A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Artisanal. Curated. Tweeps. All words we love to hate. Thankfully, someone curated compiled a whole list of them. [Via The Atlantic]

Are travel guidebooks bending over backwards to excuse the world’s “thuggish regimes?” One writer poses that we should think about what is written within the pages of some of the most well respected travel literature. [Via Foreign Policy]

Why we need to start embracing germs. [Via Slate]

A Saudi Arabian female athlete is called a “prostitute” for competing at the Olympics. And she’s only 16. [Via The Frisky]

Equalizing the gender employment gap? As it turns out, women lost fewer jobs during the recession. Maybe times are changing. [Via Wall Street Journal]

Omelette in bed? This and more for the morning after, including a spoonful of peanut butter. [Via How About We]

The “Daddy State”: a place where male politicians dictate how women care for our infants and decide what birth control is most suitable for us. [Via Huffington Post]

There’s still time to catch up on your summer reading! If you’re interested in food, start with this list. [Via Grist]

Just how would Paul Ryan as Vice President affect women’s health? Here are five reasons the answer is not looking good. [Via Think Progress]

Put the essence of summer in a jar: make your own sun-dried tomatoes. [Via Big Girls Small Kitchen]

Image: jwyg

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Bound for the garbage heap?

What’s more important to you: A gleaming, sleek computer, or knowing that your purchases are eco-friendly?

Apple is gambling that consumer addiction to its famously beautiful products will outweigh the fact that it recently dropped out of a voluntary green electronics certification program, called EPEAT. The Wall Street Journal reports that last month Apple asked EPEAT to pull its desktop computers, laptops and monitors from the registry. EPEAT certifies that electronics are recyclable, maximize energy efficiency and minimize environmental harm.

It was a controversial move on Apple’s part, made even stranger by the fact that Apple helped create the program in the first place. The program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and manufacturers, but its standards were formed jointly with Apple, advocacy groups and government agencies. When Apple removed all 39 of its computers from the registry, they were, in effect, refusing to comply with the very standards that they helped to formulate.

Apple won’t confirm publicly why they pulled their products off the registry. Numerous sources speculate that the newest Macbook Pro with the “Retina” display—which debuted just about a month ago—failed to meet EPEAT standards. The laptop is almost impossible to disassemble, because its battery is glued to both the case and the glass display. EPEAT’s standards require that the product be easy to disassemble with common tools in order to remove toxic products, like a battery.

It’s hard to imagine that a move like this wouldn’t hurt Apple’s sales. U.S. law states that 95% of electronics purchases made by federal agencies must be EPEAT-certified. EPEAT doesn’t certify tablets or phones, so government agencies can still purchase iPhones and iPads. But more forward-thinking cities might follow the example of San Francisco, which recently stated that no government officials will purchase any Apple products. Moreover, dozens of prestigious universities require that their purchases be EPEAT-certified. Cornell and the University of California-Berkeley are already reviewing their Apple purchases.

But despite withdrawal, Apple is still far ahead of the curve in terms of environmental transparency. If you’re nervous about your newly un-certified MacBook, check out Apple’s environmental reports here.

UPDATE: Apple admitted they goofed. (Thanks to Capri Rasmussen for the tip-off).

Image: jaudrius.

The post Apple Addicts Choose A Sleek Design Over Environmental Responsibility appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

Healthy fats: you need them, so learn to love them. [Via Organic Authority]

Been sitting a lot lately? Turns out that’s not so good for your life expectancy. [Via Wall Street Journal]

Will someone just make us these Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites (gluten free and vegan of course) already? [Via Girlie Girl Army]

Friends with benefits? Not so much. [Via How About We]

Just what is it about reality television that makes us so obsessed? [Via Greatist]

A new project seeks to share the stories of women and abortions – who gets them and how are we influenced by their stories. [Via The Frisky]

Get to the heart of Mexican soul food with a food lover’s narrative on Mexico City. [Via Afar]

These beet sandwiches just might be the most adorable food ever.  [Via Small Kitchen College]

Image: …love Meagan

The post Link Love: Our Reality TV Obsession, Why Friends With Benefits Doesn’t Work, and How Sitting Too Much Will Decrease Your Life Expectancy appeared first on EcoSalon.

