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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Tomorrow, May 10, is World Fair Trade Day! And in celebration, World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break happens tomorrow afternoon. Technically, the event happens at noon on the west coast — but any time in the afternoon will do to count towards the total.

So caffeinate wit fellow fair trade activists. In L.A., you’ve got two events to pick from:

>> Fair Trade LA will have a booth all day at the “Revel with a Cause” Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd., in Santa Monica. Go not just for the coffee, but for the solar-powered music performances, recycled crafty activities, international cuisine served on biodegradable plates, and more.

>> Ten Thousand Villages Pasadena will provide hot and iced fair trade beverages - along with chocolate and other samples — to all visitors who celebrate the coffee break with them at 3pm tomorrow. Just stop by the store at 496 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena. There, you’ll even be able to buy fair trade flowers for Mother’s Day.

Fair trade activities will continue throughout the weekend:

>> Later tomorrow night, celebrate the launch of a partnership between Ten Thousand Villages and Anti-Body to support a new fair trade coconut oil co-op in Liberia. Wine and appetizers will be served. When & Where: May 10 at 7 pm, at Ten Thousand Villages, 496 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena.

>> On Monday, Jacqueline Decarlo — author of “Fair Trade: A Beginner’s Guide” and former director of the Fair Trade Resource Network — will speak. When & Where: May 12 at 7 pm, at Ten Thousand Villages, 496 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena.

>> On Tuesday, Jacqueline Decarlo will speak again. When & Where: May 13, at 7 pm, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Room 156, 752 Charles E. Young Dr., Los Angeles.

Tags: fairtrade, coffee

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

L.A. blogger Micki of Mickipedia wants to be a Derby Doll, and needs $400 to buy gear –

That’s how I found out about the L.A. Derby Dolls — though I have to say that even after skimming the site and watching the YouTube video (above), I still have no clue WTF being a Derby Doll entails. From the video it looks like Derby Dolls are girls in tennis outfits — except with helmets, mouth guards, and roller skates — roller skating around a circular track while trying to push each other over like bowling pins…. I’m guessing the last girl rolling wins?

Anyway — As a thank you to intro’ing me to yet another L.A. sub culture that seems interesting but remains confusing, I contributed $10 to Micki’s cause. Micki and I met way back in the day when we were both involved with Worldchanging (I think she still is, but I quit a long time ago).

Lemme know when you roll Micki! I’ll try to get tickets — and maybe I’ll figure out then what Derby Dolls are exactly –

View my page on 29-Day Giving Challenge

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The Standard Downtown cracks me up sometimes. That’s a sign I saw on the way to the rooftop bar –

which I still contend is the best place to read a book early afternoon, while nibbling on an organic salad and sipping a glass of wine.

I also always get the hummus plate there, but I have to say it’s just not the tastiest of hummus plates. We’re talking rather dry pieces of store-bought pita bread with a big blob of what seems like store-bought hummus. The toasty yumminess at Bodega Wine Bar’s much better –

But Bodega’s not on a sunny rooftop….

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To the kind readers who emailed to say you’re looking forward to hearing me speak at Green Drinks on Saturday: You are v. kind, but I will not be speaking.

To Hannah and other people who thought I’d be standing at a podium doing a Q&A for an hour: No, I will not be forcing would-be drinkers to listen to an hour-long Q&A on a Saturday night.

Here’s what’s actually happening. In celebration of the upcoming Earth Day, LA Green Drinks is having a special Saturday event at the Whole Life Times office downtown. You’re all invited, BTW:

When: Saturday, April 19, 7 pm - midnight
Where: Whole Life Times, 1200 S. Hope St., Ste. 300, Los Angeles.
Cost: $10 donation, which gets you organic beer, wine, and snacks. There’ll be live DJs too :)

Barent, the organizer, asked me if I’d come early and, during that first slow hour while people are trickling in, hang out behind a lil “ask green LA girl!” sign in the corner, so people with eco-related questions could ask them. Sure, I said. Can you make the sign? he said. Sure, I said.

