Starbucks is on a roll this year.

Starbucks started a trend

Who could forget Starbuck’s Unicorn Frappuccino release in April? Or its recent Secret Menu slew of ombre drinks? And on June 13th, the funky drink powerhouse announced its partnership with Lady Gaga. Now, through June 19th, the company will donate 25 cents from each sale of its “Cups of Kindness” collection to Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.

No matter how you feel about Starbucks’ increasingly insane drink menu—I’m a black coffee enthusiast who thinks a latte is too fancy—you’ve got to give it up to the company’s marketing and drink-making team.

So, it was only a matter of time until other coffee shops and restaurants jumped on the eye-catching drink trend.

Local’s Corner, an Australian cafe, is one such coffee house. The coffee shop recently posted a picture of its “signature” carrot latte—a latte housed in a carrot in lieu of a coffee mug, and its orange latte plopped inside an orange peel.

I reached out to the coffee house for comment about its mysterious produce drinks, but have yet to hear back. But even though I don’t really know why these drinks exist, I at least want to take a stab at making sense out of these mind-boggling beverages.

1. It’s about attention—plain and simple

Weird drinks get snaps, clicks, likes, and hearts. So, the stranger the drink, the more clicks, right?

Well, this theory is mostly correct.

A recent American Express Restaurant Trade Survey discovered that Millennials who use social media to post pictures of food are snapping at a super high rate. Seventy-two percent post about their restaurant experience on social media and 25 percent will post photos of their meal or drink.

Restauranteurs are well aware of this trend. The survey discovered that 83 percent of restaurateurs view social media as “having a very or somewhat positive impact on their business” and “a majority use some type of social media promotion for their business.”

2. Maybe it’s about the packaging…

All of us at EcoSalon appreciate a business that is aware of its carbon footprint. So, maybe—just maybe—these drinks are a way to cut back on non-bio resources.

Think about it—restaurants could easily compost carrots and orange peels. These cups could help cut down on water use and trash. Not such a crazy idea after all, huh?

3. Perhaps a barista just wanted to have a little fun

Let’s face it—work is super boring sometimes. We totally wouldn’t blame a barista for getting creative on the job.

Well, this is likely the real reason behind the shop’s crazy lattes.

A recent Daily Mail Australia article reports that the cafe owner just likes to be… different.

“We just like doing different things, we’ve being doing a few of these, one with an apple, one with an avocado, this week was a carrot and next week we will do something different,” Vanja says.

Fair enough. You can’t blame us for daydreaming, though.

Related on EcoSalon
Venezuelan Coffee Basically Doesn’t Exist Anymore
Which Type of Kettle is Just Right for Your Tea and Coffee?
Don’t Freak Out But Coffee MAY Be Aging Your Skin (Okay, Freak Out)

The post This Carrot Latte Exists and We Can’t Stop Thinking About It appeared first on EcoSalon.

‘Tis the seaon of pumpkin spice. Lattes, cookies, gum, candles… You name it, there seems to be a #PSL version of it. The trend has even gone to our heads. Literally.

That’s right, pumpkin spice hair color is happening. And it is not as weird as it sounds.

Okay, so the name might make this trend seem a bit out of hand. But pumpkin spice hair color is a warm shade of coppery auburn that most women can pull off. The pink, purple, green, and blue hair turning up everywhere these days makes pumpkin spice hair seem sort of demure. Starbucks’ world takeover has officially hit salons.

So yes, if you wish to adorn your locks with the hair version of a #PSL, you will have to go in for chemical coloring. Not so into the idea? There are other options to pumpkin spice up your beauty routine that will cost you far less in toxins and dollars.

Pumpkin Spice Up Your Beauty

Kjaer Weis Cream Blush in Above and Beyond is brand new for the season. Just got my hands on this beauty yesterday and it is a new beauty staple. Because of the KJ sheerness, you can go either lightly warmed up or bright pop of color with this beautiful blush.

Kjaer Weis Lip Tint in Captivate is another new hue this fall. A pumpkin spice tone with a hint of gold.

