Results tagged “sustainability” from Uncivil Society
Personally, I think that showing your organic skivvies to a co-worker is a sure-fire way to score a sexual harassment lawsuit, but this ad from PACT depicts a sexually charged workplace and organic fashion as going hand in hand.
In the immortal words of Dorothy Parker, Tonstant Weader twowed up.
The United Nations today named the Disney animated character Tinker Bell an “Honorary Ambassador of Green” to help promote environmental awareness among children.
The announcement came just prior to a screening at UN Headquarters in New York of the world premiere of the Walt Disney animated film, “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.”
“We're delighted Tinker Bell has agreed to be our Honorary Ambassador of Green,” said Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. “This beloved animated character can help us inspire kids and their parents to nurture nature and do what they can to take care of the environment.”
Via Jezebel, a sign that environmentalism has become too trendy for its own good: a new line of eco-sexy costumes. From the ad copy:
This costume is perfect for the eco friendly consumer. Help spread the eco friendly message! Go Green Girl - includes green pleated mini dress featuring recycling badge, white lace and ribbon embellishments, and GO GREEN! Screen print on the butt removable Recyclers Do It Twice pin and earth bag. Costume is packaged in recyclable paper bag. Please note does not include stockings or shoes. This eco-friendly costume is Available in Adult Sizes X-Small, Small, Medium, and Large.
Made of 100% Organic Cotton.
We are doomed.
I've said it before and will say it again: if you're into charity, sustainable design, microenterprise or eco-fashion, WWD is an essential part of a nutritious lifestyle. For various reasons do-gooding is interwoven in fashion's DNA, and the creative arts biz--well, that's the whole magilla, innit?
Here's a sample recent article:
Exhibitors at Ecollection, the green sector of WWDMAGIC that made its debut a year ago, will spotlight innovative and recycled textiles that spice up sustainable fashion with pattern, texture and flair. Among the newest fabrics are prints made with plant dyes on organic wovens and knits, stretch satin woven from bamboo, organic cotton crepe and a knit blend crafted with corn fiber.
“As more people get into green, you need to have something to differentiate yourself,” said Jim Martin, owner of Green 3, which will exhibit quirky women’s totes made of vintage men’s suits and colorful patchwork scarves sewn from recycled T-shirts.
He feels eco-conscious vendors might attract more attention at the show. “Now, people who had not been as interested in green product or made-in-the-U.S. suddenly find that appealing, because it might give them an opportunity to tell a story that will help them hold their prices,” said Martin.
Jonano, which develops organic and sustainable fabrics for streamlined sportswear and dresses, will introduce a stretch knit of corn, bamboo and spandex, plus an artistic printing technique on bamboo and spandex jersey.
“I discovered a watercolor dye technique in Istanbul where the dyes go on almost free-form, and they blend like a watercolor painting. Each piece will look different,” said Bonnie Siefers, owner and designer.
The corn blend in black or a flecked neutral will be featured in Jonano’s first pieces of lingerie — a camisole, boyshorts, pants and kimono for immediate delivery. Wholesale prices start at $12 for organic bamboo T-shirts printed with “Love” or “Dream,” and top out at $79 for a long zip jacket in a nubby slate silk lined with silk charmeuse. The textured, linenlike outer fabric is woven from fibers extracted from silk cocoons without destroying the worms, a more labor-intensive process than the customary practice of boiling the cocoons, she noted.
Ethos Paris will highlight its Botanical Impressions line of organic cotton knits and wovens colored with plant-based dyes, said Leslie Leroux, chief executive officer of the French firm’s North American division. First shipped this year and expanded for spring, Botanical Impressions mixes the fabrics in dresses and tops wholesaling from $20 to $29. “We came up with a lot of interesting prints and colors,” she added. “It was our best line for spring because it is so unusual and we have very good prices, especially for an organic cotton line.”
