Green your party season, and Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to begin by saying Happy Thanksgiving to you guys across the pond! But I have a couple of confessions.

The first is, I nearly forgot to write this post because I'm so busy (in a good way!).

And the second is that up until a few days ago, all I knew about Thanksgiving was that it is a day when lots of Americans eat lots of turkey. And on TV programmes everyone sits around the table listing what they're thankful for.

Well, I couldn't possibly list all the things I'm thankful for. But I think it's interesting how the idea of thankfulness is, I think, part of the core of the green movement -- thankfulness for the life we've been given and the planet we have to live it on. And what better thought to start what, for many of us, can be the most wasteful time of year?

So I thought I'd leave you with a few top-tips for reducing your rubbish this holiday season without spoiling your fun as you go partying, giving, shopping and feasting. And if it all seems a bit overwhelming, just do what you can. A little effort can go a long way ...

Christmas tree furoshiki, GreenerFrog on Etsy (also, click here to visit Hop Frog Pond for excellent furoshiki information and instructions!)

1. Furoshiki -- gift wrapping with fabric. Traditionally, the Japanese giver would unwrap the gift in front of, and then present it to, the recipient and take the wrapping cloth home with them. This isn't necessarily a practical solution in many cases, but it would be easy to keep a set of cloths for wrapping your family's presents. Make them part of your holiday tradition, re-loving them year on year along with the baubles!

2. Aim to only send cards to those you can't see in person during the season, and choose recycled or sustainably sourced cards where you can. Save the cards you receive to make new cards or gift tags next year!

3. Try to plan ahead, and if you want to give someone a gift but don't know what they'd like, ask! That way, you can avoid panic-buying that over-packaged gift set -- and if all else fails, get a gift voucher.

4. And when I say gift voucher, make sure you check out Etsy, DaWanda and other handmade venues for sellers who might offer them. :)

Vintage comet rhinestone brooch, ThePeacockFeather on Etsy

5. Make your new party dress a vintage gem, or check second-hand venues for a treasure somebody else got tired of. Then alter it to fit you like a glove! Admiring those sparkly embellished bandos that are everywhere at the moment? Grab a plain bando, and pin a vintage brooch and some trim to it for a covetable party hairpiece.

6. Avoid leaving a bad taste by buying local food; avoiding over-packaged food in the supermarket; choosing organic and free-range; and making full use of your fridge and compost bin for leftovers :)

Above all, remember to relax and enjoy yourself, and the company of your loved ones!

And this is my final contribution to Sew Green this year, so I'd like to wish you all a (very universal) Happy Holidays and my best wishes for the new year!

Maimy x

Eco-VDay

Valentine's Day giving typically consists of cards, chocolate, roses, & jewelry. While nice, those items can have a pretty serious environmental impact when done en masse. Here are some environmentally friendly and socially conscious alternate suggestions to make your Vday non- corporate and meaningful.

Cards:

"The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas." [source ] That's an enormous amount of paper used, and subsequent trash created. So instead of sending a card, plant a tree. Tree Greetings has an ecard that plants a tree per sale [link has sound]. Arbor Day also plants a tree for cards, even though it does offer a paper card.

Or go to your local nursery and pick up a tree to plant.
On my parent’s first anniversary, my dad gave my mom a baby tree to plant in the yard; when they moved, 25 years later, it was the tallest tree in the neighbourhood. That tree represented their relationship and growing love. How's that for a love metaphor? Advice on how to plant a tree can be found at Tree People.

100% post-consumer waste paper is also an option if you want to send a card, but a lot of that paper is bleached using chlorine. So look for cards labeled PCW [post-consumer waste] and PCF [processed chlorine free].

Chocolate:

Unfortunately for chocolate lovers, according to Tree Hugger, "most chocolate sold in the U.S. comes from cocoa farms where farmers work in unsafe conditions, receive below poverty wages, many of them children under 14 years old who are forced to work and denied education". Typically, any factory that does not respect workers, does not respect the environment. Make sure any chocolate you buy is certified fair trade. Global Exchange has several fair trade boxes here and I have heard wonderful things about Equal Exchanges chocolate, but I am not a huge chocolate lover so I don't have any personal recommendations, so please leave yours in the comments.