W3LL People Elitist Shimmer Mineral Shadow in Luminous Copper gives that fall feeling to eyes. Add the powder to hair gel or moisturizer for a hit of glowy-ness.

Prtty Peaushun Skin Tight Body Lotion comes in several light reflecting, skin tightening shades. Add some warmth to your bod with this celeb favorite.

RMS Beauty now makes 5-free nail polish to match its lip and cheek tints! Curious is perfect for sporting your #PSL.

Still see yourself going with pumpkin spice hair color? Sally Hershberger Salons in West Hollywood and NYC both offer the color. Next best, take a pic along to your stylist.

*Disclaimer: Help support EcoSalon! Our site is dedicated to helping people live a conscious lifestyle. We’ve provided some affiliate links above in case you wish to purchase any of these products.

Related on EcoSalon

6 Spicy Fall Beauty Trends To Wear Now

A Brush With Eco Friendly Hair Color

3 Cruelty Free Hair Dyes for the Colorful Vegan Gal

Image of pumpkin spice drink via Shutterstock

The post Pumpkin Spice Hair Color is a Trend and Not as Weird as It Sounds appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnAre you seduced by the marketing superpower that is pumpkin spice?

Walking last week, I passed a Starbucks.

There would be nothing miraculous about this since Starbucks has a firm grip on the coffee market in the US, and many other places, but I live in Paris. Note that in Paris there are not a lot of Starbucks. In fact a local coffee roaster recently told me that it took forever to even get a hold on the market here, because while there are a few Parisians nowadays that grab their coffee to go, walking and drinking is simply not part of French culture.

Parisians want to sit and enjoy their coffee.

But alas, Starbucks has gotten a piece of the market share even here, and there are a few shops around town. I passed one the other day and was so appalled at what I saw in front of me that I almost passed out:

A sign for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Branded in French as “pur bonheur.” Pure happiness.

Yes, the pumpkin spice trend has gotten so out of control that you can now get it in the French capital.

Le sigh. Proof that food trends definitely can have a global reach. In this case, particularly syrupy, overly sweet, industrial lattes.

But why is it that we get so annoyed by the pumpkin spice trend?

First of all, I am not talking about pumpkin spice that you made by roasting up a pumpkin, making a simple syrup infused with cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks and then combining the two.

No, I am talking about anything that comes from a chain store/is processed/has enough orange colored marketing logos slapped on it to give you a headache. Yes, that kind of pumpkin spice. The kind that people get so excited about come every fall.

The reason that the pumpkin spice phenomenon is so off-putting is that it embodies our problem with food: food marketing comes first, and actual food comes second.

Slap “pumpkin spice” on anything, and food marketers do, from greek yogurt to Oreos, and it immediately sounds seasonal. This of course gives us the illusion that we’re eating seasonally. But check out any guide to fall foods, and I can assure you that Pumpkin Spice Oreos will not be on it.

Second, using the word “pumpkin” makes the food product sound seemingly whole, natural and healthy, when we know that the opposite is true. What’s the one ingredient missing from most industrial pumpkin spice products? PUMPKIN.

The underlying truth to all these products is this: pumpkin spice isn’t a real flavor, it’s a marketing tool.

The food industry loves marketing tools, especially those that work well, because it allows food companies to sell more food products. Not real food, food products.

Pumpkin is pumpkin, and you can easily buy one, bake it, add a few fresh spices and bake a pumpkin pie. It will be tasty, and it will be real food. You know what’s great about real food? It doesn’t need a marketing tool. Even better, there’s one thing that real food will get you that food products never will:

Pur bonheur.

Related on EcoSalon

Forget Pumpkin Spice: Here Are 10 Other Fall Flavors to Put In Your Latte

15 Pumpkin Recipes (That Aren’t Pumpkin Pie)

Sunday Brunch: Pumpkin Pancakes

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Anna Brones

The post Pumpkin Spice, The All-Powerful Global Marketing Tool: Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Corporations are criticized for putting the pursuit of profit above all else (and most do). But being a slave to the bottom line can also boost clean energy technologies that are as business-smart as they are planet-friendly.

