ColumnHow would you feel if the city you live in began promoting the benefits of certain types of birth control on city streets and buses? Well, the New York City Health Department recently launched a women’s health campaign that does just that.

The NYC Health Department launched a campaign about the wonders of the IUD, a popular, low maintenance birth control option. The Department is plastering catchy posters all over subways and bus shelters. And, no, these posters aren’t boring or silly — they actually are funny and pinpoint one of the big benefits of IUDs in three sentences:

“You spent the night in Brooklyn, but you left your birth control in Staten Island. Maybe the IUD is right for you.”

The campaign, called #MaybeTheIUD, makes a great point. Many women can easily forget to take their pills on time everyday. (And I know many of us have forgotten to take pills to overnights.) The IUD makes pill reminders and prescription refills a thing of the past. And the IUD has a few other positive features, too:

– It’s safe

– It’s a long-term birth control option (it is effective for three to 10 years, depending on the type)

– It can be removed anytime without affecting a woman’s fertility

This isn’t the first time the IUD has gotten public praise.

Since 2009, The Colorado Family Planning Initiative, a Colorado birth control program, has “provided teens and young women with more than 36,000 free or low-cost IUDs or other long-acting birth control devices,” KHN.org reports. (This program was about to end, but will go on for at least one more year thanks to $2 million in donations from private foundations, KHN.org reports.)

So, if the IUD is so effective, and at least two states have programs praising the perks of the IUD (IUDs can be quite expensive, which is one reason why the Colorado program is so great), why don’t more women have them? Probably because there’s a lot of bad information floating around about the safety of IUDs.

Luckily, the NYC campaign creators knew that. In fact, that’s one of the other main reasons the NYC campaign was launched.

Deborah Kaplan, the assistant for the Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health for the NYC Health Department, wants the campaign to provide accurate information to women about IUDs, and birth control in general, “if we can make this more open, we think more women will be comfortable going to their providers, asking about this and thinking about the different options they have,” Kaplan says.

We all can agree that information and having options make using birth control more effective. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned about the effectiveness of IUDs. And although birth control pills are mainstream, I know many women who have (at one point) not known that they had to take the pill at the same time every day for it to be effective… Yikes.

Although these campaigns are mainly touting the IUD’s “greatness,” the overall point here is that birth control ( all types: we’re talking period tracking, too) needs more positive press, and that news needs to be spread to more women. If women are armed with accurate information about birth control and given easy access to those options, they’re more likely to use it (and use it successfully).

So, whether you choose to use condoms, a diaphragm, birth control pills, or the pull out method, just make certain you have all the information you possibly can to ensure you remain child-free for as long as you’d like to.

One can only wonder how many unplanned pregnancies wouldn’t occur if more states had programs like the two mentioned above. Let’s hope that in the following years, more states in the U.S. will embrace these types of campaigns to help inform women.

Related on EcoSalon

The Happiest Vagina on the Block OR Why You Should MAYBE Get A Diva Cup

Not Your Typical College Checklist: Know a School’s Sexual Culture Before Saying Yes

Who Knew IUDs Could Make Great Earrings and Promote Family Planning?

Image of IUD from Shutterstock

The post American Cities, the IUD, and You: #NowWhat appeared first on EcoSalon.

A New York City judge has overturned a citywide Styrofoam ban.

After the Styrofoam ban went into effect on July 1, a number of local businesses sued the city, stating that the ban was political and would hurt their businesses. City restaurants and corner delis had until January 2016 to make the shift away from polystyrene (Styrofoam is a trade name).

But according to Justice Margaret Chan, who agreed with the business owners and overturned the Styrofoam ban, New Yorkers could be recycling the hazardous material, and saving the city nearly half a million dollars a year (even though polystyrene products only make up about 0.8 percent of city waste, or about 28,500 tons of the city’s trash going to landfills).

City officials aren’t happy with the ruling and plan to fight it. City Hall deputy press secretary Ishanee Parikh told the New York Post, “These [Styrofoam] products cause real environmental harm and we need to be able to prevent nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from entering our landfills, streets, and waterways. We are reviewing our options to keep the ban in effect.”

