i love eco

Berkeley Botanical Garden to Host Green Gala

I Love Eco is please to announce a GREEN GALA set in the beautiful Botanical Gardens of Berkeley California. 

The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley will be hosting a Garden Party Fundraise GREEN GALA to be held on Sunday, June 28, 2009 from 2-5pm.  This year's fundraiser will highlight the critical work of the Garden that educates the public on the truly amazing relationship between plants and people.

A fashion show of sustainable, local designs that will be held in the stunning Redwood Grove Amphitheater followed by festivities in the Garden.  A bamboo garden structure and displays of wood and other fiber and dye plants included in the Garden's acclaimed collection will be in the entrance.  Guests will taste seasonal, organic delicious creations from Devoted Catering by Amiee Alan.  Enjoy live music and biodynamic wine from Quivira Vineyards.  

Also, silent auction of green and gorgeous items will help raise much needed funds to support the Garden's living collections.

If you're in San Fran on June 28th - CHECK IT OUT!

  

Local Wisdom - A Unique Fashion Project from the University of Arts London

I Love Eco loves smart design especially when it is carried out with as much thought and consideration as Dr. Kate Fletcher "Local Wisdom" project.

I must first apologize for not writing an article on Kate ages ago... I'm so sorry Kate!  I began several articles and threw them aside with frustration because they never truly explained your accomplishments and beautiful ways of thinking about sustainable fashion.  I continue to learn and be inspired by your projects.

With that said, I would like to announce the project, "Local Wisdom - A unique fashion project recording and celebrating the clothes-based ingenuity of our communities."

About the Project: 

Good ideas happen everywhere and often involve creative acts with the things we have around us, like our clothes. These creative actions and ideas are rarely acknowledged and never make it onto catwalks or business agendas, yet we think they have potential to help solve some of the problems we face as a global community.
The Local Wisdom project recognizes, honours and gives credit to the many creative ideas and actions that involve our garments. These acts typically need little money or materials to make them happen, but instead tap into an abundance of experience, ingenuity and freethinking. This project captures and celebrates this ‘local wisdom’, uncovering its value and giving it a platform to flourish and inspire.  Local Wisdom is a research project funded by London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London.

What it involves:

Gathering stories about garments using photographs and spoken testimony from volunteer members of the public in two regional UK towns. The public will be invited to bring along garments that:
• are shared between people
• are enjoying a third, fourth or fifth life
• have never been laundered (and aren’t leather!)
• have the character of a particular place in them
• surprise you each time you wear them
• have been let out, tucked in, re-worked, embellished
• show the careful attention of their creator/owner
• can be added to and taken away from (but are wearable both ways)
• make you feel part of a community (but not a uniform)

Outcomes:

Photographs, information and oral histories about garments
from the grassroots whose design and use saves resources,
helps us form strong connections with each other and builds
an awareness of the world around us.
Fashion ‘events’ that recognize and encourage a community’s
potential to create its own future.

Arran jumper – hand-knit inherited from father-in-law

and shared with his wife (she wears it in the garden). Never been washed. ‘I've shrunk a lot of things over the years and it would also lose it's fantastic smell - a mix of fresh air and wood smoke. It's like part of the family. I could never throw it away’.

Visit the Local Wisdom project website for further details about the research event and how to participate and what clothing to bring to the events.

The research events will take place in Totnes, UK on Saturday June 6th 2009 from 10am-4pm in association with Transition Towns Totnes Sustainable Makers and in Bollington, UK on Sunday July 5th 2009 from 10am-4pm a part of Three Shires Textile Festival. 

I hope it's a huge success!

City of Toronto - Ban on Plastic Bottles and Charge for Plastic Bags

This is awesome and I am so proud to be a native of Ontario!  

While I wait for New York City to take a stand and produce a similar initiative, the City of Toronto will officially be free of plastic bottles on June 1, 2009. 

There will also be a charge placed on the use of plastic bags from retailers of 5 cents - all the more reason to buy a reusable organic shopping tote (like our I Love Eco totes).

 

Below is a timeline listing other initiatives by the City of Toronto through 2011:

Update on City’s packaging reduction policies

Timeline of Council approved policies to reduce in-store packaging:

Immediately:

Ban on sale of bottled water immediately or following the expiry of any existing contracts at Civic Centres, including City Hall and Metro Hall.

April 2009:
Timeframe for City staff to report back to the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee on results of meetings with industry stakeholders to propose possible alternatives to existing hot drink cups.

June 1, 2009:

• Retailers must charge five cents for a single-use plastic shopping bag taken by a customer or provide a free alternative (i.e., a cardboard box).

• Signs must be posted to let customers know about the charge and it must be recorded on the receipt.

• Retailers are required, when requested, to fill reusable bags the customer provides in lieu of plastic shopping bags to carry out their purchases.

December 31, 2009:
The date by which City staff, together with industry stakeholders, are to achieve the goal of having 50 per cent of plastic takeout food containers compatible with Toronto’s recycling program.

June 1, 2010:
Ban on plastic carryout bags that are incompatible with Toronto’s recycling program (e.g., bags with metal detailing or grommets, rope or hard plastic handles, biodegradable or compo stable plastic bags).