Roses:

Flowers are tough- I love cut flowers and I love a good flower arrangement. Unfortunately flowers have 50-1,000 [In California!] times the pesticide use allowed in food. The Environmental Working Group reports "There are no regulations in the U.S. governing the use of pesticides on cut flowers, and therefore, importers are not required to monitor pesticide levels." Since flowers are not food [to humans], they are completely unregulated; flowers are expected to be "pretty" and bug-free making the use of pesticides rampant. Not a very rosy situation. What makes it worse is that "Studies show that women -- who represent 70 percent of all rose workers - - have more health problems since many sort the flowers without wearing masks or latex gloves. Children under 18, who make up more than a fifth of the workforce, display signs of neurological damage at 22 percent above average." From Organic Consumers. And that pesticide flows right into groundwater and air- spreading through ecological systems before it gets passed on to the consumer.

Solution? Buy organic flowers. I found a few venders here, here and here. You can also go to your local nursery and pick up seeds to plant your own organic flowers that can be enjoyed all year.
Or you can you join a CSA and enjoy edible plants all year long. That is a delicious & healthy gift that keeps on giving.

Jewelry:

Diamonds are extremely controversial. From Amnesty International: "Some diamonds have helped fund devastating civil wars in Africa, destroying the lives of millions. Conflict diamonds are those sold in order to fund armed conflict and civil war. ...Wars that have cost an estimated 3.7 million lives." Right now there is no safe way to guarantee that a new diamond is not a conflict diamond. Here are some alternative suggestions:
Vintage jewelry- Vintage pieces are gorgeous and have a history [hopefully unlike the conflict diamond]. If you can keep it in the family even better. Not only green & sentimental- but the vintage styles are classic and gorgeous. Try your local thrift or antique store to find the perfect piece.

Etsy has tons of handmade jewelry- and a lot that use recycled materials. I started searching and got lost in a web of awesomeness. Again, leave any specific recommendations in the comments. To do:

Now that gifts are covered, here are some suggestions for you and you loved one [inlcudes pets & children] to do:

Donate your bras. Instead of buying new lingerie clean out your bra drawer and send them off to be donated and repurpurposed with The Bosom Buddy Program. I have always been wary of donated bras to thrift stores since I feel that they will get tossed and not sold. With this program you are sure that your ill-fitting, or nursing bras will go to someone in need.

Give Blood. You can save a life by donating blood. Make this an annual v-day tradition, and replenish with some fair-trade chocolate afterwards.

Find a local V-Day theater performance. The proceeds from your ticket supports local anti-domestic violence organization. "V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues, A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, and screenings of V-Day's documentary Until The Violence Stops, to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities." Visit the website for performances in your area, or start your own.

And finally, volunteer or donate money that would have been spent on flowers or gifts. Domestic violence is the opposite of love and this is a perfect time to volunteer at a local shelter or donate. From the American Bar Association, "Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States." The National Domestic Violence Hotline offers a Valentine's Card for a donation; you can always donate and skip the card. Find a local shelter in your area and see if they need volunteers. You can also volunteer for a local V-Day performance [see above].

So that was an exhaustive list but I hope you are inspired to make this Valentine's day more green & sustainable.


*Images of hearts cut from my daughter's drawings.

commitment issues

I’ve been reading a lot of Wendell Berry's books lately, and one of the main themes throughout his essays and fiction (haven’t gotten to the poetry yet, but i’m sure it’s there as well), is that of committing to a place—working to protect and improve that place, the land and one’s community. While I am all for that in theory, I have had a very hard time putting that idea to practice in my own life.

I’ve lived in San Francisco for over ten years now, and at various points I’ve tried to commit myself to this city, but have never really succeeded. Part of this for me has to do with having grown up in two places, Sweden and California, and usually missing where I am not. Another part is my wondering if I’m really a city person. I long for more green and quiet. I also wonder if there is a place where it’s easier to build community. Often SF feels like it’s a city for (mostly hipster) 20–30 year olds and/or the wealthy.



I could go on and on about what makes me think about moving away. But one of the things that is really exciting about and makes me want to be in the Bay Area right now is the food movement. There is so much interest in making connections with surrounding area farmers. (We here are lucky to live in an area that has a lot of biodiverse, eco-conscious, farms.) Restaurants that use all locally produced or gathered food are cropping up left and right. People are raising chickens and bees in their backyards. They’re gleaning fruit and meeting their neighbors in the process. They’re building gardens and joining CSAs. Check out how this wonderful woman collects farmers’ market leftovers and distributes it to local food pantries.

I am trying to figure out what I can do to enter this movement more, to commit more to this place I call home. I do subscribe to a CSA and go to the Alemany Farmers’ market every Saturday with two lovely friends. And I sometimes write about agriculture related books here and there. But I want to do something more. Maybe join Slow Food San Francisco, attend some of the Kitchen Table Talks, go to Garden for the Environment events or volunteer at a local farm. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with some sheep. (Would love that in fact.) It would be fun to start a little group of people who go and visit different Bay Area farms on the weekends.



Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is something I’m considering, though the farm I’ve been thinking about contacting is in Sweden, so there goes the rooting myself here idea.

Starting a backyard garden (for real!) in 2010 will be a growing (oh geez) and rooting (oh geez again) experience.

Or there’s this group, amyitis, that sets up a garden with you.

What are you all doing to involve yourselves in your place more actively?

Some links about new farmers/farming methods
Redefining farming (with video)

A new family farmer (video)

The Greenhorns (trailer)

Wes Jackson is the co-founder of The Land Institute and writes about farming using nature as a model.


{Flowers and leaves all found (mostly on the ground) around this glorious place.}

do it yourself oil changes

hi all... my dad wanted to post this article on green tips for changing your car's oil! [i know ideally we all wouldn't have cars, or cars that run on gasoline, but i think that part of what we can do as concerned folks is do the best we can with what we have and can afford]

it's from the union of concerned scientists - their website is actually a huge wealth of knowledge

here's the article on greener oil changes .

i'm actually due for one....

earth hour - 8pm on the 29th of March

For those of you who may not already know, it’s earth hour this coming Saturday night.... Well, that is, in Australia. If you’re in the States or the UK or any other marvellous part of the world for that matter, then it’s 8pm on the 29th of March, your local time.

All you have to do is sign up on the web site and when earth hour rolls around, turn everything electrical off in your house. Lights, tv’s, dvd’s, ipods, kitchen white goods and yes even your beloved computer.

You could then light a candle or two or, as many are doing, gather with others and watch you local city lights switch off. I think it's going to be amazing.

This little clip may help explain where it all began (Sydney, Australia 2007). It may make you want to join in too. I hope so.

take action today!

Hey, it's blog action day!

Instead of writing about just one thing you could do today to take action for the environment, I'm going to suggest a few. Please add your action ideas in the comments!

Three places you can take action for the environment today:

1. Pesticide Action Network. Tell EPA to Reverse Methyl Iodide Approval: U.S. EPA rushed registration of carcinogenic methyl iodide Oct. 5 for use as a fumigant pesticide. Sign a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson today, letting him know that this is unacceptable!

2. Greenpeace Canada. Demand to know what's in your food. The Quebec Premier Jean Charest made an election promise to make labelling of genetically modified foods mandatory. Ask him to keep his promise.

3. Breast Cancer Action: Think Before You Pink. Tell Avon, Estee Lauder, Revlon and Mary Kay: We Demand Safer Cosmetics! These four cosmetic companies have positioned themselves as leaders in the fight against breast cancer while marketing products that contain harmful chemicals. Avon and Estee Lauder have taken an important first step by pledging to remove dibutyl phthalates from their products. Revlon and Mary Kay have not yet responded to the public’s request to make their products safer. Send an email to executives at these companies urging them to do the right thing about chemicals in their cosmetics by removing harmful ingredients.

Where else can we take action for the environment today?

Blog Action Day

Did you know that October 15th is Blog Action Day ?

from the site

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

good thing to sign up for, eh?

Polar bears reappear once more

{Where to now.}

It’s the last day of September and I thought a good way to mark the day was to post a few of my recent polar bear drawings. I haven't been able to post on Sew Green for a while, so what better way to get myself slowly reacquainted than this. With polars to break the ice.


{Where to now.}


{The last safe patch. (Please, click to enlarge.)}

Medium: watercolour and pencil on Fabriano 640gsm traditional white paper.

Polar bear links to peruse:
Most Polar Bears Gone By 2050, Studies Say
WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracker
Polar Bear Conservation Through Research and Education

(Polars also said farewell September, hello October over here on elsewhere.)

write your congress{wo}man

Hi everyone - this is actually a guest post from my DAD :). he's definitely one of the reasons why i was excited to join sew green. he has continually been interested in environmentalism. he also has roots in activism - and asked if he could write something for us. i was thrilled. thanks dad!

««««««««««««««««

I am sure that this is no surprise to the readers of this blog but recent reports have found that the estimates of changes due to global warming have been seriously understated. For example:

Science magazine reported in March that Antarctica and Greenland are both losing ice overall, about 125 billion metric tons a year between the two of them — and the amount has accelerated over the last decade. To put that in context, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (the most unstable part of the frosty cloak over the southernmost continent) and Greenland together hold enough ice to raise global sea levels by 40 feet or so, although they would take hundreds of years to melt. We hope.

