That’s right — Barney’s New York’s gone cheapo — at least this weekend — bringing eco-fashions to the masses. More deets in my Emerald City post here, but really, all you have to do is stop by Barney’s New York in Beverly Hills this weekend to get first dibs on Rogan’s new collection (Rogan’s the designer for EDUN and Loomstate).

To the right’s the shirt I got. Like most designer fashions that flatter you into buying stuff, sizes run a tad bigger — That shirt’s an XS.

Also, Summer makes a great mannequin, yes? She’s not actually wearing Rogan for Target though, but a one-of-a-kind eco-friendly dress. Want your own one-of-a-kind eco fashion? Check out Summer’s eco-boutique BTC Elements, where everything’s not only eco-friendly but also fairly made.

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So about those cotton tote bags. Own one? Many of you do — cuz I gave ‘em to ya! Tell me this: Is your cotton tote bag 1) organic and 2) made in the US?

Because according newest companies selling tote bags made in the US, getting organic cotton isn’t cheap. Want both US-made AND organic? Then get ready to pay $40+, they say. Want a bag for under $20? Then you gotta pick between US-made OR organic, not both, according to them.

The bag companies I’ve been hearing from, however, are making more design-and-longetivity oriented stylish bags, not just the basic tote.

Take Savior Bags (meaning “save your bags”; above left), for example. This company makes what they call the “most durable natural product” possible — a roomy cotton tote (with what feel like synthetic handles and metal rings) designed to hold its bucket shape without collapsing. Cost: $19.95. According to the owners, an organic version would cost $45 — a price point they don’t think the US market will bear.

Pretty Green (right) says the same thing. This local, Sherman Oaks-based husband-and-wife team company created cute, durable bags with water resistant lining and cushioned handles, made locally and fairly right in L.A. Cost $15, with 1% of sales going to Water Partners International. The owners say that an organic cotton version would cost $40 a bag — but still plan to have an organic bag out by this summer.

Mind you — we’re not even talking about US grown and milled cotton. We’re simply talking about US sewn / assembled. Pretty Green says its lining is made with US-grown cotton, but doesn’t think its outside fabric is. I’m not certain of the details of Savior Bags’ cotton, but my guess is that the stuff wasn’t grown and milled in the US.

I want to point out, though, that you CAN get a no frills, organic cotton tote made in the US for just $9.99 at Amoeba Music. It’s a nice, sturdy bag, though perhaps a bit plain jane. Part of the reason why the bags I’m talking ’bout here are more expensive is because Savior Bags are designed for maximum durability, while Pretty Green bags are more stylish than the regular grocery tote.

Still, I wonder why these tote bag companies think $20’s the max the US market can handle for stylish totes, when American Apparel’s selling conventional cotton tote bags at $34 a pop.

I’m not saying any of these companies are “bad” or are greenwashing. I’m just trying to sort out some of these ideas. Let’s keep in mind that Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” totes — which were neither organic nor fair trade — sold like hotcakes at $10 a pop.

And it’s not as if non-US-made, non-organic totes are much cheaper. Take EarthTotes (right), for example. Started by two SoCal moms, this company’s totes are made with conventional cotton AND made in China — albeit by a company that is part of the International Labor Organization. Cost for “The Jumbo Tote” that’s about the same size as, but not as sturdy as, the Savior Bags: $14.

Lots of eco-initiatives and orgs still have no qualms just buying the cheapest tote bags possible for distribution (especially if it’s for free distribution). Most of the free totes given away at L.A.-area eco-events are synthetic, petroleum based crap. Even the City of L.A.’s Zero Waste Plan people opted for conventional cotton bags made in China.

And of course, I get lots more tote bag emails from companies touting their new “eco-friendly” tote bags. I’ll ask how their bags are eco, and they’ll reply they’re eco cuz they’re reusable. Nevermind the pound of chemical pesticides that goes into growing the cotton for every conventional cotton tote bag and the many labor and trade issues that arise both from taking advantage of cheap international labor to NOT supporting our more local economies. Those concerns are not so important, they say. At least we’re moving in the right direction. We’re reusable and that means we’re eco, they say.

Some will go so far as to say that to get Americans to reuse, we need to make reusable bags as cheaply as possible (I often get the same argument from reusable cotton napkin makers). It’s the typical the ends justifies the means argument.

Is a tote made with US-grown organic cotton that’s milled in the US, sewn by local US workers and printed locally wit non-toxic, eco-friendly dyes delivered to me by bicycle too much to ask for? :P

So here’s a survey for you. Assuming you MUST buy a tote bag, which bag are you most likely to buy — taking style, cost, materials and place of production into consideration?

