Ever thought you couldn’t forage for tasty, edible weeds because you live in a city? Well, thanks to this video from Inhabitat, you can learn how to forage where ever you reside… even if your backyard is in one of the largest cities in the word.

In the video below, foraging expert Wildman Steve Brill walks through Central Park in New York City and picks out 7 common weeds that can be eaten.

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West Elm, at the moment, will not find many fans in Brooklyn thanks to its ‘Made in Brooklyn’ snafu. 

Under fire for its “Made in Brooklyn” line of products, the retailer was recently outed for misleading consumers with products that, in reality, are not produced in Brooklyn. One item, West Elm’s “Made in Brooklyn Market Beanie,” is actually made in China.

This ambiguous labeling, which was revealed by The Brooklyn Paper earlier this week, carries significant repercussions for artisans and purveyors who specifically choose to conduct business in Brooklyn. Love it or hate it, Brooklyn is officially the it-girl of the five boroughs. It’s a proud moment for those who call it home and have built an enterprise on the foundation of its local economy, many of whom perceive West Elm’s “Made in Brooklyn” line as both a financial and personal blow. Such vendors are said to have largely influenced the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Brooklyn-Made certification program.

“As baseline criteria,” read’s the program’s Web site, “only legal businesses headquartered in Brooklyn making one or more physical products will be considered.”

West Elm, which has since removed the China-made beanie from its online store, is attempting to discreetly sidestep the impact of its “Made in Brooklyn” line on businesses that have actually met Brooklyn-Made’s certification requirements. Rather, the language is described by a company spokesperson as “a fun nod to the potential contents” of products like its beer growler.

The Williams-Sonoma-owned franchise is hardly the first of its kind. With Brooklyn having earned such an esteemed reputation in recent years, dozens of brands are rushing to put its name on various items of clothing. Last November, the New York Observer ran a piece on the desperation among big-name companies to be hip enough to fit in with the borough. Such outlets “can’t just waltz into a neighborhood anymore, least of all a Brooklyn neighborhood,” writes Kim Velsy. “No, now you must be yourself but also ‘Brooklyn.’”

The prevalence of evasive product-naming and Brooklyn-branding was a hot topic among panelists at the recent Social Retail Summit in the borough’s DUMBO neighborhood.

“I know for a fact that it’s very widespread,” says Gaia DiLoreto, founder of By Brooklyn, a Cobble Hill boutique strictly carrying products from local producers. “I’m always challenged with how to confront it. My mission is to promote and protect the brands…that I’m working with.”

DiLoreto, who advised the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in developing Brooklyn-Made, cites the example of the Brooklyn Candle Company, whose candles, she says, are actually made in China.

The commonality of this practice raises the broader question of corporate transparency. Arnon Rosan, co-founder and CEO of referral platform LocalMaven, points to Chipotle’s recent elimination of pork products from the menu, due to the inhumane treatment of pigs by some of its vendors. These stories, he says, are “a lesson to all retailers.”

Rosan isn’t the only one who sees positive outcomes from West Elm’s actions. Its public nature, adds DiLoreto, will “make people think twice” before buying something mistakenly identified as local.

Consumers are far from powerless in these situations and can follow some general guidelines to ensure that their purchases are, in fact, local.

1. Check the label. In the case of West Elm’s “Made in Brooklyn Market Beanie,” all it took was a re-examination of the product’s tags.

2. Do five minutes of research. The Brooklyn-Made program follows in the footsteps of such similar efforts of SF Made and Portland Made. A quick visit to the Web sites provides a listing of the businesses that have met each program’s certification requirements.

3. Talk to retailers. Ultimately, business owners and managers are the most knowledgeable when it comes to product sources. Brooke Richman, founder and CEO of Coop & Spree, makes a point to know her vendors. “I’ve had the opportunity to actually go to the factory and see where everything is physically made,” she says. “I know that the integrity is there.”

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Image: Jeremy Keith

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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

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With 20,000 square feet of space and all the equipment emerging fashion designers need to produce their lines, Manufacture New York will help bring fashion production back to the U.S.

It is probably safe to say that most designers would prefer to produce their pieces close to where they live and work. While the need to keep costs and prices down are often given as a reason why some choose to manufacture overseas, access may be the real issue. The small, dedicated team behind Manufacture New York are trying to change that.

Envisioned as a fashion incubator and factory hybrid, Manufacture New York aims to provide independent designers with the resources and skills they need in order to streamline their production process and transform local manufacturing into the most affordable, innovative option available.

The new facilities, located in Brooklyn’s Industry City offers more than 20,000 square feet of space and will include a fully-equipped sampling room, manufacturing facilities, classroom space, private studios for rent and a state-of-the art computer lab complete with the industry’s latest software for design and production. Some of these spaces will be open to the public, and there will also be a dedicated area for experimentation with environmentally-friendly fabric washes, dyeing, finishes and special textile applications.

To fund this new venture, Manufacture New York is currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The funds raised will go towards three necessary components of the organization: location, equipment and, most importantly, new jobs.

