ColumnHere are 9 sex tips for giving you and your partner an organic sex-lift.

Sex is natural, sex is good, but not everybody is doing nearly enough of what they should. We’re busy, we’re stressed out, and we’re tired, but that’s precisely why we should be having more sex. Being intimate cuts heart attack risk, burns calories, increases endorphins and boosts immunity. But in a technology-addled world where we’re often more intimate with our iPhones than our active or would-be lovers, sometimes you need a few tips. It’s time to slow down and put some eco into your sex. Here’s a guide to getting it on au naturel.

1. Fall in Love With Your Own Body

Eco-Sex starts with your own body. Practice being Cleopatra from the moment you wake in the morning until your lover arrives to pick you up (or just comes home from work). If you haven’t already begun excising toxic chemicals from your beauty routine, let better sex be your clarion call. Cleansing and moisturizing with EWG-approved products or DIY organic essential oil blends will make you look and feel beautiful. Falling in love with your own body is step number one for a healthy sex life: give your temple the respect it deserves.

2. Entertain Aphrodisiacs

Nibble on vegan and organic aphrodisiacs. Skip the heavy, artery-clogging, erection-killing steak and champagne dinner. Try a vegan and/or raw meal laced with aphrodisiacs like asparagus, ginger, avocado, and artichoke (to turn on women) and cinnamon, mango, squash, pumpkin and cayenne (to turn on the guys). Ginger and basil do double-duty, seducing both sexes.

3. Light it Up

Let there be candlelight. Particularly if you’re in a long-term relationship where it seems as if you and your partner are having a threesome with the television. It’s nice to ditch the grid, at least for an evening. Turn off all the electric lights and create a sensual, subtle, skin-flattering glow. Conventional candles are often made from toxic paraffin, so go for ethically sourced, eco-friendly, fair-trade varieties when possible. Cheekily-named (“Morning Wood” and “One Night Stand”) candles from A Scent of Scandal are vegan with cotton wicks. Essoya Candles use non-GMO soy and stimulating essential oil blends. Or try doing a craft night with your lover: make candles together before you make love.

4. Slip Into Something Natural

Wear sustainable skivvies. When sex gets too routine, the old cliché about lingerie really does work – especially when your panties are made from the good stuff. Forget the mass-produced Victoria’s Secret or even the Agent Provocateur – slip on underwear made from natural textiles like organic cotton and bamboo, and let the fireworks begin. Enamore, Araks, and Urban Fox make gorgeous, simple and sexy bras, panties, and teddies that both you and your lover will fancy.

5. Stay Ethical Right Down to…

Make your safe sex sustainable sex. The amazing folks behind Sir Richard’s Condom Company have created the first ethical condom. Vegan (certified by PETA), and sourced from sustainable latex, Sir Richard’s donates a condom to a developing country for every one you buy. Consider them the Tom’s Shoes of the sex industry. Luckily your pleasure is just as important to them as ethics are: the ultra-thin variety are seriously thin condoms that feel barely there. They’re also stylishly packaged and available at Whole Foods.

6. Oil Up Your Libido

Rub on some DIY massage oil. Coconut oil, the magical elixir that can be used in your hair, as a makeup remover, as a vegetable sauté, or in your smoothie is also a wonderful massage oil. Include a few drops of lavender and ylang-ylang essential oil (for stress-reduction) or neroli oil to stimulate libido.

7. Make Things Slippery

Make your lube organic. The conventional lube you find in the corner drugstore likely includes endocrine-disrupting parabens. Even some of the “natural” brands still have glycerin, which isn’t necessarily a toxic ingredient in other products, but not something you want near your nether regions. Glycerin strips the vagina of moisture, making it raw and more susceptible to yeast infections and even STI’s. Experiment with organic brands like Sliquid Organics or the UK-based Yes. Note: only use water-based lube with latex condoms – oil will degrade latex, rendering it useless. Keep your coconut oil away from your condoms.

8. Create An Adult Toy Box

Try sustainable sex toys. Yes, they require power. But that doesn’t mean they’re less than natural. The pleasure-pioneers at JimmyJane have created a line of sustainable, medical-grade, rechargeable silicone sex toys that last practically forever, unlike the throwaway, pthlalate-laced, plastic dildos of yore. These toys are gorgeous pieces of high-end design that belong on top of your night table instead of hidden in the drawer.