Lastly, I also want to point out that your organic cotton bag NOT made in the US could still very well be ethically made. Some of you may have organic cotton totes made under fair labor conditions — probably in in India, Pakistan, China, or another country where employing people under fair labor conditions is still cheaper than paying US minimum wage…..

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days]

Last night started with happy hour at Bodega — to which Hannah and I wore the same Pop Rock & Roll earrings!

I know you can’t really see them in the red light from the windows — which made all of us look strange in the photos — so to the right’s how they look in normal light. Re-made from vinyl records, these cute light earrings are available at BTC Elements, Summer’s eco-chic boutique, for just $18!

It’s great having a friend who runs a boutique because I hadn’t gotten Kristen a present yet and her party had already started! Summer came to the rescue — We biked over to her place where I picked up some Pop Rock & Roll earrings for Kristen.

And since I was taking a bottle of Grey Goose to the party (didn’t have time to hunt down a bottle of organic Square One Vodka — sorry), I bought a bottle of Modmix, an organic cocktail mixer, as well.

There’s Kristen with the earrings on. Happy birthday Kristen!

We played a game of scrabble at the end and I discovered two things: 1) My game’s miraculously improved despite the fact I haven’t played in like years, and 2) in each round, it’s a long while before it’s my turn again.

Meaning that while others were thinking letters, I got slightly obsessed with this drawing figurine of Kristen’s. There it is, starting Surya Namaskara B –

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Most beauty regimens prescribe washing your face twice a day, but not the newly-launched Sophyto skin care line. The products in this UK company’s petrochemical and paraben-free line all have instructions for use that don’t involve any water.

I found that weird. Especially because the Sophyto product that would basically take the place of water — Purify & Energise Super Bioactive — costs $35 per 250 ml bottle.

To be fair, you don’t HAVE to buy the Super Bioactive. That product’s description says this: “If the water in your area contains high levels of chlorine, or other impurities, use Super Bioactive in its place. Chlorine plays havoc with our skin because it causes oxidative damage and chemically bonds with the protein in our bodies, which disrupts the skins natural protective barrier.” That seems to imply that just washing your face with water’s fine in most places in the U.S.

Yet the instructions for Sophyto’s cleansers all instruct you to use cotton pads soaked in the Super Bioactive to wipe off the cleanser. The option of simply washing off the cleanser with water isn’t mentioned at all.

Weird, isn’t it?

Still, I tried out Sophyto with an open mind — mainly due to the company’s seeming green heart. The entire line contains an average of 95% certified organic ingredients and really is free of strange petrochemicals — and has the stringent certifications to prove that.

Unfortunately, Sophyto didn’t grown on me.

First of all, this waterless cleansing thing isn’t actually very cleansing, IMHO. I tried to follow the instructions for the beauty regimen as closely as possible, first applying the Ultra Mild Silken Cleanser with a cotton ball to remove my makeup, then taking off the cleanser with the Super Bioactive with more cotton balls. Four cotton balls later, my face felt slightly greasy and just not quite clean. I ended up splashing my face with water to really cleanse it — and found that indeed some of my makeup was still on my face, because it came out in the water.

I tried the waterless thing again that night using a stronger cleanser — Purifying Active Mask — which also was supposed to be removed with the Super Bioactive. Again, my face felt greasy, and I ended up washing my face.

It may simply be that I’m set in my ways. I don’t use those toners that seem so harsh as to strip the skin, but I guess I expect a mild cleanser to take all the makeup and the grit of the day off. But perhaps others like what I’m going to call the cast iron skillet method of skin care. That regimen might be a less rigorous cleanse that leaves a lil extra greasiness behind.

I could see an argument for this method. Some might say it doesn’t make sense to take all facial oils off then reapply some oils via moisturizer each day. But IMHO, this method doesn’t work for those who wear makeup and want to get that stuff off before bed.

And Sophyto certainly doesn’t cut back on the moisturizers for the not-totally de-oiled face. Post-”cleanse,” I was instructed to put on Polyphenol Skin Drops — basically a mild moisturizer — before Skin Energizing High Potency Concentrate — which appears to be another moisturizer — before a Normalising Day Face Moisturizer. Three moisturizers? Seriously?

The High Potency Concentrate wasn’t included in my samples, so I went directly from the Skin Drops to the Moisturizer — to find that because my face was already moisturized enough by the Skin Drops, the Moisturizer wouldn’t absorb. At this point I was afraid all this moisturizing would make me break out, so I wiped off some of the Moisturizer.