Let’s get one thing straight: no matter what you’ve heard, corporations are not job creators. Big companies do not exist to make sure everyone makes a living wage or that our economy is progressing in the right direction. By law, the sole duty of a corporation is to make as much money as possible for its shareholders–a duty that is best achieved when overhead costs like labor are tightly controlled.

Although there are a thousand examples of how this mentality has harmed our culture and planet, I’ll save them for another time. Multinational corporations are here, most likely to stay, so why not focus on ways they can help?

Even though it’s still motivated by a desire to reduce costs and up profit, many of today’s most well-known brands are embracing clean energy technologies in a big way. While the powers that be remain remain handcuffed to fossil fuels, these bastions of capitalism are voluntarily making the switch to solar, wind, and more. Why? Because it’s cheaper, more efficient, and better for their bottom line.

1. Starbucks – Wind Energy

In 2008, the Frappucino giant set a goal to purchase renewable energy credits certificates (RECs) equivalent to 50 percent of the electricity used in its U.S. and Canada company-owned stores by 2010. While RECs aren’t the same as solar panels on the roof, their cost funds renewable energy projects pumping clean energy into the national grid. Encouraged by their early success, Starbucks set a new goal in 2011: to purchase the RECs equivalent to 100 percent of the energy electricity used in our company-owned stores globally by 2015. As of 2012, they were already more than 50 percent of the way there, making Starbucks one of the nation’s largest purchasers of American wind energy.

2. IKEA – Solar Energy

In 2012, this Swedish furniture powerhouse release its “People & Planet Positive” long-term sustainability strategy. Among other things, the plan revealed Ikea’s ambitious goal of relying on only the sun and wind to produce all the power it uses at its stores and buildings by 2020. Unlike others who’ve made big claims only to backpedal later, Ikea set about achieving its goal almost immediately. In the US, Ikea has increased the number of solar installations to 34 stores and distribution centers, with five more underway. Many of these arrays, like the ones in Maryland and Florida, are the largest in their states.

3. Apple – Fuel Cell/Biogas

As the unofficial brand of technology-savvy hipsters the world over, Apple knows cool. But hipsters are also concerned about the environment, and don’t want their iProducts with a side of eco-guilt. According to a 2012 EPA survey of companies that use the most renewable energy, Apple came in at a safe number 10, producing an impressive 537.4GWh, or 85 percent of its requirements through clean technologies. The company’s newest data center in Maiden, North Carolina, features the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar photovoltaic array. The maiden campus also boasts an onsite 10-MW fuel cell installation that uses directed biogas to provide more than 83 million kWh of 24/7 baseload renewable energy annually — making it the largest non-utility fuel cell installation operating anywhere in the country.

Image: Thin film solar panels being installed on a Wal-Mart in Mountain View, Calif.

The post 3 Trendy Brands Embracing Clean Energy in a Big Way appeared first on EcoSalon.

The frappuccino gets a major health revamp.

While it is high in calories, sodium, and cholesterol, it’s really the sugar content that blows one of Starbucks’s beloved beverages out of the water. Starbucks’s Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino Blended Smoothie contains 310 calories per 16-ounce serving, in addition to 3 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 220 milligrams of sodium, and 67 grams of sugar.

Sugar will go straight to your head, give you a short-term high, and then leave you lethargic and glum. It spikes your blood sugar levels, leads to weight gain, is nutritionally empty, contributes to candida, and, to put simply, is actively bad for you. If you are going to consume sugar, get it from something a bit more decadent and lasting than a down-in-a-hot-second drink, regardless of how delicious it may be!

My version of a vanilla Frappuccino smoothie is sugar-free, save for the optional chocolate syrup glaze and whipped cream, using a few drops of zero-calorie, low-glycemic stevia instead. The recipe also goes a step further by replacing cow’s milk with almond milk. Almond milk is a mere 40 calories per 8-ounce serving and avoids the common issues that arise when ingesting dairy, such as hard-to-digest proteins, hormones, depletion of enzymes and vitamins through pasteurization, saturated fat, synthetic chemicals, and a boo-ing cow.

