Image: punjammies.com
One of my favorite presents I received last Christmas (from fellow Greenist Allie!) was a pair of Punjammies. These flowy cotton pajama pants were too thin to wear during the winter, but now that it’s warmed up, I’m rocking them all the time. But not only did Allie give me something comfortable and cool to wear while I’m working at home during the day; she also opened my eyes to a wonderful charity.
Punjammies are a product of the International Princess Project, an organization that employs Indian women who were once enslaved as prostitutes. Most of them grew up poor and were lured into the sex business by someone promising a well-paying job that would help them support their families. But instead, they are forced to sell their bodies, beaten if they refuse. Those who escape often have a hard time finding an honest job — they have little or no marketable skills, not to mention the emotional and physical scars they bear. Read more…
Please welcome today’s guest poster, Marisa.
By now, you’ve probably heard of the slow movement. There are many offshoots, from the slow food movement to the slow reading movement. The general idea is to take more time, be thoughtful about the product or process, savor things slowly, and make them last. It is something that, in this day and age, when everything is open 24/7, on all the time, and constantly vying for attention, eyes, and pageviews, I can really appreciate. It is in this spirit that I propose the Slow Clothing Movement. Read more…
Image: http://thehighlow.com/2012/02/with-meryl-streep-on-board-is-red-carpet-dressing-going-green/
It’s no secret that I love to watch the Academy Awards every year. Cheering on my favorite movies from the past year, seeing what kinds of drama will unfold during the ceremony, watching people swan down the red carpet — I love it all. This year, I had some extra reason to be happy that one of my favorites, Meryl Streep, won her third Oscar: She was wearing an eco-friendly dress! Read more…
In an unrelated series of events, I recently decided to purge my sock drawer of any and all socks that I just don’t wear. Either because of color, fit, or fabric, I would wager many of us have socks that just aren’t our favorites and, as a result, get worn very little.
But what do you do with used, but not used up, socks?
Although technically still wearable, I doubt there is much of a market for used socks. And if they aren’t yet worn out, I hate to see them thrown out or, at best, relegated to a textile recycling center, especially when they could still work for a reuse project.
So after some google searches, I found a recommendation to make socks into reusable swiffer pads- perfect! Although we gave up buying disposable swiffer pads years ago, we still have the sweeper around and the convenience of the thing is still very appealing. Only problem was, I could find the suggestion of making socks into a reusable swiffer pad, but I was having far less luck finding actual tutorials for such a project. The fact that etsy has these cool crocheted swiffer socks wasn’t helping my search, either.
So I came up with my own solution. Read more…
Image credit: drowning.com
We all wear underwear, so are you surprised that there are multiple ways to recycle your unmentionables once you’ve worn them out? Don’t be! The great part of the green movement becoming so popular is that people come up with really innovative ways to keep things out of landfills. When you just can’t wear those skivvies anymore, make the green choice and donate or recycle them instead of throwing them away: Read more…
Related to our recent giveaway of Patagonia shoes from PlanetShoes, I was able to get a pair of Patagonia Nomad boots to review. Honestly, this was very good timing for me. I’m planning on going out for my yearly Thanksgiving week backpacking trip somewhere in the southern Appalachians and the boots I normally wear are ready to retire. I hate spending money on clothing and shoes, so I jumped at the chance for free boots. (We’ve already discussed why Patagonia is a good company.) Read more…
Thank you to everyone who entered our contest to win a free pair of Patagonia shoes! We had 34 comments on the post, and after consulting our friend the Random Number Generator, we’ve concluded the winner is commenter #21, who is roc_phd! Congratulations, roc_phd! We’ll be in touch shortly to get your free shoes to you.
If you didn’t win, why not buy yourself a little treat? For every pair of Patagonia shoes bought through PlanetShoes.com through November 21, Patagonia will donate $10 to the Appalachian Mountain Club, which helps preserve mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region. So if you need a new pair of shoes for yourself or if you want to do a little early holiday shopping, keep this in mind — it’s for a great cause.
Thanks again to everyone who entered, and check back soon for more giveaways on The Greenists!
The sidewalk outside Patagonia's San Francisco store
I’ve had a few celebrity encounters in my day, including an indie-rock god (Frank Black), a race car driver (Jeff Gordon), and the man who cheated on America’s sweetheart (Jesse James). I played it totally cool with all of them, except one: I was stricken dumb when I saw Yvon Chouinard in a movie theatre in Jackson, Wyoming. We were both coming out from the film Up, and when I saw him I just froze, unable to speak or move.
Who is Yvon Chouinard? Ahh, where to begin?! Climbing pioneer, blacksmith, surfer, fisherman, businessman. It was that first one that stopped me in my tracks back in Jackson, but it’s that last one that interests us here today. Chouinard founded Patagonia, Inc., makers of outdoor apparel and one of the most innovative and environmentally responsible companies around. How responsible? Chouinard co-founded 1% for the Planet, making Patagonia a charter member while pioneering the use of recycled materials in clothing, committing to 100% organic cotton and even encouraging the resale of used Patagonia products on eBay.
And now our friends at PlanetShoes.com tell us Patagonia is pledging to donate $10 for every pair of Patagonia shoes sold by PlanetShoes between November 7 and 21 to the Appalachian Mountain Club as part of Advocate Weeks. How cool is that? Well I’ll let the AMC tell you themselves:
The Appalachian Mountain Club promotes the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region. We believe these resources have intrinsic worth and also provide recreational opportunities, spiritual renewal, and ecological and economic health for the region. Because successful conservation depends on active engagement with the outdoors, we encourage people to experience, learn about, and appreciate the natural world.
I encourage you to check out their website to learn more about what they do and how they do it, but it looks to me like a worthy organization (and one that has been advocating for the outdoors since 1876!) So if you were looking for some shoes anyway, you might as well grab some Patagonias from PlanetShoes.com between the 7th and 21st!
Aaaaaaaaaaand…. There’s a GIVEAWAY! Yup, PlanetShoes and Patagonia want to give a pair of Patagonia shoes to one lucky reader of The Greenists. That means you. Or possibly you. Just leave a comment between now and next Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. and then be sure to come back and see if you won. We’ll announce the winner on Wednesday!
For years I’d been wanting to learn to knit but never got around to doing so. So a couple years back, I taught myself how to knit as a way to relieve the boredom, isolation, and depression of long term unemployment. And I’ve gotten pretty darned good if I do say so myself!
At first I made lots of dishcloths like those pictured above. Then I moved onto bigger things like blankets. I made lots of them for weddings — when Wolf and I got married it was the handmade gifts that meant the most to us so I wanted to pass along those warm feelings — and one for my cousin and, of course, Wolf. Then I moved onto hats and started making tons of those. Next on the list was shawls. Right now I’m in the process of making one for each of the elements (fire, water, air, and earth) along with one for the sun and one for the moon. I finished the sun one a couple weeks ago and am now working on water. Next on my list of things to learn to knit is socks and sweaters.
One of the prime reasons I wanted to learn to knit was so I could make clothes for Wolf and myself. Clothing ourselves is important. Wolf is teaching himself to sew so he can participate in making the clothes we wear. Like me a couple years ago, he is a novice who is teaching himself how to use the ultimate power tool. Thus far he’s made a pillowcase and a pair of PJs for me.
I promise to do a real garden update next week. Well, I don’t promise, but I’ll try to. In the meantime, I will give you a quick idea of what’s going on. Bunnies. Eating. Everything.
“But, Allie,” you say, “don’t you have a big, hulking, wolf-like dog? Doesn’t he scare off the bunnies?”
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