NYC Office of Environmental Remediation

We are taking a break from our normal updates to bring you something a little bit more legal and academic.  Fashionable Earth just found out that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released a draft memorandum of agreement in conjunction with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation, which together provide for the two agencies’ coordinated oversight of brownfield clean-ups in the five boroughs.  This is great news, considering that the memorandum also provides that the Office of Environmental Remediation:

• may supply technical assistance to the department for petroleum spills at sites participating in the clean-up programme;
• must comply with certain community participation requirements; and
• must report designated information about sites to the department over the course of city-supervised clean-ups.

We love that environmental law is allowing for more agencies and governmental entities to become more sustainable.  Go Green!

Bastille Day

Commemorate La Fête Nationale today – the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1790 was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French.

Green Grilling

We love having a backyard barbeque during the lazy days of summer, especially if it is a rooftop party with our closest and chicest friends in the city Here are some green tips to have an eco great time:

Avoid disposable plates and forks at your barbecue.  Bonus points if your dinnerware and silverware is made of sustainable or recycled materials, like the bamboo dinnerware and recycled glass wine glasses from this Natural Willow Eco-Friendly Picnic Basket.  Or, if you must use disposables, consider biodegradable dinnerware from companies like Biocorp or Eco Palm Ware.

Wonder which cooking method is greener?  Natural gas is cleaner and more energy-efficient than burning wood or charcoal, which generates tiny soot particles that pollute the air and cause lung and heart health problems.  Other cleaner options include propane and alternative fuel from coconuts.

If you insist on grilling with charcoal, there are a few that are environmentally-certified – look for Rainforest Alliance Smartwood sustainably-harvested charcoal. Remember, that overcooking can cause cancer-causing substances, so keep your eye on the grill and don’t let anything burn.

Always grill your meats at proper temperatures and check with a thermometer to reduce the risk of E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter, and Listeria, found in undercooked ground beef and poultry.  Better yet, you can limit your over all exposure to these risks by cooking more veggies than meat.  Not only do veggies have a lower carbon foot than meat, they are less likely to be infected with these bacterias.  If you do go with meat on your menu, be sure you buy from organic and local farms. Enjoy and happy barbecuing!

Edun x World Cup

These past few weeks we have not been able to do anything else except for watch the World Cup games – so much sportsmanship, unity, and even eco jerseys! Edun, an environmentally and socially conscious label founded by Ali Hewson and her husband Bono, launched a pre-fall capsule collection as a tribute to the South Africa World Cup, and to the first time that the World Cup is being held on the African continent.

This time there are no flags, footballs and symbols of the completing teams.  The focus is totally on Africa, and the proceeds from the sale of the clothes will go to the Bidii School of Kibera and the Conservation Cotton Initiative Uganda, to create a community of farming and sustainable cultivation.  We have been excited about the World Cup, and are even more excited that there are companies who are using the games as a way of promoting a more fashionable earth

Lindsay in Court

Lindsay Lohan might have legal troubles, but that does not prevent her from knowing how to reduce, reuse and restyle!  On Tuesday she worn a white cardigan on top of her black blouse while attending a court hearing – this was the same white cardigan she wore under her white studded jacket while attending a previous court trial in October of last year.  Maybe this white cardigan is her lucky (unlucky?) charm that she always wears to court?  Either way, good luck Linds!

The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread

Today, more than 80 years ago, in 1928, sliced bread was sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.  It was described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped”.  And we think the “greatest thing since sliced bread” is organic bread – here is an easy recipe to make your own:

1 1/2 tablespoon granulated yeast
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup organic honey
6 tablespoons organic olive oil
1 1/2 cups 1% organic milk
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
6 2/3 cups whole wheat organic flour

These are the basic whole-wheat recipe ingredients, to which you can add spices or herbs to your liking, and it makes enough dough for two 9×4×3 size baking pan loaves.

Mix yeast, honey, salt oil, milk and water in a bowl.

Slowly mix the flour into this mixture.

Once the ingredients are nice and mixed, cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for about 2-3 hours until the dough flattens out on top.

Grease the baking pans with olive oil so the bread won’t stick to the sides and bottom.  Using wet hands, scoop out 1/2 of the dough mixture, form it into a large ball, and drop it into one of the pans.  Repeat with the other half of the dough still left.  The pans should be more than 1/2 full with the wet dough.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and sprinkle some flour on the top.  Wait for oven to reach temperature.

Take your broiler pan out of your broiler, add 1 1/2 cups of water to it, and put it in your oven (not your broiler) on the bottom shelf.

Place the baking pans full of dough into the oven on the middle rack in the center of the oven.

Bake for 60 minutes.  Once done, remove from the pans and let the bread cool.

California Academy of Sciences

During the summer, some of us have extra time to be tourists and visit various attractions.  Here is one suggestion: the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park is the only place on the planet with an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a 4-story rainforest.  It was recently renovated last year, with the primary goal to provide a modern facility for education, exhibition, conservation and research under one roof.  Implementing eco-solutions, the building has natural ventilation instead of air conditioning, carefully chosen building materials, and efficient reuse of energy and water.  It just may be the greenest museum on the planet, and also one of the coolest places to visit!

Independence Day Weekend

We celebrate independence.
Of spirit.
Of style.
Of mind.
Of tongue and
of choice.
We live in America.
Land of the Free.
Have a fun and eco Fourth of July weekend!

Wild Wild West

Echo Water

Fashionable Earth recently met one of the founders of Echo Water at our local Whole Foods, and we are now hooked.  The focus of Echo Water is on simplicity, health, local sourcing, the environment and honesty.   

They offer 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles which are recyclable and they purify local municipal water from Los Angeles.  Echo Water knows that bottled water is just a convenience and we should be conscious of the impact each bottle has on the environment.  That is why they got rid of all the extras and focused on what bottled water should be: simple, local and responsibly packaged.  Everyone should join Echo in their quest for producing eco water!