Surprise! No, it’s not your birthday, but it is your lucky day because we’ve got the lowdown on a handful of the latest time-saving apps to turn your hectic life into a well-oiled machine.

Time is precious, and nowadays it seems like we have less and less of it to spare. Fortunately, though, we’ve rounded up several time-saving apps that will help you live life more efficiently, therefore allowing you to hang on to one of your most precious resources. While it’s easy for us to feel overloaded by the use of technology–and it may seem counterintuitive for us to suggest using your smartphone more often–but rest assured that these programs are designed to help, not hinder, your life.

Whether you’re a busy mom, single professional, small business owner, or something else entirely, we’re confident that you’ll be able to glean something from one of these apps. So without keeping you any longer, because this is all about saving time (duh), let’s get this show on the road.

1. Waze

I can’t think of anyone who’s ever been driving down an open road just wishing they were sitting in rush hour traffic. And while the GPS and other map applications have been around for some time now, Waze is a great alternative option that’s special because it offers its users real time directions that will take you down the nearest side streets and back roads diverting you away from the bumper to bumper traffic and into the fast lane.

2. Shyp

Ever been to the post office and felt like your head would explode from impatience? Okay, maybe that’s a little melodramatic, but waiting in line is no joke, especially during the holidays. Enter Shyp, the handy app that lets you snap a pic of your parcel, get an estimate, and then just like that someone magically shows up to your door to pick up your stuff. As if it couldn’t get any better, this app also lets you compare prices among carriers like FedEx, UPS, and USPS, which includes the cost of packaging.

3. Doctor on Demand

For when you can’t WebMD your symptoms, but you’re not exactly at death’s door, Doctor on Demand is a revolutionary new app that changes the way we receive medical care. Rather than sit, and sit, and sit some more in an uncomfortable waiting room for hours, you’ll be connected with a board-certified physician, psychologist, or more via video chat from your smartphone. According to the iTunes app store, visits are only $40 and the doctors can diagnose and treat most conditions in the comfort of your own home.

4. My Dressing

Capsule wardrobe wearers, minimalists, and even clothes hoarders rejoice! This fashion forward app lets you create and keep track of outfit combinations using the items straight from your own closet. Snap photos of individual pieces and easily isolate them within the program before pairing up with accessories, shoes, handbags, and other items that you own. This is a great little time saver because you can pre-plan outfits and never have to guess at what to wear again.

5. Zirtual

For those times when you could use a personal assistant occasionally but not full time, Zirtual has virtual helpers for hire that are ready to cross things off your to do list. The staff can complete business or residential related tasks, like travel coordination, scheduling and calendar management, appointment set-up, and event planning. You’ll receive a dedicated assistant once you decide on a package based on the amount of hours needed each month.

6. Care Zone

We’ve all probably needed medication at one time or another, and anyone with a family knows that keeping track of who takes what, when, and how much can quickly become a time and energy zapper, not to mention confusing. The Care Zone app is the solution to all of those problems. It allows users to keep lists of medications, dosages, and schedules on your phone at all times. You can store discharge instructions, therapy appointments, doctor’s notes, and even keep a journal of your symptoms and/or progress. Plus, you can securely and privately share all of the info with your spouse or other trusted party.

Take your life back and start freeing up resources with these great, time-saving apps that may also save your sanity. Have you test driven any of these apps? Are there any time savers on your smartphone that you just can’t live without? Share your thoughts on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the era of fashion tech.

It seems that there’s a dedicated startup community to every industry. With wearable technology rapidly permeating popular culture, it’s no surprise that fashion has become an active player in the world of small, emerging businesses. It wasn’t very long ago that the intersection of style and, say, mobile devices seemed revolutionary, like when Michael Kors handbags first appeared with a built-in iPad case: a feature that today seems no more than standard.

It seems fitting that a New York co-working venue, SoTechie Spaces, played host to last week’s Fashion Week Pitch Night: An opportunity for fashion tech startups to pitch their business plans to a panel of judges. While only one presenter took home the title of “winner,” all three startups exhibited plans and products worthy of following.

Image: Stylgenius

1. Stylgenius

To the minds behind Stylgenius, the term “wearable technology” is a vast understatement. Instead, this company looks “to design products that are urban, trendsetting, unique, and functional”; read: something that doesn’t make its wearer look like a bipedal robot, but will still impress your friends. Stylgenius products border on deliriously practical, like the Intelligent Magic Ring that, while appearing just like a ring one might find in a normal jewelry store, is actually wired to send digital links, business cards and more. What’s more, the company has taken the concept behind Google Glass, designed to allow one to browse the web through his or her frames, and used it to create glasses that don’t look like the result of a science experiment. Instead, the end products are fun, trendy and connected specs.

