Planet Earth Green Collection — Street Cred
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 01.10.07
Outside magazine recently ran a spot on Green Jeans. Some of our old faves like, Edun, Howies and Loomstate got the nod. But strangely 'Planet Earth' seems to have slipped under our radar, to date. A streetwear brand of apparel, that hails from Carlsbad, California they make clothing for guys into the surf, skate and snow scene. But recently wrote, “We recognise that our actions as a company, and as individuals, affect the overall welfare of the planet.” And thus took on the responsibility of spending a couple of years to develop their Green Collection, whereby they’ve used materials they tag as ‘natural, organic and sustainable’. These include: hemp, organic cotton, ramie, recycled polyester, linen, and wool. Such fabrics have been employed throughout a broad range of clobber from woven and knitted shirts to shorts, pants, sweaters and tees. The denim jeans observed by Outside mag use a 55% ramie and 45% cotton blend. Alas, the cotton does not seem to be organic in this instance, though it is for their shirts and sweats. Apparently following on from the work on the Green Collection, the company is initiating eco-endeavours throughout the business as a whole. ::Planet Earth Green Collection.
All this organic/recycled cotton is great, and I'm so glad to see it's a lot more stylish (I love you patagonia, but your clothes are frumpy), but what I'm dying for are stylish shoes, including sky-high heels, not just oxfords, that are made with chromium free leather and vegetable dyes.
when i had to find a subject for my master-thesis a year ago i first considered the potential of the snowboard/skateboard-industry to take steps in a green direction cause there are several brands whose names and logos relate to "green" words and symbols:
element
planet earth (above)
habitat
satori movement
ipath
arbor
within a year not only those brands started green clothing lines but also volcom, etnies, vans and sector9
and it is not only clothing. also the boards are becoming greener with bamboo (habitat,sector9, arbor) and fsc-certified wood (cometskateboards)
watch out for a total relaunch of the action sports environmental coalition website soon
http://asecaction.org/
@warren
maybe you can make an recapitulating article about those developements with links to the accordant websites and some nice pics. i would like to do it myself but i don´t have the time cause i have to write my master-thesis (it is about sustainability contributions and potentials of outdoor companies and their consumers for now)