Polystyrene poses human health issues by leaching styrene monomers into the food or beverages it comes in contact with—especially if those foods or liquids are hot. Exposure to styrene monomers, particularly on the production side, has been linked to skin and eye irritation, depression, kidney problems, breathing and gastrointestinal issues, headache, and fatigue. According to CleanWater.org, Styrene residues are found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue.

For the planet, the issues are even more concerning. Americans throw away about 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year, according to EPA data. Polystyrene is resistant to photolysis, which means that it is very, very difficult to break down. Check back in on your collection of Styrofoam coffee cups in a few hundred years (after that presumably long time-travel trip), and you’ll be able to refresh yourself with a cup of coffee in the exact same foam cup from today/500 years ago.

That is, of course, if there’s any water left on earth to make coffee with—the lightness of polystyrene products are creating massive floating hazards, taking heavy tolls on waterways and on marine life. But, at least, in the meantime, you can still find Styrofoam aplenty floating around in Manhattan.

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

Related on EcoSalon

Banning Plastic Bags: It Works

The Hidden Costs of Fast Coffee

Cecil the Lion or Factory Farming: Which One Should We Care More About? Foodie Underground

Styrofoam cup image via Shutterstock

The post New York City’s Styrofoam Ban Dies (Unlike Actual Styrofoam) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Having just moved from a city that’s undergoing construction, I know how deterring road work, etc., can be. So, it’s awesome that this short film is striving to help save a beloved deli in New York City that’s been plagued by construction.

“#SAVEPUNJABIDELI” was created by Adeel Ahmed. In the film, Ahmed shows just how important the deli is to the neighborhood and local cabbies. Watch the moving film below and consider showing some support for the Deli online.

Related on EcoSalon

 Behind the Label: Piece X Piece’s Fashion Short Film

Video: Year of the River

The Power of Nature: The Coast, a short film

The post Keep NYC Local: You Have to Watch this Film on the LES Punjabi Deli [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

As Mayor Bill de Blasio works to ban Central Park’s horse drawn carriages, activists have unveiled a model of a vintage antique styled electric car to replace it. It’s called the Horseless ECarriage and it was commissioned by the animal rights group NY Class.

The cars were designed to present the “old world” character of horse drawn carriages sans animal cruelty. The mayor says that the horses are being treated inhumanely. According to NY Class, these 220 horses routinely work 9 hour days on hard pavement, pulling a vehicle that weighs hundreds of pounds. At the end of the day, the horses return to tiny stalls where they’re never afforded any pasture time. In the past two years, 18 accidents have involved horse drawn carriages.

Mayor De Blasio says that if the ban goes into effect, the horses will retire to sanctuaries. Currently, according to NY Class, upon retirement, the horses are transported to Pennsylvania where they are often sold for meat and then slaughtered in Mexico and Canada.

The new horseless carriage will mean that the industry stays afloat, just in a more modernized and less cruel manner. NY Class says that it has partnered with The Creative Workshop in Dania Beach, Florida to design and create fully electric cars that serve as ideal rides for tourists. The cars seat eight passengers and provide “stadium” 360 degree viewing of the city. The cars will travel 5 mph in the park but will be able to keep up to cars in the streets. They’re also all-weather vehicles that tourists will love just the same.

The horse drawn carriage ban has become a heated battle in the city. Actor Liam Neeson put a pro-carriage op-ed in The New York Times. He said, “an entire way of life and a historic industry are under threat. We should ask whether this is the New York we want to live in: a sanitized metropolis, where local color and grit are thrown out in favor of sleek futuristic buildings and careening self-driving cars?” After his op-ed, animal rights activists picketed in front of his New York City apartment. These new vintage electric cars may be just what’s needed to please both parties and say goodbye to horse drawn carriage cruelty.

Related on EcoSalon

Animal Cruelty Goes Out of Style: West Hollywood Bans Fur

Is Animal Testing for Cosmetics About to Disappear in the U.S.?

