Still reading environmental news from your local paper? Wake up! There is a new online home for sustainable metropolitan living - Greenopia. Starting with green ratings for Los Angeles biz, Greenopia now covers San Francisco and New York City. The ratings are available in book form and on their newly designed website.

Widely publicized green maven Starre Vartan (founder of Eco-Chick) has been hired Greenopia’s Editorial Director. She hired me, and a few others, to take Greenopia’s website to the next level!

Thanks to our continuing hard work, Greenopia is now the go-to source for local eco-living in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. Along with green ratings, you’ll find:

• National and Local Environmental News and Events
• Community Interactions: submit reviews, blogs, business listings, tips … and win prizes!
• Interviews with National and Local Eco-Celebrities
• How to be Greener Guides
• Green Gripes Blog: real solutions to everyday eco-living problems and challenges
  

(more…)

Emily Katz took the 2007 Fashion Week in Portland by storm with the debut of her self-titled fashion line. The flattering designs done up in sustainable fabrics and produced locally were an instant hit.

After studying at the Marilyn Institute College of Arts in Baltimore, Emily returned to Portland in 2003 to start her first clothing line, Bonnie Heart Clyde, with her (now-former) sweetheart. After they went their own separate ways, Emily started her self-titled line last year to much fan fare.

GLO: How does your self-titled Emily Katz line differ from your first fashion label, Bonnie Heart Clyde?

Emily Katz: Bonnie Heart Clyde was a freehand embroidered line of separates for men and women. It was crafty and whimsical. The Emily Katz line is the grown up version. More sophisticated, modern, and clean. Simple and elegant. The line has organically grown with my own growth as a designer and person as a whole.

Have you always wanted to design with sustainable fabrics or were you introduced to them recently?

My dad always told me to wear natural fabrics, and organic and sustainable seemed like the right way to go. I can’t believe I used to wear so many polyester shirts in high school!

As a new, small fashion brand, do you find it even more difficult to afford to produce your line with sustainable fabrics?

Yes absolutely. I have financed the line by myself, and when you look at the difference between conventional baby jersey ($1.50 per yard), and soy/organic cotton ($6-9 per yard)! You can see how it can be stressful. However, I believe in what I am doing, and thankfully lots of other people do too!

Also a musician, food lover and visual artist, how do you other creative endeavors inspire your fashion creations?

Everything inspires everything else. (more…)

What’s better than feasting on fresh fruit and vegetables handpicked right from your very own garden? According to the National Gardening Association (NGA), 80 million U.S. households (that’s three out of four!) participated in at least one type of lawn and garden activity annually for the last five years.

With all that growing going on, you can’t help but wonder just how much of it is sustainable. “Anytime you introduce a foreign substance into an ecosystem, it can throw a wrench in the works. Chemical pesticides and fertilizers are foreign substances that start altering the garden ecosystem the moment they are applied,” says Jessica Walliser, co-author of Grow Organic.

Many have heard of commercial farms using organic growing methods, but these methods can be applied to the lawns and gardens of individual homeowners and apartment dwellers as well.

The easiest way to enjoy your growing experiences and support a sustainable planet at the same time is to grow organically. What exactly is organic gardening? Many debate the difference between using fewer chemicals and no chemicals, but one thing about organic gardening is clear: strong soil. “[Organic gardening] means building up the soil through compost and mulch. The heart of organics is healthy soil,” says Jeff Gillman, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota and author of The Truth About Organic Gardening. “The key is to build the soil up by adding organic matter [i.e. leaves, newspaper; anything that can be composted or will decay] each year. When the soil is fertile, plants will outgrow just about anything,” says Walliser’s co-author Doug Oster.

[[ KEEP READING! THE FULL ARTICLE, WITH 9 INSIDER TIPS, IS AT LIFE.GAIAM.COM]]

[Image courtesy of *Susie* on flickr.com]

Gardening “green” sounds like an oxymoron - and it is. What is called “organic” gardening today is what everyone was doing before the Industrial Revolution. Now-a-days, only about half of homes have plants in them. Most you can’t even eat.

Time to Grow Organic! A new book by Pittsburg greenies Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser. Not only about gardening, Grow Organic helps with flowers, lawns and more. For “first-timers and old-timers alike,” those without a naturally green thumb are saved. Color pictures, graphs, step-by-step instructions - it’s all here.