In January, Science reported that actual rises in sea level in recent years followed the uppermost limit of the range predicted by computer models of climate change — meaning that past studies had understated the rise. As a result, the study found that the sea is likely to rise higher than most previous forecasts — to between 50 centimeters and 1.4 meters by the year 2100 (and then continuing from there).

Science Express , the online edition of Science, reported last month that the world’s several hundred thousand glaciers and small ice caps are thinning more quickly than people realized. “At the very least, our projections indicate that future sea-level rise maybe larger than anticipated,” the article declared.

This blog’s attempt at encouraging people to change their daily habits in various ways is an important way to try to help reduce global warming.

But so is writing one’s representatives in government. You can find these people in the United States at the following sites:
write your house representative
write your senator

{ed. note: if anyone knows of how to reach representatives in canada, the UK, austrailia, etc. leave links in the comments. also tell us if you've ever received a response or what your experience has been}

Feel free to copy and paste the three pieces of info noted above into a letter to your Representative and Senators.

While they may have done some work on improving fuel standards for vehicles, tell him/her that they need to do MUCH, MUCH more. Talk about the need to develop alternative fuels, to stop oil companies from ripping us off by not paying the royalties they owe the government, to do more about encouraging the development and the use of public transportation, to not support the development of nuclear energy because of the danger of the waste, etc.

Additionally, keep writing them. A letter once every few weeks asking them about what they are going to do about some environmentally related issue will make them notice that the voters want action. With the convenience of computers one can copy, cut and paste, and send pieces of newspaper or magazine articles with relative ease.

You’ll get a reply. Usually, it will be a canned response extolling what he/she has done about issue x, y, or z. Write him/her back thanking him/her for the reply and then asking him/her what he/she is going to do about issue a, b, or c that he/she did not address in the letter. Politely, but clearly, remind him/her that you expect him/her to keep working on these issues.

Is it worth a few minutes of your time occasionally? I think it is!

Squirrel Gliders

Last week I came across an article in the paper about a project aimed at saving Victorian Squirrel Gliders from a grizzly death as they try to cross our busy roads.

A rope bridge will be built over a section of the Hume Highway (for those of you not in Australia that is the main road from Melbourne to Sydney). According to the media statement the purpose of this bridge is to decrease fatalities of this endangered species and also to “… encourage movement across roads and among squirrel glider populations so that they can access food, shelter and mates." (Dr van der Ree)

I’ve not seen the rope overpass but I imagine they will look a little like this:



I think they would look nice like this too.





These fury little guys seem to have the will to survive both the busy roads and the loss of vast areas of their woodland habitat which has been cleared over the years. This article reports of them appearing in a district where they were previously not known to exist.



Hope you think this idea is as good as I did. I’ve spent many a moment, since reading about this bridge, thinking merry thoughts about those little squirrel gliders and the glimmer of hope that they now have.



Another thing which may help distribute merry thoughts is my book give away! I've just finished reading "Every Last Drop: The Water Saving Guide" by Amy Carmichael and Craig Madden (the book I reviewed a few posts ago).

I think the best place for this book is in the hands of another reader/water saver. So, if you're in Australia (I don't want to exclude my overseas buddies, however the book is targeted at Australian audiences) and you are interested in a free book full of water saving tips and facts on water politics, management and usage, then just tell me in the comments section.

I was also hoping that if you are the lucky winner then after finishing reading the book you could give it away to a friend or associate... maybe we can pass it around to as many people as possible, spreading the message as such. I'll register the book on bookcrossing so that everyone can keep an eye on its travels.

(Posted simultaneously over on elsewhere...)

Medium: watercolour and pencil on Rising Stonehenge cream 100% cotton 245gsm paper

Dimensions: 9 X 14cm

virtual drink - and a footnote

on the way home from work the other day i listened to a story on npr's marketplace concerning the liters of water that go into making one liter of coca-cola -- and what the coca-cola company plans to do about it. (you can read the full transcript here.) needless to say, the fact that over 250 liters of water produces one liter of soda was shocking. there is, or course, the water that is carbonated to produce the soda (2.54 liters), but then too there is the water used to wash the equipment, and the biggest portion, the water used to grow the sugar that goes into the sweet drink (there lies the 250 liters!). now we aren't big soda drinkers in our house, but it got me to thinking, how much water are we really using? only to find that it takes approximately 140 liters of water to produce that morning cup of java i so heavily rely on.

on the World Water Council site, virtual water is defined as "the amount of water that is embedded in food or other products needed for its production". Like "carbon footprint" our bigger "water footprint" is causing a global impact.