SeriesPart 4: The fashion industry is emerging from its cocoon post-recession, a changed sector where consumers are more cautious, manufacturers are on their toes and designers are struggling to stay afloat doing business as usual. In this five-part series, we take a hard look at the fashion world, speaking with industry leaders, luminaries and experts. This week we ask: Did the recession birth new DIY designers tired of being branded with corporate logos?

In times of economic despair, there will always be a surge in the use of hands to quell the storm of financial uncertainty and to give meaning to otherwise challenging lives. During the Great Depression, people were advised to acquire “productive activities,” to make good use of idle time being out of work and to maintain solid work ethics that rewarded them with a sense of fulfillment and a feeling that they could still, in fact, be productive members of society.

Post recession, one has only to look at the number of DIY sites that have become popular and the micro trend of sewing and knitting groups to know that a cultural shift is happening. Within the confines of craft, there now lies an inherent rebelliousness that you usually only see in punk, indie music or street culture. Women working with their hands to teach others (or even alone in their own homes) are leading a movement against being branded, and taking how they dress themselves as a form of protest.

Juliana Sabinson, a freelance sewing teacher and artist, is one of those people.

Anne Wilson’s Local Industry

Sabinson says while her desire to create and teach the art of sewing is to promote empowerment. Her own story is inextricably linked to her dislike and distrust of contemporary clothing and the companies behind it.

“I try and think about all the socioeconomic systems behind my purchases and at a certain point buying clothes seemed no longer a sustainable option, not to mention the majority of it is so badly made,” says Sabinson. “So I make not only to fulfill a creative desire and to externally express myself, but also as a political act, a small and artistic protest against a largely unquestioned system.”

She’s not alone. Many people are coming out of the woodwork post-recession in protest that they are not a brand and refuse to be catered to as one. This rounded consciousness that applies to fashion, along with food and home, is burgeoning a sewing renaissance that professional women as well as homemakers are part of to take a stand against corporate forces that got us into the recession in the first place.

Sabinson says it’s not all rebellion, however. When people are sewing and using their hands they are not only building a level of muscle memory, they are quieting their brains and giving themselves a space in which to be a designer.

“They are designers simply because they’re creating,” says Sabinson, who teaches her students to first create in their heads then execute the design. She likens it to a “leap of faith,” which makes them feel at ease and able to think more creatively.

“For me, the most important goal in all my classes is to build one’s confidence and willingness to fail and start over.”

Though unemployment and economic uncertainty have helped fuel design growth, some say the economic downturn has in some ways been beneficial, because more consumers have turned to channeling the comforts of tradition.

Caroline Weaver, VP of North America Marketing for SVP Worldwide, the world’s largest sewing machine company and source of the SINGER®, HUSQVARNA VIKING® and PFAFF® sewing machine collections, says if you look at a brand like Singer’s 150-year history, during times of economic slowdown and depression, people will always gravitate towards hobbies and because of that, micro trends like sewing will flourish. In the case of the under-40 crowd, these sewers-cum-designers are just starting to realize that modern day sewing machines are not their grandmother’s gadgets.

“These machines are highly, highly automatic and that’s what’s appealing to the under 40 crowd. The machines make their own button holes, thread themselves, and provide constant tension. These are the machines with millions of lines of code. Nowadays, you’re not just paying for a sewing machine, you’re paying for a computer and having  a sewing mentor in your machine.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Anjali Athavaley reports that in the post-Project Runway world, sewing enthusiasts are finding the old-fashion craft comes with apps, Twitter and high-tech machines. This is a whole new generation used to smartphone technology and the simple push of a button to instantly gratify their every need for information.

BurdaStyle, an online social community using the web to bring the craft of sewing to a new generation of designers, hobbyists, DIYers and anyone looking to sew, is a popular part of this generation. BurdaStyle Creative Director and Editor Alison Kelly, who was also on Season 3 of Project Runway, says the current DIY movement was certainly proliferated by reality shows like Project Runway.

Alison Kelly, Season 3 of Project Runway

“Before them, I think fashion design was a mystery to many people, the face behind a fashion label often remained unknown (except of course by die hard fans), and now many fashion designers have become celebrities. It’s a wonderful thing, inspiring people to create, and these reality shows are so interesting because one can witness the creative process first-hand, while drama and competition fuel the fire,” says Kelly.

