Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘sustainable’

Are you hitting the web today to check off those last few items on your gift list?

Take a look at my posts from last week for online shopping for sustainable and handmade items to revolutionize your gift-giving:

• The Gift Guide that Does Good – a revolutionary gift guide for sustainable and fair trade gifts
• Revolution, Continued: This time, it's personalized – the handmade revolution

Image by 040915 at DeviantArt

'Tis the season… for a revolution.

(Unfortunately, I can't properly credit this photo because the website I found it on is defunct, and the squawkbox url has since changed hands. But it's darn clever.)

Do you know how many proverbs there are in the English language having to do with money? Exactly 253.* 

Have you ever wondered why there are so many monetary proverbs? It's because they're all true.

Money talks, it makes the world go round, and you should seriously consider putting your money where your mouth is.  It also ended apartheid in South Africa.

But I'm not going to rant or preach here.

I'll just pass on to you these online shopping sites that will help you do some good if you choose to spend money this holiday season.  Whether you want to choose sustainable products and support the environment, or buy products made with traditional techniques and fair labor, these links will be a great starting point for you.

Cosa Verde

An online showroom of sustainable, handmade items, categorized by environmental and ethical impact (recycled, vegan, etc.).

National Green Pages

A directory of all kinds of businesses that are dedicated to the environment, audited by Green America (consumer advocacy group that also works with Ebay on World of Good, below.)

Equal Exchange

Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, cocoa, and gifts.

Ten Thousand Villages

Well known company, with brick & mortar stores, that offers fairly traded gift items.

Ebay's World of Good

Ebay's marketplace for environmentally and socially positive products.

SmartlyGreen.com

A portal for all of the brands and online shopping sites you already use, which donates a % commission to Cool Earth, a rainforest initiative.

Don't forget non-tangible gifts as well– there are lots of ways to make a donation to a cause, or support the environment and sustainable economic development, in honor of your loved one.  Be sure to check the organization's ratings before sending a payment.

*This statistic is based on nothing but my very active imagination.  Who has time to go counting money proverbs?…

From the people who brought us One Laptop per Child, we now have a solution to the demoralizing experience that is underwear shopping. (Demoralizing for me anyway, because all I want are cotton bikini briefs that cover my entire rear, with no lace/cutouts/bling, etc, and the only kind I can afford is totally made in sweatshops. I am penitent.)

Pact sustainable undies for ladies and gents – sustainable materials, sustainable construction, and donations to effective organizations.

This link will also be available in the Eco Shopping Links tab.

Good morning! The darlings at Cosa Verde have featured me on their nautical-theme Today’s Picks.
Take a look before the next crop of eco-goodies moves in.

Fair Indigo has sourced the most eco-sustainable t-shirts ever created.

They had everything we stood for under one roof. Organic cotton, fairly made products (in a USA factory to boot), a design aesthetic that was modern but not edgy, fabrics like butter, eco-friendly dyes, prints done at a facility powered by wind and solar?!

Take that, American Apparel:

1. organic cotton
2. fair trade
3. non-toxic dyes
4. wind and solar powered production.

You can peruse the shirts (men’s and women’s) here.

I do actually have one problem with these.

I would not wear a single one of these in public.  For yoga, walking, or other exercise– sure.  But for shopping, going to a museum, or dinner out with my husband– No Way.

Philosophically, I consider myself a hippie.  And I’m coming to terms with re-incorporating some ‘bohemian/hippie’ style elements back into my grown-up wardrobe (I rocked the head-to-toe thrift shop hippie look throughout high school and the first couple years of college, and then got over it).  But, I also have learned to present myself the way I wish to be perceived, and to dress appropriately to the occasion– I look professional for business occasions, I look sexy and stylish for social events.  And I always give my own creative spin, because as a budding creative career woman, I want to be prepared to meet anyone and give them a visual representation of my personality.

So yes, it’s a question of personal taste– I’m not into the graphic t-shirt trend (now at least 5 years old, about as played out as Uggs…).  And while I wear jeans most days, I don’t consider myself well-dressed in jeans and a tee.  But it’s definitely a question of Style (capitol S intended) as well.  These "Eastern"-influenced graphics with pithy sayings about "sustainability" and "bliss" and "balance" are not versatile enough for a modern woman to incorporate into her day wardrobe. A t-shirt should be able to work under a cardigan for breakfast or lunch with friends, under a blazer for work, and maybe with some killer slacks and heels for cocktails or dinner.  It should not look like you just got out of the gym.

Proclaimeth the fashion dictator.

The problem I have with most apparel that is technically environmentally sustainable, is that it is usually not marketable to hipsters and people who actually give a darn about sartorial aesthetics– the people who buy a lot of clothe$.  It usually looks like: 1) something yoga-specific, 2) an activist slogan shirt, or 3) the love child of abstract textile art and a burlap sack.  Even clothing sewn by hand by a self-employed designer, constructed from reclaimed/repurposed materials (like an Etsy shopowner I know…) tends to look too arts-and-craftsy to ever pass muster on Project Runway.  Which gives a bad rap to sustainability in the realm of style, which keeps demand low for sustainable manufacturing, which creates low profitability for designers and producers to work sustainably, which means tons of waste and toxicity continue to flow out of the fashion industry.

There are indie designers doing beautiful, chic things with organic cotton, and some do work wonders with repurposed fabrics.  And bigger fashion corporations are starting to incorporate some sustainable elements into their lines.  But I fear the complete package just won’t catch on if the most sustainable producers are only putting graphic t-shirts on the market.

We’re having a great discussion over at CT Green Scene about reusable shopping bags.  They featured a number of links where you can buy ready made bags, which make great gifts, and should really become a part of your daily life.  While they do present some ecological and social concerns, I think the widespread use of these bags is definitely a big step in the right direction.

Since this is, ostensibly, an environmentally-conscientious blog, I wanted to follow up on the issue of reusable bags with links  for crafty green-folks, or green craftspeople, whatever you call yourselves, to make your  own market bags, in a variety of craft media.

For Knitters

A string bag.  The original pattern link seems not to be working.

A felted bag.

For Crocheters

Another string bag.

Another one, by Vickie Howell

The CTGreenScene article referenced MyRecycledBags.com, which offers many crochet patterns for different styles of bags.  And she sells her products here, if you’re not a crafter.  Buy handmade!

For Sewers

I think this is my favorite.

A bag based on the traditional plastic bag.

This awesome bag folds into its own zipper case.

As convenient as it is to buy a 99-cent polyethylene bag at the supermarket, it’s much more responsible to make your own, if you can, and make it from recycled materials.

The Internet has many, many, other patterns and inspirational ideas for bags in any style, made of any material you can think of.  Craftster, again, is a great resource for ideas on making bags and other stuff-for-carrying-stuff from recycled materials.  And if you’re more into buying handmade than making things by hand, there are lots of offerings on Etsy.

When I was "fabric shopping" at my parents’ house, I found this unfinished project from pre-2003, a tote bag knit from recycled plastic bags, cut into strips.  It’s been stowed away for so long, I have no idea where the pattern is.  Luckily, it’s knit in garter stitch, and I know I have to knit 3 pieces and that it’s shaped basically like a cereal box, and I’ll have to devise some handles for the top.  I’m slowly working on it….