A fascinating architectural statement in the East Village, as the owner of Sustainable NYC converts a former synagogue into a transparent penthouse using eco-friendly design:
“I was captivated by the history and grandeur of the facade,” said Ms. Camacho, 40, an entrepreneur who operated a T-shirt boutique on Avenue A before opening Sustainable NYC, an eco-friendly store, last year. “Sometimes I’d pause, walk up the synagogue steps and touch the door.”
Click through for a slideshow.
The Dieline is a killer packaging design site that offers a wealth of useful examples for social-enterprise-types who want to learn about effective branding. Case in point: this behind-the-scenes look at how White Space came up with the bottle design for Thatcher's Organic Artisan Liqueurs, "handmade liqueurs distilled in small batches from sustainably farmed organic ingredients to create honestly great cocktails." Check out The Dieline post for the scoop.
Via Journalista & Scans Daily, a tender tale of a girl who fears that her family and friends may be causing global warming through their air conditioners--until they explain that air conditioners actually keep Earth's air cool!
Just doing my part to make sure we don't take ourselves too seriously.
Though of course, I'm prepared to be reminded that <grim>sustainable animal waste disposal is no laughing matter.</grim>
As I learned while watching a baseball game yesterday, "Think Green" is the slogan--and the website--of the Waste Management corporation, "the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America."
An interesting resonance: in today's NY Times, a woman who was once the super in her apartment building reflects on the Roto-Rooter guy:
Occasionally, there was a bright spot amid the drudgery. One Saturday morning, while my friends were sleeping or indulging in free kayaking, I was in the basement with the Roto-Rooter guy, standing in two inches of backed-up sewage.
And here’s the thing: The Roto-Rooter guy was really great. Instead of being bitter and cranky about having to do such a noxious, malodorous job, he was telling me how fascinating it was, how much he loved what he did. He had a passion for the history and the future of waste treatment, and had read widely on the subject.
Although my expertise with sewage was limited to fixing a running toilet with a straightened paper clip, the Roto-Rooter guy had innovative ideas about overhauling the entire system of waste management worldwide.
Yes, self-professed social entrepreneurs are nice. But sometimes you can learn a lot more by paying attention to a normal person with an ordinary job.
So here I am, in week three of the seemingly unending bug or whatever the !*#&?! it is, where just the subway ride to the office pretty much knocks me out for the day. No matter--gotta soldier on, pip pip tally ho and all that. Perhaps I should take the advice of this 1889 British Medical Journal ad and consume some Cadbury Cocoa, noted among the era's doctors for its healthy "Flesh-forming constituents."
Well, maybe not, especially given my recent lack of exercise--but for more on Cadbury's various do-gooding past and present, check out my latest piece on JustMeans.
Also worth checking out:
- Thanks, Mitch Kapor Foundation!
- The Schulz Library
- A science museum angles for visitors with Star Trek memorabilia
- Will government-backed copies of Harlem Children's Zone retain its core practices or dilute them?
- Netflix is now streaming the documentary Helvetica, which describes the roots of the typeface in the social responsibility ethic of early modernist design. If you have a chance to see this film, do.
- A superhero-themed charity race
Law enforcement in Italy is cracking down on an industry reputed to be controlled by the mafia:
Windmills.
Turns out that La Cosa Nostra sees the eco-biz as a growth industry--tax breaks and government funding make it pretty much a sure-fire investment:
"Operation Wind" revealed Mafia promises to local officials in Mazara del Vallo of money and votes in exchange for help in approving wind farm projects.
The Mafia suspects were alleged to be linked to Matteo Messina "Diabolik" Denaro, a fugitive clan boss on ltaly's most wanted list.
Prosecutors suspect the hand of the Mafia in fixing permits and building wind farms that are then sold on to Italian and eventually foreign companies.
In an effort to assert its control over the sector, the Mafia is suspected of destroying two wind towers that were in storage in the port of Trapani after their delivery by ship from northern Europe, local officials told the FT.
"It is a refined system of connections to business and politicians. A handful of people control the wind sector. Many companies exist but it is the same people behind them," said Mr Scarpinato, whose investigations have focused on the evolution of the Mafia into a modern business organisation.
