sustainable style foundation*

On October 7th, SSF jump started our 2007 Membership Drive during Puget Sound's Green October with a running tour of downtown Seattle's sustainable and oh-so-stylish retailers & restaurants that ended at Seattle's new Sculpture Park. The early morning run and window shopping was led by Alison White, founder of Seattle Run Tours, who started the company as an alternative to "stinky" diesel buses allowing for a more intimate and eco-friendly look at the Emerald City. Post-run goodies were provided by none other than Seattle Art Museum's TASTE cafe.

Date: Sunday, October 7, 2007
Start: 5th & Pine in front of Nordstrom
Time: 8:30 (please arrive a bit early)
Finish - Olympic Sculpture Park

>> Tour Gallery
>> Style Guide

It was so great to check out what I predict, and hope, will be the worlds’ premiere destination hotel in the future last night. I went to the 1 opening where hotelier Barry Sternlight (W Hotels), recently highlighted in Vanity Fair’s Green issue, mentioned that this project meant a lot to him personally. Designed to be a luxury eco-friendly hotel and residence, the overall feel of the model suite was very hip. You got the feel of the environment without the “lodge” feel. The neutral palate was surprisingly warm and was completely Zen. SSF’s you can” live well, do good as well as look fabulous”, was completely demonstrated in the design of the space as well as the forethought behind its operating model. I did hear from Barry that if you drive a Hybrid, your parking will be free…let’s hope this policy will have to change because there are so many alternative fuel cars coming in. As far as food at 1, B.R. Guests founder Stephen Hanson, known for his fabulous franchise of restaurants in New York, Chicago & Vegas, will be the master mind behind the dining concepts. If it will be anything like the food served last night, we know it is going to be out of this world. It warmed my heart to hear the chef go on and on about shopping at our own Pike Market where the fabulous tidbits from ceviche, to oysters and mini kiwi dipped in chocolate were created from. There is already a list for the residences as you can imagine…stand by for more news on this project. It really is going to be the wonderful to have Seattle be a landmark for another amazing concept. 1residences.com. RL

Wow…what a blur NYC was. Don’t worry, we will be detailing some of the really cool things I found in our sourcebook, but overall, it was another inspirational trip. With the cab strike, it was terrific to check out all the fabulous flats that the fashionistas were sporting. It was terrific to note with folks how “hoofing it” it could be just a glam as “cabbing it”. I was super pleased to see that H&M has a line of organic cotton long oversized tees as well as great organic cotton tops that are super cute. Greendrinks at The Park was packed…we couldn’t find our buddy Margaret, but met all sorts of great folks; Including a few wonderful artists who really are unique in their approach of sustainability and art by creating access to artists who don’t have representation. This group has shows in Paris, Miami, as well as, New York City. If you are going to be in the city on September 27th, 28th & 29th, check out the Art Attack at the Hotel Chelsea poolartfair.com
[23rd bwtn 7th & 8th] My quick jaunt to Toronto was great. Canada rocks. In Mississauga, the city provides compost buckets and takes it away for you every week with the garbage and recycling. Now, that is quite civilized. RL

Moral Fervor continues to impress me. I met with the designers in their showroom to check out Spring 08 and I know that these garments will work for any woman who wants extreme comfort and to look fabulous at the same time. For spring they are introducing a soy based fabric that feels amazing to the touch. By the way, their Fall 07 is fabulous. I picked up a couple of pieces and I think I am going to live in my MF Pocket Pullover. It is cozy and cute and perfect when paired with this seasons’ pencil skirt. MF is really focused on sustainability not only in design and fabrication, but in all aspects of their business. Stay tuned to both their site [moralfervor.com]
as well as SSF’s for more info soon about their new focus on the business end. RL

I am headed to my annual fall trip to NYC for Fashion Week to check out what is new for Spring 08. I will keep you posted…on the sustainable end, I am scheduled to check out Moral Fervor Spring, Loyale, Terra Plana, etc…I plan to discover more as you know that “green” is the basic black now in the fashion industry. Both LA Fashion Week and Portland Fashion week have a green theme…we will keep you posted as we get the news…

I just bought what I think may be a fall back shoe, especially in the Seattle rain, The Melissa boot…cute and retro, it is a “galosh” that fits…very fun and very cute and it even has a bit of a heel I like…but, the best part is that it has a sustainable story…

The designers include Edson Matsuo, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Campana Brothers, Triton,
Isabella Capeto. The shoes are made in Brazil, and employees have high wages and extended benefits. All of the shoes are made from MELFLEX plastic, a patented, hypo-allergenic, recyclable, and
extremely flexible PVC. The shoes are also cruelty free, so they are made with no animal products. Melissa shoes also recycle 99.9% of factory water and waste, and overstock styles are recycled into new styles (only the darker color shoes have
recycled material).

