Many of us have read a lot lately about less than healthy personal care and beauty products, from lead contaminated lipstick to carcinogenic, mutagenic, neurotoxic, reaction inducing…or just plain bad and irritating ingredients in everything from deodorant to moisturizer, concealer to shampoo, and beyond.  The idea of switching to products that steer clear of suspect ingredients is a good one, but where to begin?  How to give up that trusted eye cream that keeps bags at bay? It’s great to have non-toxic products, but do they work?  Which ones are truly clean, as really, there’s aren’t many standards out there to judge by.  If you are interested in healthy, clean beauty products but aren’t sure where to start or how to separate the good from the…not so good, Goodebox might be your solution.  Goodebox  is a new, members only service providing trial sized clean, non-toxic, eco-sensitive beauty products & cosmetics for face, hair and body, along with occasional natural & organic, health & wellness products.

All the way down to their notions (buttons, thread and the like), Looptworks sources everything from existing materials, all limited run, with a pretty darn fast production turn around time.  They may not fit into conventional systems for evaluating supply chains, as some of their materials simply can’t be traced back to their source, but in their opinion, which I share, it sure beats that material ending up in a landfill. “Looptworks has turned the way traditional apparel companies manufacture cool clothing inside out: Instead of designing collections more than a year in advance, Looptworks shortens the development cycle to weeks. Instead of using the world’s limited resources to manufacture brand new fabrics, Looptworks uses top-quality, excess materials and components that already exist. Instead of producing huge flash-fashion seasonal collections like traditional apparel manufacturers, Looptworks offers fresh, numbered, limited-edition eco-friendly clothing.”

Looptworks designs are well made, enduring, with an aesthetic that can withstand season and after season of fickle trends.  The materials are evaluated for longevity and wear and the fit is good.  It’s also pretty amazing the amount of resources that can be saved by simply using existing materials.  ” For example, at least 400 gallons of water are used to manufacture one shirt. The fabric that is not used in production is left over excess and often discarded, adding to the 60,000 pounds of pre-consumer waste produced by one vertical textile factory every week.”

It’s also unlikely that you’ll see your favorite Looptworks shirt on someone else, given the low number made of each style.  Score one for the unique you.  “With a traditional apparel manufacturer, 3600 other people might purchase the same exact product, a quantity that represents a typical factory minimum. Looptworks limits what it can produce based on the amount of materials leftover. Typically this means that there will be no more than 500 of any given style. Each one is hand-numbered making it indeed a one-of-a-kind collectible.”

They’ve got some pretty sweet options in the gift giving department.  I’d be quite pleased to house my iPad in this Shan Envelop Sleeve ($28), or stash my camera in a Hayiue Camera Case ($22) and because everyone loves a hoody (just about) the Silvan Hoody ($75)offers an aesthetically appealing departure from the norm while still meeting all requirements of the hooded for comfort and warmth.  I think  I’ve got a case of upcycled, love.

Ever wondered if you could make do with the contents of your kitchen cupboards for your beauty routine?  Green MUA Kristen Arnett, founder of Green Beauty Team tells us how.  “Running out of shampoo, toothpaste or another beloved beauty product has happened to the best of us.  Here are 10 ways to use items from your kitchen when you’re in a pinch so you can get out the door looking and smelling your best.”

Eco-style shoppers rejoice!  LovingEco, a new members only eco grounded flash-sale website (but not too fast…each sale lasts are few days for good peruse & reflect time) has launched, featuring a hand-picked selection of style centric fashion, accessories and beauty for women and children, from the bests  brands out there, at savings up to 70% off!

“LovingEco makes shopping for the best natural and eco-friendly products fun, easy and affordable, so women feel good about shopping by leveraging social commerce and flash sales; partnering with tastemakers who will promote the offers and brands; and giving back to charity.”

Enter code DISCOUNT10 at checkout for an additional 10% off some serious deals from some of our long term favorite brands, like Stewart+Brown, SIGG, Eberjay, & Sustainable Kids, with new sales twice a week.

Jewelry designer John Hardy is teaming up with supermodel and Alter Eco star Angela Lindvall to launch “Hijau Dua,” a handcrafted collection of jewelry made with recycled sterling silver or 18k gold.

As part of the “Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo” program, for each piece of jewelry purchased, the brand will plant bamboo seedlings to offset the carbon emissions used for travel and advertising.  Lindvall recently visited Bali, where John Hardy is based, to help plant 600,000 bamboo seedlings for the Bali Province Government’s “Bali Clean and Green” program and model in the John Hardy advertising campaign. Hear from Lindvall in a behind-the-scenes video, and the full article by Emma Grady on Treehugger.com

Photo Credit: Originally posted on Treehugger: John Hardy Creative Director Guy Bedarida and supermodel Angela Lindvall in Bali. Photos: courtesy John Hardy

A solid round-up of modest picks for the  modern woman from Just Like Molly:

Organic clothing has come a long way since it’s inception as a hippie, hemp laden uniform. Sustainability is at the forefront of green living, and a huge part of being environmentally conscious lands on what you put on your body. Organic, natural fabrics have made their way into the fashion landscape, and for good reason. Not only are these pieces minimizing the damage the process of manufacturing and wearing clothes can do to the environment, they are helping to secure the hope of a greener planet in each step of the apparel process. And of course they are fashionable, comfortable, and you can feel great wearing them, inside and out.

Read the rest of article here, and check out their picks for outerwear, dresses and everyday staples, that are “anything but mundane”, where …”on-trend harem pants, gathered sleeves, and eye-catching patterns make infusing these tops and bottoms into your look effortless and rewarding.”

Photo Credit: Raw Earth Wild Sky at BTC Elements.

View entire post by Ecouterre here: College Activists Strip Down to PACT’s “Beyond Coal” Eco-Undies …