9. Take It Out of the Bedroom

Do it in the woods. You can, and you should change sexual venues. Find a safe, secluded spot in the wilderness and surrender to the wind and the leaves and the trees.

Stefanie Iris Weiss is the author of Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable (Ten Speed Press/Crown Publishing, 2010) and eight other books. Stefanie keeps her carbon footprint small in New York City, where she writes about sustainability, sexuality, reproductive rights, dating and relationships, politics, fashion, beauty, and more for many publications. Learn more about her at ecosex.net, follow her eco-sex exploits on Twitter or join her on Facebook.

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Image: kayla kandzora

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An interview with Enamore founders Rachel Braund and Gauruv Malhan.

The sustainable fashion market is growing, making it easier for conscious consumers to access responsibly made clothes. But what about sustainable underwear? Although several brands have jumped on the bandwagon of bras and panties made from organic cotton (even well-known brands like H&M and Victoria’s Secret), there is a need for more innovative materials and versatile ranges in sustainable underwear. UK-based lingerie company enamore is definitely on this track with its affordable new line of basics, and a fantastic attitude towards experimentation. With the aim of “changing the way people perceive eco-underwear,” this brand is on its way to doing just that.

Starting out as a pin-up inspired eco-lingerie brand, enamore has evolved in a completely different direction. The brand now adheres to the aesthetic of luxury basics, establishing their new collection on the concept of “effortlessly eco.” Enamore’s aim is to provide the highest quality, everyday range of underwear at affordable prices, hoping to wean the lingerie industry and its customers off petro-chemical textiles and harmful production processes. The collection showcases bras, panties, lounge pants and tops that are simple and designed for fit and comfort. All the materials used for this new range are produced from certified fabrics, in certified factories, and can even be washed at 30 degrees celsius. EcoSalon caught up with the Director Gauruv Malhan and Creative Director Rachel Braund to learn more about the business of sustainable skivvies.

How was the enamore label set up?
Gauruv: The label was set up initially in 2004 when there was a lot of destruction in the fashion industry, especially with the production of garments: sweatshops using synthetic materials and people not looking for alternatives. The label was supported by several charities at the time, and in 2011 went through a management change. Myself, Nina and Rachel took over, and we rebranded the whole company to make it into the simple and sexy pieces you see at the moment.

Are you using any specific, new technologies or materials for the development of the garments?
Gauruv: We’ve got a lot of innovation going on behind the scenes. For example, replacing the nylon liner that you have in bras with a completely sustainable, upcycled or organic fabric. That’s never been done before. We are about a year away, or at least two seasons away from using it in our garments.

To what extent do you directly collaborate with the factories producing fibers and garments for enamore?
Gauruv: We don’t use agents in any of our sourcing. We talk directly with our manufacturers and fabric suppliers. Cutting out the middlemen ensures a quality garment as things don’t tend to get lost in translation.

So you know your factory managers? Are you completely aware of their labor standards?
Gauruv: Absolutely. Our factories and our manufacturers adhere to standards set by organizations like WRAP and SEI. Those organizations have different grading systems and all of the manufacturers we use meet the highest possible quality standard that these organizations set.

How transparent is enamore? Are you planning on providing information of where exactly all of your materials and production are coming from on the website?
Gauruv: If any customer ever wants to see any of the certificates, authentication or see how our factories comply to different standards, we are more than happy to send those certificates across.

But you are not using transparency as a marketing strategy?
Gauruv: No, we’re not, and that’s an important factor for the new direction of enamore. Even though we’re an ethical underwear company, we mainly want to market the design and fit of the garments as opposed to being eco. Being ethical is close to our hearts but we feel that it’s being pushed in everyone’s face far too much. So if someone just buys our garment and sees that it is of really good quality, that gets rid of all the stereotypes of buying it with the knowledge that it is an ethical garment.

You’ve mentioned the quality as a key point several times. Why are enamore garments specifically of such high quality?
Rachel: From the design side, every detail is thought about, and I will produce garments over and over again to get that right, like all the stitching details. The design has to be perfect when it goes to the producers.