so what can be done? you can lobby for companies to take an active role in monitoring and decreasing their water usage. buy from companies you know are making the right choices. and try to move towards a diet of less virtual water. hayley's previous post on the impact of a vegan diet on reducing carbon footprint also applies here. it takes approximately 15500 liters to produce 1 kilogram of beef. you can check out how you are doing by calculating your own "water footprint" here.

food (or should i way water?) for thought

**********
i wanted to add a "footnote" to my previous post on toenail polish. i am currently sporting a lovely pedicure of honeybee gardens polish and i couldn't be happier. it was so easy to apply. (being water-based it doesn't get all ooey-gooey if you try to go over it again.) wears very well. and while not as easy to remove as conventional polish, does come off without those nasty fumes. a more than fair trade-off i think. i took the company's advice and put it on before bed as it takes a while longer to set than the usual stuff. and i gave my toes a good soak before removal. (just popped them in the bath while watching the girls have theirs!) i have used both the peel-off and the non-peel type removed with rubbing alcohol or yes - vodka! - love both. just wanted to put the word out!

World Environment Day

||Two polar bears with lights to mark out the safe parts ice.||


||Two polar bears with floatation devices.||


||Humpback whales repairing the ice sheet.||

Happy world environment day, everyone! I thought it only fitting to post a few of my polar bear and humpback whale drawings on this important annual day.

This years topic is ‘Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?’ with a "focus on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, on other ice and snow covered areas of the world, and the resulting global impacts." (as taken from wikipedia)

You can discover a little more here and here.

I’m going to celebrate by writing a letter to my local member of parliament, asking them to establish national laws to cut greenhouse pollution, tax greenhouse pollution and reward energy saving and renewable energy, ensure 20 per cent of Australian electricity comes from renewables by 2020, to stop flirting with nuclear power and ratify the Kyoto Protocol… as suggested by the ACF.

How about you?

I’d love to hear about how are you going to spend the day, or how you did spend the day (depending on the time zone you are in right now)?

the 100-mile diet

i am going to start off by saying that this is a fantastic book. vancouver writers alisa smith and j.b. mackinnon documented their year-long experiment into local eating. local for them was defined as 100 miles from vancouver bc, which meant produce in season from the fertile fraser valley, to the shores off vancouver island for seafood.

what became difficult they soon realized, no wheat. no farms west of the rockies grow any type of wheat. however they did come upon a farmer who had tried on a trial basis. he welcomed them to what he had in storage. they were so desperate to have wheat that they ground it into flour themselves.

this book takes you on a journey through local history, food politics, sustainability, relationships to place, all with a very light-hearted tone. from the moment i picked it up i did not put it down until i finished later that evening. highly recommended.
there is a link to their website under our resources links to the right.

Green car parking

My mind is bubbling with excited thoughts and plans. I want to build a green driveway from old bits of dry ski slope! It's such sturdy stuff and looks great once the grass begins to grow through and disguise it.

I often see piles discarded locally, but now they've started using it to stabilise the hill paths and prevent erosion near the ski slope itself, it works really well. That's the kind of re-use I like, where the new use it even better than the original one. The slope is 20 minutes walk from my house, on the Pentland Hills overlooking Edinburgh. Here's where I sit to catch my breath and make my cunning reclamation plans...



People think I'm lucky to have a drive already in my garden, but to me it's lifeless space that could be inhabited by plants and herbs for the insects to enjoy. Scented ones too, since it's good to treat your nose as well as your eyes.

I'm also concerned by water run-off which creates flood problems as more and more people pave their gardens to park their cars. Such a sad loss of habitat. I'm really into green carparks, paving, roofs etc. as a way to lessen our impact in built environments.

The first green carpark I saw in the late 80's was the concrete type which looked similar to this. I was VERY excited to discover it. Modern ones mostly use grid systems made from recycled polyethylene, like this Australian kind. Our local Ikea has a small section for about 20 cars. I'd like to see entire car parks look that way - where suitable*.



I'll be using ski slope if I can, but for those of you who don't have that option but are interested in the idea, have a look at Paving Expert. They explain different types plus preparation needed to install them so they'll stay put. They also advise on grasses for each use - walking, heavy traffic etc. It's a UK site so grasses & suppliers will differ elsewhere but it gives a good overview of things to consider before doing a further search in your own area. They have UK supplier links and this one has pricing for green paths to give you an idea of costs. It seemed no worse than the cost of decent quality paving in the UK.

For many, grass is not an eco option on account of water use but many of these systems also hold dry materials so I'm guessing you could plant low growing drought tolerant succulents etc. such as those used for green roofs (more on that later). Anyone tried that? It also stops dry material being lost onto the road.

