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Slate recently had an article about recycling blackwater. Recycling blackwater is good, but we also need to focus on greywater. Greywater could be used onsite multiple times, which is something that needs more exploration. Not to mention rain catchment systems, but that’s a story for a different time.

President Lincoln’s summer home by Washington D.C. recently announced that they are the first environmentally friendly historic landmark in America. Follow the jump for more info.

I don’t know about you, but I always appreciate more info about eco friendly clothing options. We were recently turned on to Artifex Shirts which features all organic cotton. The Oxygen Required line features clothing made from bamboo. They both sound like winners to me.

My brother alerted me to this diesel car from Germany that is reported to get 150 miles to the gallon. Looks interesting but I don’t think my whole clan would fit in it.

This story is so ironic that it deserves to be highlighted here. Brooklyn Farm Table builds tables from reclaimed wood from old NYC buildings that are being torn down in the name of “progress”. Three years ago they lost their factory location to that warehouse of fine furniture, IKEA. So, a local company handcrafting very nice looking furniture, from reclaimed wood, was booted for a foreign company that focuses on selling particleboard crap. Only in America. But, Farm Table has resurfaced. Check out their site. They have some absolutely beautiful furniture.

One thing I always have a difficult time with is finding earth friendly clothing choices. If you have too this post may be useful to you. I’ve been able to compile a few links to some earth friendly choices.

This retailer uses old leather upholstery to make new leather items. A good example of recycling.

This company sells vegan shoes, for those who are looking for items without any animals involvement.

This company seems to have an extensive product lineup. One of the bigger ones I’ve seen.

Here is a blog that focuses on earth friendly fashion. You may be able to find some information here that would help you out.

And don’t forget about this Groovy Green story from almost a year ago where we talked about clothes for a work environment with an eco twist.

Image courtesy of CottonfieldUSA.

Since March 2006, Chicago, IL resident Lauri Apple has maintained FoundClothing: a Website featuring photos of discarded and abandoned clothing and accessories that she and others around the world find in trashcans and dumpsters, left on streets, beaches, and anywhere they ramble.

Recently, Apple started a flickr pool for people to more easily contribute their own photos and stories to FoundClothing.

FoundClothing has generated coverage from the NY Times, Chicago Tribune and even NBC’s Today Show, which featured Apple finding clothing and other items in her trendy Chicago neighborhood. The goals of her Website, she says, are to encourage recycling and to promote the notion that one can still find spontaneity in an increasingly homogenous urban landscape. “Because of my clothes-finding habit, my life is like an endless treasure hunt,” she says. Sounds like fun!

This is real product displayed at CES 2008. Chinese firm Blue Line thought it would be an awesome idea to attach some solar panels to a person’s back and/or give the option of wearing them on top of a hat. If you don’t mind the chin strap for the head gear and body harness for the back panel, you might just save enough money on energy bills to pay for future chiropractic sessions.

Take it from us, if you really need to recharge something on the go, check out the much more user-friendly options from Voltaic.

via Gearlog

A warm hello and good day to everyone reading! This week’s unique question comes from Beth: I’d love to purchase organic fabric and yarn; I could make some spiffy organic clothes for a fraction of what is available at retail.

Being crafty is another one of my all-time favorite hobbies; so much so, that I founded the San Francisco branch of the Craft Mafia. Taking it upon yourself to create the items your desire is a wonderful relaxation tool, as well as a money-saver. Books and classes are abound, whether you want to make curtains, clothing, accessories, or gifts. In terms of supplies, finding organic and sustainable fabrics is easier than ever, though shopping online is still your best bet. Most companies, both fabric and yarn, have a store list on their website so you know where to go to see their fantastic goods in person. Even if you aren’t naturally craft-inclined, I encourage you to break out of your comfort zone, take a creative class, and try to sew your first pillow or knit your first scarf – the experience is remarkable.

As requested by Beth, below are my favorite eco-friendly fabric and yarn companies, as well as a few online stores that make crafty shopping a snap. Also, for good measure, I posted a few links for my favorite books to help get your creative juices flowing.

Fabrics

+ HarmonyArt
+ Pickering
+ Sonic
+ Loop
+ Mod Green Pod
+ PM Organics
+ Ambatalia Fabrics
+ NearSea Naturals

Yarns

+ Blue Sky Alpaca
+ Vermont Organic Fiber Co
+ South West Trading Company
+ Mango Moon
+ Lanaknits
+ Classic Elite Yarns
+ Earth Friendly Yarns
+ Organic Imaginings
+ Purl SoHo

Books

+ No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo & Other Delights by Amy R. Singer
+ Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionista by Melissa Rannels, Melissa Alvarado, and Hope Meng
+ New Knits on the Block: A Guide to Knitting What Kids Really Want by Vickie Howell
+ Sew U: The Built by Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe by Wendy Mullin, Eviana Hartman, and Beci Orpin
+ Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller
+ Second-Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater by Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson, Katarina Brieditis, and Katarina Evans
+ Fitted Knits: 25 Designs for the Fashionable Knitter by Stefanie Japel
+ Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle by Tsia Carson
+ Knitting Nature: 39 Designs Inspired by Patterns in Nature by Norah Gaughan

If you can’t find just the right fabric or yarn you are looking for, consider going second-hand/vintage shopping. Cutting up old t-shirts and unraveling sweaters is always an option, presenting you with some truly individual fibers and options.

