground for one more brilliant idea.  Known as “oyster-tecture”, Kate Orff,  founder and partner of Scape/Landscape Architecture , paired oysters and the dirty canal like Felix and Oscar and consequently has one huge hit on her hands.  The problem: a polluted bay. The solution: Oyster thrive while simultaneously  filtering  the dirtiest of waterways.  In fact, one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.  Imagine what an entire farm could do. 

 

When Orff approached the locals and Port Authority with her plan to transform the canal into an oyster nursery, creating a clean and dynamic new form of ecological life, their response was, “why didn’t we think of this sooner?”

It’s the simple things (and solutions) in life that are sometimes the most worthwhile.  Savoring oysters from the Gulf Coast to France’s Atlantic, it’s nice to know they satiate my appetite for cleanliness too.

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