2011 was a landmark year for eco fashion: EcoSalon had it covered.

From more mainstream designers exploring sustainability and declining fast fashion sales to record numbers of museum goers enjoying a non-consumer fashion experience, 2011 was a game changer in the way we consume and think about fashion. Recognition for the need to slow down the fashion juggernaut created by fast fashion, compelled new approaches to how we can become more connected to fashion as a way of improving our lives and the global environmental crisis. Our top 10 fashion stories encapsulate the year that proved, once and for all, that eco fashion is not simply a trend.

Ogle at Mother Nature in miniature. 

Inside of this hand-blown glass sphere is a living, thriving ecosystem. The sphere from VivaTerra is comprised of a self-sustaining ecosystem of plants, live shrimp, algae, and other micro-organisms.

10 global events we were all intrinsically part of.

What makes an event memorable? How does a “happening” sear into our collective mindset and take up permanent residence in our hearts and in our souls? Most often, of course, we are not personally there to witness or directly experience occurrences of global importance.

A rift in slow food reveals big growing pains.

The foodiverse was all atwitter over this article from Chow last week. A rift has been forming between two factions within Slow Food USA, a non-profit organization that promotes the pleasures of the table, artisanal food production methods, sustainable agriculture, and direct connections between producers and consumers.

ColumnA retrospective: 2011 in heART.

The fusion of conscious art and sustainability into what we now call heARTbeat was first published this year in May. Seven months and dozens of heARTbeats later, we bring you the top five stories that made you take pause.

ColumnA behind-the-screen look at the consistently ridiculous inbox of a writer.

At EcoSalon, we receive our fair share of email pitches, and we’ve decided to give you a weekly peek at this valuable information inside our inboxes. These products, people, and services are 100 percent real, although we’re not always sure that they should be.

How to move on from the holiday excess and truly feed yourself.

If, like many, you overindulged during the holidays, you might be feeling tempted to subsist on raw carrots, lettuce, and water for a few weeks – but this approach is all wrong. It’s not what your body needs right now and it will leave you starving, in more ways than one.

Body snark is the universal language of women, translating across all cultures.

Getting a professional manicure is like sitting in on a group therapy session, but with acetate fumes. Everyone is over-sharing, and it’s often to people whose mother tongue is way more complicated than yours. “His mother is staying with us for two weeks. She leaves the bathroom door open all the time,” shares the newlywed with the freaked out eyes and the French manicure. “It’s about crossing the line. I told him that I didn’t want to have this conversation again, especially when I’m in Happy Baby pose,” sighs the women with the bitten down cuticles. “Những người này là idiots,” says one manicurist to another.