• It is sweltering and it’s not even July yet! This calls for some tank tops and light-weight shoes. Visit your local thrift store or get some organic cotton/ recycled poly tanks from Element, and slip-on red canvas boat shoes from Sanuk.
• Now that summer is here, it’s time to make some plans. Check out my VegNews column, Super Eco Summerfor everything from vacation ideas to NYC best ice cream shoppes – from sustainable surfing tips, to backyard gardening. Yes, that’s a magical, surfing ice cream cone.
• Stars and stripes and spangled banners and weapons exploding in mid air! It’s almost July 4th, and you know what that mean… war and meat! Well, that or a vegan hot dog-eating contest in Texas hosted by some bad-ass firefighters. If you’re in Texas and think you’re man enough to take on some serious eating competitors hwo can handle the heat, git on down to where the stars at night are big and bright. See their Facebook page.
Recycled fire-hoses make pretty handsome belts and bags. Elvis & Kreese’scollaboration with an international group of outstanding artists – Lothar Götz, Olivier Millagou, Paul Morrison and Simon Periton – has resulted in a striking and sustainably leather-free line of accessories, made completely from materials diverted from landfills. Over 45 tons of it thus far! Even their packaging is made completely of diverted waste, and 50% of their profits go to the Fire Fighters Charity.
A reader recently asked what he should do about luggage. Are there any sustainable suitcases? I did a little bit of research, and came up with a few bags that seemed to fit the bill, and run the spectrum from affordable to expensive. Keep in mind that one of the most sustainable things about luggage is whether it will last a lifetime. Buying poorly-constructed suitcases requires frequent replacements, and thus more garbage and more resources needed to make more. In addition, never forget the almighty favor; most people don’t travel at the same time as their friends – so ask if you can borrow!
The first stop on this search is the most eco-friendly one: used or vintage luggage. Ebay, Craigslist, thrift stores and yard sales are sometimes the best places to get luggage. It’s often quite affordable, too. For example, if you like the aesthetic of an old, beat-up hard-shell or vinyl bag, you may want to go this route. The images above are from Ebay of a burgundy vinyl, and a black hard-shell with canvas straps. These have already proven their longevity, and they have a lot of character. They even look nice when you leave them out on display.
If you are someone that wants to buy a new product, consider these options:
• Heys USA Eco Case. Made from 100% recycled plastic, expandable for up to 20% more space and had 360 degree swivel wheels. $340 retail, only $283.99 at luggage.com
.Today I wandered into Any Old Iron, an eclectic “UK Apparel” store on Orchard St in NYC’s Lower East Side, and picked up a “London Undercover” umbrella. They’re made of completely recycled components and starting at $80 are a nice investment for the rainy days to come.
From the website: In keeping with the British ecological ideology, almost every aspect of these Umbrellas has been designed with a fresh environmental approach. Recycled Canvas, recycled metal shaft and frame, recycled/ biodegradable handles and recycled packaging feature in these morally re-assured Brollies. Quintessentially British?
Pierre-André Senizergues has a Hollywood story. He went from a Parisian childhood, to being homeless on the streets of Venice Beach, to becoming an international skateboarding champion and then one of the most influential and respected businessmen in the apparel and skate industry, heading-up Sole Technologies, Inc. Now, with over 25 years of revolutionizing skate culture, Pierre is again setting new standards and breaking new boundaries with social responsibility and environmentalism. C-PAS is Pierre’s latest personal endeavor, and along with designer Pierluigi Pucci, Senizergues is making menswear from recycled parachutes and tarps, organic cotton, soda bottles, sustainable fabrics, and he is finally addressing the fact that leather can never be sustainable.
I stopped by the Soho, NYC studio to try on some of the clothes, and chat about C-PAS, sustainable fashion, and menswear.
The Hill-Side, a Brooklyn and Connecticut-made accessories line, features some really dashing spring ties made from selvedge fabric. Typically, fabric near the selvage is unused and discarded, but lines like Hill-Side not only make a handsome accessory, but they divert waste from hitting a land-fill. Visit their website for store locations.
