www.thegreenset.com

Oh Man...imal

2008-05-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

MANIMAL

I remember the show.

Anyway, how the people from an early eighties show about a shape-shifting man got into the handmade moccasin business, I’ll never know. Perhaps they decided to shape-shift into the organic jeans business as well? Either way, I’m glad, because the shoes are adorable and sweatshop free, (vegan options are available) and the jeans are organic and simply awesome.

Just like the show.

www.save-the-manimals.com

step up:

www.barefoottess.com

en angleterre:

www.fashion-conscience.com

Oh, and btw, I know they aren't the same thing- the show and the shoes. But it would be extra amazing if they were.

By The Way...

2008-05-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

The GreenMove

I've been a neglectful, bad bad blogger, and I apologize. But I have a good excuse- I've been moving, for TWO MONTHS, and trying to set up a green household has presented me with unknown challenges. Natural rugs, and recycled rug mats, constant trips to the eco-friendly paint store to stare at the super cute paint store guy and, uh, buy low-voc paint. Recycled vs. reused vs. biodegradable vs. recyclable furniture. Craigslist vs. ebay (craigslist has a lower carbon footprint, since it's local, but ebay can turn someone's seemingly useless chandelier prism collection in Wisconsin into the most necessary thing ever here in LA). Second hand drawer pulls from the ridiculously over-priced antique hardware store down the street. Trips to El Segundo to buy someone's grandparents' old set of matching armchairs. Getting hit on by the FSC-certified LEED fr ench door dealer (I'm apparently the only female to go in that store in the last quarter century). Trips to the salvage yard. Trips to Reform School Rules to buy a recycled plastic rug and a trash bin made from old innertubes. Garage sales and estate sales where I had to haggle over supposedly "collectible" trash cans. The endless search for eco-friendly upholstery fabric in this one shade of light blue that I really want to sit on. Organic cushions and mattresses and beds and linens and towels and bath mats. Lamps made in factories run on wind power, using low-voc glazes. Vintage towel collecting. Recycled outdoor patio furniture. Re-used outdoor patio furniture. Plantation grown wood outdoor patio furniture. Second-hand frames I bought at Goodwill with hideous pictures in them which I threw out in order to save the planet from having to look at the hideous pictures. Going around to the garbage cans in my apartment complex and picking up old boxes to use for moving. Recycling tape from packages to wrap up my precious shot glass collection even though I don't drink. And then moving everything over by bicycle. Just kidding. That would be waayyyy too difficult.

All this while maintaining a healthy addiction to buying eco-friendly and organic clothes from my favorite eco-stores (Beklina, Avita Co-op, Kaight...). Long story short, I'm tired, broke, and green as can be. Did you miss me?

Guess Who’s Back (Pack?)

2008-05-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

GOOC

I’ve been trying to convince my bandmate for months now that hippie is back and he should let me wear my organic high-waisted wide legs on stage, but he denies me! Well, joke’s on him, because this cute little recycled backpack is both hippie and hip, and I love it. Maybe not enough to wear on stage… but it is really cool, and really recycled- Gooc is a company from Brazil that uses 70% recycled tires and truck canvasses to make their wares. So wear it!

www.roadtobrazil.com.au

Re:Made Of Honor

2008-04-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

RE:MADE

Nice Patrick Dempsey reference, right? Right?

Anyway, nobody does eco-cute like the kids on Etsy, and Re:made might just be the cutest of them all. This Etsy shop sells recycled and re-purposed clothes and accessories- including the ever-elusive eco-friendly hair accessory, made from old buttons, probably pilfered from old ladies who have been hording them for decades, waiting for the button market to explode. Perhaps it will, now that we can see just how useful and attractive old buttons can be, thanks to Re:made!

www.etsy.com

VOTE. JUST NOT FOR A REPUBLICAN.

2008-04-22T00:52:00.000-07:00

CLOTHING OF THE AMERICAN MIND

Clothing of the American Mind, or Clothing of the Amer. Mind, as I like to call it for short, makes underwear reminding us how awesome it is that we can live together through a complicated system of voting for things, by which we never quite get what we want, but at least the bad guys never quite get what they want either. Democracy! These organic shirts and undies keep the democratic process close to our hearts, literally. And close to our butts, but that’s not as poetic. Or is it? Depends what you're voting for I guess.

www.cotam.org

www.myspace.com/politicaltees

become a prime number:

www.cotam.org

www.theokobox.com

www.greenrohini.com

Turn On The Power

2008-04-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

ROBERTA OAKS

For some reason I started to write about this eco-friendly designer out of Hawaii months ago, but never finished- perhaps her stuff wasn't available online at the time? Oh, well. It is now, which is great, because her stuff is very cute. She uses sustainable fabrics like bamboo, which probably grows in her front yard or something, and all her stuff is made locally and sweat-shop free in Hawaii. And her full name is Roberta Oaks Power, which is a pretty awesome name for an eco-friendly artist and fashion designer.

www.robertaoaks.com

power up:

www.robertaoaks.com

www.80spurple.com

It’s Studio 1 AM And Do You Know Where Your Recycled Jewelry Is?