Others hold gravel or stones, but having seen a beautiful Scottish river scraped for it's stones and left lifeless, and coutryside quarried for gravel and left scarred and barren - I would not advocate their use unless they were reclaimed. Plus they are incredibly energy intensive and often have huge mileage to get to you.

I'd love to hear from any of you have tried any of these options, and especially from anyone who has successfully improvised. I will keep you posted on my own attempts.

*this tends not to work on slopes and boggy areas.

ps. I forgot to say that they help prevent 'urban heat islands'. Read more about that here.

Ethical Banking

photo - Cwmni Gwynt Teg (Fair Wind) in Wales, UK

My 1st post, scary and exciting.
I feel so lucky to have been included in this blog with these great women who have already influenced changes in my own life through their recent posts. But what to write? My current pet topic is eco building, but with April 5th approaching (deadline for ISA's in the UK) my thoughts have been around banking.

For years I prided myself on living ethically, being veggie, eating organic, and caring for the environment etc. Then, in 1995, I found out my bank, my little (so I thought) Scottish bank was financing the arms trade, among other unsavoury things. I was horrified and wanted to switch immediately.

I learned that The Co-operative Bank had responded to customer demand in '92 (yay) and developed an extensive ethical policy. They are now well known for SMILE, their highly acclaimed online banking facility, which helps as they don't have a lot of high street branches. I liked that they were not investing in companies etc. which would harm the environment, make or trade arms, hold 3rd World Debt or support oppressive regimes. This was all great. But could it be better?

Yes it could.
When I went self employed in 1996 I discovered Triodos Bank. They didn't have high street banks for me either, but they had a totally inspiring ethical policy. In their own words 'Triodos Bank only lends to organisations which create real social, environmental and cultural value'. And they mean that. You can see all projects they have loaned to or invested in on their website. Most banks refuse to disclose such details at all.

They began in the Netherlands in 1980 and now also operate in the UK, Belgium and Spain, and have an agent in Germany. One of the nicest things about banking with them is the mail. No more letters encouraging you to get into debt so you can have the latest car, the hottest holiday or the biggest TV. Nope, with Triodos you get updates on who they've helped with lovely profiles and great photo's. It's so inspiring and un-banky, and it gives you the most incredibly good feeling to know your savings are doing something so positive.

As well as a traditional savings accounts they have Charity Saver accounts, so you can direct your savings towards causes that are particularly dear to your heart, like wildlife, human rights, renewable energy or social housing to name a few. At the time I was spending my free time campaigning against GM trails near our local Organic Farm so I opted for an Organic Saver Account. Years later Triodos helped when the farm shop needed rebuilt. That felt good. They've also help local artists with studio space, which I know you crafty types will approve of. Honestly, this bank is GREAT.

We have enormous power to create positive change by where we keep our money, as well as where we spend it. Not all countries have such great examples as Triodos but many have banks similar to the Co-operative bank. And it's not just savings accounts, but also investments, pensions, mortgages and all the other ways we deal with the bigger finances in our lives. It's worth having a search to see what options are available where you live. Through Triodos I even bought shares in a windfarm!

I've added a selection of UK links below to get you started and also some worldwide links. Please feel free to use the comments section to let us all know of other links that you recommend. Oh, and I've not forgotten about alternative currency, just keeping that for another post. Happy saving...

UK
Co-operative Bank
Triodos Bank
The Ecology Building Society
Ethical Investors (Mortgage, Pension & ISA options)
Naturesave (Insurance)

WORLDWIDE
Australia - MECU
Australia - Savings & Loans Credit Union
Australia - Australian Ethical
Belgium - Triodos Bank
Canada - Citizens Bank
Denmark - JAK
France - Institut de Dévelopement de l'Economie Sociale
France - Société Financiere de la NEF
Germany - GLS Bank
Germany - Triodos Bank
Italy - Banca Etica
Netherlands - Triodos Bank
Spain - Triodos Bank
Sweden - JAK
Switzerland - Alternative Bank (nice graphics)
USA - Common Good Bank

It’s not easy, being green. Or Indigo for that matter…

So when I first meet someone and the inevitable question of what I “do” comes up in conversation. The answer is usually met with some sort of the following:

a) strange brow furrowing and nose twitching
b) blank stare
c) snicker
d) snicker followed by “So, like, what? Hemp?”