December 31, 2010:
Food service retailer representatives, food service trade associations and/or other food service stakeholders who currently use plastic take-out food containers, must develop a reusable and/or refillable take-out food container, or take-out food service protocol, which will allow customers to choose a reusable packaging option.

January 1, 2011:
Date by which City staff are asked to report back to City Council on the use of bans or financial tools regarding plastic takeout food containers if no reusable and/or refillable take-out food container or take-out food protocol is in place.

February 28, 2011:
Ban on plastic take-out food containers (i.e., clear, hard, plastic containers) that are incompatible with Toronto’s recycling program.

December 31, 2011:
Date by which various City divisions are to have cooperatively developed and implemented a program that bans the sale and distribution of bottled water at all remaining City facilities, improves accessibility to tap water at all City facilities and takes into account existing contracts related to bottled water at City facilities and unique public health and safety related situations.

Thanks Caroline for sharing :)

I Love Eco™ Introduces L.E.A.F. (Labeling Ecologically Approved Fabrics)

Elinor Averyt, an environmental activist and humanist believes that we need to bring eco fashion into the mainstream. Five years ago, an outsider to the fashion world, she had an idea; and with the help of many experts in the field, the power of eco labeling has been culmunated into a positive seed for change - allow me to introduce this seed called, L.E.A.F. (Labeling Ecologically Appproved Fabrics). 

LEAF's mission statement:

"The mission of L.E.A.F. (Labeling Ecologically Approved Fabrics), a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, is to increase consumer awareness and demand for ecologically sound apparel and fabrics, and to encourage mainstream, industry-wide transitions toward sustainable and socially responsible practices in the apparel/fabrics industries. 

A new eco-label for apparel and fabrics shows consumers that a garment meets strict standards for environmentally and socially responsible claims. Growing consumer awareness and increased consumer demand for third-party certified apparel and fabrics will provide greater incentive for these industries to move toward positive change in the way textiles are produced."

Set to debut in Feburary 2009, L.E.A.F wants to operate as a unified labeling system on clothing (using tags) that will help consumers make informed fashion choices. L.E.A.F. will award certification to companies under the following categories: life cycle of organic fibers, manufacuring and processing techniques used in manufacturing facilities (including dyeing and waste water treatment issues), and employee practices in manufacturing facilities. 

Also, L.E.A.F. wants to introduce an educational program for consumers, which is a crucial approacch close to I Love Eco's heart - the more we know, the smarter choices we can make! 

It is important to note that Europe is way ahead of North America with respect to eco labeling. The EU has a already began a research group that is currently investigating methods for implementing eco labeling on clothing and textiles, among other manufactured goods like electronics. If you'd like to read more about this project click HERE. 

I Love Eco™ would like to send a huge congratulations to both L.E.A.F. and the EU Eco Labeling programs! The L.E.A.F. website can be found at www.LEAFCertified.org.

Shop Local: A Guide to the East Village, NYC

Retail spending accounts for one third of spending (GDP), so it's no wonder George Bush encouraged us to go out and shop.  I would like to encourage you to SHOP LOCAL!  

With the "flattening" of the global economy, China and India will continue to impact businesses in North American and Europe.  Globalization benefits large corporations who can afford large scale production, while small businesses are left to fight for their share of the pie.  Yet at the time, niche markets are growing and for small business owners it is important to pay attention to the needs of the local customer.

This is incredibly viable for New Yorkers, who can visit the Union Square Farmer's Market, drink organic wine from vineyards Upstate and buy clothing that is made (at least sewn) in the area.

  

There's a great little booklet I want to introduce:  "A Guide to East Village Local Shops" made by the East Village Community Coalition that urges you to "shop local" and "drop chain stores".  

Their bio:

"The East Village Community Coalition works to recognize, support, and sustain the built and cultural character of the East Village.  This character includes a diverse population; low-rise, human scale, blocks and affordable buildings with historic and architectural significance; a multitude of community gardens; indigenous stores and businesses; and the neighborhood's history and ongoing tradition as a haven for those seeking freedom to express artistic, creative, and social concerns.

Our initiatives are the Get Local! in our neighborhood.  Our efforts focus on preservation and zoning, local retailing, and transportation."

Pretty great stuff!

*I Love Eco totes are sold at a local eco boutique Sustainable NYC*

Another Fantastic Panel Discussion in London - "What Future for Living Textiles"

 

Information on this panel was sent to me from Textile Environmental Design, a brilliant research group I use to work for in London, UK headed by Rebecca Earley (a wonderfully talented eco textile designer).  I wish I could attend... looks like it will be an exciting event!

TEXTILE FUTURES SALON - ‘WHAT FUTURE FOR LIVING TEXTILES

Institute for Contemporary Arts, Thursday 23^rd & Friday 24^th October 2008

Tickets available from the ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH – 020 7930 3647 / www.ica.org.uk

A series of talks and panels over two days, will explore how textile designers inhabit other design fields and cohabit with the world of science.  In recent years the potential of nano- and bio- technology has caught the imagination of a new generation of textile makers, particularly in the fields of fashion and architecture. The science is here and the Textile Futures Research Group, University of the Arts London, is keen to interrogate.  How much is our discipline changing and are we as designers and consumers ready for the next material revolution?

