happy earth day! (I think . . .)

I used to happily chirp Happy Earth Day! each 22nd of April.  Not to mention Happy Clean Up Australia Day! and Happy Earth Hour! and of course, Happy World Environment Day!

As I became more involved in environmentalism I frequently heard the opinion that Earth Day should be everyday, and we shouldn't just focus on one hour if the rest of the time we don't think twice about flipping all the lights on at home. Of course I'd counteract with claims of increasing awareness and encouraging behaviour change, but in fact, there is research to suggest that promoting small eco-changes doesn't ultimately lead to lifelong environmental behaviour after all. (I will certainly be reviewing this research in greater detail!) 

But given my inherent desire to celebrate, well, pretty much anything, I can't let Earth Day slip by without some sort of recognition. And this year I'm taking inspiration from Earth Hour 2013 and its emphasis on taking it Beyond the Hour and encouraging you to make a commitment that will go beyond a day today by asking . . .

How will you be greener by Earth Day 2014? 

 

Image copyright Sacromento Scoop

What aspect of green living or environmentalism can you can adopt into your lifestyle that will last, and hopefully bring a continued amount of awareness to you and those around you? Perhaps you will . . .

• Purchase only sustainable fashion (ethical, eco, vintage and swaps)
• Commit to Meatless Mondays or Weekday Vegetarianism
• Change to renewable energy in your home
• Switch your superfund or retirement savings to an ethical investment firm (Divest!)
• Increase the amount you travel by public transport (or foot or bicycle) and decrease the amount you drive
• Attend every eco-event in your city during the year

Or a million other options that are more relevant to your lifestyle - only you know what will make the largest impact in your day to day life.

Me? 

I had to think for awhile on this one. Not because I'm a complete eco-goddess (yet!) but because I'm about to move countries and can't imagine all the ways my life will be different by this time next year.  But I think I've got it . . .

Since I'm moving to the United States, steeped in a rich history of free speech and activism, I am going to commit to become more involved in my political system as an advocate for environmental policy changes. I don't know exactly what it will look like just yet, but I'm putting my commitment here in writing, and I will definitely keep you all updated on how I become involved.

So, what are you willing to put in writing?  I'd love to hear from you!

In the meantime, Happy Earth Day! Here's looking at a greener lifestyle for all of us by this time next year.

xLisa

a green s'well fling

With Sydney offering up some of the best beach days of the year this week, I can't tell you how happy I am to be able to sip ice cold water from my beautiful blue water bottle. And no, I'm not putting ice cubes in it - this bottle is double-walled, providing amazing insulation.

S'well bottles sure are, well, swell.  (I'm sorry, I had to pun!) Not only do they live up to my high style standards, the insulation is remarkable. Cold liquid stays cold for 24 hours, hot liquid stays hot for 12 hours, with none of the bulky plastic, foam or neoprene you may expect. Even after sitting in a hot car or sizzling under the Sydney sun, my water comes out fresh and cold.

Even better, S'well is a partner with WaterAid, an organisation that works to bring clean water to some of the world's poorest communities. To date, WaterAid has reached over 14 million people around the globe. Given the fact that over 2 million people die from water-related illness each year, this is an organisation that I'll happily support.

S'well bottles come in a range of fantastic colours and sizes - even one perfect for bringing chilled wine on a picnic - so if you're in the market for a new reusable beverage vessel, this one comes with my seal of approval!

 

I bought my bottle in California last year, but you can purchase them in Australia from Shop Naturally under the name of Beautiful Beaches (I don't know if they support WaterAid). You can definitely forego the neoprene pouch - they are self-insulating and don't need anything extra.

If you buy one, let me know what colour you get, it's a tough decision . . .

xxLisa

a green pretty-in-pink fling

Happy 100th post! 

It's only fitting that my 100th post coincides with me writing about a fabulous sustainable ensemble I created for . . . myself!

Last weekend I went to the wedding of a couple of dear friends in a lovely natural setting in Royal National Park.  The invite called for guests to dress in 'garden formal'. I was thrilled with the brief and in love with the look I pulled together. I can definitely see myself wearing this again for another wedding, a girls outing or even the races.

The image on the left is shows the colour of the dress accurately - this was me
waiting at the bus stop to get a lift to the Manly ferry. I love public transport!
On the right is a full length image taken at the wedding. I had the hemline taken up
slightly, and the skirt tapered in. I also had the top of the dress altered to fit
my measurements - a good tailor is worth a million bucks!

The dress: Dear Gladys (with some help from Lucy's Alterations in Sydney's CBD - perfection!) I nearly shrieked with glee when I saw this vintage dress with peplum - sustainable and on trend! An eco-fashionista's dream come true!