Somehow, that was written up thusly in the Green Drinks email that went out:

Share in organic wine, beer, and munchies (and, yes, they are yummy!) along with DJs, Green LA Girl - Siel, and guest speaker Jonathan Parfrey, Director of Green L.A. (as well as other speakers)

This is when I started getting emails from people about how they look forward to my speech. I asked for a revision — and this is what went out in the second email:

Green LA Girl, Siel, will start the night informally answering your eco questions and Jonathan Parfrey, Director of Green L.A., as well as other speakers will bring us up to date on the efforts to Green LA.

7 pm Green LA Girl - Siel, informally answering your environmental questions
8 pm Green LA Director - Jonathon Parfrey followed by other speakers

This is when people started wondering why I was doing an hour-long Q&A.

Before that email went out, I pointed out this might happen — but it’s v. hard to convince people who think something is already clear that it only seems clear to them because they already know what the event is about. Try explaining the difference between the above with my suggestion — “the night will begin with some informal mingling over drinks and snacks, with Siel available to answer any eco-related questions and conundrums you may have” — without coming across as a nitpicky bitch….

Luckily all the people involved with Green Drinks are nice and, even though I still think the text is confusing, did try to mollify my concerns…. My main concern was that people would think, from the description, that this event would be a boring, hour-long Q&A, followed by one speaker after another — and decide not to come.

Please come — It’ll be fun, and you’re all invited.

Back to the nitpicky bitch thing — Yesterday I met a couple friends for happy hour at Bodega Wine Bar in Santa Monica. They’d changed the menu a bit — and I found typos! There were wines from both Fance and Framce; a nice reisling was being offered as well.

I pointed it out to our waitress. Oddly, she got really psyched about it, laughed, and went to show someone the typos right away. Maybe Bodega’ll get its money back from the printer? I dunno —

So you might wonder why this blog has so many typos and confusing sentences, despite my constant editing of other people’s work. Suffice to say most people find it hard to edit their own writing –

Photo by Don LaVange

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

Barneys New York had an eco-ish party today — and I donated an old T-shirt to the cause.

If you haven’t heard already, Barneys, eco-fashion company Loomstate, and the Sundance Channel got together to launch a T-shirt recycling program. The idea: Have people bring in old T-shirts, which’ll be recycled into Loomstate T-shirts for Barneys Green Holiday 2008 Collection.

So if you’ve got an old T-shirt, stop by your nearest Barneys to drop them off. You’ll then get a 20% discount on women’s Loomstate for Barneys Green and men’s Loomstate merchandise — until April 27.

Anyway — Tonight was the kick off party for this recycliing event in L.A. Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward performed beautifully –

I went with my friend Katie, who was shocked that M. Ward was indeed just life-sized — not uber tall and larger than life ….

The set was short and sweet.

Thanks for the ride home, Ferris :)

View my page on 29-Day Giving Challenge

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How I’m voting for the environment on Feb. 5, 2008

My vote on Measure R: Yes

Well, the main pro-Measure R group, Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools, gets the award for most mailers from one organization.

This measure is an annual parcel tax (a tax on property owners) that would supplement the operating budget of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. However, Measure R is not a new tax; it instead would replace two previous parcel taxes that are set to expire in the next few years.

Right now, Measure S charges property owners a flat $225 per parcel, and Measure Y charges roughly $121 per parcel with an annual Consumer Price Index increase. Combined, Measures S and Y brought in $10.4 million for the 2007-08 school year, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.

Measure R would replace Measures S and Y. If passed, Measure R would charge up to $346 per parcel, and could be adjusted yearly for inflation, bringing in an estimated $10 million annually. And unlike Measures S and Y, Measure R doesn’t have an expiration date.

No one denies the school needs funding. Then who are against it? While there’s some quibbling over the fact that Measure R has no expiration date, the main issue appears to be that some people in Malibu who feel that their schools are not getting a fair share are calling for a no vote to “teach Santa Monica a lesson.” These opponents claim that they’re not getting a fair portion of the money from Measure BB passed in 2006. So, their idea’s to kill Measure R — then put a similar one on the ballot before Measure S expires in 2009.