Cutting corners in so many other ways, it’s up to you whether you want to indulge with a topping of whipped cream and chocolate syrup. You can find vegan variations of both in your local health food store.

Enjoy!

Sugar-Free Vegan Vanilla Frappuccino

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coffee cooled
• 1 cup almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, or skim milk.
• 1 banana
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 handfuls of ice
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 4 drops of liquid stevia, or 2 packets of powdered stevia
• Whipped Cream (optional)
• Chocolate Syrup (optional)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a Vitamix and blend until smooth.

Bon Appetit!

Aylin Erman currently resides in Istanbul and is creator of plant-based recipe website GlowKitchen.

Image: Starbucks

The post Nutritional Breakdown: Vanilla Frappuccino appeared first on EcoSalon.

Who are the big corporations really looking out for?

In an increasingly consumer-aware world, it’s a necessity for the big labels and corporations to be participating in sustainable as well as ethical initiatives. But when you look behind the scenes (as we did with The Body Shop this week), how clean is their act? Here are 7 posts from our archives that peek behind the curtain to ask what the big names are really up to.

Eating your politics isn’t for everyone and it’s easy to go overboard with the food thing (see the Portlandia episode featuring Colin, the chicken), but there are some companies with politics so against everything I believe in that I simply can’t give them my money. Remember back in the day when Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan started donating to Operation Rescue and a bunch of doctors who provided abortions were killed? Chick-fil-A is one of these companies for me.

Jesus, Enough With The Chicken

Mega packaged food companies and investor groups buy successful organic brands that were started by visionaries who began the companies with a commitment to the organic ideal of family farms, a clean environment, and simple food without additives. But often, when the big companies buy in, this ideal flies out the window.

I’ve chosen ten of the more prominent organic and natural brands to survey. I’m comparing the stories they tell their customers to the likely (and often proven) reality, based on who owns them. Most of the company websites don’t clearly state that a huge global conglomerate runs them, but that’s when the chart above comes in handy.

The Stories (And Money) Behind 10 Of Your Favorite Organic Brands

Brazil had a ban on planting of GM seeds in effect since 1998, but it was one of the only holdouts in South America. Brazil’s neighbor, Argentina, was a large producer of GM soy. Monsanto encouraged farmers in Brazil to plant its “roundup ready” GM soybeans that were illegally imported from Argentina in defiance of the ban. Monsanto knew that once its seeds were in the ground they would be able to make a case for intellectual property rights. Armed with their patents, the company’s lawyers went to the courts to solidify its new Brazilian market.

By arguing that Brazil was impeding its legal right to collect royalties on its intellectual property (the seeds), Monsanto made its case and GM soy was legalized in Brazil in 2003. Still, the essential companion to Monsanto’s Roundup-ready GM soy, the herbicide Roundup, was not legal yet. In 2004, a congressman from southern Brazil pushed through a series of federal amendments legalizing the herbicide. This same congressman purchased a large farm from Monsanto for one-third of the market price. The Brazilian government is investigating the congressman for corruption.

Soy Powerful: How Monsanto Pushes Genetically Modified Soybeans On Unwilling Consumers

KFC vs. PETA: Flaming Silly to Monumentally Daft

As we’ve noted before, there’s nothing that PETA enjoys more than the smell of roasting Kentucky Fried Chicken – the company, that is. Their latest attempts to haul this fast food corporation over the coals? Firstly, PETA wants Indianapolis fire trucks to sign an advertising deal, the same way the fire department has with the finger-lickin’ folk – and secondly, a 5.5 foot tall statue of a gory chicken on crutches, artfully monikered “KFC Cripples Chickens.”

In both cases, local officials denied the requests, citing inappropriate context and legislation and, in the former case, the fact that “advertising on a fire truck could even lead motorists to believe a truck heading for an emergency was just performing a stunt.” Quite.