“In the last two decades, the United States has lost 80 percent of its apparel manufacturing jobs, and the decline of the Garment District in NYC is a visible sign of these crippling losses,” says Manufacture New York Founder and CEO Bob Bland. “There isn’t enough support available for emerging designers in the fashion industry currently. We need to join together as a community, engage the public and use our collective voice to resurrect apparel manufacturing for a new generation. Demand for affordable, consistent local production is high, and yet we continue to lose jobs to overseas factories that are facing worker unrest and a desire for higher wages themselves.”

Bland is leveraging a decade of practical experience as a designer, for her own label BrooklynRoyalty, as well as brands like Marc by Marc Jacobs, Triple Five Soul, Rugby by Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Banana Republic. She is joined by a dynamic team of organizers, including Tara St. James, designer of Study NY and 2011 Ecco Domani winner, as well as a growing community of more than 60 apparel and accessory designers.

Help make this a reality by lending your support to the campaign, which runs through March 31st. Awesome perks include eco-conscious, locally-made goods, tickets to the VIP wrap party, goodie bags, a custom-tailored dress or suit, a two-month membership to Manufacture New York, and tickets to a NYFW runway show.

All images courtesy of Manufacture New York

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A new infographic details municipal efforts to make cities more environmentally friendly.

With the definition of “green” still fuzzy when it comes to products, it’s even more difficult to measure the efforts of cities attempting to decrease their carbon footprint. What are water consumption policies like? How many cars on the road? What types of recycling programs and waste reduction efforts are underway? Are there any green building or alternative energy incentives?

HouseTrip set out to find out and measure the efforts of the world’s top “green” cities. Motivation for the project came from wanting to help draw attention to the importance of cutting global pollution generated by cities. With more than half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, cities are beginning to become leaders in environmentally responsible living. Data collected from the Siemens Green Cities Index and other sources provided the information to develop the infographic.

The inforgraphic shows which of these most progressive cities are doing what in the world of green: London, New York, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm. So what are these cities up to? Just 44 percent of New Yorkers own a car, for example. Compared with 95 percent of the rest of Americans, that’s a pretty huge difference. Head over to Amsterdam and you’ll see more bikes than people—one bike for every 0.73 people in fact. Copenhagen is among the cities embracing the benefits of green roofs, with legislation requiring green rooftops on all new buildings, which will add 5,000 square meters of vegetation. Vancouver and Copenhagen recycle 55 percent of all their waste. Vancouver generates 90 percent of its energy from renewable resources; Stockholm is at 60 percent.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Images: HouseTrip

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VideoA visual match-up of two cities.

First a collection of prints and then a big, Paris vs. New York now goes to video. Any francophile or lover of the Big Apple will appreciate the charm and simplicity of the differences between the two global metropolises captured in this video..

Paris vs New York from TonyMiotto on Vimeo.

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With Spring/Summer 2013, Samantha Pleet merges old with new to encapsulate the modern women.

In our rapid-paced, progressive world, there’s beauty to be had in traversing backwards in time and place. With Samantha Pleet’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection all made in New York City, the designer took us there with her “Sands of Time” presentation.

For Pleet, inspiration came from Babylon and Mesopotamia, an era she fell in love with while pouring over books.

“Instead of fashion books, I read about history,” Pleet tells us.

It’s this passion for exploration of other eras that you can see in Pleet’s personal favorite, the Ishtar silk and viscose dress (below), fashioned with a print extracted from Biblical mythology.  Other pieces like the Scout dress (below), from washed silk, are true to Pleet’s Brooklyn-aesthetic while still telling a bygone story.

Designer Samantha Pleet (left) models her favorite piece, the Ishta dress.

While the clothing is strong on its own, Pleet’s debut into the world of shoes adds an aesthetic street charm to her already hip “it girl” vibe. In partnership with Wolverine, a Michigan based, American boot company, Pleet created a colorful collection of vintage-inspired ankle boots and sandals (below).

One of Pleet’s greatest gifts comes through ever more clearly in this upcoming season—merging the old with the new, the vintage with the modern, for a look that’s at once relevant while remaining timeless. She gives her wearer a taste of something really raw and reminiscent of the beginning—the “roots of civilization,” as Pleet calls it.

While simple in silhouette and fabrics—employing handwashed silks and entirely handwoven khadi cotton (from Prakriti Aur Purush)—there’s nothing overly nostalgic about it. In fact, when we dig deeper to discover what really brought this collection to life, she laughs and declares, “Indiana Jones.” One part explorer, one part heroine, it just may be that Pleet really has captured the essence of the modern women.

More looks we love:

Images: Jennifer Barckley

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The picNYC table is your own in-house urban greenspace. Eat, drink, play mini-lawn games: it’s the ultimate multi-use item.

Modern living means few city dwellers are lucky enough to have their own garden with a lawn. So this table, the wittily named picNYC, offers the opportunity for urban gardening – and pastoral dining – without the bugs. Avoid the nagging guilt of failing to mow the lawn; a pair of shears should do the trick. It’s also the perfect finishing touch to haute-tech office spaces.

