Review: English Retreads: elephant’s favorite “mindful” laptop bag on the planet. (Eco, vegan, fair labor/Made in USA)

By elephantjournal.com on Apr 30, 2010

Eco laptop bag green reused upcycled "english retreads"
English Retreads’ Reincarnated “Bentley Luxe” Laptop Bag

Next time you road trip, visualize your tires and their inner tubes housing your next wallet or laptop bag. That’s what Heather English, a longtime friend of elephant’s, did back in the day. And English Retreads was born. I’ve used their wallet, and abused their wallet (made out of tires) for years, and it looks brand-new (though it’s already on its second life).

Purchase here (it ain’t cheap, but the materials are built-to-last). Bonus: shipping is free for ER products at this price point. Styles:



Who knew that a laptop bag could be practical, eco-friendly and offer cutting-edge style?

English Retreads turns recycling eco-chic vegan handbags and accessories handcrafted in Boulder, Colorado. The Bentley Luxe is made from repurposed rubber and recycled PET, and expands a growing line of English Retreads vegan totes, clutches and accessories, which combine to make a high-impact fashion statement with low impact on the environment.

The Bentley Luxe accommodates 17” MacBook or 15” PC laptops in a padded and secured compartment; additional features include specialized inside and outside zippered pockets and adjustable padded shoulder strap. Reclaimed tire inner-tubes are given new life as the external material for the eco-bag and five internal color options of Scarlet Red, Quarry Blue, Jet Black, Apple Green, and Pumpkin are available using a 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottle PET material.

Heather English: “we are excited to lead the market in innovative repurposed raw material use.”

A daily reminder of your contribution to reducing, reusing and recycling—all while looking good!

For more on English Retreads, go to www.englishretreads.com

With thanks for notes to our friends at Refresh Agency team / Adriane Little www.refreshagency.com

www.elephantjournal.com

An Explanation of Conscious Consumerism

Conscious Consuming is a social movement that based around increased awareness of the impact of purchasing decisions on the environment and the consumers health and life in general. It is also concerned with the effects of media and advertising on consumers. Many aspects of Conscious Consuming have been practiced throughout the world but not in a cohesive form.

As a result of organizations such as Adbusters and the Center for a New American Dream, the Conscious Consuming movement began in Boston in the summer of 2003 when a group of people gathered together and planned an alternative gift fair, "Gift It Up!" In the fall of 2004, another group of Bostonians formed a group named "Conscious Consuming" and began meeting to discuss a broad range of topics, from the environmental impact of consumption to the effect of media and advertising. The memberships quickly overlapped and in 2005, the groups merged into Conscious Consuming.

Conscious consuming has its roots in voluntary simplicity, in which people re-evaluate their work-life balance in order to spend more of their time and money on the things that matter to them. As people work less, there is more time for connecting with family and friends, volunteerism, hobbies, and community service. A natural off-shoot of working less is spending less. Instead of spending time and money shopping, people engaging in voluntary simplicity buy less. They get goods using web sites like craigslist, trade with friends, make do with what they have, or hit yard sales. When they do purchase something new, the decision to buy is made consciously. A would-be shopper asks, "Is this item made in line with my values? Am I supporting the local economy? Are the people who produce this item treated and compensated fairly? Is this item built to last?" As a result of these questions, conscious consumers find themselves supporting organic agriculture, fair-trade and sweat-shop free products, and local and independent businesses.

Going Green for Earth Day: KPSP Local 2 News Features Clementine Art

KPSP Local 2 News Earth Day Video

WASARA: Japanese eco design dinnerware

Modern eco-conscious WASARA dinnerware is biodegradable and compostable pieces that delight both our design- & sustainability longings.


www.branchhome.com


photos from www.juliettemerck.blogspot.com

Why You've Never Seen an Ad for Broccoli

In the wake of the fried chicken and bacon-y beast that is the Double Down, we now know that a grossly unhealthy product can be successfully marketed to the masses on strength of novelty alone. And it makes you consider the converse--why is marketing for healthy foods like fruit and produce nearly nonexistent? How come you've never seen an ad on TV for broccoli?

Matthew Yglesias asked that question earlier today and has already sparked a (groan-worthy pun incoming ...) healthy debate.

