I’m almost speechless, but if I was, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post. With over 1 million visitors a day, Examiner.com is one of the most popular news sites online. This month, I was given the opportunity to write a green blog for their website; needless to say, I accepted. Just a few minutes ago, I posted my first entry to Ongoing Green. Below is the introduction that I wrote for the head of the blog:

Everywhere you look, people are giving away advice on how to live more eco-friendly lives, but does anyone actually do this stuff? I do - I’m Victoria Everman; SF’s own green living writer and model. I’m here to give you a personal insight on the trials and tribulations of saving our planet, one less plastic bag at a time.

Please take the time to visit my latest green endeavor, read through my first post, and leave a comment for all to enjoy. A big thank you to all of you who have been following my career thus far; each day brings new surprised and opportunities!

I’m quite amped to see that so many folks were interested in my post about Knit.1 Magazine’s upcoming green issue. This morning, the very same post was featured in TreeHugger.com’s “Most Huggable” weekday collection of popular stories from Hugg.com. I hope this draws more attention to the fantastic hobby of knitting, as well as all the hard work that the great folks at Knit.1 put into each issue.

“Knit a bag, save the world” - who said being green and crafty can’t make a difference? Trendy Knit.1 magazine, published by VogueKnitting, is sure their readers want to have a positive impact on the planet. “I’d like to think that as knitters, we’ve always been a pretty resourceful group. By practicing our craft, we are ‘recycling’ (for lack of a better word) countless generations of traditions and techniques, giving them our own modern spin,” writes Adina Klein in her Editor’s Letter for Knit.1’s Summer 2007 issue, also know as “the green issue”, on sale May 15th.

“Since we started working on this issue, it seems that every other magazine, from Town & Country to Fortune, has “green” plastered across its cover. It’s easy for us here at knit.1 to do a photo shoot in a garden and call it “Greenhouse Effect,” or to put a model in shiny gold hot pants and call it “Solar Power.” What’s harder is practicing what we preach. I know I have to stop filling landfills with individual containers of my favorite Greek yogurt and to finally start using those long-lasting light bulbs that have been on my to-buy list for months. But luckily for us knitters, doing the right thing comes naturally. To paraphrase blogger extraordinaire Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, we are good at making a difference because we understand how one little effort—the stitch—repeated hundreds and thousands of times, can make an enormous impact.”

Unlike many of the major magazine doing green issue for April/May, Knit.1 has added a green element to just about every aspect of their next issue. Below is a small snippet of the many eco-offerings in the Summer issue; a visual preview of the patterns offered can be seen here:

GREEN SCENE
Shannon Okey searches the Web for all things purlable and earth-friendly.
IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A SKEIN!
…it’s Annette O’Toole and the knitting cast of TV’s Smallville. By Vickie Howell
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
Projects, tips and other goodies that will help you knit and save the planet. By Leigh Witchel
ECO KNITTING
Yarns with a cause: Knitting goes green. By Leigh Witchel
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Flirty knits that will make you feel like a natural woman.
PAPER OR PLASTIC?
How about neither? Carry your sundries home in a hand-knit bag instead.
SOLAR POWER
Hot knits for hot days.
CONCRETE JUNGLE
What’s black and white and knit all over? Business wear for urban warriors.
KNIT YOUR VEGGIES
Get out your Wishbone Italian! Yummy knits made from corn to bamboo.
THOSE LEAVES OF GRASS
A salad bar of fibers.
THE BIRDS AND THE LEAVES
Nap in style, swaddled in a blanket that evokes the natural world.
ANIMAL PLANET
Go for faux with a pack of fierce pillows.

Like watching the stars? Check out your Summer knitstology horoscope, complete with eco tips for each sign. An issue like this is all the more proof that green living is more mainsteam than ever before, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. On a related note, keep your eyes peeled for my green knitting piece in Yoga Journal Magazine’s September 2007 issue.

As a green writer, I’ve been featured on TreeHugger.com, GroovyGreen.com , GreenOptions.com, GLiving.tv, WorldChanging.com, ENN.com, as well as in established magazines, such at M+F, Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, Recovery Solutions, Venus, and more. I’ve also been a trust interview source for publications such as Women’s Wear Daily, Eco Talk National Radio Program, Contra Costa Times, [X]Press, and more. Last but not least, my first non-fiction book is in the works and gaining attention rapidly.

My modeling career is beginning to take off again as well, which means I will be doing a number of freelance photo shoot hear in the Bay Area over the next 3-4 months. With five shoots book and over 20 in the planning stages, I’m looking for green style brands to feature in the photo shoots. All items will be returned in a timely manner or, if interested, I would be happy to further wear the items to featured press-heavy events in SF and LA, helping to spread the impact of the brand beyond a mere image.

If you would be interested in this opportunity, please post a comment on this entry or e-mail me directly and we can work out any and all details. My next shoot is coming up on April 21st, with my schedule for May nearly full and booking for June has begun. Final, edited images will be available for you to use for promotional purposes on your website, as well as in printed media.

Image of me taken by Tapiwa Muronda

While enjoying a pleasant stroll through the Union Square area of San Francisco, the window of the new Quiksilver store on Powell Street caught my eye. Of course, being an eco-geek, seeing “100% organic cotton” anywhere makes me excited. Surprised that I hadn’t heard anything about one of my favorite surf brands “going green”, I snapped a few shots of the stylish and sustainable offerings. The women’s tops (sold under the Roxy brand) are pretty basic, with phrases like “clean your beach” and “every little bit counts” printed on natural-color cotton. The men, on the other hand, have t-shirts in a number of colors with truly kick ass art on them.

Checking the company’s websites, no extra info or press releases were available about the brand’s efforts to spread environmental knowledge to their millions of international, sporty customers. According to the hang tags on the 100% organic cotton shirts, 3% of the net sale price of each item will be donated by the company’s non-profit, The Quiksilver Foundation, to select charitable organizations. Adding in an extra element of customer participation, you can go to the foundation’s website to choose the cause that your money will go to.

Is this just a short-lived promo for green living or the beginning of a transformation among one of surfing and snowboarding’s biggest brands? Only time will tell.