Live in the city?  Grow Organic’s info applies to your small space too. Don’t let a lack of “real” land stop you grow the joy of truly fresh food and flowers. Container gardens are even easier to maintain than lawn spaces, so grab a trowel and get growing!

My favorite section of Grow Organic is chapter 6 - all about veggies!  When I have a house, I’ll grow fruit trees too. Until then, its spinach, herbs, and other edibles. My apartment building’s fire escape offers enough extra space to cultivate more than expected.

Space? Time? Skill? You don’t need any of these to grow! It’s a simple, quick and space-conscious hobby. Grab a copy of Grow Organic by Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser. You’ll see what I mean in no time. Well, it may take a few weeks for the seeds to sprout. Then, you’ll see.

(more…)

The Pacific Northwest is awash with cutting edge clothing brands, especially sustainable ones. Hailing from Seattle, all of Prairie Underground’s pieces are designed, cut and sewn right in-town. Of course, you can’t call a brand sustainable without them using eco-fabrics. Prairie Underground has that in spades, featuring organic cotton (and now, hemp) throughout the entire line. Long-time friends from Nebraska Davora Lindner and Camilla Eckersley started Prairie Underground back in 2005, just as the sustainable fashion wave was beginning. Since then, the brand has become synonymous with cutting edge eco-style.

(more…)

Time for another weekly edition of Carnival of the Green, organized by the nifty folks at TreeHugger. Last week, the COTG was hosted by Blogfish; next week, hosting duties are covered by How Ethical.

LET’S GET TO THE POSTS!

Law Matters tells us about The Implementation of the Forest Rights Act.

Rebecca Dean at Miss Copy features a beautiful image of an ancient tree on the island of Yakushima, Japan.

AdmirableIndia talks about the second day of their trip to Chikmagalur in western India.

Kevin at Xtreme DIY presents 10 Eco-Friendly Trips for Going Green Under $10(ish) - perfect for our supposed recession.

Alisa at EcoTrekker features 53 Easy Tips to Use Less Water, with suggestions for every room of the house.

Phil for Humanity talks about The 4th of July Pollution conundrum.

Cindy at MyRecycledBags shows how to make a Greenie Pot Scrubber out of recycled cotton and plastic netting.

Lane at Vegan Bits discusses Why We’ve Got Salmonella In Our Tomatoes, which has already started a considerable discussion.

Preston at Jetson Green presents the Top 5 Green Building Products As Voted by Builders, chosen recently at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.

(more…)

Wine, chips and salsa, ink, stencils, fabric scraps, heat guns, over 50 people you don’t know - either this is Martha Stewart’s bachelor party or an exciting event with Swedish design maven Lotta Jansdotter. Hosted by San Francisco’s Craft Gym this past Saturday, the printmaking party with Lotta Jansdotter was also a book release party for her latest tome from Chronicle Books, titled Lotta Prints (ah, how I love a play on words).

Now living with her husband and son in Brooklyn, Lotta lived in San Francisco for many years and seemed delighted to be back in the “City by the Bay.” With stencils, linoleum blocks, and potatoes stamps featuring designs from her new book, Lotta showed nearly 50 people how to add personality to plain textiles. I’ve never seen so many people crammed into the Craft Gym before, proving just how much Lotta is still loved on the West Coast.

I personally didn’t have a chance to give any of the printing a shot, but just by watching and listening to Lotta’s techniques, I gained valuable knowledge for an upcoming home decorating project. Of course, a few folks from Chronicle Books were on-hand to sell copies of Lotta Prints. The book is a bit different from Lotta’s well-known Simple Sewing. Instead of featuring expansive step-by-step instructions for specific projects and detailed patterns, readers are given the basics of each printing method, a few stencils and encouraged to play around.

As a person who has always been interested in printmaking, this book is a joy! Drawings, scrap prints, finished projects and photographs taken by Lotta herself accompany the book’s instructions, showing the reader that inspiration can come from anywhere. Whether you are looking to achieve something similar to Lotta’s signature style or hoping to develop a style of your own, Lotta Prints is the book for you. I’ll be using my copy as a reference for both printing instructions and stimulating visuals - as they say, “the sky’s the limit.”