Oh For PETA’s Sake: 7 (More) Crazy Stunts

After putting its less well-capitalized and often more quirkily authentic brethren out of business, sucking the soul out of the neighborhood coffee house, and commoditizing coffee to the point where consumers couldn’t see the difference between a $4.00 latte at Starbucks and a $2.00 latte from McDonalds, Starbucks was hurting. The company’s latest strategy involves “Unbranding” a few select stores by taking away the Starbuck’s look and logo and instead naming the stores after the neighborhoods that surround them. They are also sending spotters into independently owned shops and copying the look and feel, as well as sourcing the décor items locally. If it works, they’ll roll it out all over the country. Oh Goody. This one makes me want to choke on my home-brewed, fair trade, organic blend.

Marketing Authenticity: 7 Corporations Riding On The Coattails Of A Movement

According to Change.org, opening Walmarts in areas known as “food deserts” is really just a band-aid that masks the underlying causes of poverty and inequality. This is true and there’s no doubt it is a complicated issue. Similarly, many commenters pointed out in this article by Marc Gunther that the entire model of how Walmart builds and spreads across the landscape is flawed. Again, indisputably true.

But Walmart isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Is it possible to look at some of their initiatives in a positive light?

The Mixed Grocery Bag That Is Walmart

It is well enough that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. -Henry Ford

25 Quotes On Who Really Runs America

Images: stublog, iheartmacaroni, Nicola Romagna, Monochrome, ginnerobot, SqueakyMarmot and Mike138.

The post From The Vault: It’s A Corporate Thing appeared first on EcoSalon.

A weekly look at sex and culture, by the numbers.

There are a lot of terrible things that happen in the world, but this is the week that brought us the phrase “sex litter,” so hold onto that when life seems unbearable.

250,000: total sales for 50 Shades of Gray, an erotic novel based on Twilight characters, before being acquired by Vintage Books

11: airtime for Savage U, Dan Savage’s new college-focused sex advice TV series for MTV

23: age of the peacock at India’s Lucknow Zoo that has recently undergone a spontaneous sex change from female to male

23: age of Jenna Talackova, the woman who may become the first openly transgendered contestant in the Miss Universe pageant

650,000: signatures on a thank-you card delivered to Starbucks headquarters for its recent support of same-sex marriage

0: number of times the two pandas at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland have mated during the breeding season, confirming everyone’s suspicions that pandas have been trying to commit species-wide suicide for decades now and human attempts to force them to continue to exist are bordering on cruelty now

15: bags’ worth of used condoms and pornography cleaned up from England’s Bristol Downs during a “sex litter” cleanup campaign

Confidential to our Bristol Downs readers: I’m glad you’re using protection, but is it that hard to find a trash can? Sorry, a ‘bin.’

The post Sex by Numbers: Picking Up Our Sex Litter Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnNatalie Chanin’s bi-weekly column, Material Witness, offers a seasoned designer’s perspective on the fashion industry, textile history and what happens when love for community trumps all.

Last year, Alabama Chanin was included in the Starbucks campaign: Stories are Gifts – Share. See the video below. We met some lovely new friends – Jamie, David, and Luke – who traveled to Alabama to tell our story and celebrate with us.

A year later, it is nice to be reminded that home is a special place; your home and the people around you help create who you are. A home can be anywhere and your family can be made up of so many people, regardless of their biological relationship to you. Alabama Chanin was born out of my own “coming home,” of the distinct sense of place that is my community.

We often say that we at Alabama Chanin are a family. In fact, we say it so often that I fear it is beginning to sound a bit trite. But, please know that there is no underlying falseness in this sentiment. This family that we have created is the heart and soul of our company. We hope that you can feel it in everything that we do.

Embrace your family, whether they are yours by blood or by choice. Reach out to those who mean the most to you. To paraphrase my grandfather, a truly wise man: alone we can be weak and subject to the harshness of the world, to those who wish to hurt us or circumstances that may fracture our spirits; as a family, we can stand strong against those things that might wish to injure us. We are protected and supported, celebrated and loved.

Happy Holidays.