So again, my review’s biased. I’m not of the cast-iron skillet school of face cleansing, and I generally use just one v. light moisturizer. If you ARE of the cast-iron skillet school and DO like heavy moisturizing, then Sophyto might be for you.

But what really, really did not work for me with Sophyto is the amount of waste created by its recommended regimen. In addition to the cotton balls, the Polyphenol Skin Drops and Skin Energising High Potency Concentrate both come in “monodose” — or 5 mL — single-use packaging. If you followed the instructions as given, you’d have a small mound of cotton balls and two empty plastic canisters every time you cleansed your face.

And considering the fact that a $95 box of Skin Energising High Potency Concentrate contains just 15 monodoses, I can’t afford it. Especially not on top of $75 for a 15-monodose box of Skin Drops. I’ve actually been buying fairly high-end skin care products lately, but dude — this is just crazy. According to Talking Makeup, Sophyto’s being used by “trend gurus” A-list celeb clientele. They, I’m sure, could afford this — but not I.

Of course, you could just not follow the instructions and make Sophyto better fit both your beauty routine and your budget. You could forgo the cotton balls and use the Cleanser with water, then just pick one moisturizer of your choice. This seems to be what Cybele of CybeleSays did. Her review’s much more positive than mine.

But I guess I’m turned off by the fact that this green company — with honest-to-goodness v. green products — recommends such an over the top regimen that’d make both you and the environment pay so dearly. Plus, the only product I was really impressed with was the Polyphenol Skin Drops, because it was nice and light and had this sweet, honey scent. But I’m not going to buy moisturizer in single-use plastic packs.

Think I’m being too harsh? Try ‘em yourself and lemme know what you think. One lucky reader can win a Sample Kit of the 5 Sophyto products that I tried. To get it, leave a comment or email me by Thursday night and I’ll put you in the Friday drawing.

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[crossposted on BlogHer]

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Save the world by — shopping? Such Bush-esque advice makes many an environmentalist raise a weary eyebrow. But Diane MacEachern’s new book, Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World, turns out not quite to be what the cover seems to advertise. In fact, “Big Green Purse” shows how using one’s spending power might in fact be exercising the power NOT to give in to marketing ploys and sales pitches.

After all, rampant consumerism’s what got us into our current environmental dilemma. Title of the book aside, Diane never loses an opportunity to preach the reduce, reuse, recyle mantra. Of the 7 shopping tips “Big Green Purse” espouses, the first is “Buy less.”

So why the rather misleading title? Perhaps it’s a lure to entice otherwise blithely oblivious shoppers into picking up the book. Once opened, “Big Green Purse” loses no time getting right into the middle of things, kicking off with a doom and gloom chapter that points out all the problems caused by “regular” consumption, depicting a world full of cancerous chemicals marked with the looming fear of potential ecological collapse. Yikes!

The book does gets cheerier from there, emphasizing that individuals — especially women — can make a big difference by spending less, and spending differently. Chapters are divided into different aspects of life, covering everything from healthy food to eco-cleaning to, of course, clothes and purses. For the caffeine lovers, Diane actually dedicated an entire chapter to coffee, tea and cocoa!

“Big Green Purse” actually has much in common with another recently published book, “Healthy Child, Healthy World,” (I reviewed it here) — though the titles make the books sound vastly different. For those who get easily overwhelmed, Big Green Purse might be easier to handle, as Diane’s list-making proclivities — arranging the eco-advice in order of practicality and importance — make it easier for newbies to prioritize their eco-actions.

While taking in the environmental messages, “Big Green Purse” also urges consumers not to get sucked in by the alarming, pseudo-scientific marketing messages, such as those that erroneously encourage people to buy antibiotic soaps or synthetic “age-defying” creams.

Of course, even die-hard anti-consumerists still need to buy stuff. Veggies and undies come to mind, for example (though I suppose some might go so far as to grow or sew their own). And for these necessary purchases, “Big Green Purse” gives some smart, practical advice for making the greenest purchasing decisions depending on your circumstances.

Perhaps “Big Green Purse” should be renamed “Think before you shop.” Okay — That isn’t exactly catchy, but I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that the title seems so incongruous with the content of the book. Already-environmentalists are likely to be turned away by the seeming rah-rah-shop-now message, while the newly eco-curious might be disappointed (and perhaps scared) by the first doom-and-gloom, stop-shopping-so-much chapters.

Is that a pessimistic view? I hope so. Maybe angry environmentalists will pick up the book and be assuaged by the dark green message, and eco-newbies will be scared into their senses….

