For a mani-pedi with an eco touch, drop by Recess, a new L.A. salon with an eco-chic feel. Here you can soak your feet in a scented bath, dry them on bamboo towels, then add a massage with organic essential oils followed by a moisturizing treatment with paraben-free lotions.
The swanky and spacious 2000+ sq. ft. salon has a green mission, though the environmentally free details aren't readily noticeable. Recess' owner Nidhi Lal outfitted the salon with FSC-certified wood, low-VOC paints, LED lights and repurposed materials and is working on getting LEED certification.
Especially considering the swanky look of the place, Recess' services are quite inexpensive. A 30-minute manicure -- complete with a scented soak, warm towel treatment, and moisturizing -- costs $25, a similar 40-minute pedicure's $35. For $6 a pop ($8 for feet), you can add on extras like a salt and sugar scrub or an organic essential oil massage.
At the end of the treatment, you even get to take home the buffer, orangewood stick, nail file, and foot file used during your treatment. Recess prides itself in never re-using these items, and so gives them to you free.
The least eco part of of the salon, unfortunately, is the nail polish itself, even though the nail polish lines Recess uses -- SpaRitual and Zoya -- avoid the worst three ingredients found in some nail polishes: toulene, formaldehyde and DBP. That said, everyone from L'Oreal to Wet 'n' Wild have removed these three baddies, so Zoya and SpaRitual aren't exactly much more eco than conventional nail polishes today. Recess does still have that strong chemical smell you get at conventional nail salons; so to call the polish non-toxic may be a bit of a stretch, though it could be called less toxic.
Still, for those who can't give up their nail polish habits, Recess offers a greener option. The gorgeous interior even works well as a party spot, making Recess the perfect salon for mani-pedi parties.
Recess. 8408-B Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles. 323.782.9919
Self-described as an "eco-living general store and design center," Green and Greener will carry everything from sustainable clothing to clay plaster to gardening supplies. In addition to the products, Green and Greener will showcase eco-living inspired art, as well as offer eco-consulting services. Alegre Ramos, who owns Green and Greener with her husband Sean, is an LEED-certified Accredited Professional as well as a businesswoman, and will continue her work in green interior and landscape design too. In fact, Alegre re-did the Green and Green building itself in eco-fashion; you can see the green transformation the building went through here.
Get there on opening day, June 10 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and you'll get 10% off your purchase -- in addition to a free gift with your purchase.
And while getting around the Valley without a car isn't always easy, Green and Greener shoppers will be rewarded for their de-car-ing efforts. Customers get a 10% discount on their purchase any day they get to the store without driving. Green and Greener's put together a handy public transportation map to help you out -- and bike racks are right out front!
Green and Greener. 4838 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village. (866) 337-5602
>> L.A. lifeguards get into hybrids. Ford presented 10 Beach Patrol Escape Hybrids to the L.A. County Lifeguard Headquarters in Venice last week. "With four-wheel drive, it'll return 29 mpg in town (or on the beach), and 27 mpg on the highway." The fleet will grow to 45 vehicles. (via Treehugger)
If your shopping list includes everything from a $3 natural wood crayon set to a $26 make-it-yourself eco-cleaning kit to a $500 Linda Loudermilk designer jacket, your new favorite eco-shop's just opened its doors.
Visionary, a new eco-boutique in West Hollywood, celebrated its launch on Wednesday with a fundraiser for Global Green, featuring organic cupcakes, fair trade Steaz tea, and carbon neutral Parducci wines. Self-described as "your one-stop eco-chic boutique," Visionary offers a very eclectic collection of household goods and green fashions -- with a price range to match.
Some of the items were oddly inexpensive -- like the handcrafted wooden toy motorcycle above, yours for just $15.99. Others were more high-end luxury products -- organic towels that ran $100+, eco-fashions at designer prices. Most goods fell somewhere in between.
What makes the products at Visionary eco? That depends on the product. According to owner Magda Rod, Visionary's products meet one or more of the criteria listed on the Visionary tag (pictured below) attached to each item:
Some of these qualities -- such as the use of organic, recycled or reclaimed materials -- are clearly environmentally desirable. Others -- like handcrafted or locally-made -- are concrete, positive attributes, but are not necessarily eco in my book. A handcrafted toy cat made with sustainable wood I saw didn't seem so green, since it was covered with synthetic glitter that came off in my hands.
Yet other criteria, like promoting "peace and love" or being "enlightening" are just totally nebulous and rather arbitrary, IMHO. Fridge magnets of hands giving the peace sign don't qualify as "sustainable" if they're made of unsustainable materials. I wouldn't want kids putting that in their mouths.
Still, these less eco items stuck out mainly because most of the products at Visionary are sustainable and environmentally-friendly. Magda says that she expects the boutique's collection to evolve as she continues her research and learning about environmental issues.
I expect Visionary will get quite popular with the well-heeled West Hollywood crowd, especially since the store's located right across the street from Urth Caffe, making the boutique a nice post-organic coffee stop.
Visionary. 8568 1/2 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood.(310) 659-1177.