I purchased them at La Rousse la-rousse.com
whose owner Amanda has a wonderful eye for things that are super stylish as well as sustainable. Check her out and get on her mailing list for her weekly happy hour events.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary on climate change was a very intense yet excellent film on the environmental issues at hand. I was impressed with the depth of the discussion and the wide range of experts that both Sean and I have followed and quoted over the years. All I can say is check it out at 11thhouraction.com

Josh Dorfman is a busy guy these days. In addition to being the Founder & CEO of fab sustainable furniture retailer Vivavi and green home guide Modern Green Living and the host of "The Lazy Environmentalist" radio show on Lime.com, he's written a book of same name that's now available in stores. The Lazy Environmentalist is a positive, hip treatment of the idea that we can all make more sustainable lifestyle choices every day; it's not that we're all lazy, but we're busy people who don't always have the time to keep up with the latest in environmental activism. It's a realistic take on the topic, assuming that we aren't interested in living in the dark and wearing burlap (which, while a bit of an exaggeration, is true, right?); given that, it's still very proactive, and is really an excellent guide for folks who are interested in engaging in more sustainable lifestyles, but who may not know how to approach different facts of this, or know where to start (and, in the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that SSF is mentioned a handful of times as a resource for learning more -- thanks Josh!). Learn more about the book at The Lazy Environmentalist website, and order the book from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Powells.com or pick it up at your local bookseller. Congratulations, Josh! [The Lazy Environmentalist]

From CHOW.com comes "Counter Measures: Ten Ways to Green Your Kitchen", with a "Top Ten" list, of sorts, of ways to make your kitchen a little greener. Included on the list are the results of dishwasher vs. hand-washing water-usage throw-down, ideas for choosing the right pans, tips for cooking with energy efficiency in mind and more. Our favorite: stock your fridge. That's right; "...a full refrigerator uses less energy than an empty one: Every time you open and close the door, the fridge has to kick in to reregulate its temperature. If there’s food in there already, there’s less outside air introduced, therefore less outside air that needs to be cooled." Check out the full list at [CHOW.com] via [Apartment Therapy]

SSF has been pleased to see the size of the crowd at Seattle Greendrinks grow to some pretty impressive numbers over the past four years. The monthly get-together (every second Tuesday, around 5:30 pm) at different environmentally-minded businesses and organizations around town (SSF has hosted before) has become a great way to network and stay connected with other sustainability professionals and enthusiasts (and anyone who's attended a Green Drinks in any other city has probably experienced the same). Seattle Greendrinks recently launched a new website that aims to keep the community growing and informed all month long. In addition to event announcements, the site offers forums, member blogs (after you complete the free registration) and job postings, with promises of much more to come soon. It's a great way to keep up with the latest on Greendrinks here in town, and will hopefully help the community's continued growth. Surf on over to the new site and click around for awhile; the only thing that's really different from the event is the beer.

Reminder: Seattle Greendrinks is tonight! It's being hosted by Stewardship Partners and Conscious Choice at Evo, at 122 NW 36th St in Fremont. This month boasts an after-party, featuring the band "Tilted Blue," starting at 8:30. See you there!

Our pals at The Lazy Environmentalist have been busy scouring the planet, looking for all the places to find more sustainable fashion and apparel, and they've come up with a pretty comprehensive list. From a host of online shops to brick-n-mortar boutiques from New York to Los Angeles and many places in between, there are fewer and fewer places that you can't find organic cotton, bamboo jersey and other more sustainable choices for the clothes you wear. Click on over to the list to find out where to find eco-fashion near you. [The Lazy Environmentalist]

SSF is a big fan of utilizing design to incorporate more sustainable ideas, practices and products into our lives. Sometimes, though, we like to think about these things on a larger scale and work more on systems rather than just products and stuff. One of the ways to do this, and really have a more sustainable lifestyle, is to undertake a major home project, like a remodel, and incorporate as many sustainable designs as possible along the way. We like to think of it as going green, from the inside out.