Animal Cruelty Experts Spark New Fashion Debate

Images: caruba,  NYCLASS

The post NYC’s Horse Drawn Carriage Cruelty Could be Replaced by ‘Vintage’ Electric Cars appeared first on EcoSalon.

This week’s Link Love edition kinda rocks. Hole is back together. You can lose weight on the Coachella Diet. What’s up with disposable chopsticks? NYC is way too gentrified and more…

WTF? It’s the Coachella Diet. For reals. [via Well+GoodNYC]

Does Girls Night Out include takeout Chinese food? Better bring your own chopsticks. [via Eat Drink Better]

You knew she’d never really go away. Courtney Love reunites Hole. [via Spin]

Hey look! It’s the NYC nobody remembers. [via Grist]

Is there really such a thing as conscious fashion? [via Mommy Greenest]

Related on EcoSalon

Link Love: Moby on Veganism + Quinoa Milk! + The Roos in Your Shoes + The Kimye Spoofs

Link Love: Ikea Saves Space + Secrets of Coffee Pods + Vaccines by the Numbers

Link Love: Are You a Closet Diet Coke Drinker? + How to Quit Your Job + CA Stepping Up for Orcas

Image via Spin

The post Link Love: the Coachella Diet + Courtney’s Bringing Hole Back + NYC’s Sad Gentrification appeared first on EcoSalon.

Central Park is a magical place—a truly enchanted forest in the middle of New York City. But its beauty is marred by an age-old practice that may soon be on its way out: horse-drawn carriages.

Horse-drawn carriages are of another time—one many animal rights activists would like us to forget for good. And incoming mayor Bill de Blasio may remove this blemish from the city once and for all, liberating the 216 horses who work 9 hours a day, 49 weeks out of the year carting people around the park.

During the 2013 mayoral campaign, de Blasio promised to end the city’s reign of horse-drawn carriages on his first day in office. De Blasion said that New York, “the biggest and densest urban area in North America” is “not a place for horses.” He plans to replace the animals with electric cars designed to look “old-timey” instead. It’s a big promise that has activists breathing a sigh of relief. And surely a few horses are excited about it, too. “It’s obvious. There are better alternatives,” said de Blasio.

To further his commitment, the Mayor-elect recently headlined a fundraiser for the anti-horse carriage group NYCLASS, and again, de Blasio reiterated his commitment to ban the carriages once he’s in office: “I’m honored to be a part of your movement,” said de Blasio, according to Politicker. “I believe it’s time to end horse carriages in New York City.”

Technically, it’s a mode of transportation. We’ve equated horses with human transport for eons. But before it’s a way to travel, riding horses is exerting dominion over an animal—one who would surely not choose to carry humans and carriages if given the option. We break horses. We tame and train them to accept passengers. And then, when they no longer put up a fight because they know it’s a losing battle, we say they like it. They like us.

And, maybe, some of them do.

Maybe the free food and water make up for the work of taking humans for rides. And even though the horse-drawn carriage has been a longstanding part of human history, I can’t help but equate it with what’s happening at SeaWorld, after the film “Blackfish” has brought to light the suffering of orcas, namely Tilikum, the giant captive male orca who has been linked with the deaths of three people.

SeaWorld’s whales are held captive in tanks. It doesn’t take a genius to discern that the tanks are significantly smaller than the open ocean. And New York City’s horses, for the most part, live in cramped stables on the city’s west side—far from anything they’d ever imagine as ideal. They spend most of their time there except for the 9-hours a day that they’re forced to endure the chaos of Manhattan’s noisy streets and the many (mainly) tourists who pay for the rides.

“Blackfish” has been so successful in bringing the issue of captive orcas to light that musicians including Willie Nelson and Trisha Yearwood recently cancelled plans to perform at SeaWorld. Pixar changed the ending of the forthcoming film “Finding Dory” after seeing “Blackfish.” There’s a good chance we’ll see the organization transition—and fast—to another platform for promoting marine life without the use of captive whales. All thanks to one film.