The table is made from high-end lightweight aluminum and comes installed with grass for deliveries within the NYC area; it costs just shy of $6,000. Okay, those leaves of grass don’t come cheap. Consider it an investment in art, your well-being, horizontal gardening and, above all else, nature.

Photo: Voos Furniture

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VideoThe city that never sleeps.

There’s no place quite like New York City.

The Manhattan Project HD1080P from Cameron Michael on Vimeo.

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A film about entrepreneurial solutions to social issues.

The statistics surrounding the state of public health in the United States are overwhelming. Today, 72.5 million Americans are obese, resulting in $146 billion dollars per year in obesity-related costs. That number is estimated to jump to $343 billion by 2020.

This is how the documentary film Apple Pushers begins, with a strident reminder of the food and health crisis we’re currently in. We live in a country where the disparity between communities that have access to fresh food and those that don’t is shocking. In fact, 23.5 million Americans don’t have a supermarket within one mile of their home, putting these Americans in the heart of food deserts, and while convenience stores and fast food may abound, getting healthy and affordable food is difficult and inconvenient.

In response to food deserts in New York City, in 2008 the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund gave a $1.5 million grant to launch the Green Carts initiative, creating 1,000 permits for green carts, mobile food carts that sell raw fruits and vegetables. The grant funded micro-loans and technical assistance for Green Cart operators to ensure that low-income communities would have the access to healthy food they so desperately need.

The story of the Green Carts initiative and its positive effects is the subject of documentary film, Apple Pushers, screening online April 22-30 as a part of Whole Foods’ online documentary film festival Do Something Reel, featuring a variety of documentaries on food and environmental issues.

First approached by Laurie Tisch, filmmaker Mary Mazzio launched herself into telling the story of four immigrants positively impacted by the initiative, all starting their own mobile food cart businesses, and the effects that this kind of philanthropic effort can have. In the process, she was immersed in the world of food politics and the importance of access as it relates to healthier communities.

“When these low income residents can use their food stamp cards, demand skyrockets, whether it’s farmers markets or pushcarts… [it]has to be a price point that makes sense. Low income communities want access to food too,” says Mazzio.

Providing access to good food might seem like a no-brainer, but watch the film and you soon learn that getting Green Carts launched was not a path without obstacles. A contentious issue when it came to City Council, politicians were concerned about the effects on local business that such a model would have, contending that mobile food carts would pull consumers away from local establishments. In the film, we see the heated debate that ensues. “I waded through all the 100s of pages of testimony… what was really interesting was, yet another universal concept, whether you have a 2×4 cart or you’re Walmart, people go ballistic because it means change,” says Mazzio.

But the launching of a program that would support mobile food carts wasn’t just an economic question. “What did surprise me were some of the arguments, like ‘those people don’t eat fruits and vegetables.’ I think that is a misguided notion of how you look at the issue. That’s like saying ‘oh, those people don’t have checking accounts’ Well guess what, where are the banks? It’s an issue of red line food districts,” says Mazzio.

Put good food into these places and people will buy it. “Low income communities want access to food, too,” says Mazzio. (That this should even be a matter of debate says much about our current cultural climate.) When we’re talking about public health and eating habits, we have to start with infrastructure and equality.

And the stakes are high. As Mazzio points out, obesity alone “is a problem that could bankrupt our children if we don’t keep it in check. It’s going to overshadow almost every other problem we have financially. Really? This is a problem we can fix.”

And that’s where the idea of mobile markets comes into play. From mobile grocery stores in Nashville to a mobile supermarket in New Mexico to a $25,000 grant to fund a mobile farmers markets in Houston, initiatives similar to Green Carts are popping up around the country, providing a grassroots solution to an overwhelming problem. Beyond providing access to good food, as they are “rooted in micro entrepreneurship” as Mazzio says, these programs are also economically empowering.

For Mazzio, if we’re going to solve the obesity crisis we need more programs like this. Not just government subsidies, but the kind of micro loans and programs that bring long lasting returns. Ultimately, programs like Green Carts are “entrepreneurial solutions to social issues,” says Mazzio. Because when it comes to food, we all need to eat, and we all deserve the access to the food that is good for us.

“This is basic human rights. That’s kind of overstating it, but this is food justice,” says Mazzio.

“The Apple Pushers” theatrical trailer from Paul Gattuso on Vimeo.

Do Something Reel festival opens April 22, with a live screening of “The Apple Pushers,” followed by a panel discussion with the film’s writer and director, Mary Mazzio; executive producer, Laurie Tisch; and celebrity chef, food policy advocate and founder of Wholesome Wave, Michel Nischan. The event will take place at Alamo Drafthouse’s Slaughter Lane Theater in Whole Foods Market’s hometown of Austin. Additionally, theaters in Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and San Francisco will host simultaneous screenings and will stream the panel discussion. For more information click here. To learn more about Apple Pushers visit the film’s website. 

Image: Apple Pushers

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