Which got me thinking. When I got into the social enterprise scene after years of bridging the worlds of nonprofit and for-profit law, my impression was that social enterprise offered a holistic vision with the potential to break down artificial walls between so-called sectors. However, in far too many ways social enterprise has become just another way for small groups of self-defined insiders to seize control of the market in virtue. This particularly hits home everytime I hear someone tell me that such-and-such group, person or area of activity is not really social entrepreneurship, as if excluding people from the movement were its real value added.
It's easy to condemn the criminal mafia, but often the more dangerous practice is what's legal.
Broadway has nonprofit and for-profit theaters.
Guess which one is the first to go green?
More about the company here.
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A couple years ago at the Book Expo I chatted with the folks at the booth for Plenty. I wasn't too happy with their cover slogan--"It's Easy Being Green"--which I thought glossed over the difficulties faced by real-world green entrepreneurs.
Happily the magazine dropped the glib slogan, but, sad to say, it also learned the bigger lesson. Gawker reports that the magazine--though not the website--will be shuttered. Employees were reportedly laid off today after the latest bid for funding fell through.
Sony has taken over Grand Central, sponsoring the Kaleidoscope light show & the AQUOS Experience LCD tree. Well, OK, not a tree, but an ecumenical "tower."
As in, you know, Babel.
Anyway, for a sense of how the tree looks and sounds, watch below. You might also want to check out this video for the whole tree, though the music is washed out by the crowd noise.
As you might suspect, that's not the only reason I spent time around this particular holiday tree. No, what particularly grabbed me: the charitable tie-in and accompanying PR about the AQUOS Experience as a "symbol of hope." Perhaps the hope & charity part would be more convincing if it dropped the biz-speak, such as the references to "each individual consumer" and "enhancing the holiday atmosphere in the terminal."
I also like the explanation, in the blurb just linked above, as to how the affiliated charity's Green Collar Project "aligns well with Sony's core vision of creating energy-saving and energy-creating products"--as if making products that actually *consume* energy is just an unfortunate accident.
Anyway, here's the beginning of the official explanation of the charity connection:
Sharp designed the AQUOS Experience, which will be on display throughout the month of December, enhancing the holiday atmosphere in the terminal. As part of this initiative, Sharp will be making a significant donation to The HOPE Program, a charity that equips its participants with the skills they need to find, keep, and advance in jobs. With Sharp's donation, The HOPE Program will be able to launch the "Green Collar Project," a new program to help people find green collar jobs in an environmental field. This will not only allow participants to become economically self sufficient, but will also help preserve the environment.
"We created the AQUOS Experience as a symbol of hope, especially important during this holiday season, and chose to work with The HOPE Program to help those who are out of work," said Doug Koshima, chairman and CEO, Sharp Electronics Corporation.
Here's an interesting expression of art transforming the mundane: a South Korean performance artist who fashions his props out of garbage. More here.
“It’s our job to breathe new life into things that are thrown away and considered useless,†said Hong. “We find joy in discovering possibilities for old materials. For us, there is no such as something useless. The best part is that anybody can play these instruments. That is why as we perform, we become one with our audience.â€
"Sustainopreneurship" is unsustainable, just another example of how do-gooders lacking self-awareness ride semantic waves.
So I'm sitting here writing about how social enterprise is a means by which people fashion an identity defined by their own virtue, when what should pop on my TV background noise but an episode of Amazing Wedding Cakes.
A challenge this week: an anniversary cake to meet the client's brief for a "Green Cake" with the theme "love and renewable energy."
Above: a partial image of the resulting do-gooder cake wreck, featuring organic hearts, white chocolate windmills, green icing plants and the sugary inscription, "LOVE is the most Renewable ENERGY source of all!"
Blech.
Above: the mechanization of the human spirit in the service of giving away free underwear. More about the event at Racked; here's my Flickr set of the box and what's inside, as well as the full thermal body scan revealing the coldest parts of my body:
Read the whole uncensored story here.
