‘Green’ the new black in eco-fashion

When I was younger I never gave much thought to the environment and how my actions could be… When I was younger I never gave much thought to the environment and how my actions could be impacting the Earth. And even though I did have a hatred for “litterbugs” as a child, I certainly wouldn’t call myself an environmental activist of any kind.

But with all this global warming talk, I’m beginning to think I should pay attention. It seems like everyone else is at least. I’ve read articles about couples building and furnishing homes using entirely recycled materials. And, one of my friends is always scaring me by giving me bleak statistics from her biology books about the Earth’s population increasing and depleting natural resources.

More recently, I traveled to Brazil where I had an opportunity to visit Petrobras, a very socially and environmentally conscious fuel company where they are always exploring alternatives to gasoline and oil consumption. The idea that large corporations would put the environment before profits was quite literally foreign to me compared to corporations from the United States. But, still how can I personally change the way resources are used in the United States?

Well, I can’t see myself digging through a junkyard to find the perfect toilet to complement the rest of my eco-chic home, and I don’t think that I have the ability to single-handedly create a new kind of environmentally friendly fuel. But, shop? Yes. That, I can do.

The first experience I had with an environmentally conscious product was around my junior year in high school. My then-boyfriend’s aunt bought him a shirt from a company called Edun. Edun, founded by Ali Hewson and Bono from U2, was organized to provide trade and job opportunities for countries in Africa while also being environmentally conscious. All of the T-shirts are produced with 100 percent organic cotton, which means that the cotton is grown without any pesticides, making it safer for the environment, as well as the farmers and factory workers who come in contact with the cotton.

Since then I have seen a number of companies jump on what could be considered a trend. Many magazines have an annual “green” issue made from recycled paper and feature all environmentally conscious products. Levi’s also debuted an entire line of jeans in fall 2006 made from 100 percent organic cotton called Levi’s Eco. The Levi’s website states, “It’s all about offering products that use raw materials that demand less from the environment.”

Of course celebrities are very public about their efforts to “go green,” as well. Actress Natalie Portman, a vegan, worked with shoe boutique, Te Casan, to create a line of shoes free from animal products. The shoes are adorable, but the price tag is hefty. However, all of the profits will be donated to the Nature Conservancy to ease any post-shopping guilt.

If you’re looking to buy more locally, I’ve discovered two boutiques in Lawrenceville that make it very easy to buy environmentally friendly merchandise at reasonable prices.

Sugar, located on Butler Street in Lawrenceville, carries a number of lines by environmentally conscious designers.

“All of the designers I carry are independent and the clothes are all handmade. Nothing is made in a sweatshop,” owner Katie Bulger said.

A line called Naturevsfuture uses all organic cotton cut into futuristic asymmetrical styles to illustrate the “constant struggle between nature and future, a pressure between organic forces and technological ones,” as the company’s website says.

Vintage Creations, a line based out of Seattle, uses vintage cashmere and end-run fabrics to create cashmere mittens and hats. Another line, Preloved, redesigns vintage garments into unique pieces. Sugar also features local designer Kelly Lane, who will begin using organic bamboo cotton in her spring 2008 collection. In addition to lessening the impact on the environment, buying more natural fabrics is good for the consumer, also.

“Organic cotton is more sustainable. It wears really well and all of the clothes are very well sewn,” Bulger explained.

Pavement, just a few stores down the street from Sugar also features eco-friendly fashions. Owners and sisters Allissa and Jessica Martin opened the store after struggling to find shoes they liked in the Pittsburgh area and resorted to buying online.

Allissa Martin stressed the importance of buying local because of the resources used to ship just one pair of shoes. One of my favorite lines from the store, Maxine, Dear, uses old library books to create one-of-a-kind wallets and cardholders lined with vintage fabrics. Pavement also carries a line of colorful vinyl bags called Astrosatchel, which, according to the company’s website, is “crafted without exploitive labor practices and as little environmental impact as possible.”

The sisters also took care to use all green building materials when designing the store. “In the design of our store we used all local products. Everything was bought or made locally,” said Martin. Another reason Martin encourages buying locally is that when you invest money into a locally owned store, your money is cycled more within the local economy than if you would shop at a large chain store.

When most people think of environmental or organic fashion, ugly, brown and itchy material comes to mind. That is definitely not the case with these two stores. While it may be impossible to buy an entirely new eco-chic wardrobe, going green will have others green with envy.