De Blasio will surely be remembered for many things after serving as mayor of New York City. But setting the tone for a new era of respect for animals in Manhattan may be what lasts the longest. Looking back a century from now, he’ll be known as the mayor who spoke up for horses. Just one more friend to the animals. One more person who saw consciousness not defined as a human-only trait, but as inherent to all species.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Related on EcoSalon

Vegan Fashion 101: Fur Is So Not Vegan (Take Note, Beyoncé)
The Black Rhinoceros: My Time with an Extinct Animal
Breeding Endangered Species: Should We be Giving Pandas Viagra?

Image: Eliya

The post Horse-Drawn Carriages Trotting Out of NYC (Along with Speciesism) appeared first on EcoSalon.

New York City has a big problem with trash, especially food waste. An innovative new program aims to up composting rates by allowing families to exchange food waste for locally grown produce.

As the most populous city in America, it’s no surprise that New York City produces a lot of trash. Just walk down any street in Manhattan after dark, and you’ll see much of it, stacked in miniature mountains up and down the sidewalk. Of the 12,000 tons of trash produced every day in the Big Apple, more than 35 percent is organic waste–vegetable peelings, eggshells, and other once-edible food that’s perfect for composting.

The problem is, almost no one in NYC composts. Although the city is launching a composting program this fall, it will only be voluntary. And if New York’s abysmal recycling rates are any indication, the vast majority will ignore it.

The key to getting people to compost (or any environmentally-responsible behavior for that matter) is providing the right incentive. When around 46 percent of a population is living near the poverty line, however, it better be a pretty darn good incentive. For those struggling to feed their families, what happens to an orange peel is not high on the priority list.

Luke Keller and Aly Blenkin, two students at Parson’s School of Deisgn, may have found the perfect way to address both the food waste and food poverty issuesin New York. The pair recently founded Hello Compost, a service that will work with Project EATS (a New York-based nonprofit focused on urban agriculture) to allow low-income families to trade their food scraps for locally-grown fresh food.

Here’s how it would work: Families put food waste into freezable, odor-blocking collection bags. The bags are designed by local students, made from canvas and feature bright colors. The bags are then delivered to Project EATS, where they are weighed and assigned a value that translates into credits for fresh produce, grown by local farmers. “Project EATS uses an iPad app to track progress–and appeal to the human drive to compete, similar to the gaming psychology that makes the Nike FuelBand so successful.”

The idea is brilliant in its simplicity. There’s no outdoor composter to build or stinky indoor compost to content with. The rewards are instantaneous and meet a real need for many New York City families. Once engaged, it’s hard to see why New Yorker’s wouldn’t want to trade their trash for edible treasure, but it’s getting them engaged that will be the challenge.

“We need to re-imagine the role of food waste from being a smelly, unattractive side effect of eating to an attractive resource for residents to positively impact their community and to help put fresh food on the table,” Blenkin told Fast Co. Design.

Pending approval from the New York City Housing Authority, Project EATS will launch the Hello Compost service this fall. Find out how you can participate or support the project by liking their Facebook page.

Related Reading:

Food Waste: The Average American Throws Out Every Other Piece Of Food

Frozen Assets: 10 Ways To Stop Wasting Fridge Food

Images: Hello Compost/Project EATS & Fast Co. Design

The post Hello Compost Turns Food Waste Into Fresh Food For NYC Families appeared first on EcoSalon.

C.L.A.S.S. founder Giusy Bettoni is educating the next generation of sustainable designers and entrepreneurs this week in NYC with a packed program that includes workshops on the latest in sustainable fabrics and natural dyes, to an eco-scavenger hunt through New York City’s garment district.

Fashion Institute of Technology is hosting Connecting the Dots, a forward-thinking three-day symposium for business owners, industry workers and students to learn about the positive impacts of taking a more sustainable design approach to the fashion, beauty, and health industries.

Beginning Wednesday, July 10, the event includes 

workshops, demonstrations, panels, an eco-fashion show, and a sustainable fashion tour around Manhattan. “I am very excited that we are able to offer 3 days of events around sustainable fashion, health and beauty,” said Christine Helm, Director of the Enterprise Center at FIT, “We are building on the excitement, exchange of ideas and knowledge that we started with last year’s event.”

