Meshing eco-friendliness and fashion has definitely been done before, but green style is one of those fabulous things you can never quite get enough of. The more green fashion the better, that's what I say. The most recent find comes all the way from Chile in the form of boots made from recycled plastic bags!
We've seen other bags made from plastic bags, and even art made from plastic bags, but boots? That's a first. And surprisingly, they're not hideous. They're actually quite adorable!
Chilean industrial design student Camila Labra made the boots using a process of fusing several layers of plastic polyethylene bags together to create a thicker and more resistant material to work with. They're lined with cotton inside, which not only adds a comfort factor, but keeps your tootsies cool as well. According to Labra, the boots are impermeable, flexible, light and non toxic.
Her line is called Dacca, named after Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, which is one of the most plastic-bag-polluted cities in the world (a ban on plastic bags was put in place in 2002.)
If these boots look like something you'd like to get your feet into, you can own a pair (special ordered!) for 22,000 Chilean pesos (about 45 US dollars). Visit the designer's blog for more info (I hope you speak Spanish) at http://botasdacca.blogspot.com/.
Check out a few of her other designs... muy caliente!
This holiday was an especially nice one for me, and it's not just because I was able to spend it with my family all the way across the country. I also made a special trip to Washington D.C. with my mother to hand deliver a fur coat to the Humane Society of the United States,thus providing aid and comfort to injured and orphaned wildlife.
Twenty years ago, my darling Mom won a fur coat in a contest at a party. Never having been a fan of fur, she stashed the coat in the attic, and it's been collecting dust ever since. After we heard about HSUS' program Coats for Cubs, we spent no time hesitating, dug the old fur out and were on our way to D.C.!
Coats for Cubs uses the coats to give BACK to the animals - the furs are cut into an appropriate size for the animal, whether it be a bobcat, fox, raccoon, squirrel, or rabbit, and placed inside the animal's enclosure. The furry blanket becomes a surrogate mother to orphaned animals, reducing stress and giving comfort. One rehabilitator related a story about a restless orphaned river otter who chirped constantly. Once she was given a fur blanket, she settled right down. Turning the sleeve of a fur coat inside out, a rehabilitator can also create a warm nest for a burrowing animal such as an opossum. Some animals adopt a piece of fur as a playmate, jumping on it and wrestling with it.
While most of us can't make it to the HSUS headquarters ourselves, you also have the option of shipping your fur coat donation to HSUS. Or you can visit Buffalo Exchange, a thrift store that has 36 locations across the country and has partnered with HSUS to collect fur items.
The donation is tax deductible, and HSUS will send you a fancy thank you letter and everything. (I think I'd rather see photos of the cute animals that will be saved by our donation, but the letter is pretty nice too.)
By the way, the next day I saw the cutest fox running across a field, and I'm about 90% sure that it was a sign - he was totally saying "thank you."
For more info on how to donate old fur items, visit Coats For Cubs.
Without these YouTube videos, 2008 would just not have been the same. These sometimes shocking but always hilarious videos brought a welcome break from the abundance of not-so-great news that seemed keep building up all year (hello, economic crisis!) They also proved an extremely helpful tool for spreading news, such as campaign info for the Presidential election.
Let's take a trip down memory lane, with the Top Ten YouTube Videos of 2008, from Huffington Post. The videos are ranked by a combination of number of views, laugh factor, and newsworthiness.
10. Everybody Knows Who Sarah Silverman Is F***ing
The epitome of viral video. I can't think of a single person who hasn't seen this video.
9. Yes We Can
will.i.am's "Yes We Can" won the election for Obama, if you believe some of the fluffier journalism during the campaign.
8. You Can Vote However You Like
Ron Clark Academy's take on T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" was inspired, though not as bi-partisan as it could have been. Case in point - "McCain's the best candidate/With Palin as his running mate."
7. Tom Cruise On Tom Cruise: Scientologist
Gawker took a risk by posting this video, which is supposed to be for Scientological eyes only, but it eventually made its way on to YouTube. Worth watching for Cruise's declaring, "We are the authorities on the mind."
6. Andy Samberg, King Of YouTube
Was Andy Samberg responsible for YouTube's $1.5 billion sale? Probably not, but he certainly didn't hurt the site's value with "Lazy Sunday" in 2005. Since then, his videos are generally YouTube stars... depending on how long NBC leaves them on the site.
5. Star Wars According To A Three-Year-Old
Good thing she didn't try to explain any of the newer movies. Three-year-olds always miss the nuanced drama of Galactic Senate procedural votes.
4. Corey Won't Take Off His Sunglasses
The Australian teen who threw a huge party at his parents' house while they were away bucked the cliche by being completely unrepentant, profiting from the debacle, and having a pierced nipple.
3. Drunk History
Technically posted a week before 2008, Drunk History made its way around the web early in the year and spawned three subsequent volumes. Michael Cera is sometimes criticized for only having one character, but anyone who's ever read Gore Vidal's Burr knows that Alexander Hamilton really was that awkward.
