The new trend in Hollywood is to go green. Celebrities are being spotted wearing eco-friendly fashion. Jessica Simpson, Hayden Panettiere, Tommy Lee and Lauren Conrad are just a few caught wearing hats, shirts, and dresses made from recyled material. The Burning Torch seems to be one of the most popular brands worn by celebs. The Burning Torch is dedicated to recycling materials. Their clothing is really different and really cute because of their attention to detail.





The top ten green celebs can be found at the daily green

Green Events and Tips

HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU :)

The GREEN trend is strong and everyone is jumping on the environmental friendly train. Across the country people are taking Earth Day as an opportunity to increase global warming awareness and education on environmental efficiency.

In the Bay Area there are many events dedicated to helping the environment. I encourage you to check out some of these events, take a date or have a family day.

4/22/08: Earth Day Extravaganza
San Francisco Center for the Book
300 De Haro St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 565-0545
Admission: FREE, Time: 1-5pm

4/24/08 Environmental Film Festival
Koret Auditorium Main Library
100 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4400
Time: 12pm

4/24/08 Terra Music
Nob Hill Masonic Center
1111 California St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 776-4702
Admission: $18 Time: 7:30pm
For more info and detail on these events check out:
http://www.sfgate.com/listings/macroevent.php?events.m166

GREN TIPS: The following are quick and easy tips to reduce waste and save a little cash at the same time.

* Save energy and cash by changing light bulbs to more energy efficient one, this will reduce waste therefore reduce your energy bill. Also remember to turn off lights that you are not using for example when you leave a room.

* Try to conserve water by turning off faucet while brushing your teeth and taking shorter showers. Reduce dishwasher use, wait to use until dispenser is full of dishes before using it.

* Avoid buying disposables. Instead buy strong sturdy materials that can be used over and over. (ei. tupper-ware, silverware)

* Reuse shopping bags, sandwish bags, birthday bags. The plastic bags have many uses, birthday bags are over rated, they are used for one minute and a picture. Make sure to save your b-day bags and give them to someone else.

* Stop junk mail. This can reduce the waste of paper and plastic. Plus it would keep your mail box uncluttered.

* Save some gas money and the air by car pooling to work, we are all in the same boat i'm sure other co-workers would love to join in on the gas saving team. Also, telecommuting a couple of days can make a difference or teleconferencing meetings instead of making trips.

Check out the following websites for more tips of how to save some dough while staying GREEN

www.p2pays.org/main/athome.asp
www.southeasttexaslive.com

Travel Green While Making Some Green

511 Rideshare launches Rideshare Rewards 2008!

As Earth Day approaches (April 22, 2008) and San Francisco Bay Area commuters face gasoline prices soaring beyond $4 a gallon, solo drivers now have an added reason to carpool - $100 in gas. 511 Rideshare kicked-off Rideshare Rewards today, an incentive campaign for drive-alone commuters to try carpooling. Rideshare Rewards pays new carpoolers up to $100 in gas gift cards.

Registration for the program is easy. New carpoolers register at 511.org by clicking on the Rideshare Rewards link. Over the subsequent 90-day period, Rideshare Reward participants submit online commute logs earning up to $100 in Rideshare Rewards. Commuters can also get free help finding a carpool match through the 511 Ridematch Service at 511.org.

--Lucy

Countdown, 5 days till Earth Day!!!

April 22 the country celebrates Earth Day! Make sure to keep it green and do something beneficial for our great home.

Please take some time to fill out our survey and post some ideas or plans that you may have for your Earth Day contribution.

Thanks :)

Eco Fashions

As you may know one of the latest crazes in the media is the green movement. I think it started off after Al Gore's movie, "The Inconvenient Truth," came out. The media took notice of this and began to publicize mother Earth to the fullest. Vanity Fair recently put out it's annual green issue, 7x7 magazine (based out of San Francisco) has also done the same, and Giant magazine this month put a spread in it's magazine about eco-friendly fashions. I'm proud of the media in the sense that it is helping people become eco-conscious. This is a great thing lets just hope that it's not some trend and that it'll go away.

Speaking of fashion, the newest quote in the industry is, "Green is the New Black." One of the ways designers becoming eco-friendly is that they are finding ways of using recycled materials and making new items out of them. One designer based out of Berkeley, CA has been doing just that long before the media took hold of the green movement.

The fashion label Homeygrown has been creating and selling clothing that is made out of recycled clothes since early 2004. Head designer and founder of the label, Tiffany Chenoweath, had a vision of creating the line in hopes that people would stop buying the same boring clothes at department stores and think outside of the box.

“(While working at a department store) I saw hundreds of the same shirt and got tired of it,” she said, “people would look the same and sometimes there would be a spark of individuality, but overall everyone looked similar.”