"Project Runway" fans: Did you know there's an online shoe design reality show? "FN Shoestar," sponsored by Nine West, recently challenged its designers to create sustainable uppers for a sandal. The result: Pretty crunchy-looking shoes.
"Shoestar" isn't a particularly creative show since it basically copies "Project Runway's" format, down to the inane interviews ("The green challenge is ... definitely challenging," explains one girl). The gaffes are somewhat funnier though, with one girl talking about "fox suede" -- then explaining that "fox" is spelled f-a-u-x.
The designers make eco-mistakes too. For example, Tyvek -- the like-paper-but-stronger-than-paper stuff used to make some FedEx and USPS envelopes -- is no friend of the environment. Like Styrofoam, Tyvek's usually made to create one-use products that unfortunately last forever in landfills (yes, industry people will say Styrofoam and Tyvek are recyclable, but they rarely do get recycled as most cities don't have recycling programs in place for these expensive-to-recycle products that have little to no post-recycling value).
Still, the show covers a bunch of more environmentally-friendly materials used in shoes, so eco-fashionistas might find the episode an interesting crash course in sustainable shoes.
For cute every-day eco-shoes available today, I highly recommend Simple Shoes' ecoSNEAKS, available for both men and women. These are made of hemp, organic cotton, recycled PET, recycled car tire, and 100% post-consumer paper pulp!
I ordered a pair of the “Stop Global Warming” edition Women’s Retire shoes a month ago, partly because $5 from each $60 pair sold gets donated to StopGlobalWarming.org. Just two days later, the shoes arrived at my doorstep via free shipping. Now, I wear them all the time because they're so comfy -- and because they attract a surprising number of compliments, especially considering that they're just sneakers.
>> How to bring smart growth to your city. Experts name a variety of ways you can take action as an individual to encourage less sprawled, more vibrant cities.
>> Smart Faucet: A small gadget for your sink to help save water. Potential shortcomings I see: The gadget won't prevent the waste that happens when one runs the water waiting for it to warm up, and the gadget might get in the way if you wash your face in the sink. I haven't tested it out myself though. Anyone tried it?
If Loomstate's $88 organic T-shirts make you dismiss enviro-fashion as a sales gimmick for the Barneys crowd, stop looking down your nose at them -- because soon, you might be wearing the same clothes they are.
How? Barneys New York and Target have teamed up -- over eco-fashions. Yep, eco-ethical designer Rogan Gregory of Edun and Loomstate fame has created a fashionable collection for Target. And somewhat strangely, that collection's debuting at Barneys for a few days, before moving to Target's mass market racks on Sunday, May 18.
Stop by Barneys in Beverly Hills this weekend and you can get organic cotton T-shirts, jeans, and other breezy summerwear for Target prices. We're talking $15 to $45 per item!
All the cotton used in the collection is organic; other more eco-friendly natural fibers -- such as flax linen -- are also used. However, not all items are so eco. One swimsuit, in fact, seems very synthetic and un-eco-friendly. Check out the tag below, for the swimsuit to the right:
I highly recommend making your eco-shopping decisions on a per-item basis, instead of simply assuming everything in the Rogan for Target line is eco.
Last night was Barneys' sneak-peek shopping party in L.A. (New York had its Barneys party last week), and hordes of well-heeled regular Barneys shoppers snapped up Rogan for Target clothes. My friend Summer and I thought we'd browse around at the beginning and shop at the end -- to find that many items in our sizes had already sold out!
The Barneys racks'll be restocked though, at least during this weekend. After May 19, the cheap duds will be excised from the high-end retailer, to reappear on Target's more plebeian racks for six weeks.
Why're these items so inexpensive? Obviously, a company the size of Target can bring down prices simply through economies of scale. But labor justice activists may raise an eyebrow about the fact that these clothes are made in China and Bangladesh.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the clothes were made via exploitative labor. But what I've found interesting is that the details about the production of this collection are scant, and never even mentioned in the Wall Street Journal's or New York Times' coverage.
The omission's especially odd considering the fact that Rogan made his name not just through his use of eco-friendly materials, but also due to his commitment to social justice issues. EDUN, for one, was basically founded to foster fair trade and labor. According to EDUN's website, "EDUN's primary goals are to create beautiful clothes using ethical conditions and to help create long-term sustainable employment in the developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa."
Loomstate too describes itself as being "dedicated to creating demand for certified organic cotton using socially and environmentally responsible methods of production," and says its "factories must use the highest environmental and labor standards, controlling factory pollution, and enforcing fair labor as the cornerstone of the effort."
All of that makes me want to believe that Rogan's new line has also been produced under such rigorous labor standards -- except that Target isn't exactly known for its commitment to fair labor and trade. I'm waiting to hear back from the Rogan for Target people for details on its labor policies.
So stay tuned. I did end up buying a cotton-and-linen T-shirt (right) for $19.99, which I'm wearing now as I type this. I love the design and fit -- though I do find the linen a tad scratchy. I also own a Loomstate T-shirt, for which I paid $50 a year and a half ago. That shirt's held up very well and still looks like it did when I bought it. I'll report back on how well the Rogan for Target tee stands the test of time.
