Book Review of style, naturally by Summer Rayne Oakes

Summer Rayne Oakes (model, eco-fashionista and television media host) gives a big boost to the sustainable fashion movement with this fun to read and informative fashion book.

Style, Naturally is a must have resource for those who want to know more about the sustainable fashion and beauty industry and how to access it easily. It is chock full of beautiful, inviting photos of fashion and beauty products that will make you want to shop green till you scream. The shoe section alone provides over a dozen pages of photos of shoes you will covet.

The book covers clothing, shoes, beauty products, handbags and jewelry.
The sections are loaded with designer profiles, tips on easy ways to go green, style spotlights and hundreds of photographs. And Summer gives shout-outs to inspiring eco-fashion and beauty pioneers such as Katharine Hamnett, Horst and Safia Minney of People Tree (who knew she was so beautiful?).

There is a comprehensive resource section in the back. In it you will find a wealth of information to help you move forward on your eco-fashion journey, including explanations of the meaning of various clothing certification labels (to help you avoid greenwashing) and definitions of some eco-friendly fibers you may not yet be familiar with.

Summer makes it easy and fun to make informed choices with this hip style guide. Check it out at www.summerrayne.net.

Sustainable Fibers 101: Recycled Polyester

Did you ever think that the plastic soda bottle you drink from could end up on your back in the form of a shirt? It can! Recycled polyester uses post-consumer waste like plastic bottles or polyester fabric remnants to create new polyester fabric.

Besides ridding the world of those oh-so-stylish leisure suits from the 1970's, there are other benefits to recycling polyester:

• It reduces the amount of clothing discarded into landfills and reduces toxic emissions from incinerators
• It encourages people to think twice about throwing away their polyester clothing
  
• It lessens our dependence on oil
• It creates less water, air, and soil contamination

Patagonia is a pioneer in the world of polyester recycling. In 1993, they were the first outdoor clothing manufacturer to turn post-consumer plastic bottles into clothing. Through their recycling program, over 86 million plastic bottles were saved from the landfills. That saved enough oil (from new polyester manufacturing) to refill a Chevy Suburban's gas tank 20,000 times! To further their efforts, Patagonia created the Common Threads Garment Recycling program to transform their customers' unusable clothing into new duds. We're proud to carry Patagonia clothing in our store and support their efforts to lessen the environmental impact of the clothing manufacturing industry.

Aventura is another company providing garments made from recycled poly. We carry a number of swim pieces in fun prints and colors.

So, the next time you put out your recycling bin full of plastic bottles, think of it as giving raw material to the green fashion industry!

Sustainable Fibers 101: Merino Wool

We realize you may think we're crazy for talking about wool in the summer. Who wants to think about itchy wool sweaters when the temps are in the 80's? Let us introduce you, then, to merino wool.

Merino wool fibers are naturally finer than traditional wool. That translates into a garment that's soft on your skin. No itchy, no scratchy -- just luxury. Merino wool t-shirts (like the ones we have in our store) are so lightweight, you hardly notice you're wearing one. Perfect for those oppressively humid days!

In addition to being soft, merino wool garments are highly breathable. That's because each fiber breathes, wicking moisture away from your skin and turning it into vapor. And because the fabric doesn't hold in the moisture, it also doesn't hold in the body odor, meaning you don't have to wash it after every wear.

Another bonus: the water-repellent and anti-static qualities of wool keep stains and dirt from settling into your garment. And when you do need to wash your merino wool clothing, just throw it in the washing machine on cold and lay it flat to dry.

Companies like Icebreaker stay in close contact with the sheep farmers they contract with to ensure the safety and happiness of their sheep. These companies also carefully monitor the environmental and social impacts of their processes.

If you're still skeptical about the comfortable and practical qualities of merino wool, try it for yourself! We've got a selection of merino wool garments, in several different weights, at our store. It will be love at first wear!

To learn more about merino wool, head over here: OrganicClothing.blogs.com.

Sustainable Fibers 101: Hemp

We hope you enjoyed learning about organic cotton and are eager to learn more about eco-friendly fibers that are being used to 'green' up the fashion world (as well as other industries). This week's lesson: there are so many amazing facts about hemp!

