A few weeks ago on December 11th, I had the pleasure to attend the opening of a sustainable textile sample library in Manhattan. C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity, Lifestyle And Sustainable Synergy) is located inside the Allsteel showroom, at 233 Park Avenue South, and 19th Street, on the second floor.

There had once been talk of setting up such a sample library at the Fashion Institute of Technology, but director Valerie Steele had committed her entire budget to the museum.  C.L.A.S.S. is co-founded by Giusy Bettoni and Sandy MacLennan. They have two other locations, in London and Milan.

The panel was hosted by Barbara Kramer of Designers & Agents and included New York consultant, Bahar Shahpar, model and eco-consultant Summer Rayne Oakes, BerBrand founder Dr. Emanuele Bertoli, Elinor Averyt, Founder of L.E.A.F. (Labeling Ecologically Approved Fabrics), Sergio Sessini, President of CADICAGROUP USA, Inc, and Paolo Garotta, a Project Manager of Relight.

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With the hullaballoo and drama of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa (or for some folks all three), New Year’s Eve is a holiday that can easily sneak up on you. You can find yourself scrambling last minute for fabulous plans, the dress of your dreams, and the cash to make it all come true. Here’s some down-to-earth NYE options that won’t put the planet or your bank account in jeopardy.

Affordable Eco Couture

René Geneva Design creates the ultimate in glamazon party dresses. Her extensive background in eco corset design lends to super sexy well-constructed knockouts in shiny and colorful hemp silks, organic cotton, and non-GMO soy jersey. René Geneva designs are romantic, sexy showstoppers, so be prepared to turn heads. The most exciting part of all-affordable eco couture. You may have never seen these three words together before, but René Geneva is unique in more ways than one. Pieces range from $150-$285 and believe me, these are heirloom worthy garments. If you need to alleviate consumer-related guilt, check out René’s work installing solar panels in a Nicaraguan sewing cooperative, organizing the Scraps For Schools program in Austin, and guaranteeing that each and every piece she creates is carbon neutral. Even her website is wind-powered. René Geneva is a true green goddess of the design world.

Vintage Vixen

If you’ve watched any classic film from the 1940’s or 50’s, you can attest-those women knew something about glamor. Scour the fab local vintage stores in almost any city large or small to find a stunning New Year’s gown or party dress in your price range. If you don’t have a quality vintage boutique in your area, check out online vintage meccas like Vintageous and Blue Velvet Vintage.

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Yesterday I was walking through Third Street Promenade, a large outdoor mall in Los Angeles, and became curious if mainstream shops were offering any sustainable choices for holiday shopping this year. I walked into the incredible sale at The Limited Express.

Me: “Excuse me, do you have any organic clothing?”
TLE: “Any what?”
Me: “Organic clothing?”
TLE: “Organic? Uh, no.”
Me: “Thanks.” (Sigh.)

No Christmas presents will be bought here this year…again. So there’s sustainable online shopping, which is great for shipping to your family in faraway places, but where do you go when you want to see and feel the gifts you want to give this year? Artisan markets are certainly a great alternative to mindless deal-hungry stampedes at Wal-mart. If you’re in Los Angeles this weekend you are truly blessed, because the Eco Gift Festival is taking over the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for the second year in a row. It’ll cost you $10 to get in, but it’s worth it in more ways than one…

VENDORS

At Eco Gift Festival, there will be green gifts of every sort from all over the country. Ecochic dresses by Kate Organic, stylin’ sustainable hats by Livity Outernational, sleek reusable water bottles by Earthlust and utensil sets by To-Go Ware, recycled jewelry by Smart Glass, Fair Trade shoes by Autonomie Project, loungewear by Natural High Lifestyle, handmade goat milk soaps by Chivas, Fair Trade sports gear, bamboo kitchenware, non-toxic candles, juicers, yoga gear, baby clothes, ethical clothing galore, organic chocolate, toys, gardening supplies, recycled jewelry, natural cosmetics, and on and on.

The companies vending at Eco Gift go way out of their way to bring ecological sanity to their sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, and shipping. When I’m buying eco-conscious gifts for my friends and family and I know my purchases are actually creating positive effects in the communites where they’re made- for the people, the wildlife, and the land itself- it’s a really good feeling.

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One of the greatest positive impacts we can make on the planet is through how we build our buildings. Global Green USA is dedicated to just that by educating homeowners, developers, and government on how to build structures that are energy efficient, conserve water resources, and limit toxic building materials. Last Tuesday in San Francisco, the posh 4th Annual Gorgeous & Green gala raised over $250,000 for the organization. In more ways than one, that makes for some for serious green.