2008-04-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

STUDIO 1 AM

You have to love a brand that uses mad design skills to bring a little sheen to what is essentially "garbage" and make it into awesome, tasteful, wearable art. Studio 1 AM’s line of hip, stylish jewelry made from recycled computer pieces, cork and other sustainable materials is a great example of what you can do when you put your mind to creating something that is both buyable and wearable, without adding to the crap factory that is our modern consumeristic society.

www.studio1am.com

In Cool Pursuit

2008-04-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

PURSUIT OF HARMONY

When I first went to check out this line at my friend’s showroom a few months ago, I just about died from the cuteness of it all. But then when I saw a little preview of their 2008 fall line I nearly re-died because that stuff might be even cuter, if that’s at all possible. My point? Cuteness can kill, and Pursuit Of Harmony is a brand to watch. Their organic sweaters and knit dresses are sassy. Yeah, that’s right. Sassy.

www.thepursuitofharmony.com

pursue it:

www.thegreenloop.com

The Future Looks Bright, Nature Does Too

2008-04-17T01:14:00.000-07:00

NATURE VS. FUTURE

God I love Nature vs. Future. Why wear a straight dress when you can wear an asymmetrical weird fun interesting hot dress from Nature vs. Future? I get all kinds of compliments on my awesome NVF sweater, and I plan on getting even more compliments on my awesome new NVF t-shirt that cost a lot but is totally f-ing worth it because it is so cute, when the weather stops playing with my emotions and switching from ungodly hot to not cute freezing cold (re: 75 degrees in LA= too cold for tees).

Okay, done gushing. Now go out and get yourself your own damn asymmetrical shirt (or dress, or skirt) from this eco-friendly brand, and stop coveting mine.

www.naturevsfuture.com

back your future:

www.naturevsfuture.com

www.thegreenloop.com

Recycling Rules

2008-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

RETRO RECYCLE ROOM

The best thing you can do to shrink your carbon footprint is to stop buying new stuff, which is hard, because you probably don't want to still wear that Juicy Couture terry cloth jumpsuit you thought was so hot two years ago. There will always be a (giant, insatiable, teenage girl-fueled) market for new clothes, which is is why I write about new clothing lines that are at least making an effort to increase their sustainability and reduce their waste.

But putting the market for new stuff aside for a moment, let's just enjoy the hard work of some of the online vintage boutiques who bring us awesome clothes that not only have zero carbon footprints, but are also just super cool and stylin'. They do the digging for you and find the real-deal terry cloth jumpsuits from the seventies- the ones nobody else has and that will never go out of style.

I'll find new ones each week, but for now here's one of my favorites:

www.ebay.com/retro-reycyle-room

Great Balls Of... Flip and Tumble

2008-04-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

FLIP AND TUMBLE

I’m glad people are recognizing the importance of ending our reliance on plastic bags for carrying already plastic-wrapped fruit and tubes of water-proof toothpaste around. People are switching to bringing their own reusable bags, which means I’m less likely to get the stink-eye from some ig’nant cashier who doesn’t understand why I’m putting my dingy old nylon foldable bag I’ve had for years on the counter. But the problem is that people are making a lot of reusable bags, which kinda defeats the purpose. You really only need, like, three. One for your handbag, or two for when you have a party and plan to feed people more than beer, and one to keep in the car incase you forget the other two.

There. I have once again explained the concept of using reusable bags to cut down on waste, not add to it. On that note, the best reusable bags are ones that get used, which means you have to have them with you at the store, which means you have to have them in your bag, which means you either borrow a giant handbag from me, which I won’t let you do because you’ll ruin it, or you’ll need a bag that folds up into the smallest amount of precious purse-space imaginable. Hence, I bring you the cutest little ball of bagness you ever did see- a small nylon sac that wads up into an adorable ball (see it compared to a berry?) and folds out into a hip-looking grocery bag. I love it.