The Heart and Soul:

Natalie Chanin is owner and designer of the American couture line Alabama Chanin and author of three books including Alabama Stitch Book  (2008), Alabama Studio Style (2010) and the upcoming Alabama Studio Sewing + Design which comes out spring 2012. Look for her bi-weekly column, Material Witness here and follow her on Facebook and her own blog at Alabama Chanin.

The post Natalie Chanin: Building Family appeared first on EcoSalon.

How to get a great cup of coffee without walking into a coffee shop.

Each year, nearly 3 billion Starbucks disposable coffee cups end up in the landfill. While it’s easy to make Starbucks the bad guy, America’s preoccupation with take-out coffee extends beyond the Seattle-based chain. Nearly a quarter of all coffee drinkers in the U.S. drink coffee outside the comfort of their own homes, according to the latest report from the National Coffee Association.

But there are at-home alternatives beyond your standard, boring Mr. Coffee drip machine. The need for caffeine spans cultures and continents, resulting in hundreds of coffee making techniques from around the world. Here are seven of them.

Next time your caffeine craving hits, brew your Fair Trade beans en casa á la…

Moka Pot (macchinetta del caffè)

These simple stove top devices brew a grade of joe comparable to that of professional espresso machines. No wonder the Italians love it.

Vietnamese Coffee

The process is easy: load filter with coffee, place on top of coffee cup, pour hot water. Traditionally served with condensed milk and sugar.

Kyoto slow-drip coffee

It takes hours to produce a single serving, but coffee connoisseurs go nuts for it.

Vacpot

Also called a siphon coffee maker, these devices went out of vogue after World War II but resurfaced in the coffee-crazed late-90s in San Francisco.

Turkish Coffee

Though Americans know it as Turkish, the process of boiling coffee grounds in a small pot is popular across the Middle East and Northern Africa.

French Press 

While it’s popularly known as a French Press, the cafetière is actually an Italian invention, patented by Milanese designer Attilio Calimani in 1929.

South Indian Coffee

The secret to this coffees milky flavor is a 70-30 blend of dark roasted coffee beans and chicory, an herb that allows the water to extract more flavor from the beans. Serve with boiling milk and sugar.

Images: Davidd, Lilian Wong, McKay Savage, D’Arcy Norman, Eatomatic, A Quirky Blog, Christian Kadluba, Will Bakker, Patrick Tschudin, Fredo, Magnus D

The post Home Brew: 7 Sexy Ways to Make Coffee appeared first on EcoSalon.

This weekend, our EIC Sara Ost sent me an email lamenting the fact that finding a logo-free hot beverage vessel in today’s marketplace is circa impossible. After conducting some research myself, I have to agree.

Yes, carting around disposable cups from Starbucks is lame, especially with so many stylish alternatives out there. But what of being a walking, sipping advertisement for said company, your work’s softball team, the last charity event your mom participated in, and so on and so forth? I like Sigg, but until they start paying me to carry their bottles around, I don’t see why I’m paying them up to $25 for services rendered.

Well, here are three semi-decent reasons in Smoked Pearl, Nature’s Return and Sun Salutation:

And here are four (though technically, three) just as acceptable ones that let you drink and slurp cold-weather beverages in logo-free bliss.

This BPA-free, stainless steel vacuum tumbler from Adesso will keep your hot beverages well-insulated and pretty.

Did you know Thermos was an actual brand, like Kleenex? I had no idea. But they don’t bang on about it, which is why this double walled vacuum insulated mug plus serving cup will work for us.

Stanley makes a basic black travel mug made from eCycle, a mix of recycled plastics that’s equally as recyclable.

This is kind of a tricky one. The Bamboo Bottle Company is, indeed, a company. As such, they’ve got their logo all over this BPA-free hot water vessel made from bamboo and glass. Admittedly, totally counter to our argument. But forgivable given their innovative use of bamboo and their small, up-and-coming, eco-company status.

Can we get away with it? Almost.

Images: Chialion; Pop Deluxe; Thermos; Working Person; Sigg; Bamboo Bottle Company

The post 7 (Almost) Logo-Free Hot Beverage Vessels appeared first on EcoSalon.