Gauruv: To add to that point, we source quality manufacturers. We’re now paying three times the amount than enamore was with the original manufacturer, just to ensure the quality. At the moment, we’re barely breaking even with our wholesale stock, because we would rather pay more for the quality to ensure that our customer is going to receive well-made products.

What kinds of difficulties has enamore faced?
Gauruv: One of the difficulties is actually showing people the quality of the garments. A lot of other lingerie companies aren’t as consistent in quality, and so when stockists see our garments, they are very surprised with the quality.
There is also another issue we’ve had, which is the concept of how “eco” our garments are. About 95% of our garments are completely eco, but the problem is that not enough research is going on in eco underwear and eco lingerie. Rachel has been working very hard to incorporate new eco innovations into our garments, but we’re still receiving feedback and criticism for not being 100% eco, and I find that a little bit harsh.

What exactly is preventing you from making 100% eco garments?
Gauruv: The liner, for example, is often made from a synthetic material but there is no other eco material that has the same durability. There are some materials, like plant-based nylons and polyesters, but they have never been trialed before and Rachel is working very hard on looking at these other options. So making 100% eco garments is only about a year and a half away for us, and no one in lingerie has done that before.

What is enamore’s long-term aim?
Gauruv: Our long term aim is to offer an alternative in the market for ethical, eco and sustainable underwear. We also want to bring down our prices. At the moment we’re charging 25 pounds for a bra, which is very reasonable for an ethically produced garment, but we still feel that we should bring that down a little bit more as the line improves.

The post Interview: Lingerie Line Enamore Promotes Design Over Eco appeared first on EcoSalon.

We know the best way to green your wardrobe is to buy less and wash less. But what about your underwear?

Let’s be honest, few of us are willing to consider upcycled or secondhand solutions or ever stretching out time between undie washes as with other garments (shiver).

Take into consideration that underwear is a highly consumed product – every year, the average American man buys seven to 10 pairs, and the average American woman buys 10 to 14. Unfortunately, most of these are made from conventionally grown cotton.

Conventional cotton alone is responsible for one fourth of the worldwide insecticides and pesticides used globally, so it’s time to start mentioning our unmentionables! In fact, it’s ironic that with all the discussion of eco fabric, the items using the least of it are actually responsible for the most damage. Perhaps you’ve always known that your underwear is where you can make an impact (you naughty thing, you) but happily you won’t have to take the hardcore solution and go commando. A healthy handful of talented designers are finding sustainable solutions for intimates.

Inspired by a gap in the market, Tiffany Phipps designed T-Luxe Eco-lingerie, a slinky and silky line of organic underwear. “I try to live an eco-conscious lifestyle but when it comes to intimates, no one was doing anything in the eco department. I decided it was time to do a line of my own!” said the designer.

Another designer creating beautiful pieces is Manuka Sanyal of Manu lingerie. With bamboo, organic cotton, French lace and other eco-friendly fabrics she created “out of desperation, an underwear that made me feel sexy, yet covered.”

Utilizing an ecologically sound bamboo viscose, Sanyal created pieces that are stretchy, unbelievably soft, and enhanced with gorgeous hand-block prints designed by Manuka’s mom in the 1970s. They’re perfectly flattering and suit all body types.

With intimates, fabric selection is the key to the design. If there is any place to avoid a granola aesthetic, it’s underwear.

Jeff Denby, founder of the PACT organic underwear brand, which incorporates beautiful designs by Yves Behar, wanted PACT underwear to hold their shape and last a long time. “We founded PACT on the basic tenet that sustainability can be sexy and fun. It does not have to equate to a crunchy design aesthetic.”

Joining many underwear designers that are paying attention to their packaging, Denby recently enthused, “Each pair of underwear is packed in its own reusable fabric bag produced from off-cuts (excess fabric), so PACT eliminates tens of thousands of plastic bags. Finally, each order is shipped in bright green sleeves made from a special material that is 100 percent compostable.”

Just knowing your underwear is a little more eco than others is a secret green thrill you can keep to yourself.

Image: PACT organic

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