The Evolving Fashion Industry: Eco-couture

Today we’re proud to bring you thoughts from one of our favorite eco-retailers, Joyce Justicz of Evolve Boutique.  That fabulous dress Mandy was wearing on the night Sean proposed?  It was selected by Sean with Joyce’s recommendation from her boutique!

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First it was a beautiful recycled cashmere jacket that caught my eye.  Then a leather handbag reconstructed from a vintage motorcycle jacket.  Pretty soon I was on the hunt for even more one-of-a-kind wearable works of art.  A few years ago, finding such pieces was a real challenge, yet lately I was noticing the start of a trend.   Moreover, not only were these items becoming my personal favorites, other people wanted to know where to find similar things for themselves.  A retail spot opened up near my house, and before I knew it, I signed on as a boutique owner, one with zero retail experience. 

But I had been somewhat obsessive in my internet research and had educated myself on what was available, I already knew about several sources for re-purposed items.  However, because these represented such a small percentage of eco design, I expanded the merchandise to include new items made from earth friendly fabrics, as well as eco bags, jewelry and accessories.  And though my passion and focus is on eco merchandise, I have included some mainstream design to attract more people and hopefully turn them on to the beauty of the earth friendly items. 

I am continually struck with the ingenuity and resourcefulness demonstrated by eco clothing and jewelry designers in their beautiful creations.  For example, clothing designers employ several approaches in addressing the eco issue.  Some choose to make their designs with organic and sustainable fabrics, such as organic cotton, bamboo, and modal.  Others use “rescued” fabrics, ie fabric overruns from larger design houses that would be destined for disposal in landfills.  Then, of course, some designers upcycle several vintage or thrift store finds into a new and improved version.  One of the wonderful benefits to this last approach is that the customer gets a truly unique item, and generally with no added expenditure. 

Jewelry designers have a similar repertoire of ways to be earth friendly.  One of the most obvious ways to address the issue is to make jewelry out of melted down and recycled glass and metals.  Sometimes designers choose to incorporate materials sourced from discarded items, such as tins, broken bits of older jewelry, or vintage buttons.  Also there are those who make jewelry using found materials right from nature’s bounty:  rocks, shells, vine, even skeletons!  There is no more direct way of promoting a respect for the environment than by wearing a recycled piece of nature. 

So, really, eco-fashion is a combination of factors and encompasses a variety of ideas.  Though I have concentrated on the aspect of sustainable and recycled materials, it does include manufacturing the clothing in an eco-conscious way, such as factories that recycle waste water and use wind-power….or supporting companies that donate a percentage of their profits to eco-related causes.  It includes practices such as locally sourcing, which means supporting independent local designers, thus saving on fuel and shipping.   This has the added benefit of keeping a store’s selection a unique mix by including these neighborhood artisans. 

To sum up, I really think that eco-fashion is a form of conscious living, an informed decision to buy clothing that is made in an environmentally conscientious way, without sacrificing one bit of style or aesthetics.  And it is one trend that is here to stay. 

For your own eco-couture, visit Evolve Boutique. www.evolve-boutique.com

Isn’t a green flower called a leaf? Part I

I grew up in a rose garden with tulips, orchids, philodendrons. My garden was literal not figurative. My mother owned a florist shop, The Rose Garden, until my sister was born when I was about five years old. Some of my earliest memories are of waking up from a nap amongst buckets of fresh flowers or the rush of the cold air filling my lungs when I stepped into the walk-in cooler where all the special flowers were kept.

[start dream music]

In all the years of dreaming about my wedding, I never thought once about the flowers. I assumed that would be the simplest part to the whole affair. When asked, I’ve told my friends, “Oh, my mother will handle it.” That came as no surprise to anyone.  She has a terrific reputation for elegant, ornate, breathtaking work.

[record screech]

That dream ended tonight. Reality set it.

“What do you want your flowers to look like?” said my mother. 

“I don’t know,” I replied. Her eyebrow raised and she sat there patiently but not pleased. This was not the first time we’d had this conversation but I’d always just ignored it for some other more pressing wedding detail. 

Then it struck me, I was dealing with a professional and I was not being a cooperative client.

“I just want them to be ‘green’.” I spurted out.

“Ok, that’s fine. But that may not be realistic.” She continued in her patient, stern tone. 

Frustrated I said, “It must be Mother. We have greened every other aspect to this wedding. We must find a solution for this as well. I will not waste fossil fuels for flowers. There has got to be a way we conquer this one.”

The conversation continued in this fashion. She produced magazine upon magazine in order to elicit what look, feel, style, texture, color palette I wanted. That brought progress. Two bouquets fit the image in my mind’s eye.  I wanted bold colors and textures that pulled together to create a clean, high style look.

