Good Week, Bad Week in Ecofashion

Its been a bad week for dumpster divers because when Pricscilla of Boston closed its stores this week, they spray painted and destroyed the wedding dresses before throwing them away! Wow, how DARE people spray paint dresses by Vera Wang! That is simply unreasonable, these gowns easily could have been reused or donated! What a waste.

On the other hand, it has been a good week for Livia Firth's Green Carpet Challenge. Franca Sozzani, the well-renowned editor of Italian Vogue, recently praised Livia for bringing sustainability to the forefront of fashion.
 “The respect and care for the environment, sustainability, and fair trade, nowadays, are features that cannot be separated from the fashion world,” Sozzani says. “Or at least, from those who wish to preserve also the ethic, and not just aesthetic, side of fashion.”

For more info. on these stories, visit Ecouterre.

Good Week, Bad Week in the Green Economy

It, of course, has been a great week for online retail. Online shopping has increased approximately 15% compared to this time last year. This is good because it cuts down on individual trips to stores and malls.

However, because of the booming shopping season, it has been a bad week for progress towards a post-carbon economy. The holidays this year are just as consumer-driven and materialistic as ever. Maybe next year we will see more non-material giving.

GWBW: Outdoor Activities

It has been a good week for cyclists in Chicago because this week, the city unveiled Chicago's first protected bike lane!

image courtesy of ChicagoBikes.org

It has been a bad week for locals that love snowy outdoor activities such as snow shoeing, cross country skiing, and sledding. Temps in Boston were in the 60s this week! What happened to winter???! 

image courtesy of homeaway.com

GWBW in Energy News

It has been a good week for LED Christmas lights! Everyone is getting ready for the holidays and I'm excited to see more and more LEDs put up this year. I even saw them on my street at The Florentine Cafe! Using LEDs saves a lot of energy: regular incandescent lights use 40.8 watts per 100 light strand (0.0408 kW). The 100-light strand of LEDs used 8 watts (0.008 kW). 

It has been a bad week for the Chevy Volt. Chevy has launched a rental car program for volt owners while they reassess safety concerns. Some crash testing recently revealed that the volt can cause electrical fires.

pictured above is a private Connecticut garage after a fire believed to be caused by the Chevy Volt.

GWBW: Thanksgiving Edition

Its been a good week for local harvest - especially items like pumpkin, cranberries, and butternut squash which are easily available in Massachusetts.

Image courtesy of mikes-table.themulligans.com

It has been a bad week for Turkeys (duh!). But Turkeys may have a higher carbon footprint than you think:

"Most likely your turkey traveled by truck to get to your grocer. That trip probably started in a state like Minnesota or North Carolina, which are leading turkey producers. The cranberries are most likely from Wisconsin or Massachusetts, two states that produce more than 80 percent of the nation's cranberries. But the National Resources Defense Council suggests that many ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner can be found at local farmers markets." Steve Inskeep, NPR, 2008

Good Week, Bad Week

This is the second edition of Good Week, Bad Week (GWBW).

It has been a good week for Merino Sheep because as the temperatures drop, wool sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, and snoods are becoming all the rage. Especially since consumers are looking for eco materials like wool rather than rayon and polyester.

image courtesy of think-differently-about-sheep.com

It has been a bad week for Super Mario. He has gotten a lot of negative attention from PETA regarding his fur suit!

Good Week, Bad Week

Inspired by my fav. weekly blurb in TIME Magazine, I've decided to start doing Good Week, Bad Week (GWBW) Eco-style every Friday!

First off, it has been a great week for Clean Energy in Massachusetts. Tuesday was the Conference on Clean Energy, and the entire week has been packed with energy themed events and educational campaigns. Even though I was not able to attend the conference, I was still able to get some sneak peaks by following live tweets!

NOT such a great week for Reese Witherspoon. The actress was spotted toting a python skin handbag on the 1st, even though the purchase and sale of snake skin is illegal in the state of California. The actress was blasted in the media by PETA and has since apologized. She opted for a leather bag yesterday - a legal choice, but still not the most eco-friendly. tisk tisk

(sorry guys, I have to post this today because I will be hitting the road tomorrow and won't have access to a computer. TGIF!)