After all, the Rogan tag on the tee encourages me to "enjoy these clothes and don't hesitate to wear them forever." The tags, by the way, were printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper -- a small consolation for the fact that each item of clothing came with three separate tags -- two attached via those non-recyclable plastic wires.
Update, 6/08: Target responded to my inquiry about fair labor -- by letting me know their cotton purchase, handling, and use methods were organic certified. I wrote back asking them to actually answer the question I asked -- and was pointed to Target's own "business ethics practices" page. It seems the Rogan for Target line used the same labor standard employed for the usual Target products -- an industry-defined, self-regulated standard that often comes under critique by fair labor organizations and advocates.
>> If your bicycle needs a post-week tuneup, check out "The Chainbreaker Bike Book," a new "seat-of-the-pants, low-budget ... do-it-yourself bike maintenance guide that keeps things simple, straightforward, and, most importantly, real," according to Keith Goetzman in Utne.
>> A bold water conservation plan's coming to L.A. The plan includes mandatory water-use restrictions on residents, changes in building codes, and waste water recycling programs. "Administration officials say the point is to act now so the city can meet increased demand through a combination of conservation and recycling. They note that Los Angeles is an arid metropolis that has grown by dipping long straws in far-flung water supplies."
Sure, you've heard your shampoo might have unhealthy synthetic chemicals in it. But scary stories about one chemical or another -- contained even in supposedly "green" personal care products -- hits the news so often that many people throw up their hands and just keep using what they've been using, health scares be damned.
Now L.A.'s getting a green beauty event based not on fear, but around organic fun. Organized by Opportunity Green, "Beauty and Sustainability: An Eco-Evening of Networking, Pampering and Discovery" brings enviro-health education together with a fun night of pampering, complete with organic appetizers and wines, manicures from water-based nail polish company Acquarella and mini-facials from paraben-free beauty company Jurlique.
When: Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 to 10 pm Where: lululemon athletica, 334 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills Cost: $20, of which an unspecified portion will be donated to the Breast Cancer Fund. RSVP online.
The night will feature a panel of experts, including Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of the "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry." (Read her recent interview with Grist here). Joining Malkan will be Rachelle Carson (a.k.a. Mrs. Ed Begley Jr.), Jolene Anello of Jurlique, Renata Helfman of Venice's Vert beauty store, and Mark Deason of Acquarella.
I'm most curious about the Acquarella nail polish, having recently read Sarah van Schagen's review of "less toxic" nail polishes from major companies. Van Schagen's conclusion: "The chemical smell from all of these suggests that pursuing your polish habit may not be the best bet for your health." However, she stuck to the major brands, none of which are water-based, as Acquarella's line is. Will Acquarella nail polish work as well as the "regular" stuff? RSVP online to attend the event and find out.
Opportunity Green, originally an annual green business conference, is keeping busy lately. Its launch party last night for Room 367, a green business networking event for young professionals, brought out a diverse crowd of twenty- and thirtysomethings to talk enviro-biz over organic wine and appetizers (above). No news yet, however, on when the next Room 367 event will take place.
The Sundance channel will be featuring eco-fashions on its show "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" tomorrow night, but eco-fashionistas will likely find the program rather bitter sweet. Why? Unless Sundance makes a last-minute major edit to the episode, Nau -- the now-out-of-business sustainable fashion company -- will be one of the three eco-companies featured.
Watching the Nau employees talk enthusiastically about the do-gooder green business model is very bittersweet, knowing that between the taping and the air date, the company became no more. But what's even sadder one Nau exec's comment in the episode about how many Nau employees joined the company by leaving their former jobs of 15 to 25 years, AND taking a 50 percent pay cut. The Nau team "walked over the edge together," the exec says. Indeed they did.
The "Fashion" episode isn't all sad though. Del Forte Denim -- maker of stylish, U.S.-grown, U.S.-milled, and U.S.-made organic cotton jeans -- is also featured and still doing quite well as a company; you can find Del Forte jeans at Avita Co-op, Vie, GreenROHINI, and other local eco-boutiques. An eco-friendly dry cleaning company in Colorado seems to be doing quite well too; CO2 cleaning apparently is quite effective at taking the "blood" out of the costumes from a Macbeth theater production! Watch the episode, then check out eco-friendly dry cleaning services in L.A.
The show airs tomorrow, May 6, at 9 pm on the Sundance channel. If you missed previous "Big Ideas" episodes, you can catch up via iTunes. I especially liked the feature on biodynamic farming in the "Food" episode last week. Thanks to the Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, Calif., I now understand how biodynamic farming differs from organic farming -- sort of.
As a teenager, Siel sped past Paramount Studios on the 10 Metro bus to get to Fairfax High School. Now she cuts through the concrete jungle of Los Angeles on her pink Townie bike to shop at local farmers' markets and socialize in pre-loved Prada heels. A contributing editor to BlogHer, Siel also keeps a personal blog, green LA girl. Send your burning green questions to greenlagirl@gmail.com.
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