The best/worst of crazy, this week at EcoSalon.

Vivienne Westwood, oh-so-reserved lady of A-list fashion, is on a mission – and that mission is getting us to buy less clothes. Yep.

Fancy tucking to dinner underwater, or in pitch darkness? Check out our roundup of 10 of the strangest restaurants in the world (as if food isn’t complicated enough on its own).

It’s been another good year for sexism, as this bumper crop of dumb-as-a-stick comments about women demonstrates.

Google Street View is now taking in views of the Great Barrier Reef (while it still can).

Finally, the really crazy news this week is…we’re up for sale. And that means we need your help. Want us to remain your favorite voice of slightly-less-madness in a sea of madness? Spread the word!

The post The Friday 5: The World’s Gone Freaking Mad Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

The power of transformation, this week at EcoSalon.

This week, we loved seeing how…

• Kale (described by Organic Authority as “the new beef” because of its rich nutritional value) can be turned into crunchy, tasty kale chips.
• Heather Ross can turn print design into an entirely new philosophy on DIY creativity.
• Solar panels don’t have to be ugly, clunky eyesores, as these 5 entirely natural-looking designs demonstrate.
• A brown paper bag could be transformed into a $290 “fashion statement.“
• The staple elements of your favorite dishes can be creatively swapped-out with some of the unlikeliest ingredients  lurking at the back of your pantry.

The post The Friday 5: From This Into That Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

Since we didn’t have a Friday 5 last week, here’s a 2-week bumper edition!

Thanks to the advent of the DVD & Blu-ray, the world is littered with slithery piles of obsolete CDs. What to do? Artist Sean Avery takes, them, smashes them up – and makes them come alive.

Staying with animals, our relationship with marine critters is clearly broken – and here’s an exhibit that hammers it home.

Off on a classic American road trip? Here are 50 ways to break it.

It’s no great secret that some Republicans have a twisted view of the world when it comes to women’s rights – so how about an art movement that celebrates That Word That Nobody Should Say In Public?

Were you at our EcoSalon NYC Fashion Week launch party (which garnered a mention from CBS News)? If not, consider us broken up about it.

How do the two presidential candidates weigh up on the topic of energy? The devil is in the details.

Cinnamon makes bad coffee bearable and good coffee mindblowingly good. But as Aylin Erman shows, a closer look at this super-spice reveals a sweeping world of uses. (But really, the coffee thing? Do that first).

In the wake of New York Fashion Week, Amy DuFault stops to think about the troubling issue around the recent Pakistan garment factory fire, the biggest industrial accident in the country’s history.

Home improvement: here are some awesome women who truly know how to Do It Themselves.

And finally, if you’re used to budget hostel experiences in Europe where you try to avoid looking too closely at your surroundings… here are 7 accommodation options beautiful (and bizarre) enough to reward the most ardent scrutiny.

The post The Friday 10: The Broken / Fine-Detailed Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

Who said what, this week at EcoSalon.

“According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, there are 129,817 federally licensed firearms dealers in the United States. That’s more than three times the amount of grocery stores in the U.S. (36,569), meaning that simply factoring in the numbers, it’s easier to get a hold of a handgun than a bag of spinach.”

“100: Number of orgasms experienced per day by a New Jersey woman, who suffers from Persistent Genital Arousal Syndrome. The rare condition is apparently completely unrelated to one’s sex drive.”

“For a company that purports to support local farmers and small businesses, FreshDirect doesn’t seem to have much regard for the community in its own backyard.”

“Fear of what people will think of you. Fear of failing miserably and publicly. Fear of not being able to pull it off. I was petrified myself in 2008. I got a $200,000/year job offer two weeks before I was scheduled to move to Madrid, after I had quit my GE job and my family thought I was an IDIOT when I said no. I mean, they were really just disgusted with me. I said at the time, “I’ve been working in this field for eight years now. I made a lot of money. I saved. When do I earn permission to do what I want with my life? When does it end?”

“As we documented the day with black and white images, it looked so romantic and felt like a moment from a Willa Cather novel. But the reality behind the black and white is a sordid, ugly history. I can’t pretend that I didn’t think about those that did this work because they had no choice. But I live TODAY and I WANT to grow organic cotton in the state of Alabama TODAY.”

The post The Friday 5: Say What? (Again) Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

The most well-said stories of the week at EcoSalon.

Sometimes body language can say so much more than words. Here’s one artist who sculpts figures that speak volumes.