Basically, even the opponents are for having a parcel tax to fund our schools; they just want to stick it to Santa Monica once before getting one passed. This seems to me a ridiculous reason to vote against a measure that everyone agrees is necessary. The Santa Monica City Council endorsed Measure R, as has Malibu’s Mayor (the Malibu City Council’s split on the issue). The Santa Monica-Malibu Council of PTAs also supports Measure R. I’m voting for.

Tags: vote, santamonica, measurer, malibu, publicschool

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How I’m voting for the environment on Feb. 5, 2008

My vote on Prop 92: No

I’m all for community colleges, but this measure seems more like a power play than an effort to improve community colleges.

Right now, the state has to allocate a minimum of about 40% of its budget to K-14 (K-12 plus community college) education. Prop 92 would separate out the funding for community colleges from that for K-12 schools, creating minimum funding requirements for both. Community colleges would also get a bigger state governing board and more administrative authority.

The downside to splitting up the funding: Less flexibility as to how educational funds get spent, at a time when our demographics are shifting. Add to the the fact that the funding community colleges receive wouldn’t be tied to actual student enrollment, and this inflexibility starts sounding really bad. If Prop 92 passes, funding allocated for community colleges couldn’t be used for K-12 education even if enrollment at the former decreased and the latter increased.

The measure would also lower the community college education fees from $20 per unit to $15 per unit — and make it really difficult for the state to raise these fees again. While that sounds like it’ll make education more affordable for the less wealthy, people with financial need are already able to get fee waivers. In fact, about quarter of community college students already don’t pay any educational fees, according to the legislative analyst report in the voter’s guide. The LA Times notes that “In one recent year, 52% of community college students got fee waivers.” I’m voting no.

Tags: vote, california, prop92

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Here’s how I’m voting on Feb. 5, and why. I really should’ve started my voter research earlier, but luckily, I don’t have to vote on as many people and measures as I have in previous election days. Each will be updated with my vote as I get the posts up –

President of the U.S.: Hillary Clinton

State Propositions

Prop 91: No

Prop 92: No

Prop 93: Yes

Prop 94 - 97: A tentative No

Local Measure for Santa Monica-Malibu Unif. School District

Measure R: Yes

Tags: vote, california

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I love Craigslist, but I’ve never used it to obtain services — whether for piano lessons or for house cleaning — simply because anyone and everyone can post a convincing ad. They may say they’re excellent piano teachers or tidy house cleaners, but how do I really know?

Enter LaborFair, which I discovered thanks to fellow BlogHer contributing editor Liz Henry. Launched by a woman entrepreneur called Jenna Raby, LaborFair’s basically a site where people offering services can connect with people who need them through an open, transparaent process. So far, LaborFair is so far only available in California — but it’s growing in popularity. LA has 152 listings, by my last count.

Like Craigslist, LaborFair lets you limit your search by city, and has different service categories you can browse through — mostly household services like childcare, cleaning, or gardening. But unlike Craigslist, each would-be service provider must have a profile — and can be rated and recommended by service recipients. In that sense, LaborFair’s like eBay, with its “rate this seller / buyer” feature. This way, you can get a better sense of the service you’ll get from the person you employ.

LaborFair lets you search for, contact, and hire service providers completely free. The providers themselves can list free, but do have to pay $5 per job lead — or opt for a $25 flat month fee. Once the two sides connect, 100% of the hirer’s payment goes directly to the provider.

LaborFair encourages paying above the minimum wage — $7.50 an hour in California. The transparency of the LaborFair process — in which service providers list their rates — hopefully also helps both service providers and employers a way to gauge a fair wage.

Want to learn more? Jessica Cryer of Startup Princess did an interview with Jenna. Hear Jenna talk about her company in the short video below — or follow her blog!

I might get piano lessons next month –

[crossposted on BlogHer]

Tags: laborfair

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