You heard it here first! I got my eyes and hands onto a handful of samples from the forthcoming men’s collection, M:ZERO, from Melissa Plastic Dreams: the sustainable, zero-waste, fair-trade, recycled plastic shoe company known for their cutting edge design and collaborations with fashion superstars like Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and others.
Kaight Shop in New York City’s Lower East Side held a launch party for the pop-up installation of Melissa’s “Shop Within a Shop” inside of Kaight. They were so cool, I couldn’t help but jam my giant, size 11.5 foot into one of the samples that were all size 8, just for the sake of a photo. Considering that these are touted as some of the most comfortable shoes out there, it really wasn’t that bad at 3.5 sizes too small. One that fits must feel like walking on pillows.
The new men’s collection features an oxford, a loafer, and a driving shoe. By far, my preference is the oxford, especially the gray, fuzzy one and the white matte one. Look out for these fantastic plastics arriving for retail Autumn/Winter 2010!
Not only does Livity make their entire line from recycled materials and organics, but everything is produced in equitable trade. These trunks are made from recycled plastic and hemp. They are quick-drying, and feature some cool patters and prints.
Loomstate‘s Baja Board Short in organic cotton are less bold, and feature a leaf-inspired print.
Patagonia also has a handsome khaki, or khaki check board short in organic cotton.
If you care about the oceans, there are some great resources out there for ethical surfers, like EcoBusinessLinks page on surf companies. Country Feeling Surfboards uses soy-based and sugar-based foams; deck inlays made from hemp, organic cotton, bamboo, and resin that is catalyzed by the sun. The best surf accessories, like hemp boardbags can be found at Wave Tribe. If you have an old board to recycle, send it to ReSurf! I also highly recommend joining the efforts of Sea Shepherd.
We know that The Cove has won an Oscar for Best Documentary of 2009, and if you haven’t seen End Of The Line, you must!
• GQ’s Spring Must-Haves include a vegan new-wave boat shoe from Sperry Topsiders (without those leather laces, finally), fancy pocket squares of every pattern and color, bright and bold striped ties and straw fedoras.
When searching for a striped tie that isn’t made from hundreds of worms who are boiled alive, we suggest hitting up your local thrift or vintage store which typically have piles of ties or our favorite vegan tie company, Jaanj.com. As for straw fedoras, that one thing we love about spring. You can avoid the wool hats and go with a 100% plant-based straw hat. LiViTY makes recycled, hemp, organic, and fair trade fedoras in some bold patters and classic shapes, and Engineered Garments makes an organic linen boater cap. We suggest keeping a lid on it and sticking to classics like these:
The Hill-Side offers some selvedge Pocket Squares that we find quite fetching:
• I’ll be as happy as the next guy to see SeaWorld go under. The next guy is our pal Gary Smith, and he’s written an article on SeaWorld and the exploitation of dolphins and whales that flooded the enterprise with a 1.4 billion profit last year. In the article over at Elephant Journal. Ric O’Barry, who was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary film “The Cove” and serves as the marine mammal specialist for Earth Island Institute, shares some thoughts with Gary on the recent killer whale tragedy. If you needed to be convinced that captive seas mammals are unhappy, this will do it!
“Orcas are the most social animal on the planet, even more so than us,” said O’Barry. “Males will stay with their mothers their entire lives. When we capture an animal like Tilikum, we take him away from the two most important things of his life; the world of sound and family. We put them in a concrete box and expect him to stay mentally healthy. It simply doesn’t work.” - Rick O’Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist EII
• Is Discovery’s Planet Green FINALLY getting the meat/global warming connection? Or not. The promos for Emeril’s Green(washed) Kitchen still lists “beef” as a major ingredient, but I got a recipe for vegan chocolate mousse in my inbox this morning, and they have a vegan section. Strangely, their new showFuture Food: Gastronomic Geniuses seems like a bunch of dudes playing with their meat. The video showcases these “geniuses” shooting bratwurst with paint-balls, and trying to figure out the tastiest way to serve this meat up in mad-science ways. The maddest science is showcasing meat on a self-proclaimed “green” network when it’s the #1 cause of global warming! Hey Discovery, WTF!?