www.flipandtumble.com

flip away:

www.flipandtumble.com

Arizona Goes Green

2008-04-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

ARIZONA JEANS

When I went to check out S(ECO)ND, the eco-friendly offshoot of mega- material- istic clothing crapfest M.A.G.I.C. in Vegas a couple of months ago, I came back feeling happy about the great clothes coming from all the small designers like By Meadow, Emily Katz, and PartyBots, but pretty bummed about the giant showrooms dedicated to mass-marketed clothing, none of which was eco-minded or even concerned about appearing to be so. They had the numbers- the ratio of gross to green was something like 999 to 1. So it’s heartening to see that corporate brands are feeling the pressure, since they make most of the waste attributed to the clothing industry in the first place. Hence, Arizona Jeans has a new line of organic and partially recycled clothing. The organic is at least 70% so and the recycled clothing contains at least 25% recycled content. If they can cut down their wastefulness by almost half, imagine if more brands did? Imagine if Starbucks switched to biodegradable corn plastic cups? Imagine if any of these companies did what is so obviously the right thing to do and stayed the fuck away from China? Wow. It’s like the world could be a better place if people just stopped being assholes. Crazy, right?

Well, one green baby step at a time...

www.azjeans.com

Mainely Mostly

2008-04-08T00:02:00.000-07:00

MILO IN MAINE

I wore my black organic Milo in Maine t-shirt today, with some black peg pants I got at the thrift store, and can I tell you- I felt like Audrey Hepburn in that Gap commercial (‘cept without the oppression and Jedi mind trick Gap has apparently pulled on the American public with their “red” campaign that doesn’t stop them from making their clothes in CHINA.)

Anyway, I looked cute and I owe it all to the shirt, because I wore the pants with another shirt once, and I didn’t feel like anything... And now they have the shirt in long sleeves! More to love!

www.miloinmaine.com

Look At That Green Car Go

2008-04-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

CARGO LIPSTICKS

Cargo has a line of lipsticks called "PlantLove" designed by actresses who care (cough), totally, about the planet and stuff. They’ve made natural lipsticks that come in boxes made with seed paper so when you litter on your way from Sephora to your car, you might inadvertently be starting something even more beautiful than your be-lispticked face. And the tubes are made form corn plastic, which is fantastic, and pretty advanced for a brand just starting to turn green.

cargo green:

www.cargocosmetics.com

Pretty In Pikolinos

2008-04-07T00:32:00.000-07:00

PIKOLINOS

I’m all about the natural-dyed leather these days. For years I didn’t wear leather at all, but then I took some "crazy pills" and went on a shopping spree and bought, like, five Gucci handbags, so the chain was broken. Now I’ve switched meds and only buy one handbag a week, unless it’s my birthday week, in which case I buy 313 handbags. Anyway, at least these bags from Pikolinos are made using natural tanning processes, and cow leather left over from the meat industry, which is gross but resourceful. More importantly, this awesome Spanish eco-company makes a ton of rad shoes for girls and boys.

But bags will always be my first love.

www.pikolinos.com

viva los pikolinos:

www.walkingonacloud.com

www.pegasusshoes.com

www.shoepeddlers.com

The Vinyl Fontier

2008-04-02T02:01:00.000-07:00

MALCOLM FONTIER

Malcolm is really is cute. He also designs awesome vegan bags for men and tough girls. The bags are so nice and high end, it makes the fact that they are not made from leather actually a sign of luxuriousness rather than cheapness. They are amazingly soft, like leather, but without the silence of the lambs-nightmare-guilt complex part. And he makes sweet toiletry bags, so dudes, you can totally clean up your acts.

www.malcolmfontier.com

Muuve Over, Mui Mui

2008-04-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

MUUMUU HEAVEN

This clothing line out of Hawaii takes the immense expanses of fabric garnered from a single muumuu and makes enough cute skirts and tops to run at least one Forever 21 franchise out of business. Well, maybe not all from one muumuu, but they certainly know how to get the most out old muumuus that might otherwise only be used at Halloween to scare modern children or to impersonate Mrs. Roper. From Three’s Company. Which was a show, with a woman named Mrs. Roper, who wore muumuus. Well, that basically wraps up all that I know about muumuus, except that, in the right hands, they can be turned into pretty sweet pieces of eco-friendly clothing.

www.muumuuheaven.com

get a muuve on:

www.muumuuheaven.com

www.shopequita.com

In A State Of Flux

2008-03-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

FLUX NOUVEAU

Flux Nouveau makes really sweet dresses out of recycled trees. Seriously, they’re made out of micro modal, which is made out of wood, and yet they are soft and bendable, like the hearts and minds of the American people. Micro modal is made form beech tree cellulose fibers, and this is better for the environment, and better the general public who might otherwise have to look at you in your hideous non-flux nouveau dresses.

www.fluxnouveau.net

go flux yourself:

www.oliounited.com

www.soliaboutique.com

www.shoprumor.com

Getting Back To El Naturalista

2008-03-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

EL NATURALISTA

I love these shoes.

I could be all dramatic and leave it at that, but I will elaborate- I love the way they look. I love the boots. I love the sandals. I love that they use natural materials and dyes. I love that they use biodegradable and recyclable materials. I love that they make pink shoes.