I took a chance and asked, “Why don’t we just have dad go out and collect the stuff from the forest the week of the wedding?”

“There will be many important details that week. We cannot be running around in the woods looking for flowers that may or may not be in bloom the week of your wedding.  You do have 10 bridesmaids. And, we have a business to run Mandy,” she responded in a clearly displeased fashion.

I knew that was another strike out.

“Where exactly are we going to get these flowers from?” she inquired. “The flowers you like are not grown here. Tulips do not grow in the South. They grow in New England and Europe and are flown in.”

I relented a bit and admitted that I didn’t have the answer. “Ok. I will be fine if they come from the southeast.  I have heard from my friends in the local food space that there are greenhouses in Georgia that specifically grow flowers. Why don’t we call them and see what they will have in May?  Then we can let that drive what we use.” That has been my strategy in other parts of the wedding. I have traded off abundance in the name of quality and availability and its works great. Why not now?

Truce was reached.  I pledged to produce a list of Georgia growers tomorrow.  Then we must find growers that provide her with the level of confidence in choice and quantity she needs. If not, that’s another conversation for another day that I hope we don’t have to have.

I walked away having realized that flower arrangements for big events are like electricity- taken for granted until you flip the switch and it’s not there. And like the electric company, florists need reliable resources to produce their product. Green resources are not yet ubiquitous for producing electricity or grand flower arrangements.

Green Wedding Shower Check List

A green wedding can be much more than simply the ceremony and reception.  As we’ve worked through our planning our family and friends have been eager to try their hand at infusing sustainability into showers and parties.  (The Matron-of-honor shared her expereince last month here on Go Green In Style.)

We’ve captured our checklist here to help you as you organize your thinking.  Let us know what other questions or suggestions you have!

 

Category	Checklist	Resources
Invitations	•Paperless  invitations- online invitation    •If paper, recycled content paper and soy ink   •Non-traditional: Seed paper, handmade, hemp	•Evite.com or Pingg.com    •Greenprinter.com   •Botanicalpaperworks.com
Food	•Green menu- Some or all of the menu is composed of local, organic, in season ingredients    •Choose a caterer who specializes in sustainable catering   •Minimize meat and dairy	•WorldCommunityCookbook.org    •GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Beverages	•Non-alcoholic:  organic teas, soft drinks •Wine: Choose organic, biodynamic, or local wine  •Beer: Choose organic or local beer   •Liquor: Several organic vodkas are on the market	•Choice Teas, Knudsen    •Bonterra, Frey   •Wolavers, Stone Mill   •360 Vodka, Square One
Supplies	•Eliminate paper and plastic products. Use china, silverware, linens    •If using disposables, go for compostable products	•Worldcentric.com
Themes	•Organic cooking demonstration    •Botanical garden  or museum	•GA: Cooks Warehouse
Décor	•Flowers: Choose in season and domestically grown, consider plants or flowers that can be planted    •Minimize decorations that will be disposed	•Waldenour.com
Favors	•Avoid excess packaging and highly packaged goods    •Carbon offsets or donations to the brides favorite charity	•Terrapass.com
Location	•Choose a restaurant has gone green- sustainable menu, green building, and other green practices    •Choose a museum or historic venue   •Locate near alternative transit options	•GA Options: GeorgiaOrganics.org
Travel	•Encourage guests to carpool    •Offer guests to option to buy carbon offsets	•Evite offers option to list    •Terrapass.com
Waste disposal	•Recycle    •Compost food and paper waste	•Earth911.com    •Composting101.com

Protect and Serve the Environment?

Q: Dear GoGreeninStyle:

My husband and I went into my local coffee shop the other day and hung out for about an hour.  As we walked in, I noticed a police car was parked out front and running but no officer was in the car. It turns out, the officer was in the coffee shop having a cup of coffee. He was still there and the car was still running when we left. The car must have been running over an hour!  It makes me sick because I know he’s polluting but even worse- he’s wasting tax payer dollars.

Is there a good reason he’s leaving the car running?  What is going on?

Frustrated,

Amy

A: Dear Amy,

As Director of Sustainability for the City of Atlanta, I see this problem first hand all the time with our employees. I understand your sentiment. It is very frustrating.

I have asked a number of experts and here is what I’ve learned. Police have devices like computer that require the car to be running when in use. Often times you’ll see a policeman working on the computer with the car running. From what I can tell, that’s a legitimate reason.  Good news is that there is growing innovation in solar technology that will power such devices and allow for the car to be turned off.

Police departments and fire departments are steeped in tradition. Changing culture, habits and mindsets in these organizations is not easy.  Idling vehicles falls in the category of an old practice.  In the case of the behavior you witnessed, the explanation given is that the officer needed to have the car on in case he needed to respond immediately.  You probably think- turning the car on is instantaneous and won’t prevent him from responding immediately.  And you are correct.