• Rock It Out: A Night to Benefit New York’s Farm Animal Sanctuaries
Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
This benefit will feature live musical performances, a scrumptious vegan bake sale, and an awesome raffle all to benefit farm animals at Farm Sanctuary and the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Check out what these sanctuaries do to save animals like Billy, who was taken in after almost being killed by a sledgehammer at a dairy farm just a few weeks ago:
Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Reidy Hall at All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Ave @ 80th St, Basement Level
$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door (cash only)
Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at: https://www.mycommunitytickets.com/event_info.asp?eventid=26496
• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of last week’s Hardcore History, and we suggest you listen. Totally mind-bending! Could widespread child abuse and bad parenting in earlier eras explain some of history’s brutality? We think so.
• Learn to Lobby for Animals with the HSUS. We are only a few weeks away from the 2010 New York State Humane Lobby Day on Wed, March 24th in Albany. Join fellow activists to help pass legislation to crack down on animal fighters, stop puppy mills, end canned shoots of captive exotic wildlife, and protect farm animals from cruel treatment. To RSVP and get more info, click HERE.
• Jessica Reid asks GGA readers if a No Kill Nation is possible when it comes to dog shelters. There’s always a fierce discussion on the GGA comment-board, so have you say!
“The truth is you cannot blame having to kill shelter animals on an “irresponsible public” or “too many animals” when a shelter doesn’t implement lifesaving and low cost programs. I personally witnessed missed opportunity after missed opportunity from alienating potential fosters to terrible customer service to rude behavior toward rescue groups. I heard the same stories from other volunteers. These were not isolated cases. These were failures of management and staff to do what they should be doing: saving lives.”
After writing so critically yesterday about the heritage luxury brands (Gucci, et al) finally hearing the death-rattle and attempting to figure out how to become sustainable (or at least greenwash their marketing enough to convince people that leather and cashmere could be sustainable), it’s important to point out clothing lines that are using organic cotton, fair labor, and moving towards having a substantial vegan product base. Lines like Vaute Couture, Matt & Nat that are entirely vegan and utilize organic and recycled textiles and ensure fair labor are taking their rightful place in the limelight.
It’s easy for some activists and critics to brush off the entire fashion industry (including the sustainable and vegan brands) as “frivolous” or have a “down with it all” attitude and concentrate on what they see as more pressing issues – but the fashion industry impacts the environment, people, and animals in such huge ways that it deserves much more detailed attention. For example, conventional cotton is responsible for 25% of all insecticide use worldwide, and leather and wool products are an incredibly profitable aspect of the hugest cause of global warming (livestock production). It’s a classic harm-reduction vs abstinence scenario. Clean needles or denial that people are doing drugs? Condoms or denial that teens have sex is happening. Sustainable fashion, or denial that people are buying into these images and ideas?
That being said, we are so excited to see that Turk + Taylor has many vegan items in the new winter collection (which is something that is always hard to come by). Typically, when we think of winter clothing, it is almost invariably wool or other animal products. Below are some images from the new menswear look-book, and our favorite vegan model, Jayce, is featured in them.
Featuring western-style “Panhandle” organic cotton button-downs, “Glen Canyon Grandad” pea coat-style, french-terry, shawl-neck sweaters with organic cotton fleece, and military-inspired “Washington Square” jackets in waxed organic cotton and upcycled sailcloth – the vegan highlights from this and other growing collections and brands are something that the old-school luxury brands who, like the polar bears, are on thin ice, need to carefully learn from and look up to.
• Now that summer is here, it’s time to make some plans. Check out my VegNews column, Super Eco Summer for everything from vacation ideas to NYC best ice cream shoppes – from sustainable surfing tips, to backyard gardening. Yes, that’s a magical, surfing ice cream cone.
• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of 