Love it:

www.elnaturalista.com

I Love You So Muji

2008-03-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

MUJI

Normally I don’t like to write about things you can’t find online or in stores near you (you being someone lonely eco-friendly indie rocker in Wisconsin, looking for some biodegradable sneakers to replace your worn out Pumas), but these recycled yarn shirts form Japanese wunderhaus Muji are too cool to ignore just because they’re hard to get. My bandmate got his superfly shirt at MOCA, and it appears they have it at some other museum shops.

So but here’s a site where you can’t get the shirts- God forbid someone actually wanted to buy one. I guess you have to go to Japan or Japantown to get your recycled on. But it is nice when things are eco-friendly for resaons other than eco-friendliness. These shirts are what they are for the simple design of it, and their inadvertent eco-friendliness shows how easy it can be to convert to green or to do things right (green) the first time.

www.mujicatalogue.co.uk

Way Back Playback

2008-03-25T01:14:00.000-07:00

CAROLE TANENBAUM

Carol Tanenbaum recycles her good taste into hand-picked vintage treasures from the Olden Days (you know, back when cell phones didn’t have TVs in them.) She has an amazing collection of costume jewelry from decades past, although she seems a little light on the jelly bracelets from the eighties that you could get from those gumball machines at the grocery store. But seriously, let her do the work for you when looking for great vintage stuffs- she’s gonna do a better job than you anyway, and she makes it easy. As easy as watching an episode of The Hills on your cellular phone while driving your hovercraft over our new capitol city of Las Vegas.

www.caroletanenbaum.com

Full Of Grace and Cello

2008-03-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

GRACE AND CELLO

I should have written about these guys long ago, because they’ve been around since the dawning of the green age, and their clothes feel like… like… like really soft clothes. And their designs are conservative but cheeky. I really love this brand, and I’m sorry I pretended I didn’t know it when I saw it across the food court at the mall- I was just embarrassed to be seen with my friends wearing clothes made by children in a sweatshop in China. But I’m still totally into you, Grace and Cello, and I’ll still totally go to the dance with you if you’ll still have me. I’ll wear something you made- something organic, sweatshop free and simply lovely.

And if I had a real job, I would have a closet full of businessy clothes from you, since you’re so good at making cute work clothes that stand out without making you a target for corporate treachery, and your prices are reasonable, so I wouldn't be making money just to buy more clothes so I could go to work to make more money to buy more clothes for work. :)

www.graceandcello.com

gracefully now:

www.kenaishoes.com
www.kaightshop.com
www.thegreenloop.com

Slippery When Wallet

2008-03-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

CASSETTE WALLET

Finally, someone can make your Debbie Gibson tape collection cool again! These wallets are made out of recycled cassettes. I remember having a Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet tape when I was, like, five, and then I found it years later and it was still stopped on “You Give Love A Bad Name.” Apparently that was just too epic a song for my infant ears (nowadays I can listen to that entire song without crying or falling asleep). But while the song will remain epic, the tape itself would probably be more relevant as a wallet. So thank god Italian designer Marcella Foschi has found a way too do that.

www.designboom.com

So I Have Baggage, Who Doesn't?

2008-03-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

ECO GENDER

I realize I'm writing two blogs in a row about bags, but I LOVE BAGS. I love them for putting things in and carrying things in and sitting around my apartment thinking about all the things I could put in them, or carry in them... well, you know how bags work. I don't have to explain that to you.

Anyway, I'm not sure why this cool online shop that specializes in recycled, biodegradable, and all around eco-friendly bags (including stuff from Helen E. Riegle) is called “Eco Gender,” but it is, and it’s a great store, so who cares what they choose to call themselves? I don’t judge. Except that I think it’s weird. JK dude- free to be you, man, free to be you. Especially when “you” is all about closing the circle and recycling yourself into being a better person by buying eco-friendly bags.

www.ecogender.com

Orangyporangy Glad I Didn’t Say Bananaypanany?

2008-03-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

ORANGYPORANGY

These bags made from reclaimed vintage materials are just about the cutest things ever, perfect for summer. Which I still totally believe exists. Somewhere. And they also have a line of vintage a-line skirts made from old-school polyester, which is a little less perfect for summer, but looks pretty fly, so whatcha gonna do? (Their skirts remind me of summers spent in Portland, riding around on the bike I got for $5 at the Bins after having to wrestle it away from a Russian Orthodox guy- who was like 8 feet tall and no way would he have fit on that bike- drinking Pabst and l-i-v-i-n-‘. )

This stuff looks like Built By Wendy but costs way super less- esp. since a bunch are on sale right now.

www.orangyporangy.com