Questions are ALWAYS welcome, so feel free to leave a comment on any Eco Fashion Q&A post with your green style curiosities; your question will be answered in a future post. Note: Questions are answered in the order they are received.

[+ Victoria E +]

P.S. – Keep your eyes peeled for my article on green knitting in the September 2007 issue of Yoga Journal Magazine.

Image courtesy of Victoria E

Another week, another great question from one of our readers. This week’s inquiry comes from Matt Mayer: I would love to know some sources for eco-friendly dress clothes. Slacks, dress shirts, etc. It seems most of the clothing is aimed at the more casual clothing arena, but I spend most of my time in dress clothes not comfortable clothes.

Ah, the office – I was hoping this question would come up. Spotting professionals in suits becomes less common each day as the world of “business casual” takes over. This concept of casual can vary depending on the company; some allow denim, while others won’t allow anything “past” chinos. For me, I prefer to work in jeans, but others feel that dressing up for work helps them stay in the right frame of mind to get things done.

No matter your company’s requirements, green options are available. This is yet another great opportunity for you to express your eco-commitments, giving you a chance to make a great impression without hurting the planet in the process. As is expected, there are more options for women than men, but the fellas still have a good number of choices for basic slacks and button-down shirts.

Men Only

boll Organic Dress Shirts

No Sweat Apparel

Men and Women

Cottonfield USA

The Hempest

People Tree

Turk + Taylor

Loomstate (chinos)

Twice Shy (women’s chinos coming soon!)

Women Only

Amana

Anna Cohen

Camilla Norrback

Grace & Cello

Grace Trance Designs

Lara Miller

NatureVsFuture

Linda Lourdermilk

Love Deming

Ryann

Under the Canopy

Undesigned by Carol Young

Tarsian & Blinkley

Next week, I’ll be talking about the availability of organic and sustainable fabrics that you can use to make your own clothing and accessories, so stay tuned! What have you always wanted to know about eco fashion? Submit your question as a comment to any of the Eco Fashion Q&A posts and I’ll give you the down low.

[+ Victoria E +]

Image courtesy of Camilla Norrback

This is probably something Victoria might be interested in. A shoe manufacturing company out of the UK has come up with a clear-cut way for you to continue enjoyment out of your old jeans: turn them into sandals. That’s right, now the sentimental denim that you can’t bear to part with can be given new life as some hip, fashionable footwear. From the press release,

“People signing up at the site are sent a prepaid, addressed envelope to pack their (preferably washed) jeans in and send them off for recycling. A week or so later a pair of Kalahari brand sandals “guaranteed made from your own jeans” arrives in the post.

‘This is far from being just a gimmick,” insists Cat Stables, the firm’s sales and marketing manager. ‘Our new environmental range has the lowest carbon footprint of any shoes or sandals in the country, and it’s a fun way to personalize your re-cycling. They make a great eco-present for green warriors. Wearing your old jeans on your feet is a more practical statement than just wearing your green heart on your sleeve’.”

Going green with you jeans doesn’t mean sacrificing quality with your feet. All of softwalkers’s shoemakers used to work for Clarks or K Shoes. The recycled sandals contain no animal by-products and simply consist of the jeans, synthetic polyurethane, metals buckles, sewing thread and woven labels.

Unfortunately, this is a UK-only service for the moment. However, for all our friends across the pond, simply fill out their inquiry form and you’ll receive a pre-paid envelope to send back your jeans in. You’ll get you new sandals back in 7-10 days! Rad!

We have returned! New queries have been rolling in, and it is time to start posting some answers. This week’s question comes from e4 (aka Edson): How about green underwear?

Love it – short, sweet, and to the point. Oddly enough, I’ve been doing a fair amount of research on eco-undies in the past month, even being interviewed by a foreign magazine on the subject. Simply put, you’ve come to the right place.

Anything that is going to come in direct contact with your private parts should be, above all, chemical-free. Organic cotton, bamboo, and hemp are the three most common sustainable fibers for green underwear, all of which are quite comfortable and long-lasting. Though finding these skivvies are not as easy as, say, organic cotton denim, the options are many. As the closest thing to your skin, you owe it to yourself to wear eco-undies.