Image: Shadepicker

2. Shadepicker

It’s a thought that’s occurred to more than one of us: “I wish I could capture the colors from that sunset.” At long last, a neophyte mobile app has made that wish come true. With Shadepicker, a digital color-matching platform, smartphone users can simply snap a photo, and the app will instantly generate a list of nail polish colors closely resembling those in the picture. At the very least, Shadepicker should make for hours of amusement; imagine how much more fun the walk past that bakery with the colorful macaron display will be.

Image: Fund Dreamer

3. Locator1

Anecdotal evidence has supported the theory that Apple’s “Find My Phone” app should be renamed “Wait Four Hours At the Apple Store With No Results.” Enter Locator1: A digitally connected phone case that allows users to find a lost phone, even if it’s turned off or has a dead battery. It’s all done through a key fob, the tiny, not-so-silent hero that, when prompted, will set off an alarm built into the Locator1 case. While some may see it as the mobile equivalent of I-can’t-remember-where-I-parked, the concept is exceedingly practical. Judges agreed; Locator1 inventor T. J. Wright (yes, the former football player) was named the winner of the pitch event.

Say hey to Amanda on Twitter or Instagram

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When seeking the latest and greatest in mobile fashion apps, it appears that every major designer is downloadable. Forbes, Mashable and Harper’s Bazaar, among many others, have all ranked their top picks for browsing trends on the go and, well, when Chanel has an app, everyone else is sure to follow. Now, there’s a new kid on the mobile block: Orange Harp.

Based in San Francisco, it’s much more than just a fashion app and, rather, seeks to promote a socially responsible lifestyle with ease. Indeed, Orange Harp specifically partners with mission-focused brands that not only craft covet-worthy apparel and goods, but also, dedicate proceeds to causes ranging from ending domestic violence, to making nail polish absent of formaldehyde.

As if that’s not convincing enough, there’s more to love about Orange Harp, even further beyond this list of its four most conscious features. Shop away; the pleasure of this fashion app comes free of guilt.

1. Commitment to the environment.

After browsing the products featured on Orange Harp, it becomes clear that the vast majority of its partner brands are committed to more than one way of making a difference through their business practices. One of the most common of those obligations is to the environment, such as that of Ecoalf, an outerwear manufacturer that makes products almost entirely from recycled materials like used fishing nets and coffee grounds. Going in a slightly different direction is PuraKai, a clothing company that works tirelessly to protect marine life, which inspires the brand’s name; “pura” translates to “pure” in Spanish and “kai” to “ocean” in Hawaiian. Orange Harp itself, of course, also seeks to encourage an eco-friendly lifestyle through fun posts and tips in its blog, like its entry on “5 Questions” everyone should ask herself about recycling, buying cruelty-free beauty products and more.

2. Commitment to fair and ethical labor. 

One thing is abundantly clear on Orange Harp’s desktop site: 1 percent of all its sales go to Not For Sale (NFS), a non-profit that works to end of human trafficking, an issue of much discussion within the retail sector. Orange Harp even has a section of its website devoted to highlighting NFS, complete with a sharp, inspiring video from the organization’s co-founder, Mark Wexler.

“With human trafficking affecting more than 30 million people worldwide, the Not For Sale cause is incredibly close to our hearts,” Orange Harp states. “We started Orange Harp to support and bring you companies that are transparent about their labor, diligent about fair working conditions, and support communities around the world.”

3. Commitment to small business.

In addition to digital eco-style porn, Orange Harp makes sure to give each of its partner brands a chance to stand in the spotlight. When a brand is selected from the app’s list of Makers, every last one comes with an option for users to read its story, learn about where its goods come from and what, exactly, each company’s mission is. These brands, to the general masses, may seem somewhat obscure, speaking volumes of Orange Harp’s genuine devotion to a local, grassroots mentality.

4. Commitment to a healthier, more responsible lifestyle.

Especially with this year’s terrible winter, clothing is essential to life. So does food: A fact to which Orange Harp is no stranger. That’s why the app looks to encourage a holistically responsible lifestyle, going beyond what we wear, and extending into what we eat. Through its blog, Orange Harp looks to share information and knowledge on a healthy lifestyle, too, with content on the best foods for beauty and related topics. Delicious living, maximized.

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Designer Myrrhia Resneck’s Spring 2013 collection features elegant, flattering, edgy knitwear, sustainably made in California.

