Climate Culture

Gossip, cool events, and personal vignettes I’ve come across during my travels

1. Japanese press at NYC show commenting on how no eco-fashion label has hit their fancy yet. (Oh, but how far we have come since a few years ago!)
2. People Tree (ironically a very popular brand in Japan) has secured 300,000 Euros to help expand its line.
3. Sofala Investments, the parent company of the African luxury label a.d. schwarz, will plant a tree this October and November at its forest reserve in Mozambique for every registered race participant in The Race against Global Warming, to neutralize each racer's carbon emissions.
4. Posh labels like Bahar Shahpar and Be Carbon Neutral hit the L.A. scene at the Eco Nouveau show.
5. "Nice Toms": The passing compliment I got from a girl on the subway in regards to the Toms shoes I was sporting. (For every pair you buy, Toms will give one pair away to a child who does not have shoes ... and rumor has it that the company is going to be doing a shoe drop soon.)
6. Model before the Ekovaruhuset runway show commenting on how she hopes her nip doesn't slip in her itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny tiny organic cotton bikini.
7. Plugging the plight of the Great Bear Rainforest (the largest contiguous coastal temperate rainforest in the world, just north of Vancouver, whose surrounding trees are often pulped for junk mail and magazines) at a speech in front of Hearst Corporation executives in NYC (the largest magazine publishing house).
8. Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain known for its production of wind and solar energy, is bringing back sound textile manufacturing practices and becoming a breeding ground for more eco-conscious fashion labels.
9. Getting compliments from the boat crew in the Great Bear Rainforest on my stylish (and very functional) recycled PET jacket shell from Nau. It rained every day for eight days straight. That jacket was really working hard for me!
10. Talks of a "Not Made in China" label.

Green un-building catching on in the U.S.

What’s the opposite of green building? Green un-building (aka, deconstruction)! And it’s catching on in the United States in that if-you-have-the-time-and-money-and-inclination kind of way. About 245,000 houses are torn town in the U.S. each year and roughly 1,000 of them are carefully deconstructed with up to 85 percent of their parts going to other projects […]

New anti-junk-mail service stops unwanted catalogs for free

A new service set up by the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, and the Ecology Center called Catalog Choice can put a stop to all those unwanted catalogs clogging your mailbox. Since its debut last week, some 20,000 people have signed up for the service, already halting over 50,000 unwanted catalogs. That’s a […]

An interview with sustainable-food advocate Diane Hatz

Ever dreamed of eating your way across the country? This summer, Diane Hatz did just that on the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. Convinced there was more to the sustainable-food movement than met the eye (i.e., it ain’t just happening on the coasts), Hatz and her colleagues from Sustainable Table partnered with several other […]

From Fashion to Faith

Shop it like it’s hot Hotter than we should be? Yup. So’s the earth, apparently. And these tees — signed by celebs and up on the auction block until tomorrow. Going once, going twice, sold to the Grist staffer with the hots for Martin Short. No-fly zone It may be the least carbon-intensive airplane ride […]

Reggae artist Michael Franti lets loose on inspiring social change

Michael Franti. Photo: anti.com/Megan Gentile “Everyone deserves music, sweet music,” Michael Franti sings in the title track from a 2003 album. The man behind Michael Franti & Spearhead — a band that blends hip-hop with jazz, folk, and funk music — also believes that everyone deserves health care, social justice, and a sustainable planet. And […]

Endangered birds may trump Donald’s golf-course plans

Donald Trump is fired. Fired up, that is, about his plans to build “the world’s greatest golf course” in Scotland. But seven endangered bird species may fly in his way. Which is just silly, says The Donald: “Each and every golf course I have built has got awards for environmental protection. … When we are […]

My brush with medical reality, on a bike

My fella and I have been living a one-car life for the last year, and overall it’s going pretty well. Helps that I’m a telecommuter, and helps that we have made the choice to live near a commuter rail and a small but semi-useful downtown. I also succeeded in finding a doctor and a dentist […]

The savory challenges of being a sustainable chef in Big Ag country

Fifteen years ago, I left a great job teaching at a prestigious northeast culinary school to move back to Iowa and be an executive chef at a Holiday Inn. It was difficult to find people, in Vermont or Iowa, who did not think I was certifiably insane. Those who thought they knew Iowa claimed, “There’s […]

Want environmentally conscious effervescence? DIY

If you’re a fan of sparkling water but feel guilty about having to buy it bottled, you might enjoy this NYT story about home seltzer makers that provide "environmentally conscious effervescence." Myself, I don’t care for the bubbly stuff, but I did find this part amusing (emph. mine, obvi): Plain tap water has become the […]