[crossposted on BlogHer]

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days]

My second indirect donation to Heal the Bay this month! I bought a sustainably-harvested merino shirt at the newly-opened Nau store at the Beverly Center. And because Nau donates 5% of all sales to progressive nonprofits, I was able to designate 5% of my purchase — which ended up being $3.24 — to Heal the Bay.

I guess I technically “gave” this money on April 19 when I bought the shirt — but I took advantage of Nau’s 10% off deal for getting it shipped to me instead of carrying it out of the store. And the shirt just arrived today –

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Tags: nau, beverlycenter

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days]

Emerita sounded dreamy: A skin care line with no fragrance or parabens, made by a company that’s woman-owned and operated. So I jumped at the chance to get samples, and tried the Microdermabrasion Face Scrub. The gentle exfoliation felt great, and left my skin happy!

So with a clean scrubbed face I looked more closely at the info about Emerita — to find that the company makes “functional skin care products for women over 40″!

Oops — I should really read the info about products more carefully before trying out the samples. That said, there’s no reason why younger women can’t use Emerita products. Or more accurately, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t use Emerita’s skin care products. It’s probably a good thing that I’m not trying the perimenopause / menopause related products Emerita also sells. In any case, Emerita’s skin care products basically take out the chemicals and add in organic and botanical ingredients — a move that perhaps helps maturing skin the most, but something that can really benefit anyone.

So while I’m a while away from 40, I’ll enjoy the rest of the Microdermabrasion Face Scrub I have. I love the small granules in the scrub — the grainy bits are much smaller than the beads in common apricot scrubs — because they exfoliate and massage my skin without feeling abrasive. The scrub’s for every other day use — too much exfoliation’ll turn you red — with a milder cleanser used on other days.

The scrub in general is quite safe, with all ingredients in the product falling in the “low risk” category according to the Skin Deep cosmetics database — save 3 ingredients in the “moderate risk” category. Tocopheryl acetate and phenoxyethanol are ranked a 4, while sorbic acid is rated 3. My guess is that overall, the scrub’d be ranked a 3.

Cost: $34.99 for 1.7 oz. If you don’t want to plunk down $35 without knowing for sure you’ll like the product, you might try ordering a sample for $2.

But for green LA girl readers over 40: I have two packs that each contain 4 samples of different products. You could see dramatic results — Shannon Nelson of A Girl’s Gotta Spa had her mom Paula try it. Paula’s take: “It really helped with the dry skin areas around my nose; I don’t have any peeling or flaking since using it. I really liked this product a lot and would definitely recommend it for women 40+.”

Comment or email by Wednesday if you are over or at least close to 40 and would like to try these out! Women willing to write a short review of the products will get first dibs –

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[crossposted on BlogHer]

Tags: emerita, facescrub, skincare

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days]

So I’ve been on the search for a good sunscreen for a while, and recently, a company called Caribbean Solutions wrote to say their stuff’s biodegradable, petrochemical-free, and non-greasy. Send it! I said, and they did — along with Natural Onyx Tanning Oil.

Meanwhile, Summer’s been talking for months about how she’s really going to get tan this summer. So I told her I’d give her this organic oil to help the beauty cause!

I ran it over this afternoon, and finally actually looked at the ingredient list. The stuff wasn’t organic — just “natural”…. Still, this oil — being pretty much all oil — sounds a lot better than the other tanning oils on the market that are full of parabens and fragrance and all sorts of other crazy stuff.

I know some readers are gonna be against tanning, period. Take it up with Summer; here’s her blog :P

I’m just using the sunscreen. So about the Natural SolGuard 25 SPF: The good news: is that made with Environmental Working Group-approved active ingredients: titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Although titanium dioxide and zinc oxide tend to turn people a ghostly pale (unless you’re already quite pallid — Hi Summer!), this sunscreen wasn’t too bad once I took the time to rub it in. It wasn’t sticky, and it smelled like pina colada.

The bad news: Only the active ingredients are listed — and my request for a full ingredient list has so far gone unanswered, which has me wondering if something bad’s hidden in there — especially since the pina colada scent could point to synthetic fragrances. The natural oil bottle, in contrast, had the full ingredient list….

I’ll continue to await a reply from Caribbean Solutions for now. In the meantime, here’s a nice roundup review of 4 good sunscreens that Jasmin the Worsted Witch wrote for Treehugger a lil while back.

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Tags: sunscreen, tanningoil

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[Part of my challenge to give something away every day for 29 days]

Easy way to get yourself to give: Give yourself something too.