One important part of sustainable fashion is local manufacturing, and it can still be challenging to have a fully “Made in the U.S.” fashion line. Oakland-based knitwear designer Myrrhia Resneck of Myrrhia Fine Knitwear has invested heavily in localized production and made it her goal to provide livelihoods in the textile industry in her community.

After one year of production, Myrrhia decided to invest in a Stoll knitting machine – currently the only one of its kind in Northern California – which she intends to use to create a micro industry for surrounding farms and other knitwear lines (NoCal designers, take note).

Myrrhia uses sustainable materials including locally sourced fiber from Northern California and wool and cotton that is sustainably grown and harvested as well as milled into yarn locally. The company is also involved with the Fibershed movement – an organization dedicated to regionalizing fiber sourcing.

In starting her knitwear line, Resneck continues a long-standing family tradition of fashion-related business endeavors. Her maternal great-grandfather started out peddling clothes out of the trunk of a car, her grandfather and great-uncle operated a chain of women’s clothing stores in the Midwest, and, at age 7, Resneck’s paternal grandmother taught her to knit. That same week, she had designed and completed her first project – a pair of green slippers. Fast forward a couple decades and although her focus has changed, that initial passion for knitwear remains.

Myrrhia’s knits and accessories are inspired by “friends and family, technology, and space.” The recently released Spring 2013 collection features patterned maxi skirts, lace knit tops, cropped and boyfriend cardigans, flowing long dresses of scrolling lace and playful short dresses of scoop and boatneck cuts as well as versatile infinity scarfs made of soft, silky knits. The pieces showcase the designer’s sustainability efforts, using fibers like un-dyed organic cotton (grown only 90 miles from Myrrhia’s studio by Foxfibre) and Lenzing Tencel, which is harvested sustainably from Eucalyptus trees.

The pieces are highly wearable, timeless, yet fashion forward. The geometric shapes, lace-like textures and elegantly paired colors work just as well for day as for night. The rich earthy tones and vibrant shades of blue, purple, and teal are universally flattering and goes beyond seasonality to suggest a style of “elegant-femininity-meets-majestic-warrior-goddess nuances.”

We think we can identify with that.

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Lisa Foster, a former high school English teacher in Los Angeles, was living in Australia in 2005 (while her husband worked on a film), when she had a revelation at the check-out register.

Instead of asking the typical American grocery store phrase, “Paper or plastic?” the clerk asked, “Would you like a bag?”

Foster looked at the woman in line in front of her, carrying her own reusable grocery bag and the lady behind her, with an armful of them. She realized that she was supposed to say, “Oh, I have my own.”

She wondered to herself: what’s the deal with these bags?

She went home and did some research. Five years ago, no one brought their own bags to the grocery store, but the government did a public awareness campaign. Analogously, in 2002 in Ireland, the tourist trade was hurting because plastic bags were sarcastically known as the “new national flower.” The Irish government imposed a tax on every disposable bag. Politically, Australia could not impose a tax, but they did their own public awareness campaign which proved very effective. Foster recognized that the grocery stores had shifted their perspective: they’d still carry paper and plastic bags, but they would not offer them.

“Expectation is extraordinarily powerful,” she says. “Like looking at kids in the classroom to quiet down; expecting them to quiet with a stare is much more powerful than shouting at them.”

Before she returned to Los Angeles, Foster did further research. She always thought that paper bags were the way to go because they can be more easily recycled. But she found that it takes 50 percent more emissions of global warming gases to make paper bags than plastic bags, and 20 percent of all paper bags are recycled – the rest just end up in landfills.

Upon her return to Los Angeles in June of 2005, Foster told her friends, “We have to change this.” And a friend agreed that she had to do it.

She was even more motivated when she found out that eight to ten percent of the U.S. oil supply goes to making plastic bags.

“We will kill and die for petroleum, but once we make it into plastic, we just throw it away,” she says. So she contacted a Chinese factory where a reusable bag she had bought in Australia had been manufactured, and ordered 8,000 bags to be stored in her living room. She set up her own small business, 1bagatatime. She made calls to stores and potential buyers during her free period in the high school parking lot.

“I called stores and offered them the bags for 95 cents each, plus free shipping if they ordered before November 1.” She promised her husband she wouldn’t lose money – and she was hoping to get these mounds of bags out of her living room as soon as possible.

In March 2006, she left her teaching post (after eight years) to pursue her business venture.  Upon her leaving, the headmaster of the high school connected her with the chairman of the board at Ralph’s. By the end of 2006, she sold 200,000 bags to Ralph’s and Vitamin College.