In addition to running a textile, fashion, home and design business, Bettoni (left) is also the Green Carpet Challenge’s (founded by Livia Firth, right) go-to woman. (Image: FIT )

Milan-based Giusy Bettoni, cofounder of C.L.A.S.S., an international eco-platform that promotes environmentally friendly products and Livia Firth’s co-collaborator on the Green Carpet Challenge, will provide the keynote address entitled, “Welcome to the Third Dimension, Where Design and Innovation Meet Responsibility.”

We caught up with Bettoni to learn more about sustainable design:

Rowena Ritchie: What do you want people to know about the fashion, home and design products they currently buy? 

Giusy Bettoni: I believe it would be absolutely great for them to discover the majority of products they desire are not just performing from a design and functional perspective, but also from an environmental level which is incredibly low.

RR: Can you tell us about what led you to set up C.L.A.S.S. and how your organization creates more environmentally friendly products for the fashion, home and design industries? 

GB: I have a 30 year-long background in raw materials, fibers, yarns and fabrics. My goal was to turn them into something beautiful, precious, innovative and most importantly, eco-friendly. I founded C.L.A.S.S. to concretely prove that these new horizons of sustainable fashion textiles are not just possible, but actually represent a new step in the value chain. We have now created  “ecolibraries“ where brands and designers can source new, high-tech and responsible materials coming from natural, organic, recycled and renewable resources—each fabric meets our criteria of design, innovation and responsible certification.

The missing ingredient in today’s design world is products that are designed responsibly. There’s real added value and competitive market advantage available to us by promoting these qualities to the consumers; that’s the other dimension I’ll be discussing at the symposium.

RR: Why are educational events like FIT’s symposium so important?

GB: Sharing information and experiences is key to this new way of working with textiles. Education is so important. It’s what C.L.A.S.S. is really all about. We are really pleased and honored to be invited by FIT to be part of this symposium, and will do our best to disseminate what we have learned in the last years. I truly believe sharing and networking is the key to this movement’s success.

RR: Do you think there is a difference in the way eco-friendly fashion is received by consumers in Europe versus the U.S?

GB: Each country has his own lifestyle and culture, but I have to admit that the perception of eco-friendly fashion is quite the same everywhere and the perception is not as good, unfortunately. That is why a symposium like this one is so vital.  We need to show that responsible innovation in fashion creates a competitive business advantage, and not just a nice story.

RR: Tell us about your latest project with Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge?

GB: The Green Carpet Challenge is a fantastic exercise, and we are always working at something special… I cannot go into detail now as it is early days, but I can say we are preparing something amazing for the next London Fashion Week!

 To learn more about Connecting the Dots: A Sustainable Fashion, Health and Beauty Symposium or to register for the event, click here, or call (212) 217-4000. 



Top Image: courtesy C.L.A.S.S.

The post Sustainable Design Education: FIT’s Connecting The Dots Symposium and Insights from Giusy Bettoni appeared first on EcoSalon.

High-end dining just got a lot higher.

Just when you think going out to eat is losing its magic, these 10 oddly themed restaurants push the envelope and really get you your money’s worth. For some of them, food is secondary to the ambiance, or not even part of the picture. For others, the tastes of the menu items are piqued by the complementary atmosphere. Whatever you’re into – cats, ninjas, or handcuffs – a few of these restaurants are sure to make it to your bucket list.

Yellow Treehouse Café, New Zealand

The Yellow Treehouse offers a unique setting that channels the excitement of your tree-climbing days. Patrons of the restaurant dine in an illuminated pod-shaped structure perched 10-meters high in a Redwood tree. The pod can hold 30 guests at one time. As for the food, it stays grounded – all dishes are fresh, seasonal, and adapt to clients’ needs.