Ah, the joys of being an eco-fashion designer! What does all this mean? Do I have to wear hemp? Do I have to be vegan? What the hell is mud dye anyway? Being a fashion designer and being organic and sustainable used to be worlds apart. The reason? Because high quality organic and sustainable fashion fabrics were in short supply (if available at all.) Organic cotton? What for? Why? Sustainable and organic wool? What’s the difference? Why bother? What was available 10 years ago was natural hemp and linen. Not a whole lot else. That isn’t true anymore. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe you need to know WHY before we go anywhere else.

The fashion industry is one of the most pollutant causing industries in the world. From the farming of raw materials to washing of the final product, almost every step there is an opportunity for greening. Since I work in the denim industry I feel like I am most qualified to talk about the greening steps involved in one pair of simple jeans. This is a long article but I feel if you begin to understand what goes into something as simple as pants you can see the sum gain of the larger picture.

Jeans, and in specific cotton, is one of the most pollutant pieces of clothing that any one person can own. Unfortunately it takes 2/3 of a pound of pesticides to make one pair of jeans, and 1/3 of a pound to make a single T-shirt. A pair of jeans only weighs about a pound! That sort of ratio is unheard of in any other crop. While conventional cotton accounts for 2% of global agriculture it requires 10% of global pesticide use. The EPA says that conventional agriculture is responsible for 70% of all problems in U.S. rivers and streams.

When it comes to going organic in fashion there are certain criteria, just like food, that need to be followed. Organically grown cotton has been produced without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. A field must be pesticide free for three years for the cotton to be certified organic. This insures that the land is free of any residual chemicals that could enter into the plants and cause contamination.

Why is contamination important? According to the EPA, five of the top nine pesticides used in cotton production in the US (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite, and trifluralin) are known cancer-causing chemicals. The EPA classifies all five pesticides as Category I and II, the most dangerous of chemicals. While these pesticides are washed out by the time the cotton gets ginned, farm workers suffer the most by being in direct contact with many of these chemicals. The World Health Organization estimates accidental pesticide poisoning causes 20,000 deaths and 3 million non-fatal poisonings every year, worldwide. Not only that – but this stuff gets in your foods! 60 percent of a cotton crop, by weight, enters the food chain in the form of cottonseed oil which is used widely in processed foods, and as cottonseed feed for cows. The pesticide residues from these cottonseeds concentrate in the tissues of these animals, and are passed on to consumers in meat and dairy products. This is a big deal because these chemicals were originally formulated as nerve gases for warfare, at least 107 pesticide active ingredients are carcinogenic. Pesticides have been responsible for birth defects, respiratory problems, behavioral changes, infertility, sterility, and hormonal imbalances. Imagine that next time you eat a bag of chips containing cottonseed oil.

Not only farm workers suffer but animals do too! In 1994, Australian beef was found to be contaminated with the cotton insecticide Helix® (chlorfluazuron), most likely because cattle had been fed contaminated cotton straw. One year later, farmers were alarmed to discover that newborn calves were also contaminated with Helix, apparently because it was passed through their mother's milk. In 1995, pesticide-contaminated runoff from cotton fields killed at least 240,000 fish in Alabama. Shortly after farmers had applied pesticides containing endosulfan and methyl parathion to cotton fields, heavy rains washed them into the water causing the deaths.

The next step in fabric to jean is the dye process. Lately this is where marketing departments are having a field day with you. Most of the debate circles around “Natural” indigo. “It’s so much better!” they tell you. “It’s not chemical dye!” they extol. The kicker is they are right… to a point. No matter what kind of indigo you use, synthetic or natural you need developer to bring out the blue. That developer is a cancer-causing agent Thiox. There isn’t a way (yet!) to develop indigo without it and just knowing that information can help you pick apart what people are selling you. Our jeans use indigo. Not using indigo won’t happen any time soon – but where we strive to cut down on harmful impact is in the wash and finishing process – the last stage in the making of your blue jeans.

When ever people talk about “the wash” in regards to denim they aren’t talking about getting rid of dirt. “The Laundry” or “the wash” is where color gets applied to jeans, they get stonewashed, ground down, distressed etc. This is a battleground for greening. Most factories aren’t regulated in China. There are no official standards to follow when it comes to treatment of wash waters or irritants. There are no agencies to run checks and no one to care about where that water goes once it leaves the factories. There are no standards for worker safety either. Many times workers will be in rooms with sandblasting equipment inhaling particulate matter. That matter lodges in your lungs and causes cancer. Resins and distressing chemicals are applied with little protection. In the US, and most specifically in the factory that we work with in Texas, there are strict policies and standards in place with regards to this sorts of finishing.