Might sound like a typical scenario for the calling of a future fashion designer, which is how Chenoweath created the line. Every couple of months the designer will hold what she calls, "Soul Swaps," where people can come and drop their old clothes off and also pick out new ones from the piles of clothing that others have also dropped off. She holds print screening stations where customers can pick out stencils to paint on what they've picked out. Whatever is not picked up is then used for new creations.

Some of her clothing includes their signature aprons, which can be used instead of purse to hold your change, business skirts with a silk screen design created to give it an urban feel, and business shirt sleeves re-created to be leg warmers.

Homeygrown clothes are pretty eclectic to say the least. If the vision was based out of thinking outside of the box, Homeygrown wins it's first place award. But creativity goes hand in hand with individuality and that has no limits. The best thing about these clothes is that they are not only one of a kind original pieces which will help you stick out amongst the norm, but the fact that you can claim that the buying and wearing of your outfit is helping the environment would even make mother Earth proud.
-Lisbeth Cervantes

Check out her clothes at www.myspace.com/homeygrown.


{The designer, Tiffany, in pink with co-desiger, Raquel, next to her}


{Silk screened eagle at the Soul Swap}


{The Soul Swap}


{Soul Swap, shoes for grabs}


{Customers can silk screen their own items}


{Jacket by Homeygrown check out the recycled shirt}


{Scarf by Homeygrown}


{Silk Screened jacket and scarf}


{Lumberjack dress}

Youth: A Target For Critical Messages on Global Warming?

Child behavior is shaped primarily by their exposure in school, and in the media, but especially with the behavior they see at home. Not ground breaking news, I know. But, I've noticed that although my ten-year-old doesn’t fully understand the concept of carbon emissions or of a global footprint, she's certainly formed her habits and attitude towards recycling and conservation of energy.
So it all got me thinking….children ought to be THE target to market crucial messages regarding energy conservation and greening our environment. The problem I see today with the abounding messages of earth friendly activities, is that although many recognize the problem, a significant portion of adults still respond only to what affects them today- particularly in their wallets. Sound a little selfish doesn't it?
Think about it...are commuters really switching to carpool and buying less gas because of their concern over the environment? Honestly, if gas prices were to revert to less than three dollars a gallon, we might see more individuals hopping back into their SUV’s and mini-tanks (solo) and filling up more often at the pumps.
Based on this assumption, I decided to run my own academic experiment. I formed my hypothesis: children with sympathy for animals might possess enough concern over the issue of global warming to motivate them into environmental action.

I fulfilled the protocols required that gain a researcher access to the invaluable minds of children and received permission from five of the six elementary schools in my city (the sixth school didn’t express interest in my research). I further asked parents to allow their child to attend an assembly while at school, in which their child would participate in a pre- and post-test survey, a colorful and age-appropriate presentation on the EPA's definition of global warming, and a "Cool Week Challenge" that encouraged children to follow earth friendly activities.
Only eighty percent of the fourth and fifth-graders’ (9-11 year olds) were allowed to attend my presentation. I say only because I don't see why any parent would oppose of their child attending an informative and entertaining presenation that would empower them to make a difference!
In any case, my hypothesis was partly correct. Kids expressed a genuine concern over the habitats of the animals that were discussed in their school. In some schools I discussed the migratory birds, fish, game and coral; in others, I spoke only about the potential extinction of polar bears by the year 2030. Students were full of brilliant questions, and comments regarding what they currently do regarding energy conservation and mostly all children expressed wanting to protect the habitats of the creatures shown to them.
I gave students a spreadsheet of "cool activities" and expected to get a significant portion of them back. The simple tasks included: turning off the water while brushing their teeth, or shutting the lights off when leaving a room, unplugging electrical cords from outlets when the appliances were not in use, trading books with friends instead of buying new ones, and substituting outdoor play for TV and video games. Less than half of the "Cool Week Challenge" activity sheets were returned to me.
What did that mean? Were the students not as interested as I had first thought? While many children seemed curious in my pre-test surveys and the assembly (that got them out of a potential math test), their enthusiasm for involvement lagged severly in the end. Perplexed by this, I wondered if the students were caught up only in the moment of sympathy for the poor animals, but ultimately responded like many of us adults who witness the late-night images of belly-bloated children starving in Africa, and feeling that their small contribution towards a monumental problem makes any difference at all. Of course, my opinion about marketing crucial messages to children hasn’t changed.
Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Will Ferrell and other celebrities reaching out to today’s youth speaking about the reduction of our global footprint are on the right track. Sooner or later our youth will be forced into making new habits whether it’s by their own emotional conviction, perhaps the decreasing population of polar bears, or simply by the high cost of gas and waste.
I still can't help thinking that its much better for children to learn from parents who are genuinely concerned about the earth and its future rather than waiting on the cost of waste and neglect. Healthy habits like walking more, public transportation, trading books or going to the library can be learned now. I say, better now, than later.

--Lucy