Cabbages & Condoms, Bangkok

As its namesake suggests, the food at Cabbages & Condoms is “guaranteed not to cause pregnancy.” The restaurant was created to support the Population and Community Development Association, an organization that provides sex/AIDS education and awareness. The garden restaurant is an introduction to Thai food – in only the safest way possible – and instead of mint favors on your way out, you’re given a box of condoms.

Calico Cat Café, Tokyo

Imagine going to a café that only serves cat food, but there’s a chance that it’s too crowded to get a seat. The Calico Cat Café in Tokyo is just that popular. The café caters to your love for coddling and feeding cats sans the commitment. Patrons are asked to sanitize their hands and remove their shoes upon entering and to abide by set rules: do not hold or stroke a cat if it resists you, do not wake a napping cat, do not hold cats with scarves around their necks (they are too young), and do not bring cat nip or cat food to the café. For $9 per adorable hour, the café is a bargain. Only, you’ll leave hungry.

Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Maldives

The magical Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is the first of its kind in the world. The restaurant is located 5 meters (16 feet) under water off the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island and serves contemporary Asian-inspired European cuisine. The restaurant is encased in R-Cast acrylic and can host 14 people at one time, offering a 270° panoramic underwater view.

Unsicht-Bar, Cologne and Berlin

Heighten your other senses by taking away one very important one: sight. The Unsicht-Bar, with locations in Cologne and Berlin in Germany, uses the dark to strip patrons of their vision and take them on a culinary adventure that requires they focus more on taste, temperature, texture and smell. All light is forbidden, including that coming from watches and cellphones. The restaurant’s waiters are also either blind or visually impaired. The food, which is described enigmatically to leave an element of surprise, is served in a context-appropriate manner, avoiding a confusion of flavors or a potential mess. The flavors are simple, but profound in that they are enjoyed in an entirely new way – without visual prejudgment.

Ninja New York, New York City

Japanese cuisine just got more interesting. At Ninja New York, diners are wowed, and often at the edge of their seats, with ninjas jumping around, pop rocks on sushi rolls, smoke machine action, magicians, and an overall festive and upbeat atmosphere. The restaurant’s décor aspires to mimic a ninja village from the feudal days, providing patrons with a sense of what it was like back when.

Chill Out, Dubai

As if Dubai has not enough marvels as is, the city offers a unique way to, well, chill out. Chill Out is an architecturally fascinating refrigerator lounge with special lighting and design works that highlight the innovativeness of the frozen structures. Before entering the bar, Patrons are offered thermal clothing – parka, shoes, and gloves – and are then led to the Eskimo oasis. A complimentary mocktail or hot chocolate welcomes you.

Devil Island Prison Restaurant, China

This restaurant was initially conceptualized to scare people from a life of crime. Upon entering this restaurant, patrons are allocated a number, photographed, fingerprinted, and optionally handcuffed. The interior of the restaurant is designed after a prison, with sliding jail doors, metal floors, and rusty iron bars. Patrons dine in a prison cell and are served by waiters dressed in black-and-white striped inmate uniforms. Food includes fried, coffin-shaped bread.

Dinner In The Sky, Worldwide

Suspended 50-meters high by a crane, diners at Dinner in the Sky can host an event practically anywhere. The table is equipped with 22 seats, one chef, one waiter, and one entertainer. Dinner in the Sky operates in more than 15 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South Africa. The event can be hosted for up to 8 hours, with the time fragmented – people can come and go at whatever interval of time. As for a bathroom break, have no fear, the crane will lower for relief without interrupting the experience for more than a few minutes.

Marton Theme Restaurant, Taiwan

Originally serving chocolate ice cream in toilet-shaped containers, Marton Theme Restaurant has certainly gained quite the fanfare over the years. There are now Marton restaurants across Taiwan and the company has recently changed the name of its restaurants to “Modern Toilet Restaurant,” all of which offer a full menu that can be enjoyed whilst sitting atop a toilet.

Images: Jeremiah Ro, Meredith P., Carsten Lorenzten, Karendotcom127, Wonder Bus Tours Dubai, Smart Travelers

The post 10 of the Strangest Restaurants From Around The World appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnConscious life, hear me roar.