It's Easy to Market Junk Food
The catalyst was a NY Times article about how companies market junk food to kids. From the piece:

"Despite the industry's self-regulatory system, the vast majority of food and entertainment companies have no protections in place for children," said Margo G. Wootan, the center's nutrition policy director. In the center's analysis of marketing to children, released last November, the highest grade, a B-plus, went to the candy maker Mars, which does not market to children under 12 and avoids other gimmicks that attract them.

"If companies were marketing bananas and broccoli, we wouldn't be concerned," Dr. Wootan said. "But instead, most marketing is for sugary cereals, fast food, snack foods and candy. And this junk-food marketing is a major contributor to childhood obesity."

Which led Yglesias to wonder why bananas and broccoli aren't being marketed to kids: "This stuff is sold in stores, in exchange for money. Presumably there are for-profit enterprises out there with a vested interest in selling more," he writes.

The question has garnered a number of responses from around the blogosphere, but the primary takeaway is that companies that sell, say, a certain cereal or fast food can brand their products to give them a market advantage. A single broccoli grower has a lot more difficulty doing so--if they were to advertise broccoli in general, they'd be advertising for their competitors as well.

How to Market Healthy Foods?
There is, as you're probably aware, a long history of bananas being marketed to Americans, but that was largely because there was one major banana company (first United Fruit, then renamed Chiquita Banana). And advertising bananas meant you'd most likely be buying that company's bananas (they also were able to put stickers on the bananas to brand them).

The Incidental Economist explains further:

the basic problem is that a banana or a broccoli crown are commodities. A single grower could promote its product but who looks for a specific brand of grape or tomato? (Some do, but not many.) The meat and dairy industries have solved the collective action problem so we have seen advertising for those products ("The other white meat." "Got milk?") The question is, why are some food industries able to organize and not others?

So if broccoli growers were able to unite (or even produce growers) to collectively advertise healthy veggies, we may see campaigns encouraging healthy eating of certain veggies. But a few problems remain--first, most Americans still don't seem to be too interested in eating too many vegetables, making such an advertising campaign risky. And that's largely because, second, profit margins are already very slim for many veggie growers. Which is of course partly because the US gov subsidizes corn and little else--healthy veggies get the shrift. Which is why a tomato and a small bag of Doritos cost about the same.

Needless to say, there's a whole can of worms to dig into here, but that's a start . . .

Why the Media Loves Earth Day -- and Why That's Not Enough

April 22, 2010 will mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. As the Earth Day Network says, "Forty years after the first Earth Day, the world is in greater peril than ever. While climate change is the greatest challenge of our time, it also presents the greatest opportunity -- an unprecedented opportunity to build a healthy, prosperous, clean energy economy now and for the future."

Building a healthy and prosperous economy sounds like the kind of thing that deserves media attention. So call me a grumpy environmentalist, but why do we have to wait for April 22 each year to hear about it? Practically every day there are companies building wind farms and solar cells across the country, scientists making break-through discoveries in vehicle and energy technology and citizens choosing to get involved.

Why do we have to wait for April 22 each year to hear about companies acting on sustainability?

And while it's true that many companies pitch environmental stories on Earth Day -- it's their best chance of getting coverage -- more and more of them are acting on it every day.

A recent study by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship revealed that, despite the recession, an increasing number of American businesses are expanding environmental efforts like greening of products, services and operations and integrating citizenship into their business strategy, with 75 percent of CEOs leading the agenda.

Why? There are many reasons -- a renewed focus on cost management, opportunities to capture market share, supplier pressures and a new level of corporate transparency, to name just a few.

Or perhaps it's just that it makes good business sense to understand how your products and operations impact and are impacted by the world around you. When natural resources are running scarce and prices for basic business necessities like water, fuel and raw materials are so volatile, smart execs know that environmental innovation must be a core part of their business strategy.

This is reinforced in a new report by the management consultants at A.T. Kearny, which showed that companies focused on sustainability outperformed their peers by 15 percent during the financial crisis. I'd love to see a story written on April 23rd about that trend!