The shoes: From my wardrobe (incidentally my own wedding shoes)

The earrings: Vintage, from my husband's grandmother Anne who passed away last year. She loved a party, so I know she'd be thrilled to have me wearing these to a wedding.

The clutch: From my wardrobe

The cardigan: Not pictured,  borrowed from a friend

The makeup: Combination of Musq, Korres and Ere Perez

The hair: Karpati hair spray held my sock bun in place (I'm amazed that I have a style blog and only just learned about this fabulous technique!)

Although attending formal events may seem like the perfect opportunity to splurge on a new outfit, I find it's so easy to make these looks sustainable because there's just so much opportunity for creative reuse and borrowing.

Anyway, enough about me. The most important thing about the event was celebrating the bride and groom.

xx Congratulations Annie & Shane xx

a green coiffure fling

Last night I spent a delightful evening with some of Sydney's sustainable fashion mavens - watch this space for what we're working on - and I was reminded of Original & Mineral, a haircare range I recently tried and meant to write about. Oops!

In the past I've been a champion of Aveda hair colour due to the strength of the company's sustainability policy, the high-percentage of plant-derived ingredients, and the fact that I could still enjoy a salon experience.

Well, the love affair is over.

It turns out Aveda colour includes both Ammonia, a known allergen, and p-phenylenediamine (PPD), another known allergen and likely carcinogen. Neither are ingredients I want on my scalp, nor do I want stylists putting themselves at risk for the sake of my beauty. Even we so-called experts get things wrong, and so I had to break it off with Aveda.

But what to do about my silver sparklers? I'm not ready to accept my greys at the ripe old age of 33.

Enter Original & Mineral, developers of Clean Colour Technology, designed right here in Sydney. This professional hair colour range is free from Ammonia, PPD and Resorcinol (another toxin commonly found in hair colour), and still achieves amazing, professional results. It's used in salons across Australia and at select salons in the US, New Zealand and Singapore.

I had the colour applied at the charming Atsi hair salon in Freshwater. My silver sparklers were fully covered, the scent of the haircolour was delicious and fresh, and after a few weeks of the harsh summer sun I still haven't experienced fading.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with the coverage, the colour and the experience.  For those of you in Sydney, and especially the northern beaches, I recommend Atsi. It's a small salon with a very friendly and casual vibe (as you'd expect in this part of the world!), and I had a wonderful sustainability discussion with the co-owner Angelo. He and his wife Tanya really understand sustainability and natural hair care, and they even have their own organic hair care range in the salon. I will definitely be back!

Have you tried any other professional-quality hair colour brands? What is your experience?

I can create that style sustainably : ellen degeneres

Dear Ellen,

We Australians are super excited to welcome your funny, kind fabulous self to our shores. I thought I'd help you prepare for your trip by giving you tips on sustainable fashion so you can pack accordingly. We Aussies are green and proud, and I know you'll want to fit in.

 

I think this look you were rocking at the Teen Choice 2012 awards is just perfect for a holiday Down Under - here's how you can recreate it sustainably.

White V Neck Tee

 
This important wardrobe staple from Melbourne-based Sosume is made of 100% certified organic fair trade cotton; grown in India, manufactured in Australia. It comes in a range of colours and varying necklines. Why not buy a three-pack?

Jeans

Did you know that Nudie jeans achieved 100% organic cotton for their entire denim range in 2012?! Nudie are also committed to fair wages, slow denim, and saving water by encouraging less washing. I reckon the Thin Finn and Grim Tim styles would be perfect for you.  I'm sure if you stop by one of the Nudie concept stores in Melbourne or Sydney they'd be happy to sort you out.

Blazer

Sosume is your brand again for this blazer. 100% certified organic wool with a Cupro lining (cupro is a silky fibre made of recovered cotton waste). They do a fantastic tuxedo jacket, too. Love them!


Hair

Try K-gravel by Australian haircare range Original & Mineral to style your hair with a bit of texture using all natural ingredients.

Sunnies

Surely Portia has told you sunnies = sunglasses in Oz? These aviators are made of 95% recycled material. They are by an American brand, Modo, so you'll have to buy these Stateside before hopping your flight.

Belt

This fab belt you're sporting can easily be replicated with a secondhand tie. This one is vintage Hugo Boss from eBay Australia (hurry! expires today!).  I'm sure any of the local Salvos Stores, Vinnies or Lifeline shops would have an interesting array of ties as well. 

Shoes

These shoes are by Italian brand Noah, specialising in vegan shoes (you know you want these, Ellen!). What a great way to be sustainably dapper. Since you'll be on holiday you may also want to consider these more casual shoes by Tom's, famous for their One for One policy of providing a new pair of shoes to a child in need with each pair purchased.