I have just returned back home from running around Manhattan and New York Fashion Week. As you might imagine, an intense week full of long legged runway models, moody designer presentations, and the deep bass beats of stylish music gives New York City the air of theater, sex, and retail desire. It’s also a week-long voyeuristic sneak peak at what we all hope to be wearing next spring and summer when emerging from our winter cocoons.

Fashion is sexy. It serves as both a transformative power pill and a retreat for the world-weary. It’s a place we can go to to become stronger by the very clothes we wear and in lieu of the fact that our inner strength isn’t enough. Power is sexy. If you think I am wrong, point me to the runway show you’ve been to recently that shows women hunched over in house dresses looking down at the ground from nerves.

Fashion is all about power and I couldn’t help thinking about it this past week. There were even times when photographing shows I put the camera down a little in order to see the model walking at me with my own eyes instead of through a lens. Some of them reeked of this confidence so much that I laughed out loud. It’s their job to trick us into believing that a certain look is all we need to get by in this world. It is their job to act as a visual representation of a designer’s ideal, a paper doll with folded tabs that takes off and puts on outfits that when our own, will help in terms of better jobs, business deals, romance and getting the job done.

While I am lucky to be covering sustainable fashion 99% of the time, where designer’s “About Us” pages tout social responsibility, closed loop technologies and organically grown fabrics, most of the fashion industry is just not there. Nor does it really care to be.

Case in point, waking to a story this morning on the Pakistan garment factory fire that has left (as of the writing of this column) 289 dead. In this, the biggest industrial accident in the country’s history, we are left to scratch our heads and wonder how this could be or maybe we don’t want to look at it too closely at the risk that it will tell us something about ourselves.

The “Inspection of industrial units by the provincial labor department was mandatory under the rules until 1997 when it was banned after demands by influential industrialists in the Sindh and Punjab provinces,” Shujah-ud-Din, a senior research associate at the Pakistan Institute of Labour, Education and Research, told Bloomberg by phone from Karachi. Factory accidents also claimed 419 lives in 2008.

The Karachi garment factory itself had locked fire exits, barred windows and there wasn’t a sprinkler in site. A single staircase connecting four floors became kindling for a boiler in the factory that burst into flames, engulfing all floors that were connected to it. Workers chopped away at the bars with tools to jump from 4th story windows – pregnant women, old men, nephews, aunts. People trying to make a living so that society could wear something new.

I recently interviewed Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. Cline told me, “To our credit, it took consumers several decades to be convinced that they no longer wanted to own beautifully made clothing and to make them forget that $20 does not in any way buy a well-crafted garment.”

In a fast fashion crazed society, where we want more, faster, cheaper, we will always have stories like this in the headlines. Hard-working people who will accept being modern day slaves to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

You will read all the headlines on this factory fire story and it will stay with you for a bit, until you need a new shirt, a pair of boots or a party dress. You might even consider the tragedy when you walk through the front doors of your favorite fast fashion chain. But you probably won’t be able to stop yourself once you hear the deep bass beat from the well-positioned speakers, the beads and bold colors merchandised like candy, the other women around you, arms laden with pretty dresses at $19.99, and how could you?

You were conditioned to shop this way. But let me tell you something, I think you can start walking past these stores, in fact, I think you can stay out of the mall entirely. I think you can plan ahead and look for the right designers who don’t have factories like this – who pay their workers fairly, who let them work from home who don’t treat them like animals.

People often tell me I can shop responsibly because I know so many designers, I just “know how to do it.”

But knowing how to “do it,” and realizing one has a responsibility to “do it,” are two completely different things. One requires making a call to the eco-boutique or hitting the local consignment shop and the other? Well, that requires lowering the camera and looking at life with a real-life lens.

It requires considering not just yourself, but the lives of many others.

Between the Lines is a weekly column by EcoSalon’s Editor-in-Chief on navigating the sometimes-sharp, sometimes-blurred lines of conscious life and culture between city and country, between inner worlds and outer.

The post Between the Lines: From NYFW to the Garment Factories of Pakistan appeared first on EcoSalon.