Since she started, she has sold over 10 million bags. But as her business grows, she stays committed to her conscious intentions; by the third year of business – as the biggest buyer of the Chinese factory two hours outside of Shanghai – she demanded fair wages and made sure they did not higher children. When she recruited Verite to check on the factory, the wife of the factory owner who was also the bookkeeper, showed a book with scribbles and numbers. Since then, they have instated proper accounting techniques (pay slips), protective smocks, name tags, and a formal complaint system that has been mutually beneficial.

“The factory owners actually thanked me, because the migrant workforce has become more stable, and the workers don’t leave because they know they are getting a good deal.”

She says that bags purported to be made out of recycled material are not possible, since they would be poor quality and could not be dyed. However, she reasons that each bag she sells (still made out of plastic), require the resources of 11 plastic bags, but when consumers use and reuse them, they replace 1,000 bags. She says her bags appeal to U.S. consumers because of their trendy designs, colors, and thoughtful text.

Next month 1bagatatime will take part in the Portraits of Hope project in Santa Monica. For this project, blind and hospitalized children will paint art panels to mount on the Santa Monica beach lifeguard stations. 1bagatatime will use Portraits of Hope art on a messenger style bag and donate a percentage of proceeds.

Other than Foster’s success of launching a viable business catered to eco-friendly consciousness, what I find most compelling is that Foster’s personal career trajectory challenges the traditional linear thinking that the modern college-educated woman would do best to find her calling in her early 20’s and stick with it until retirement. Foster pursued her PhD in English literature for nine years, taught high school for eight years, and at a time when her daughters are out of the nest, she struck out on her own entrepreneurial venture. With 1bagatatime, Foster found a niche that became an outlet for her wisdom, independent thinking, and ethics.

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You may have noticed some of the interesting new foodish ventures happening in various parts of the country. L.A., Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area all have thriving street food cultures.

New York always has – especially in Queens where informal vendors gather under the overpasses at odd times of day and night.

There’s a cool factor in this (anything underground is automatically cool), but the compelling thing is how the economy is driving interesting new models and innovations. People are attempting to color outside the lines. New ideas are flourishing and they don’t always match up with the regulations meant to keep everything tidy, legal and predictable.

Why Food Crazes Are Taking Off

On the consumer side, people are searching for authenticity and connection, and they want to meet face-to-face with the people who make their food. My theory is that the economic collapse has shaken our trust in “the system” (food safety scares haven’t helped either), and as evidenced in Katherine Butler’s piece on guerilla gardening, people have become so passionate about “going green” they are willing to break the law by planting their own produce.

Producers, who want to meet this need, and perhaps monetize a passion for artisan food production, are finding that the barriers to starting a new food business – whether leasing a building, licensing a cart or setting up a table at a farmers’ market – are sky high. From permitting to health department inspections, there are many hoops to jump through and daunting up-front expenses.

Many chefs who lost their jobs when their restaurants closed (not to mention great cooks from other employment sectors) would like to start their own food businesses. Whether that’s a salami and sausage business, a hot soup delivery service or a cart selling prepared foods, such start-ups are challenged in trying to get their wares to potential customers. Confusing regulations and conflicting rules between cities in the same metropolitan areas are just a few of the issues. There’s also the high start up costs due to the requirements that all such foods be produced in commercial kitchens.

But the customers want it, as evidenced by the lines around the block at the “underground farmers’ market” or the hours-long waits at the San Francisco Street Food Festival last August.

Here’s a rundown of just a few of the creative (and barely legal) ventures enabling would-be food sellers to creatively work with existing regulations until they can be rewritten.

Pop up General Store:

This venture is in Oakland (mere steps from my home, I’m happy to say). It’s a collection of local chefs and legit food producers who use commercial kitchens but don’t have brick and mortar stores.

Samin Nosrat and Chris Lee, two chefs who were thrown out of work when their restaurant closed, founded the Pop Up General Store. The store “pops up” every two weeks in the large, open lobby of a historic streetcar station turned catering kitchen. Customers can order ahead using a digital form, or pop in and buy what’s available. Until the website is built, organizers communicate with their customers through Facebook and an email newsletter. The foods are fantastic, and seasonal. Recent offerings included Posole Verde, Fresh Rigatoni, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Spring Lamb Roasts and for Passover, Matzoh Ball Soup.

I caught up with Nosrat and asked her where the idea for the general store originated. She told me she and Chris would often run into former regular customers of Eccolo, the Berkeley restaurant where the two chefs worked, and customers would tell them how much they missed certain foods.

