EDUN is a progressive brand that provokes us to think beyond fashion. Launched in Spring 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono, the company’s mission is to help build Africa as a viable source of production for fashion. Founded Edun, the environmentally-friendly luxury brand founded in 2005 by rock star Bono with his wife, Ali Hewson. Edun is a no-for-profit business based on the premise of trade not aid. To help achieve this goal, EDUN is investing in the development of a community-based value chain, beginning with organic cotton. In 2007 the company launched EDUN LIVE, a blank tee shirt division that is 100% “grow to sew” African produced.

www.edunonline.com

Once, being a young environmentalist meant buying a plot of the rainforest with your school class or talking up the dangers of acid rain. These days, budding green activists are focusing on efforts closer to home. For the younger end of the tween spectrum, this is starting with their toys, as evidenced at the recent Toy Fair, where a new round of eco-minded toys was unveiled. Clementine Art is selling Natural Modeling Dough that features earthy colors outside of the typical Play-Doh spectrum, is made of all-natural, non-toxic ingredients, and is dyed with ingredients like turmeric and spinach. According to Toy Industry Association spokesperson Reyne Rice, 2010 will be the year in which green toys become affordable. One example is this butterfly rearing kit that educates tweens about raising and nurturing butterflies from caterpillars by allowing them to connect with nature directly.

H&M  announces its first ever range of skincare with certified organic ingredients. Debuting in stores at the beginning of March, the range of everyday essentials includes shower gel, body scrub, body lotion, hand cream and lip balm, all of which are based on natural and organic ingredients and are certified by Ecocert. The products are available in the fragrance combinations of raspberry and melon or lavender and mint, and are accompanied by make-up and toilet bags made from organic cotton.

Unlike traditional water bottles, Vapur is lightweight and flexible – it stands upright when full and can be rolled, folded or flattened when empty, conveniently fitting into pockets, purses, briefcases and packs. It also comes with a sturdy clip that can snap on to any bag, backpack or keychain.

Users will love its “squeezability,” bright colors (blue, pink and green) and portability. Gift-givers will love its price – $8.95 for an individual bottle or $29.95 for a family pack. Both are available on Vapur.us or Amazon.com. Vapur is less than half the cost of most reusable water bottles, and offers even more savings for a family four pack. 

Vapur is highly durable, dishwasher safe, freezeable and BPA-free (a toxic chemical found in many plastic containers that can leach into the container and be ingested by humans).

Additionally, the environmental benefit of using the Vapur is huge. Reusable bottles help reduce the estimated 60 million plastic water bottles that are disposed in landfills each day in America alone, according to the Container Recycling Institute. The Vapur bottle is manufactured in the U.S. and also ships flat thereby using far less space (and weight) to transport than either plastic or rigid water bottles, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint that is significantly less than other plastic bottles.

www.vapur.us

 Published by celestynabrozek

With the advent of social media people are sharing about everything from what they had for dinner to how their date worked out. A new sort of openess is becoming the latest in business as well. Because of the economy, more and more people are going free-lance, working for a company for a short while, then moving on. As a result, there has to be a greater sense of immediate trust due to the nature of the liason, and both the company and the consultant have to put out feelers and share information that they wouldn’t need to in the traditional employer-employee relationship.

 I think transparency  and openness are some of the most important aspects of sustainable fashion. There are a lot of steps from fiber to finished garment on the supply and production chain of a typical T-shirt. This is a simplified example, but here are some basic steps, assuming the fiber is natural:

Where is the raw fiber grown?

Where is the fiber processed/cleaned/bleached?

Where is the fiber spun?

Where is the yarn woven?

Where is the fabric finished (dying/treatments)?

Where is the T-shirt designed? Who designed it?

Where are the pattern makers? Who grades it for all sizes?

Where is the sample sewer?

Where is the production facility?

Does all production occur in one place, or are the Ts cut and bundled someplace and then sent someplace else for sewing?

Imagine if the cotton is being grown in China, then sent to Turkey for processing, to India for weaving, the designer is in New York, the fabric is cut in Hong Kong at the same factory where the samples are sewn, but all other production happens in Taiwan, or what have you. Imagine that the factory in Hong Kong is fairtrade certified but the one in Taiwan isn’t…it gets complicated really fast! No wonder consumers are left in the dark. Half the time the company itself doesn’t really know the details beyond where it purchased the fabric.

What’s the solution? The simplest solution is two-fold. If your supply chain is too complicated for you to communicate to consumers, then you’re not being sustainable. Simplify. Streamline. And then tell your consumers. They want to know. Because that’s the other trend here: conscious consumerism. People are really starting to examine what they buy on a number of levels, instead of making mindless impulse purchases.

A few companies have already made the step of making aspects of their production visible to consumers, including Alabama Chanin, who we’ll interview later this month, so keep an eye out! Also Icebreaker, a New Zealand company that makes merino activewear includes a “baacode” with each garment, allowing customers to track where their merino came from! Ikea shares which of its designers designed what item. And now, websites like this one are popping up: Source Map. Source Map defines itself as “a platform for researching, optimizing and sharing the supply chains behind a number of everyday products.”

Sourcemap was voted one of the most transformative design projects of 2009! In addition to mapping where all the parts of an item come from, they also include statistics and assign a carbon footprint.

Thanks to innovative ways of organizing and providing supply chain information, it doesn’t have to be the headache most companies are imagining. Because the real problem is not whether or not you communicate, but HOW you do it, because communication and transparency are now the name of the game.

Heifer’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, they empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope.

With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer.org helps families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. They refer to the animals as “living loans” because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal’s offspring to another family in need. It’s called Passing on the Gift – a cornerstone of their mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace.

This is the most important gift you’ll ever make. A charitable gift from Heifer’s Gift Catalog will provide animals and training to help families build a better future for themselves and their communities.

Clothes that deteriorate over time

Sometimes, you just get bored of your closet. The classics aren’t cutting it today. You feel footloose and fancy free. Out with the old, in with the new! Fashion is about the latest and greatest! Shopping shouldn’t be till death do us part!

Well, there are plenty of earth friendly ways to get rid of clothing that has outworn (no pun intended) its welcome. Have a clothing swap with friends, donate to a thrift store, OR…… You can buy clothing that is INTENDED to deteriorate over time.

 Innovative Polish fashion brand U.E.G. – Usa e Getta – which means “use and toss” reminds the wearer that everything fades with time.

“It is the premise of desirable objects designed to deteriorate that drives the whole project,” says the site.

Hoodies, strangely compelling with their NASA-lab-tech reminiscent design are made of Tyvek. Tees as delicate as spider webs drape ephemerally over the body, spelling out personalized messages due to their transparency.