It's earth-friendly:

• hemp crops use little water
• they require no pesticides or fertilizers
• hemp is highly renewable and fast-growing, and produces more fiber per acre than trees
• plants have long root systems that prevent erosion and help retain topsoil
  

It's durable:

• hemp is the strongest natural fiber known
• hemp fabric is three times stronger than cotton fabric of the same weight
• it's the oldest cultivated fiber plant known

It's practical:

• hemp fabric and clothing is UV and mold resistant
• crops are less expensive to farm because hemp is so easy to grow
• hemp clothing is lightweight, absorbent, and machine-washable
• the cellulose fiber is used to make a wide variety of products, including paper, paint, and PVC pipe
  

Fun facts about hemp:

• The Gutenberg Bible and King James Bible were printed on hemp paper
• Artists like Rembrandt and Van Gogh painted on hemp canvases
• The U.S. could grow enough hemp for biomass energy to meet the energy needs of the whole world

So, class, what have we learned today? That's right -- hemp is an all-around awesome crop that could do wonders in saving our planet. From clothing to paper to building materials to fuel, hemp gets a gold -- er, green star for being at the head of the class of renewable resources.

Sources of information on hemp:

• North American Industrial Hemp Council, Inc.
• Eartheasy

Sustainable Fibers 101: Organic Cotton

Welcome back to school, eco-friends! Don't worry -- there won't be any pop quizzes, or grades, or homework. We just want to let you know (in case you don't already) why natural and sustainable fibers are just so darn cool. Every week in the upcoming months, we'll give you a lesson on a particular fiber, starting with the superstar -- organic cotton.

Organic cotton is grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and all the nasty agrochemicals that pollute the environment. The elimination of these chemicals leads to so many benefits:

• Organic cotton (OC) crops help to replenish and maintain soil fertility and promotes more biologically diverse agriculture.
  
• OC crops also require less water, thanks to the increased organic matter in the soil.
  
• OC farmers use clever methods to keep away pests, like beneficial insects and trap crops, planted to lure away the insects that damage the cotton.
• Clothing made from OC is naturally softer and more comfortable on your skin, since it's free of chemicals like chlorine and formaldehyde, which are commonly applied to conventional cotton products.
  

According to the Organic Trade Association, worldwide production of organic cotton has been growing at a rate of more than 50% per year (since 2007). In the U.S., a 29% increase in organic cotton acreage was projected to happen between 2008 and 2009.

Cotton is in more than just your clothing. Cottonseed oil, a by-product of the cotton industry, is an ingredient in many of the snacks you eat. It's also in animal feed, which gets passed on to you through the food chain, so isn't it great that more and more cotton is being grown organically?

Let's continue the upward trend! Not only do organic cotton products feel good on (and in) your body, the farming methods are gentler on the earth and the people who live on it. If all of these feel-good, positive things about organic cotton aren't enough to convince you, here are some not-so-pleasant facts about the conventional cotton industry:

• The conventional cotton industry uses about 25% of the insecticides and 10% of the pesticides used in the WORLD. These chemicals are highly toxic and often end up being sprayed on farm workers, nearby wildlife, and neighboring communities.
• Conventional cotton farming uses 1/3 of a pound of pesticides and fertilizers to produce enough cotton for ONE t-shirt.
• Many people (this author included, until a customer filled me in) are unaware of the toxic methods used to defoliate the cotton plants, or dry up the pods faster so mechanical picking can happen at the desired time. This customer had grown up in a southern cotton-producing town and would experience terrible allergy attacks every fall when the defoliant was sprayed on the crops (the rest of the town felt the effects as well). Organic practices rely on the natural, seasonal freeze for defoliation, and may use water management for defoliation as well.
  

To learn more, check out these sources (they helped provide the facts above):

• Organic Trade Association: www.ota.com
• Sustainable Cotton Project: www.sustainablecotton.org
• www.aboutorganiccotton.org
• Environmental Justice Foundation: www.ejfoundation.org