Sunday is Women’s Equality Day. It’s also International GoTopless Day – misguided and irrelevant?

SAMSARA- 5 years in the making, across 5 continents and 25 countries – is shaping up to be an incredible piece of film-making, and a statement about the unchanging cycle of life that underpins our conflicted, turbulent world. Watch the trailer and see an interview with its writer-producer here.

Contrary to promises by its President a year ago, Iran is now selectively barring women from University degree courses – and one Nobel laureate human rights campaigner is demanding the U.N. investigates.

Finally, we talk to Elizabeth L. Cline about her book Overdressed, an investigation into the appallingly high cost of cheap fashion. What’s the answer for the industry and the consumers supporting it?

The post The Friday 5: Statement-Making Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of the week at EcoSalon, hand-quoted for your perusing pleasure.

“What to make of news that the Saudis are building a women-only industrial city in the Eastern Province of Hofuf – with similar plans for four more cities elsewhere?”

“It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM.”

“With that, I vowed to concoct my own variety (and acquire an ice cream maker to get the consistency just right). So, here we are, nearly 730 days later.”

“The seaside city is still dotted with my French Canadian relatives who must still believe that religious statues bleed and cry when we sin and masturbate.”

“Hummus is grey and tan and dull; it is the color of hopelessness.”

The post The Friday 5: Say What? Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of the week at EcoSalon, hand-picked for one’s clicking pleasure.

To celebrate the Olympics taking place in jolly old England, we’re adding a touch of British refinement to our Friday 5 this week.

“I say, waiter! I’ll have your best whale steak & cod tongue,” says Sarah Menzies, pondering the ethics of eating a locally plentiful, internationally problematic source of food.

Darling, there are books, and there are books. Looking for a page-turner with an undeniable sense of style? We have 10 dashingly chic suggestions for you.

How many of you wouldn’t date a vegetarian? What? Really? Well – gosh.

Cycle Chic: it’s a problem, and Elly Blue is putting her foot down. Tally-ho!

Finally, as much as we’d like you to pop by for a cup of tea and a nice biscuit, that’s just not practical right now – so we’d like to offer you the next best thing. What say you?

The post The Friday 5: Terribly Refined Version appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of the week at EcoSalon, hand-picked for your clicking pleasure.

Fancy a challenge? We challenge you to…

Think about your bucket list – long and hard.

Read unusually – because it may open your heart and  mind and leave you changed.

Track down a copy of the UK box office hit The Age Of Stupid, in preparation for its creator’s latest work, Just Do It.

Keep your morning coffee away from spiders – it makes them go nuts.

Spice up your love-life by hitting the road (but hey, keep it legal).

The post The Friday 5: We Challenge You appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of the week at EcoSalon, hand-picked for your clicking pleasure.

Minimalism – “it’s about more than throwing $hit out”, and K. Emily Bond has some 25 delicious examples of the power of a sparsely but beautifully decorated room.

How woolen is modern wool, and what needs to be taken away to make it more authentically wooly? Leena Oijala investigates the modern boom in organic wool farming.

Get 30 people into a room, get them comfortable and let human nature take its course and what do you have? Our latest video update from the {r}evolution apparel’s sustainable trip shows and tells all.

At a loss for something to do but don’t have an extra cash to play with? Check out these fun things to do offline and online.

Finally, you know the phrase “it’s what’s on the inside that matters?” Here’s a radiographer turned fashion designer who has decided to take that literally, with stunning results.

The post The Friday 5: Stripped-Down Version appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of the week at EcoSalon, hand-picked for your clicking pleasure.

K. Emily Bond considers the “Fleshy, Sexy Architecture of Human Proportions” – and the main image of her post? Check these out. (Alas, only concept mock-ups – but wouldn’t they be awesome in real life?)

Britons love shoving their clothes into the backs of wardrobes, government watchdog Wrap said this week. How many? Oh, just $45 billion worth. So that’s where all the money has gone in the world.

What statements do our clothes make about us? When you’re in the public eye, it’s your business to know  – and here Rowena Ritchie takes a look at some very famous people who know exactly what to say with what they wear.

Let’s face it – Nutella has shaped the development of a lot of people. Ferrero would like us to believe that’s a really good thing, as their recent advert shows – but what really goes into a jar of Nutella? Jessica Marati digs in.

And finally, staying with food, Anna Brones considers how travel shapes the nature of the food you eat, and uses this as an argument to justify eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. We are totally behind her all the way.

The post The Friday 5: People-Shaped Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.