(more…)

With the announcement of fellow eco-model/writer/23-year-old Gemini Summer Rayne Oakes as EarthFirst’s “Hottest Girl in Green” late last week, I’ve gotten many emails from friends and fans asking how she ended up at #1 while I was at #17. I must say it is quite flattering to have people asking. What I am bothered by are the rumors floating around for months about Summer and I possibly having some sort of rivalry or “bad blood” for each other. So … will you soon see a sustainable battle of the stylish kind?

I hate to burst your bubble - but no. There is no bad blood between Summer and I, at least not from my end. Why did she end up at #1 and not me? Was it her college degree? Her brown hair? Extensive appearances in the press? Who knows, but I’m not worried about it. I am more than delighted to see that Summer has come so far, so fast. Would I love to be in her position? Of course! That doesn’t change the fact that we both live separate lives and have developed different paths that we gladly follow.

It may come as a surprise to hear that I actually worked directly with Summer while I was still living in New York City. We did a winter fashion show together and while she seemed quite distracted, Summer was still enjoyable to be around. Even after only spending an evening with her, I had a feeling that would not be the last time I heard of Summer Rayne Oakes. Since that event, we have not come face-to-face again, but it would be interesting to see her and congratulate her on all her success - I bet she wouldn’t even remember me.

(more…)

Have you ever woken up in the morning and couldn’t stop blushing? That is happening to me today after I found out I received not one but TWO special mentions today.

First, the EarthFirst.com blog ever-so-graciously included me on their list of “Hottest Girls in Green”. Out of 25 women, I landed at spot #17 - not too shabby, especially since I didn’t even expect to make the list! Only spots #25 through 16 have been revealed - new ladies are posted every day this week, so make sure to tune in to their countdown. At this point, I can’t help but be curious who made it higher up on the list; call it “female investigation.” (I’m only joking!)

Second, and even more astonishing, edgy Canadian sustainable fashion brand Chopper Couture has created a design based on me for their Holiday 2008 Eco Celebs collection (see picture at left, model is NOT me). Out of the 24 ladies they based designs on, I’m the only one who hasn’t stared in a blockbuster movie or released an award-winning album - not that I wouldn’t like to do BOTH of those things (hint hint, I’ve been training for both for years).

In case you are curious, here are the other women featured in the collection: Daryl Hanna, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Alanis Morissette, Alicia Silverstone, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, Cindy Crawford, Sheryl Crow, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hilary Duff, P!nk, Sienna Miller, Chloe Sevigny, Kyra Sedgwick, Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera

As a long-time fashion model, I’m taken aback by the fact that an eco-clothing brand included me in such a prestigious range, especially with so many other awesome green ladies around these days (just see EarthFirst’s list). No doubt I am working on getting a shirt in my design, but I’ll be making sure to get an extra one for my mom (my biggest fan) - she’d love it. Maybe I can convince Chopper Couture to let me give one of my designs away here on Victoria-E.com; stay tuned!

BIG THANKS to both EarthFirst and Chopper Couture for featuring me - I’m honored and humbled.

Organic is win-win for everyone. Customers love it, ecologically responsible mills get rewarded, organic farms profit and I get to feel good about the fabric I use. - Tierra Forte, founder and designer of Del Forte Denim

Ah, denim - the “all-American classic.” I don’t mean to take attention off of the entire world’s love of this versatile wardrobe staple, but denim has a special place in the heart of most U.S. citizens. Now that “conventional” cotton has been widely outed as one of the most chemically-intensive crops around, finding organic cotton denim is Operation Numero Uno for sustainable fashion fans. Having personally tried on over 50% of the organic, fair trade brands on the market today, I can easily say that Del Forte Denim is my perennial favorite.

Made from Texas-grown organic cotton in Texas and Los Angeles factories, Del Forte Denim is the epitome of U.S. production. Most sustainable brands use eco-fabrics grown and woven in China, Turkey, Egypt and other foreign countries. Keeping production more local helps to reduce the carbon impact of the entire brand and stands as a shining example of what eco-success can be. Del Forte is also a proud member of the Sustainable Cotton Project, helping to “educate farmers, agricultural students and the general public on ways to increase the sustainability of farms and supports those farmers who are sustainable and/or organic.”

(more…)