2. Indian Baby Toss Ritual
Name says it all.
1. O'Reilly Does It Live
This leaked video from Bill O'Reilly's early days at Inside Edition solidified speculation that America's newsman had more than a bit of a temper. As the video gained popularity, Stephen Colbert filmed his inevitable parody, which can also be seen below.
Wow, some of these seem a lot older than a year... it's been a long 2008! What was your favorite of all these clips?
The holidays are over, and that's always depressing, especially when all the holiday decorations must come down - including your beloved Christmas tree. Instead of leaving it by the curb or tossing it in the nearest dumpster, send your old prickly friend to environmental heaven by recycling it!
By turning that puppy into mulch, you'll be providing nourishment for other plants. Most states have plenty of recycling options available, and even more so if you live in big cities like New York, who have devoted a whole event to the act of tree recycling, better known as Mulchfest! But let's say you don't live in NYC - just check out Earth911, a helpful tool that will tell you how to recycle... well, anything!
2008 is coming to a close, and it's time to look back at what we have learned this year and make some positive changes, and that includes being more eco-friendly. There is no better time than New Years for new beginnings, and we've got the low down on how to make your New Years celebration - as well as the rest of 2009 - a whole lot greener.
1. Stay home and party. Going out to celebrate the year end with friends brings a certain excitement, but staying home and hosting your own bash will save transportation emissions and of course - money. You'll also have more control over the food and drinks that are served, as well as the paper waste that goes along with them! Send email invites and save even more paper. Plus, your friends can crash at your house if they've had too much bubbly.
2. Choose glass over paper. It's New Years, and there are bound to be some beverages consumed. Serve drinks in glasses, so you won't end up with a pile of wasted plastic cups. You can even find disposable cups made from recycled paper - like Treecycle - and then you can compost the cups after the event!
3. Serve organic appetizers. Your guests are probably going to expect some kind of nourishment whilst partying - satisfy their appetites and keep it green by serving healthy, organic appetizers like homemade salsa, hummus, fresh fruit and veggie trays. Double points for scoring your nosh from local farmers markets or vendors - just check Local Harvest to find locally grown produce in any part of the country.
4. Pour green drinks. (No, not like on St. Patrick's Day!) You're going to need something to put in those biodegradable or glass cups, keep it eco-friendly by choosing organic vodka mixed with juice from your local orchard, beer from the brewery one town over, or biodynamic wine. If you're feeling extra inspired, you can even attempt to make your own.
5. Make your own party favors and noise makers. It just wouldn't be New Years without hollering while shaking something noisy and wearing a ridiculous hat - but that doesn't mean you have to buy wasteful products from the party store. Make your own decorations out of recyclable materials - like soda can lanterns, plastic bottle snowflakes, nutshells in a can or cardboard tube, dried beans inside two stapled-together paper plates. Don't think of it as cheap - think of it as retro. Economical and eco-friendly.
6. Stay green all year long. Your environment saving habits don't have to end when the clock strikes midnight - make a resolution to be kinder to the earth in 2009. Losing weight, eating healthy and quitting smoking aren't just good for your body - they're good for the environment! Save money by saving electricity, ditch the car and bike it to work or school, downsize by cutting clutter and donating your old threads and furniture to a shelter. Recycling is great, but don't forget the other two R's - REDUCE and RE-USE!
And just for fun - here are some interesting numerical facts about New Years!
- 1907: Year the first Times Square ball was dropped in New York City.
- 1 million: Number of people who fill the square on New Year's Eve; an additional 1 billion-plus watch from home.
- 2,668: Waterford Crystals that comprise the ball.
- 32,256: LED lights inside the ball that can produce more than 16 million colors and patterns.
- 100 million: Number of people who make New Year's resolutions.
- 80 million: Number of people who don't stick with their resolutions.
- 900 million: Approximate number of glasses of champagne and sparkling wine purchased in 2007.
- 22 percent: Drop in exports of French Champagne to the U.S. in the first half of 2008.
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If you see a Perk you want, just add that brand as your Sponsor and re-post your SocialVibe badge on your social networks and/or blog. Each day it's up is another entry for you to win. Winners are chosen at random, so even if you haven't got the most points, you're still eligible to win.
Stay tuned, we'll be announcing the newest Perks very soon...
How is the world going to end? It's an interesting question, not much fun to think about, but many of us have anyway. It's unknown when or how human existence will cease to be, but this video from Discovery shows what it might look like if an asteroid were to hit Earth.
It's like Deep Impact, or Armageddon... but with less romance and more Pink Floyd.
Talk about global warming. How do you think the world will end?
Did you sleep, study or hibernate your way through 2008?
No worries, the masterminds at JibJab have summarized the most notable and/or interesting headlines and events of the year, in a video less than three minutes long! It's just the tiniest bit vulgar, but it's funny, so we hope you're wearing your laughing pants.
It has been quite a year! I think we're all looking forward to 2009. What are your New Years plans?