There you have it!

Happy packing, have a great flight, and if you need any light reading for the journey, can I recommend Sustainability with Style by yours truly? (After all that research I figured I was allowed one shameless plug . . .). And if you need an eco-shopping buddy, give me a ring.

Enjoy Australia!
xLisa

a green furniture fling

Don't tell my physio, but for the past couple months I've been alternating between a wooden folding chair (with a slight recline) and a metal kitchen chair as my office chair.  It's really no wonder I've been waking up with an aching back in the middle of the night.

Here you can see both of my backache-inducing *office* chairs.

Today I thought I'd check out the local Salvos just in case they had any desk chairs. Bingo! A fabulous hot pink number with my name on it. $20 for the chair, a quick GoGet booking for another $6, and the chair was mine.

Jan the i30 wagon.

I think pink will certainly inspire excellent writing, don't you?

Have you scored any amazing secondhand deals lately?

the ethical social network

I feel like I'm walking on air, and I'm chalking up my current floaty-feeling to spending extra time among the ever-growing ethical social network.

I write about the green social network in Sustainability with Style, and the important role groups with shared values and a collective identity play in moving social movements forward. On a more personal level, I find that spending time with the group increases my eco-motivation.

This week I had a lot of contact with environmentalists and other ethical social movement members, and I thought I'd share some of the highlights.

100 Things
I'm starting from the end of the week, because last night's event was definitely the most inspirational of the week.  I attended the Australian premier of the "100 Things To Do Before You Die" documentary based on Sebastian Terry's adventures. 

With the death of a close friend when Sebastian (Seb) was 27, Seb experienced a moment of clarity about his life - he wasn't living the life he wanted for himself. So he started to make a list, and even better, he started ticking things off his list, and best of all, he's raising money for Camp Quality, a children's cancer charity. Currently Seb's raised over $81,000 (why not help him reach his goal of $100,000?).

Whilst watching some of his crazy antics - skydiving naked, getting shot at point blank, and riding an endurance-length tandem bicycle trip - was so entertaining, the largest emotion I felt from the event was inspiration. I've long been a believer in making your dreams a reality, and it's wonderful to meet like-minded souls inspiring happiness and positive change in others. And to be doing it off his own back while also raising money for Camp Quality makes this well-spoken, thoughtful and humourous individual all the more impressive.

What's on your list? Are you living your best life? I hope so!

****

Australian Packaging Covenant - Design Smart Material Guides launch
Totally switching gears, this was an industry event I attended along with my friends at Boxer & Co to celebrate the launch of sustainable packaging material guides. The guidelines will be provided free to all signatories of the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC), and it was exciting to be present at the launch since Boxer & Co and I ran our Sustainable Packaging 101 workshop less than one year ago.

I loved meeting the environmental consultants and packaging professionals who are involved in sustainability, and celebrating this important milestone for the APC. There was also a recap on the work being done by APC and their signatories for Clean Up Australia and Green Biz Check. Whoever says that the packaging industry is only adding waste to the environment would do well to learn more about the impressive sustainability efforts being undertaken by a number of organisations.

****

Green Cities Expo - The Hub
Going back earlier in the week, I was also going back in time as I attended my first Green Cities as a delegate instead of an organiser. After working on three of these green building mega-events, it was a delight to be able just to visit and learn! And I was so excited to see that Reverse Garbage had aligned themselves more than ever with the conference, designing a beautiful learning hub from reclaimed materials. And hats off to InterfaceFlor, leaders in sustainable design for nearly a decade, for designing a truly beautiful expo space.

I attended the Expo specifically to attend the first Hub session - a 15 minute talk by Dr Matthew Parnell from GreenSynergy on the cultural change needed to roll out green building, and Green Star in particular, out to regional and suburban locales. And of course it was great to see so many familiar faces at Green Cities - congrats on another year!

****

Next week's diary is less busy with ethical social network engagements, but I'm not worried about losing this floaty-feeling. I connect with loads of other greenies and social movement members everyday online. I recently provided a guest post to the blog Soul Stories, managed by an Australian writer who is passionate about sharing positive stories through the internet. And don't get me started on the wonderful tweeps on twitter! (Which reminds, I finally joined Instagram @lisa_heinze - I'd love for you to follow me as I snap stylish, sustainable images).

I took this today - a corner of my bedroom featuring
a reclaimed wood frame, rescued and refurbished dresser,
beeswax candles, flowers in a vase made by my hubby, and
a pink beaded Maasai mat purchased direct from the artist!

So don't fret if you can't attend every eco- or ethical-event you'd like to, connect when and how you can, I guarantee you'll quickly feel more part of the movement and you'll be helping change the world as part of this growing ethical social network.

xxLisa