So I just bought myself a special pair of shoes — Simple Shoes’ “Stop Global Warming” edition Women’s Retire shoes, to be exact. The shoes cost $60 — $5 of which goes directly to StopGlobalWarming.org. You know, the virtual march thing that started up with “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Don’t worry — This wasn’t an impulse buy. Due to the continuing knee probs I’ve been having, I finally ended up getting orthotics — and needed shoes that’ll actually work with them (right now, they only work in my running shoes).

These Simple Retire shoes are very eco too, being made of hemp, organic cotton, recycled PET, recycled car tire, and 100% post consumer paper pulp. From all the reviews I’ve read, the shoes are supposed to be super comfy; a full review to come once I try them out.

And that $5 to StopGlobalWarming.org officially got my giving challenge started :)

My one beef of sorts with the virtual march thing — Is it just me, or are there way too many Gore-related websites that encourage you to stand up and be counted as an environmentalist (i.e. sign up and get frequent emails)?

I mean, Gore’s film basically got StopGlobalWarming.org — which now has 1,054,379 virtual marchers — started. Then Gore promoted the Alliance for Climate Protection, which all were encouraged to sign up for too. Now, Gore’s also the dude who got the more recent We Can Solve It dealio started, which also invites you to join and be counted among what will hopefully be millions of Americans. Al, count me in already –

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Tags: simpleshoes, stopglobalwarming

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The FDA still hasn’t stepped up to make sure chemicals used in our personal care products are safe — but yet another new independent “certification system” seems to pop up every day. How’s an enviro girl to navigate through them all?

An optimist might hope these systems could fill the void the FDA’s left. After all, many of these new certifications claim high organic requirements! First, there’s the Organic And Sustainable Industry Standards (OASIS), self-dubbed the first organic standard for the U.S. beauty and personal-care market, which requires 85% organic content. Then there’s Ecocert, the current prevailing European standard and certification, which requires a minimum of 10% organic content for all products and 100% organic content for products with organic in the label. Doesn’t 85-100% sound pretty high?

Unfortunately, getting to a seemingly-high percentage doesn’t actually mean a high standard — because water content can be counted in this percentage. For some EcoCert products, “up to 80% of the organic content is just regular tap water,” according to Organic Consumers Association.

Besides, the fact that 85% of a product is organic doesn’t mean that that last 15% is safe — and really, it’s these smaller percentages that contain all the gross stuff in conventional as well as some of these “certified” products. Would you eat a dessert that’s 85% organic fruit and 15% mercury? Didn’t think so….

Organic Consumers Association has already pointed out that both OASIS and EcoCert allow questionable ingredients to be used in their products.. OASIS, for example, will certify products that include synthetic petrochemical preservatives like Phenoxyethanol. EcoCert, for its part, will give its certification to products containing petrochemicals such as Cocamdiopropyl Betaine. Worse, some EcoCert certified products with organic in the name actually aren’t actually 100% organic, because EcoCert bends its own rules.

That said — sometimes, OCA’s warnings are rather alarmist. For example, some of the ingredients that the OCA warns about actually aren’t really dangerous, according to Environmental Working Group’s database Skin Deep. The fact that an ingredient isn’t (or can’t be) certified organic doesn’t automatically mean that the stuff is poison!

OCA’s more concerned with consumer confusion surrounding the word “organic,” than with whether or not the products are actually safe for your use. Thus the OCA will sometimes yell and scream about how a product with “organic” in its name includes a non-organic ingredient, and make the product sound really bad — when the product is actually quite safe (though not organic). I can see OCA’s point about consumer confusion surrounding the organic label– and the reason behind why they’re taking the tactics that they do — but their actions also sometimes create additional confusion on the part of the consumer who might then “give up” trying to find good products and go back to using unhealthy, chemicalized stuff.

Healthy personal care products really do make a difference; all sorts of skin and health problems you’ve learned to live with may simply be caused by your less-than-green shampoo or makeup. Kelly Leahy at Green Daily report that her two-year-old had a patch of cradle cap on the crown of her head that wouldn’t disappear — and then her five-month-old developed the same. So she ditched the dandruff shampoo brought on the eco-friendly Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild: “only days after switching shampoos, the cradle cap is disappearing from both heads.”

My advice: If you must have 100% organic certified products, then stick to the stuff that has the USDA organic seal. Otherwise, the certification systems might help steer you in a better direction if you’re in a pinch, but if you can, plug in the product you’re buying into EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database to see if the ingredients in it are safe. One word of caution: Double check to make sure the ingredient lists on the product label and EWG’s review match up to make sure you’re getting the correct safety rating. Yes, the research effort is a bit of a pain, but once you find a safe product you like, you can just stick to it for years to come –

Tags: organic, oca, oasis, cosmetics, ecocert

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