Green is the New Black
April 18, 2008
Marie Green is a fashion stylist and writer from San Diego California. She is the Fashion Editor of FINE Homes and Living Magazine and her column, “Fashion Focus” has appeared in FINE Magazine as well as LaJolla Light, The Del Mar Times, Del Mar Ink, The Carmel Valley Leader, Rancho Santa Fe Record, and The Solana Beach Sun. Marie is also the co-founder of SheWants.com.
Is green the new black? It seems everywhere we turn lately, there are fashionable companies offering eco-friendly clothing, accessories and make-up. How exciting is it to be able to go green and care for our environment in style?
My “green” journey went into full speed ahead mode last year after I read the New York Times best seller, The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time, by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen (printed using 100% post-consumer recycled paper). The author enlisted the help of some high profile friends, including Cameron Diaz, Robert Redford, Jennifer Aniston, Tyra Banks, Tiki Barber and more, to tell us how they make a difference in regard to the environment. The book focuses on how little things can make a big impact, as, for example, not asking for ATM receipts: if everyone in the U.S. refused their receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long-enough to circle the equator fifteen times.
According to “The Green Book,” we should consider buying clothes made from organic cotton. If one out of every five Americans purchased a 100% organic t-shirt instead of one made from conventionally grown U. S. cotton, nearly fifty thousand tons of agrochemicals would be prevented from polluting U. S. freshwater bodies, ecosystems and wardrobes. I found some awesome organic surf t-shirts at Beach Culture in the Del Mar Highlands, where they also have several shoe lines and even board shorts made entirely of recycled materials. Also, the process of dyeing fabric generates the largest proportion of wastewater produced by the textile industry. So, even though it’s a big year for color, we should be buying clothes with “natural” colors to complement them. If most Americans chose just one pair of pants that weren’t dyed, it would save enough dye to cover the city of San Diego with an inch of colorful liquid.
We should give secondhand clothing a chance. There are many consignment stores in our area with gorgeous gently used clothing. “The Green Book” states that the average American purchases about forty eight pieces of new clothing per year. If one of those articles were purchased from a secondhand store, the energy equivalent of more than half a gallon of gasoline could be saved because of all the energy used to manufacture and transport new clothes. If one in every ten Americans substituted his or her next purchase of one new garment with a vintage one, the energy saved could fly everybody in North County to New York City for Fashion Week!
I love to look at fashion catalogues, but I was receiving so much junk mail and catalogues that my recycling bin would be bulging long before collection time. To cut down on waste, I registered at www.dmachoice.org/MPS/proto1.php to get off mailing lists. Now, I do more online shopping and visit these eco-friendly sites: www.greenloop.com, www.treehugger.com/fashion, and www.greenlivingonline.com.
I just bought some cute organic canvas bags at Jade in the Del Mar Highlands, which I plan on using instead of wrapping paper for gifts and for carrying things that would normally go in grocery bags. We all need to be aware of the imprint we leave on our world. If everyone does their part, we can save our environment. So, in this stylish eco-friendly world, green truly is the new black.
INSIDE SCOOP: Green is beautiful inside and out at the fabulous spaViolet, where they invite you to celebrate Earth Month by receiving 15% off any service when you bring in empty product packaging for recycling. They’re also offering 15% off organic massages. According to Miss Violet, who has been a member of Greenpeace and an obsessive recycler for many years, “We all need to be environmentally normal no matter what party we belong to.” Could Miss Violet be developing her own totally organic skin care line to be used down all party lines? You bet. Go to www.spaViolet.com or call (760) 633-1200 for more information.