Thanks to the advent and explosion in popularity of blogs, there are lots of ways to keep an eye on this process. A new one that is doing a pretty thorough job of this is called EcoVertex, which we found through our friends at Apartment Therapy in San Francisco. The blog follows the ins and outs of a home remodel, sustainble-style, of one Celia Canfield. One of the things we like best about it is that Celia doesn't claim any expertise or have a whole lot of experience thinking about and sourcing green ideas and products; even so, she's discovered Richlite countertops, has thought through the idea of carbon offsets as a guilty pleasure, and found a favorite green paint. The best part: she's learning as she goes and is showing that you don't have to be a pro to really dig in to green design and green products for all the right reasons. If you're thinking about (or are already in the middle of) re-thinking your home and remodeling a room or two, we recommend taking a peek. It looks like they post about once a week, but each post is substantive and thoughtful; check out more at her blog. [EcoVertex] via [Apartment Therapy]

Yesterday, the American Institute of Archiects' (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) announced their selection of this year’s Top Ten examples of "sustainable projects that protect and enhance the natural environment." The selected projects leverage design for good, each addressing significant environmental challenges by thoughtfully combining architecture, technology, and natural systems. This year's list showcases how pervasive green building has become, with a wide variety of projects, including a single family home (LivingHomes' Z6, pictured), a library, two nonprofit headquarters, a school, and a water treatment facility that doubles as a park. Though limited to 10 entries (to go in the "top 10"), the judges awarded four "honorable mentions" because they felt that there were so many outstanding projects, a "Top Ten Awards" first. Now, without further ado, the recipients are, in alphabetical order:

• EpiCenter, Artists for Humanity (Arrowstreet, Inc.), Boston, MA
• Global Ecology Research Center (EHDD Architects), Stanford, CA
• Government Canyon Visitor Center (Lake/Flato Architects), Helotes, TX
• Hawaii Gateway Energy Center (Ferraro Choi and Associates), Kailua-Kona, HI
• Heifer International (Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects, Ltd.), Little Rock, AR
• Sidwell Friends Middle School (Kieran Timberlake Associates), Washington, DC
• Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse (Morphosis & DLR Group), Eugene, OR
• Whitney Water Purification Facility (Steven Holl Architects), New Haven, CT
• Willingboro Master Plan & Public Library (Croxton Collaborative Architects, PC), Willingboro, NJ
• Z6 House (LivingHomes with Ray Kappe Architects), Santa Monica, CA

2007 Top Ten Award Honorable Mentions

• Gerding Theater at the Armory (GBD Architects, Inc.), Portland, OR
• Provincetown Art Association and Museum (Machado and Silvetti Associates), Provincetown, MA
• Stillwell Avenue Terminal Train Shed (Kiss + Cathcart Architects), New York, NY
• William J. Clinton Presidential Center (Polshek Partnership Architects), Little Rock, AR

Congratulations to all the recipients and those who received honorable mentions! Read more about the awards here. [American Institute of Architects]

The folks at wallpaper.com recently caught up with Rogan Gregory, one of SSF's favorite designers and the brainchild behind Loomstate and Edun, to chat about his ability to combine sustainable design, fashion and slick sex appeal to create a burgeoning sustainability empire. As if he weren't busy enough with fashion, he's also recently launched a line of bespoke industrial-style furniture and objects called Rogan Objects, which features reclaimed materials and 100%-handmade construction. Says Rogan, "The furniture I make, it’s steel. It could be a bunch more sustainable, but I like the way it looks. Blowing glass – not efficient, but it’s existed for thousands of years. It’s how you define sustainability. I’m not the poster child for it, but I try to be considerate but sustainable and efficient." He's got some other worthwhile things to say, so we recommend giving it a read. [Wallpaper.com

Set your TiVo, put a sticky note on your TV or call a friend with cable: tonight is the first episode of The GREEN, presented by Robert Redford on the Sundance Channel. Television's "first regularly scheduled programming destination dedicated entirely to the environment" begins tonight (and continues every Tuesday) at 9 pm on the Sundance Channel. The GREEN block of programming will include the show "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" (tonight's episode is about fuel), as well as "Ecoists", a feature on high-profile celebs and environmental activists and "Eco Biz", highlighting people and businesses driving change in the business world. Learn more about all the good, green stuff to watch at the Sundance Channel website, and tune in tonight to see it in living color. [Sundance Channel presents "The GREEN"]