Fashion & Beauty

Participants in the Istanbul bag-making workshop. Photos courtesy of Buğday.

Paper bags aren't too commonly used in Turkey, but shopkeepers just love giving out plastic ones -- for a tiny item that you could easily tuck into your purse or a pocket, for a single soda you'll probably just drink on the way home anyway, for a few nectarines that are already in another plastic bag. I've gotten used to saying "Poşet lazim değil, çantama koyabilirim" ("a bag is not necessary, I can put it in my purse") -- and to the funny looks people usually give me in return. So the old "Paper or Plastic? Neither!" idea seems like it might be a hard sell here. But that's not what the folks at the farmer's market found out.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo credit: Louise Galvin

Louise Galvin, hair colorist to the stars and the woman behind the eponymous haircare line, can add another pip to her collar: Louise Galvin is U.K.'s first beauty company to become carbon-neutral.

Pumped full of naturally derived ingredients like essential oils, natural extracts, and vegetable-based moisturizing and conditioning agents—no sulfates, parabens, silicone, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances, or polymers, thanks—Galvin's cruelty-free follicle-primping products maintain close-to-nonexistent carbon footprints through a partnership with The CarbonNeutral Company.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo credit: Colette

Renowned Parisian retailer Colette and the cutest car this side of Sanrio have put up a united fashion front, rallying five designer labels from Paris, New York, Berlin, Brazil, and Denmark to produce a tres exclusive, tres limited-edition collection of bags, jewelry, tees, and accessories for the urban car brand.

Revolving around the themes of urban mobility, design, and sustainability, the co-branded smartEColett line is entirely composed of recycled or recyclable materials. And they weren't kidding about limited edition—only 150 of each product, including the recyclable plastic Melissa ballet flats above, have been produced.

footwear

The other week I was sitting in a medical waiting room reading, as you do, a copy of Reader Digest. There was an intriguing article about Jackie Heinricher, her Booshoot company, and the plan to bring large scale bamboo cultivation to North America. At the time I thought I should follow up on that story.

So I was very surprised to come home and find in my email inbox a missive regarding outdoor sock company Bridgedale’s connection with Booshoot and their Plant A Boo campaign. It seems once upon a time the US had 5 million acres of bamboo under crop. The Plant A Boo project is looking to reinvigorate this swift growing grass as a domestically available resource for furniture, flooring and textiles.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo via Jeff the Trojan @ flickr.

An informal survey of the global TreeHugger gang revealed an interesting (and perhaps slightly redolent) tendency to move away from the use of deodorant each and every day. In fact, the majority of responding THers have partially or even wholly given up on deodorant, primarily kicking the habit due to trouble finding them without pore-clogging aluminum chlorohydrate or petroleum-based propylene glycol.

"At the risk of ostracizing myself I will reveal I haven't used underarm grooming products in over 15 years." - Anonymous TH blogger

Getting away from deodorant reduces the amount of products a person needs to use each day and the plastic receptacle count in the bathroom. In addition, the overall stink factor may not be as terrible as society would have us believe. Not convinced? Read on for four ways to help with a low-deodorant but not-too-stinky lifestyle.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo credit: Bluefly

Leanne Marshall, Project Runway's Season 5 winner, presented a sneak peek of her long-anticipated sustainable collection for Bluefly.com on Tuesday.

Available exclusively at the online retailer starting July 8, the nine-piece collection comprises a tank and a tunic in two colorways, a skirt, jacket, and three different takes on the dress, including a smoldering off-the-shoulder fuchsia number and an ultramarine duchess-silk-and-organza confection.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo credit: Cheap Chic Weddings

Major, major kudos to Ann Kagawa Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii, winner of Cheap Chic Wedding's annual toilet-paper wedding dress contest, who made this mind-boggling matrimonial ensemble out of bathroom tissue—a textile fit for a recession!—tape, glue, and a breathtaking amount of commitment.

Lee's stunningly detailed creation, which has drawn comparisons to an Oscar de la Renta couture gown, according to the Web site, was inspired by a potent combo of Gone With the Wind and Japanese origami.

Fashion & Beauty

Photo credit: Fashion Fights Poverty

Mark your calendars: One of the largest fashion fundraisers in our nation's capital, Fashion Fights Poverty, will be hosting Washington, D.C.'s first fashion swap on July 18.

Bring in your gently used togs to be consigned, traded for "new to you" pieces, or donated to D.C.'s Covenant House, an organization that offers shelter, protection, food, clothing, counseling, and job training to disadvantaged youth. Details below.