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Josie Maran flanked by Ideal Bite co-founders
Jen Boulden (rt) and Heather Stephenson (lft)

Gelya Robb, of OZO cars, reports back from New York City, where Thursday evening Ideal Bite celebrated its Best In Green (B.I.G.) awards presented by MSN Green at the new plosh nightspot greenhouse.

Gelya writes:

Filling out NYC’s first green nightclub, greenhouse, on Thursday night were recipients and supporters of Ideal Bite’s first B.I.G. (Best In Green) Awards. Although just a different breed of extreme green, it wasn’t the crowd that made it feel like Werner Herzog’s “Encounters at the End of the World”.

It was rather, the dramatic swimming-under-a-glacier feel of the club’s main room. Accented with hanging crystal light reflectors and actual leaf adorned walls, the space provided a natural back drop for the evening’s festivities.

Attendees sipped on Eco friendly cocktails served courtesy of VeeV, a beverage derived from the sustainably harvested acai fruit. In the spirit of light-green living, awards were given in the categories of Home, Health & Beauty, Style, Food, Fun, Everyday/Living and Next in Green.

All winners received a B.I.G. Award statue, “The Bitey”, handcrafted from recycled metal and MSN Green presented the 2008 Next in Green Award Winner, the beautiful and well spoken Josie Maran, with $10,000 for continued support of her cosmetic line’s green initiatives.

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Tomorrow night in San Francisco, Global Green USA is holding their 4th Annual Gorgeous & Green benefit. This celebrity-studded event at the stunning Bently Reserve is co-hosted by Kate Bosworth, along with Jason Lewis, Daphne Zuniga, and Bay Area darling, Michael Franti. Chairing the benefit is Matt Petersen of Global Green, Nadine Weil from Heart of Green, and Zem Joaquin of ecofabulous.com, who has pulled out all the stops to make the event well, ecofabulous.

There will be spa treatments by International Orange, Jane Iredale, and Juice Beauty, food by O Organics, artisanal wines by Iron Horse and Newton Vineyard, organic spirits by VeeV and Square One, and an eco fashion show featuring sustainable designs by Stewart + Brown, Bahar Shahpar, EDUN, Lara Miller, Del Forte Denim, Eco Citizen Boutique, Loyale, Thomas-Ray Eccles, John Patrick Organic, Linda Loudermilk, Cari Borja, Juleselin, Larsen Grey, Loomstate, Sara Shepherd, shoes by Charmone, Cri de Coeur, Olsen Haus, and jewelry by Amber Marie Bently.

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If you are anywhere near San Francisco next week, you’ve got to carpool, train, bus, or bike over to Green Fest. This green marketplace meets trade show meets sustainable lifestyle conference is a must-attend for the West Coast eco-conscious community.

There will be over 100 eco fashion companies from all over the country including Alchemy Goods, Indigenous Designs, Kate Organic, Autonomie Project, Simple Shoes, Mission Playground, Helen Riegle, and Green Guru. There are amazing deals to be had, especially on Sunday afternoon, when vendors are willing to wheel and deal in order to reduce the weight of the inventory for their schlep home. You can get samples of all kinds of new products: food, beverages, beauty products, bodycare, media.

What I love most about Green Festival is getting a chance to connect directly with the founders, CEO’s, and craftspeople behind all my favorite products. Putting a face and story to my favorite yerba maté, straw fedora, organic soap, yogurt, or toothpaste really makes my shopping experience back home much more rewarding. I feel like I’m supporting my friends, as well as their missions that I’ve come to know, from conserving old growth rainforest to cleaning up rivers to backing sustainable farmers.

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TOMS Shoes has an aggressively philanthropic business model, giving one pair of shoes to a child in need for every single pair they sell. Their hugely successful line of canvas slip-ons and newly released “wrap boots” sell to major national retailers like Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, American Rag, and Greenloop. Up until just last week, Founder Blake Mycoskie and team have flown to exotic locales like Argentina, South Africa, and Ethiopia to personally fit kids with brand new pairs of TOMS, distributing more than 85,000 pairs around the world.

Doing shoe drops abroad seemed to make the most sense to Blake, considering most kids in the US have access to shoes. He recently realized though that some American children, like victims of natural disasters, were stuck with ill-fitting hand-me-downs or had to share shoes with siblings. So Blake decided to finally bring his “shoe drops” home to the US by organizing a handful of TOMS signature DIY shoe parties, dubbed Style Your Sole, at four different school districts in Mississippi still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Each child received a brand new pair of white canvas TOMS to paint in their own unique way. Needless to say, they were very excited! Another brilliant idea from TOMS.