The following is a list of brands that carry sustainable underwear. While most offer items for both men and women, a few are still ladies-only, which are marked with a (w).

+ American Apparel (in “Organics”)
+ bgreen
+ (w) Blue Canoe
+ (w) Stewart + Brown
+ (w) Ciel
+ (w) Enamore
+ Diety Aton
+ (w) Gaiam
+ Natural Collection
+ (w) Sweet Skins
+ Shirts of Bamboo
+ Satori Movement
+ Rawganique
+ People Tree
+ (w) Marfar Designs
+ (w) More Trees
+ Justice Clothing
+ Howies
+ HT Naturals
+ Green Knickers
+ Gossypium
+ g=9.8
+ (w) Hempest
+ Cottonfield USA

Vancouver-based organic cotton brand Twice Shy is also working a line of underwear for both men and women, due to be released later this year.

I hope that is enough of a low-down for you e4. Clearly, I did not discuss the overall benefit of sustainable fibers, but that particular information is available just about anywhere.

Questions are ALWAYS welcome, so feel free to leave a comment on any Eco Fashion Q&A post with your green style curiosities; your question will be used as the basis for a future post. Note: Questions are answered in the order they are received.

[+ Victoria E +]

Image courtesy of Gossypium

Being curious is a wonderful quality. By investigating things that are unknown, we can learn about endless new opportunities that can help to change our own lives and those of others. With all the press that green living received in 2006, and now in 2007, wanting to know more about sustainable options is natural.

If you have a eco-fashion question, take the next educational step and leave a comment with your curiosities. Also, I’m now accepting questions about how to integrate green habits into your life, fashion-related or not.

What do you want to know? What do you need to know? Comment with your questions and let me do the research for you.

[+ Victoria E +]

Image courtesy of Marc Worrell

On the heels of San Francisco becoming the first city to ban plastic bags, the search for swank, reusable bags is all the more important. Though we don’t all live in the city by the bay (well, I do, but that’s not the point), choosing to take the simple step of bringing your own bags to the grocery store can have a long-lasting impact. Seeing it as a great opportunity for promotion, oodles of stores (food or otherwise) are getting their own reusable bags printed with their logo, often available for sale at an affordable price. Kudos to companies for doing this, but what about those of us that don’t want to be walking billboards for where we shop?

Do not fear, the green fashion guru is here! Yes, that was cheesy, but I am here to help infuse some style and inspiration into basic tasks, such as grocery shopping. There is a plethoric amount of tote bag options online, but most don’t have the time (or desire) to track them all down. Perk up, because I’ve just done all the research for you! Below is an expansive list of attractive, reusable shopping bag options in various artistic styles and price ranges.

+ Kenyan Sisal Round Basket from Wildlife Works (5 colors, $35 each)

+ Graphic Tote Bag Series from Envirosax (15 designs, $6.50 each, available in sets of 5 at $31)

+ Organic Tote Bag Series from Envirosax (made from hemp, 2 designs, $18.95 each)

+ Certified Organic Cotton Tote Bags from BYOB (7 designs, $35 each)

+ 10 Machine Washable Bags in a Compact Wallet from Ecoezi ($21.95)

+ Jute and Canvas Recycle Tote Bag from Ten Thousand Villages ($24)

+ Shopper Tote from Vy & Elle (made from recycled billboards, $29)

+ Limited Edition Set of 3 100% Unbleached Cotton Totes from Take Your Bag for A Walk ($20 Canadian)

+ Durable Jute Tote Bags from Hey Jute (5 designs, $30 each)

+ Large Movie Billboard Tote Bag from Ecoist (currently 2 designs, $65 each)

+ The Shopper Tote Bag from Mimi the Sardine (16 designs, $46.95 each)

+ USA-made, Washable, Upholstery-Weight Cotton Totes from b. happybags (22 designs, $24 each)

+ Recycled Sailboat Sail Totes from reiter8 (4 designs, $65 each)

+ Recycled Vinyl Mesh Ad Bag with Recycled Seatbelt Straps from Alchemy Goods (6 designs, $30 each)

+ 100% Surplus Organic Cotton Canvas Printed Totes from Stewart+Brown (5 designs, $68 each)

+ Large Hand-Silkscreened Totes from Underdog Ink (9 designs, $18 each [unlined], $36 each [fabric-lined])

As mentioned in Arcadia’s post, Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” cotton tote has become quite popular. The downside? It is only available in the UK, and is sold out. The company recently announced that they will be releasing the totes in limited edition colors in other countries this summer. Stay tuned and I’ll make sure to post an update when they are available.

The Eco Fashion Q&A is still alive and well, so make sure to send your green style questions in today!

Image courtesy of Envirosax

[+ Victoria E +]