The question becomes, how do we change the culture so that the myth is busted? My belief is that the top of the organization, ie the Chief of Police, must drive the change through example and mandate. We, the citizens, must be a part of the solution as well. We must ask individual officers, the organization’s leadership, and elected officials to enact and enforce an aggressive no idling policy.  Praise and appreciation goes a long way too. When you see an officer who is not idling, be sure to thank him.

Thanks for asking the questions the need to be asked!

Mandy

The Right Balance

Mandy and Sean asked a couple of tricky questions when soliciting articles for this website: Are we doing enough?  Are we crazy?  I think the answer to the latter is clear (yes, resoundingly, but not because of their desire to have a “green” wedding), but the former really strikes at the heart of what, to me, sustainability is all about.

The question of “are we doing enough” comes down to choices.  Life is all about choices, of course, but creating a sustainable lifestyle is fraught with high degree of difficulty choices.  For example, when renovating our house, our budget caused my wife and me to choose between installing solar panels and installing windows.  We, um, went with the windows.  We’re also expecting our first baby soon, and just found out that reusable cloth diapers have a slightly greater carbon footprint than disposable diapers do.  What to do?  But you came here for advice on weddings, not the musings of a slightly crazed dad-to-be.

What I’ve seen Mandy and Sean wrestle with is how to respect the environment while simultaneously respecting tradition.  Their desire to have a traditional Southern wedding has created a framework of expectations within which they have to work – some otherwise viable choices are no longer so.  It would be much simpler, cheaper and environmentally friendly to elope and honeymoon at the local CSA farm.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite allow Mandy and Sean to celebrate their love and marriage with family and friends in the way that they want.

In a traditional Southern wedding, the wedding party is quite large (question to Mandy and Sean: if I say “cast of thousands”, will that be too much of an exaggeration?).  Mandy has been working extremely hard to figure out how to clothe her bridesmaids.  There are, of course, environmental, social and economic implications to any course of action.  Does she use fair trade cloth, sewn in India, and shipped to Atlanta?  Can she find locally made cloth, a local designer, and a local seamstress?  Is there a “right” balance to be struck?

Unfortunately, I don’t know what that “right” balance is, but I trust in Mandy and Sean to make the right tradeoffs for them.  And, in fact, we must all make the right choices for ourselves in order to create a truly sustainable society.  Just ask me about that as I’m riding my bicycle to Vegas for Sean’s bachelor party.

Disposable Plate Dilemma

Q: Which is better for the environment – using disposable plates that I throw away or washing re-usable dishes?

- May

A:  Dear May,

People may think using disposable plates is better for the environment because they don’t use water for washing. Take a step back and think about the lifecycle of what you are using. While that paper plate is being washed and therefore not using water, it’s going right into the landfill where it will reside for a very long time in its plastic coffin. Also think about the natural resources used in production and the fuel used to for transportation to the store, to you, and to the landfill.

Washing dishes have a much smaller impact. Less production, less transportation, less waste to the landfill. The water you are using is being treated and injected back into the river or reused.

If you’re trying to reduce your water use, use your dishwasher rather than hand washing and scrape off dishes rather than rinsing them off.  Next time you’re shopping for a new dishwasher, look out for one energy and water efficient by buying one that is certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency as Energy Star.

Other things to think about- are you composting what’s left on your plate? Are you using environmentally sound dish detergent?

For more tips on saving water at home, visit the EPA’s Water Sense website.

To learn more why using a dishwasher is better than hand washing, check out this page from About.com.

Happy Washing,

Mandy

From Poofy Petroleum to Gorgeous Green

Gone are the days when your only options for bridal gowns have rhinestones, taffeta, and lace.  Now you don’t have to choose between couture and consciousness.  Fabrics like rayon and polyester are created by using petroleum and the labor practices leave much to be desired.  These days, silk, bamboo, and organic cotton are widely available in many styles of gown and leave a much smaller mark on our planet.  Designers, both local and national, have jumped into the world of “green” gowns and their pieces are fairly easy to find.  In fact, Atlanta’s own Linda Loudermilk established eco couture through her self titled line and continues to set the standard for elegant couture that meets the highest environmental standards.

 

How exactly did I find a gown that makes me look hot without making our globe warm?

 

Start by searching the internet for local stores and or online retailers that carry environmentally friendly lines.  Designers Morgan Bosilcov of Natural Bridals and Deborah Lindquist set the standard for eco chic yet affordable.  If you are looking for an off the rack solution, stick to dresses made of eco-fabrics.  Fabrics to look out for include reclaimed and vintage fabrics, end run fabrics, organic cotton, bamboo, silk, and silk/hemp blends.  Ann Taylor and J. Crew offer a range of silk dresses.