 For full programme and speaker biographies: www.tfrg.org.uk/magazine/current

 Presentations, talks and panels (2.30- 4.30 & evening 6.30-7.30) include:

 Day 1: Sponsored by Unilever, exploration of ‘Living Textiles’ in relation to the body, investigating Textile and Fashion Science.   Participants include:

Oron Catts, Director of Tissue Culture and Art, Symbiotica, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia; Suzanne Lee, Director of ‘Biocouture’, author of Fashioning the Future and Senior Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design (CSM); Clive van  Heerden, Director of Design-Led Innovation at Philips Design, Europe; Dr Neil Parry, Science Area Leader, Biotechnology, Unilever Research, UK; Manel Torres, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Fabrican Ltd. and Associate to TFRG; Richard Bonser, Centre for Biomimetics, Reading University; Philip Delamore, Research Fellow in Textile and Fashion Science, London College of Fashion and TFRG.  Jane Harris, Director of the Textile Futures Research Group.

 Day 2: will explore ‘Living Textiles’ in the context of the Built Environment and our everyday relationship to this.   Participants include:

Mark Goulthorpe, Professor of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, director of dECOi atelier and Hyposurface; Mette Ramsgard, Director of the Centre for Interactive Technology in Architecture (CITA), Royal Academy, Copenhagen; Geoffrey Makstutis, Director of Art, Design and Environment, Central Saint Martins (CSM) and TFRG;Neil Spiller, Professor of Architecture and Digital Theory, Bartlett, University College London;Matthew Birchall, Associate Director of Building Engineering Structures for Buro Happold, specialising in fabric long span and lightweight structures; Carole Collet, Research Fellow, Director of MA Design for Textile Futures and Nobel Textiles Project Manager, CSM and TFRG;Caryn Simonson, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies for Textiles, Chelsea College of Art and Design, and Andrew Sides, Senior Lecturer, Art, Design and Environment,(CSM) -  Co Curators of TFRG (CSM); 2ndLife.

RECONN'08 - 3rd International Conference on Plastic Recycling (Nov 19-21)

 

Held in Bilbao, Spain, "RECCONN'08 is an event of great interest for industry, government, engineering and consultants related to the environment, and recycling in particular.  The congress is a framework for consolidating and defining strategies for the recycling industry and a forum to link all interested groups in the world of recycling.  This year the special emphasis is on the recycling of plastics."

If you are interested in attending please register here.

With the recent high demand for  recycled PET to be spun into fabric, I'm sure it will be a hot topic of discussion.  The presentation list can be viewed here.    

Moving Special

    

Well, it's been a while since my last post... I've survived a cross country move and found it to be ALL CONSUMING!

Lessons learned & notes:

1. Don't own so much stuff... have a mental shift towards buying less!  Ex. I have a closet full of clothing.  Many pieces I have repaired and chosen to hold onto for sentimental value but I will continue to be more aware of where & how my money is spent.  You may ask... how can I think such a thing?  As fashion designers, we are taught to create and it seems to be an innate quality or way of life for a creative soul to churn out beautiful objects.  Why should we buy less or make less?  My response - I feel that we are the luckiest generation to come, in that we are here to see change starting to happen, especially with material selection in the fashion industry.  I believe that we can do the best we can given our level of awareness - and with the increased presence of eco design in the media it's only going to get keep on getting better!      
2. Label all boxes before you tape them shut.  A carefully organized set of boxes is much more pleasant to unpack and sort.  Also, recycle used boxes or save them for future moves. 
3. While I was skeptical at first about leaving the city, I've realized it's a wonderful feeling to live FREE of noise & air pollution. 

Other notable items:

I Love Eco will be featuring new authors soon who share our love for the environment & fashion.  An online store is also in the works and we still have our Hemp totes, Organic cotton t-shirts & buttons for sale (please email info@iloveeco.com to purchase).  

 

NYC Carbon Neutral Design Sample Sale

It is great to see a carbon neutral sample sale held during Earth month in New York.

WHERE: Caravan 128 E. 91st Street, NYC (btw Park Ave. & Lexington Ave.)
TIME: Sunday April 20th, 2008, from 2pm-4pm
RSVP: caravan@thinkpublicrelations.com

There is a video to promote the event... check it out! It's a bit much - in a few short seconds it really shows the terrible contrast between Western Culture and the way of life in underdeveloped nations.

Truthfully, it made me NOT want to shop but at least it's a step in the right direction and they are planting trees with a portion of the profits and selling water for charity. After all, my passions have led me to write for a greener lifestyle and to help change the industry so that one day, being green will be more than a trend - it will be a way of life!

Want to find out how to to make your life carbon neutral? There are tons of companies where you can buy credit to off-set your carbon footprint. I would recommend a quick google search and here is a webpage by EcoBusinessLinks with a list of companies and their carbon offsetting costs.