There's No Such Thing as Green Fashion

It's been bugging me for a while that the movement towards being "green" has manifested itself in the fashion industry. The bottom line to climate action is that we need to be a world of less "stuff." As much as I like the aesthetics of fashion, it breeds an irrational desire for a particular brand of object. So all of these "eco" blogs about green designer jeans & organic cotton are starting to get to me. We aren't experiencing climate change because we spray pesticides on cotton crops.

Lika Volkova is an interesting clothing designer because she's decided to cut out as much as possible of the supply chain between the designer and the wearer. I don't sew my own clothes because it's hard. But Volkova begins with the assumption that I, as the sewing novice, and she as the clever design whiz, can make designer clothes happen at home, in a wild, world changing clothing collaboration.

Pretty cool.

Green Your Block: National Day of Service

September 11, 2009
United We Serve, National Day of Service


Create an event in your neighborhood
or
Find an Event Near You

Green for All & the Hip Hop Caucus have joined up for a national service day to bring our communities & residents into the clean energy economy. The coalition behind this includes all the movers and shakers of the climate action movement. This nation-wide day of action focuses on 4 project areas:

• Education and awareness
• Legislative advocacy
• Youth activism
• Private-sector development

photo from greentheblock.net

Pittsburgh: It's what's GUD

Got to spend a week at home in Pittsburgh last week, and green is the name of the game. Three examples of what's going on in the biggest city in Appalachia.

GUD (Green Urban Development)
Community Projects in Pittsburgh

GET:Larimer: Green Ecological Tourism
Why this group is GUD: Development group of local small business owners looking to make Larimer the go-to green showcase for Pittsburgh. Looking to use an inclusive community empowerment model, but they are still in the process of collecting ideas & partner organizations. They are a project of U.S.E.D. Urban Solutions for Ecological Development.

Lawrenceville: an area gaining in popularity and within an easy bike commute to downtown Pittsburgh. In the last 5-10 years, this middle-class neighborhood has developed a local buzz around it's ability to attract artists & restaurants and re-populate a declining urban area.
They've even posted a litany of YouTube testimonials to tell you why it's a great local place to live.

Braddock: see my earlier post about a mayor working to bring life, art, and functionality to an urban town Pittsburgh.

Other resources:
Walls are Bad - Pittsburgh's City Guide to the Outdoors
Sustainable Community Development Network