“Why can’t we make it and sell it?” says Nosrat, explaining the thought process. “We wanted to find a way to keep making the foods we loved and share them with the people who want to eat them, while making a name for ourselves for the future,” she added.

Starting with the restaurant’s email list, the two got a much larger response than they expected. Soon, other chef friends and food artisans joined in. Many were chefs having a hard time economically due to layoffs or reduced hours. Others simply wanted to start their own food businesses, but not before testing the waters. Many, like Lee and Nosrat, are alumni of the illustrious Chez Panisse in Berkeley, so we’re talking about some stellar vittles. If you visit the Pop Up General Store, more likely than not, the very people who produced the food items you see there will be proudly hand-selling them too.

Just a few weeks in, the popularity of the Pop Up General Store is growing fast. Nosrat ventured a guess as to why customers so immediately latch on. “People like seeing the cooks who make their food,” says Nosrat. “In restaurants, cooks are never the ones sharing the food with the customers. They are always in the kitchen.”

331 Cortland:

This San Francisco start-up is an incubator. Somewhere between an indoor collection of food carts and a store, it’s a cooperative retail space that, once open, will house six vendors selling delectables like Japanese deli foods, vegan baked goods, fresh produce, pickles, sandwiches and more. There’s also a knife sharpening business that for years has been housed in the operator’s nearby home.

The original intent of the space was to be a flexible, indoor food market. The spaces were to be customized to the tenants so vendors could cycle in and out as they find success, gain clientele and move onto their own retail spaces.

The building’s owner, Debra Resnik, wanted to provide a place for vendors who were producing their foods in commercial kitchens and had begun to make a name for themselves through personal deliveries, catering or other avenues, but who weren’t ready to take the leap into a retail space all their own.

I spoke with Resnik on the phone, where she outlined her mixed success with the planning/permitting functionaries in the city of San Francisco. I knew the opening of the space had been much delayed due to permitting issues, mostly because the space doesn’t fit into any well-defined category.

She explains, they were cleared to open and the vendors had started their build-outs, but her original idea for the space had to be adjusted to make it happen. “Because of the regulations,” said Resnik, “Some of the aspects of the flexible floor plan are impossible. We basically won half of what we wanted.”

In this case, the neighborhood and city wanted 331 Cortland to open, but it was difficult to get off the ground due to regulations. The various agencies haven’t been able to figure out where 331 Cortland belongs.

Resnik added that because they “went out there and tried this new concept, maybe other people will have an easier time. Hopefully their experiences will be streamlined.”

Though the process has taken much patience and work, Resnik remains excited. “Working with all of these creative food people has been incredibly rewarding,” she says.

331 Cortland is planning a mid-April 2010 opening.

Vendors are Della Terra Organic Produce, Bernal Cutlery, Paulie’s Pickling, El Porteño Empanadas, Wholesome Bakery, and Ichi Lucky Cat Deli.

Community Commercial Kitchens:

For farmers, being able to sell value-added products like jams, preserves, canned vegetables and pickles can mean the difference between survival and getting an office job. Legal food production, however, has to be done in a licensed, inspected commercial kitchen. Most farmers don’t have the resources to build one from scratch.

All over the country community kitchens are popping up. Many are in rural areas near farms. This is very exciting because, with all the talk of local food, it’s still a minuscule percentage of total food dollars spent. The distribution and transportation issues are just too great with perishables. But once a food is shelf stable, this becomes much easier. A quick Google search turns up dozens of these ventures across the country, in areas as diverse as New Mexico, Florida and North Carolina. (Some of the funding for these operations is coming from the USDA’s new Know your Farmer know your Food program.)

SF Underground Farmers Market:

The SF Underground Farmers Market is a project of Forage SF, a business that offers a CSA box and dinners to help diners become acquainted with the wild foods that exist all around.

Attending The SF Underground Farmers Market is a way to taste and purchase the food that is being produced in backyards and home kitchens in the Bay Area by artisans who lack the resources to “go legit”. The SF Underground Market is a place where budding businesses can get a leg up on their road to legitimacy.

According to the website, the first market was held in a private home in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, with eight vendors and about 200 attendees. By the time the third market was held, there were 47 vendors and over 1,200 people attending. How does The Underground Farmers’ Market stay on the right side of the law? To get notification for the events attendees must sign up for a free membership.

All these businesses have two things in common: Creativity and cooperation. Our society could use a little more of both.

Leave a comment and tell us about any favorite innovative new food businesses in your neck of the woods.

This is the latest installment in Vanessa Barrington’s weekly column, The Green Plate, on the environmental, social, and political issues related to what and how we eat.

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