It’s true what they say: time flies while you’re having fun. 2008 at EcoSalon was chock full of fun, from the top of our eco fashionista heads down to the bottom of our little greenie toes.

This was a spectacular year for the art and business of green garb. Environmentally conscious fashion designers from all over the globe popped up, providing us with sustainable, eco-friendly clothing that’s anything but plain, crunchy or predictable. Our eco fashion finds covered the spectrum from chic to trendy, simple to sophisticated, quirky to girly, modern to sexy.

The proof lies in this list of what caught …

Having happily sworn off bottled water in favor of refillable pitcher filters (like Brita or Pur), many of us save countless plastic bottles from the landfill. But now we have bulky plastic filters to throw out every couple of months. Sure, it’s less trash than bottles, but still, what gives?

Take Back The Filter has launched a campaign pushing Clorox (the owners of Brita) to either set up a filter recycling program or create a reusable filter with a permanent housing, in which you only have to replace the environmentally-safe carbon granules …

Holly Golightly did everything with style, including covering her massive brown peepers with an adorable eye mask and muffling apartment noises with tasseled ear plugs.

In her case, muting the senses at night was crucial to functioning the next day. A consummate party animal, she got to bed quite late after drinking and collecting money from shady men in the lounges of Manhattan. For most of us living in the world not created by Truman Capote, eye masks serve other functions: Avoiding the blue light from the TV screen when …

Who am I to argue with the Madison Avenue suits who coined the phrase “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”?

If only diamonds were all we believe them to be. The violence resulting from the diamond mining and trading industry is, in a word, tragic. And, as it turns out, diamonds aren’t even as valuable as we’ve been told.

First, a little primer:

The U.S. happens to be the largest consumer of conflict diamonds, purchasing over $33.7 billion dollars’ worth of the rocks in 2005. Wondering what conflict diamonds are? …

After a morning spent watching National Geographic Carnivore with my 9-year-old future vet (lions preying upon a limping, unsuspecting buffalo), I was happy to encounter this gentle Jungle Friends Mobile in which the only thing eaten is the blankie by the little thumb sucker inhabiting the crib.

I love the laser-cut bamboo plywood figures, which are assembled by a non-profit agency that employs adults with disabilities. $76 at Branch Home. The artwork can enjoy a circle of life after baby. Let it migrate to another space for an exotic …

‘Tis the season…to have cold hands.

I’m convinced mulled wine was invented as a handwarmer in the depths of winter. It first pops up in the history books around 400 CE, although its European medieval name of Hipocris harks back to Hippocrates, the Ancient Greek “father of medicine” – and it’s not hard to imagine Celtic Mead being dangled over the fire for an extra-warming kick. Nowadays, mulled wine is a popular winter drink across much of northern Europe. For example, in …

Having worked on one heartbreaking case after another, a concerned group of social workers in Vietnam decided that they weren’t doing enough to aid the thousands of impoverished children in this region. To get off the streets, the children needed something they couldn’t afford: a quality education.

By Founding Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts, this devoted group of humanitarians provided many suffering youths with skill training, fair wages and literacy classes. Once schooling in Vietnam became free, this nonprofit organization turned to the people in most dire need of assistance. Thanks to …

A lot of people talk, but real change requires action. I’m inspired by one person who has made a difference for hundreds of women in Darfur. And he’s only 17.

From his suburban home in Maryland, Spencer Brodsky kept hearing about the extreme dangers faced by the women of Darfur when they leave the relative safety of the refugee camps to scour the desert for firewood for cooking. Women often have to walk miles in their search and risk the possibility of being murdered or raped – …