When we set out to design a new wash we investigate and use some of the most green washes we can. We don’t use a chlorination processes in regards to bleaching down color. We prefer to instead use a hydrogenation process. This results in cleaner wash water when removing color. Hydrogen breaks down into water much better than chlorine and doesn’t have the same effect on water wildlife.

The wash water in the factory that does our work is welled from a private spring that lives under the factory (does this sound just a bit too idyllic? It did for me!) The water is treated so that it is almost as clean when it exits the factory, as it is when it enters. Why? Because this water is used to irrigate the alfalfa fields that surround the factory. This alfalfa is then sold as feed to family farms. The factory is working to close the loop. The pumice stones that are used in the stonewashing machines are not thrown into the trash or dumped in a river. They are further ground up and added to soil as an aeration device. Lastly, for our jeans we only have our people hand sand. With hand sanding there is no particulate matter and the people working on our denim are not at risk for disease or cancer.

That’s a lot isn’t it?

At the end of the day these are the things that you should look for when buying jeans. Organic Cotton. Hand work. Clean water standards. Made in the USA. With labor standards in LA and Texas being some of the highest in the country you can’t guarantee perfection, but you know you are working with people who care enough to pay a fair wage. You know that these people aren’t being exposed to the sorts of chemicals that workers in China endure.

I hope I haven’t bored you. I hope you feel you know a little more about why organic isn’t just for food anymore. I hope to tackle other issues and to tell you about who are working towards a greener fashion standard here and around the world! I’ve really enjoyed writing this and thank you for the time to let me vent!

links of interest?

i was driving to the studio this morning listening to science friday on npr . steven jackson was on talking about climate change... it was really interesting especially when they started talking about the nations that are currently growing industrially [china and india] and how we can attempt to balance changing emission standards while considering the wealth of nations. the audio will be posted by 6pm eastern time today. hopefully here

a while back my dad sent me a link to this editorial by thomas friedman of the new york times . it's a really interesting read. the idea of environmentalists beating corporations at their own game - by using high power investment bank consultants - is an intriguing one.

Sustainable Seafood

Hello fellow greens,

This is my first post and I'm excited to share some information I have recently read about " Sustainable Seafood". I first came across this subject in a World Wildlife Fund newsletter and then I saw a special article about it in the latest issue of National Geographic. The more I read on, the more I realized what a problem the seafood industry is in. The main problems are overfishing, ridiculous amounts of bycatch (29 million tons of fish, seabirds, turtles, and marine mammals each year) & the lack of government support.

The whole world is feeling the effects of overfishing. One fisherman Alfonso Consiglio of Italy, whose family owns a fleet of purse seiners, is also torn. "The price is cheap because more and more tuna are being caught" he said. " My only weapon is to catch more fish. It is a vicious circle. If I catch my quota of a thousand tuna, I can't live because the price is very cheap. I want to respect the quota, but I can't because I need to live. If boats of all countries respect the rules, tuna will not be finished. If only few countries respect the rules, and others don't respect the rules, the fisherman who respects rules is finished."

There is a huge lack of government support, they need to cut back the worlds 4 million fishing vessels, which is double the amount needed to fish sustainably and lower the budget of 25 billion dollars in government subsides set aside annually for the fishing industries. Not only do we need to change the rules but we need to open peoples minds to the idea that we must treat the oceans inhabitants as we would the beautiful animals on land. It is easy to ignore or just truly underestimate the wonders of the sea, simply because it's a world most of us don't interact with.

If you would like to make a change and push for more sustainable practices you can go to this website:
http://eng.msc.org/
It is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an independent, non-profit organization set up to find a solution to the problem of overfishing. You can find out where to buy sustainable seafood, fisheries that support the program and even delicious recipes. They were also a winner of GreenAwards, a UK based organization supporting "creativity in sustainability".

Also I wanted to share the list of safe fish:
Halibut - Alaska/Canada
Striped Bass - Atlantic
Squid - Pacific "market"
Albacore - Pacific
Mahi-mahi
Lobster - Australian rock lobster
Shellfish; mussels, clams, oysters - farmed (various sources), cockles (Burry Inlet, U.K.)
Dungeness crab
Caviar - farmed U.S.
Salmon - wild Alaskan

Some fish to avoid are Atlantic swordfish, wild caught Atlantic salmon and sharks. Speaking of sharks, there is an estimated 40 million sharks finned alive for shark-fin soup. So if you would like to support eco-friendly sustainable seafood please look for the blue & white MSC logo on your packages of fish. It's worth mentioning at your local grocery store, let them know, if we don't speak for the fish nobody will.