Read more: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/04/13/why-media-loves-earth-day-and-why-thats-not-enough#ixzz0l0euICuN

Cool Eco Quotes from Thought Leaders and Inspirational Thinkers

Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty. William H. Stewart



Things are beautiful if you love them. Jean Anouilh 1950



Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." - Frank Lloyd Wright



Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. Henry David Thoreau


You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi



An end is a new beginning. Lyn Ecostudio.com.au magazine



The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands. Havelock Ellis The Dance of Life, 1923


There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. Mohandas K. Gandhi


All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke



There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all. Robert Orben


We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. Jimmy Carter


It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill. It was yours. Greenpeace advertisement New York Times 25 February 1990


Modern technology owes ecology an apology. Alan M. Eddison


In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops. Paul Brooks The Pursuit of Wilderness 1971


Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find. Time Magazine


The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable. Confucius


Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites. William Ruckelshaus Business Week 18 June 1990


The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard. Gaylord Nelson former governor of Wisconsin - co-founder of Earth Day


When a man throws an empty cigarette package from an automobile, he is liable to a fine of $50. When a man throws a billboard across a view, he is richly rewarded. Pat Brown quoted in David Ogilvy - Ogilvy on Advertising, 1985


Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us. Henrik Tikkanen


I'm not an environmentalist. I'm an Earth warrior. Darryl Cherney quoted in Smithsonian April 1990


Your descendants shall gather your fruits. Virgil
When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves. David Orr


We cannot command Nature except by obeying her. Francis Bacon


There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. Robert Lynd The Blue Lion and Other Essays


Will urban sprawl spread so far that most people lose all touch with nature? Will the day come when the only bird a typical American child ever sees is a canary in a pet shop window? When the only wild animal he knows is a rat - glimpsed on a night drive through some city slum? When the only tree he touches is the cleverly fabricated plastic evergreen that shades his gifts on Christmas morning? Frank N. Ikard North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, Houston, March 1968


How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life? Charles A. Lindbergh, Reader's Digest, November 1939


It is imperative to maintain portions of the wilderness untouched so that a tree will rot where it falls, a waterfall will pour its curve without generating electricity, a trumpeter swan may float on uncontaminated water - and moderns may at least see what their ancestors knew in their nerves and blood. Bernand De Voto Fortune, June 1947


Take care of the earth and she will take care of you. Author Unknown


We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Clementine Art Honored for Innovation

Boulder based Clementine Art was awarded the Sherbrooke Capital award for Excellence in Innovation at Natural Products Expo West this year. This award is a particularly rewarding one for the Clementine team, as the idea of innovation is at the heart of Clementine’s creative mission: for our products, for children, and for the planet.

To think that a loaded, green paintbrush in the mouth of a toddler started it all. As the owner of Clementine Studio, a local art space for children, I sighed a lot, washed little fingers (and faces) a lot, and wondered why the art product choices for children weren’t better. A lot.

The more I wondered, the more I researched. The more I researched, the more unsettling information was revealed (or sometimes concealed), which, in turn, pushed me to experiment. Armed with a teacher’s recipe for dough, organic flour, and a box full of natural color and scent samples, I started making natural paint and play dough in my kitchen in 2008. The more I experimented, the softer and brighter our natural play dough became. The more natural colorants I tested, the more I learned about p.H and other stability factors. The experience was hardly free from difficulties; an overturned quart of natural cranberry extract on my car floor is a lingering disaster I re-experience daily. Mixing purple play dough to send off to an important buyer, only to notice that it faded to grey overnight was perplexing to my inexperienced mind, and one particular stinky batch of bad paint would have made your head spin.

Our mantra became, If making natural art supplies were easy, someone would have done it a long time ago. As we pushed up against the limits of our incomplete scientific expertise, the Clementine Art team worked with a bevy of natural food scientists, natural ink researchers, biochemists, and other industry experts to refine and perfect our formulas. In August 2009, Clementine introduced the first all natural children’s tempera paint, markers, crayons, crayon rocks, glue and modeling dough.

Innovation can be defined as the creation of something new. For Clementine Art to be recognized for innovation by bringing unique and better products to market is an honor. Even better, is our learning that we have set a high standard for the company we aspire to be. It is our greatest hope that our products will inspire the same innovation and engagement in the creative process for our children.

Clementine is proud to help children develop their creative voices. We believe those voices are the future of innovation; one step closer to solving all the complex problems our world can dish out.

By: Diana Mercer
Article courtesy of LOHAS.com: http://blog.lohas.com/blog/lohas/0/0/clementine-art-honored-for-innovation-v2