Nora Abousteit, co-founder of BurdaStyle, says when she and former partner Benedikta Karaisl von Karais – a fashion designer – came up with the BurdaStyle concept and thanks to what Fast Company calls “her love for interaction and innovative technology,” Nora reinvented an old Hubert Burda sewing magazine into an online icon in the sewing community.

BurdaStyle at Brooklyn’s Renegade Craft Fair

“We witnessed many people over the past four years that started sewing and now are proficient. It is so much fun to see when people improve their skills and take up harder challenges and simply produce more and better work,” says Abousteit.

In addition to budding designers worldwide utilizing the BurdaStyle community, lots of well-known designers have participated in their DIY community, including Wenlan Chia (Twinkle by Wenlan), Alabama Chanin, Samantha Pleet, and Mina Stone.

With over 530,ooo registered members, BurdaStyle is a growing force to be reckoned with.

While all women interviewed agree this post-recession “micro-trend” is all about a new and more aggressive DIY sewing community, they all also agree that it is empowering.

“Consumers are tired of living in a mass produced world,” says SVP Worldwide’s Weaver. “Women are deciding to put signs outside their homes that they do embroidery work for customizing team jerseys and hats to make extra money, our classes are filling up, we’re breaking sales records and people are just so inspired.”

Images: Kheel Center @ Cornell University, A Forest Frolic, Anne Wilson

The post The Post Recession Fashion Industry: Sewing Circle Rebellion appeared first on EcoSalon.

There was a moment in time when digital watches came on the scene in a big way. Ubiquitous Casios faced down analog timepieces in the marketplace to the extent that conventional wisdom (read: what my parents were saying) had analog going the way of the sundial. There was chatter among adults, I recall, that “it won’t be long before kids can’t even read a clock anymore.”

Today, I sometimes wonder whether handwriting will soon be written off. I don’t recall seeing my guys actually handwrite all that much while they were growing up. I did spy their notebooks and scrawl here and there, and I think I got one or two letters from camp, but it wasn’t like when we were young and wrote on everything we could get our hands on. I do see them typing. At least I think I do; their fingers move way too fast for me to know what’s really going on between user and keyboard. They text, too. I get their texts. I do not get “notes.” In any event, I just read this story about why I’m so much smarter than my kids!

Turns out, writing by hand makes kids – and adults, for that matter – smarter. This, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article by Gwendolyn Bounds, who cites a numbers of studies, including one based on magnetic resonance imaging. The upshot of the research, she says, is that handwriting “helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development.” This is the good stuff that we need to nail down early on if we’re going to know our ass from our elbows as we get on in years.

Speaking of getting on in years, we adults also reap benefits from putting pen to paper. Bounds points out that “some physicians say handwriting could be a good cognitive exercise for baby boomers working to keep their minds sharp as they age.” The Week adds to the mix a number of specific benefits, including studies that show that writing by hand “can get ideas out faster” and increases neural activity, which is always fun.

And in the perception versus reality department, good handwriting makes you seem smarter, as well: “Several studies have shown that the same mediocre essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting,” says Vanderbilt University education professor Steve Graham. “There is a reader effect that is insidious”¦ People judge the quality of your ideas based on your handwriting.”

While this all could lead to an unfortunate bout of tech bashing, consider, says Bounds, that “new software for touch-screen devices, such as the iPad, is starting to reinvigorate the practice.” I know that I got myself this little iPhone “paint” application that I read David Hockney uses, and I now find myself “coloring” again from time to time. Smarter me? Maybe. It makes me smile for sure.

So regarding my kids, I lied. My kids are way smarter than me. They certainly are when you put my 17- and 20-year-old self against where they’re at today. Beside their genetically endowed brilliance (had to), their access to and facility with information as they developed far surpassed mine in every way. The big question now is: Is information wasted on the young? Better jot that one down.

Oh, and neither of them even wears a watch.

Image: Caitlinator

The post Write On, Baby: Why I’m Smarter than My Kids appeared first on EcoSalon.

Is Edun getting tired from all the work that is involved in being sustainable?

With the recent heralding from the green trenches and even the Wall Street Journal, which exposed the celebrity-based line for going “Out of Africa, Into Asia,” we all have to sit back and scratch our chins.

After all, if you have money and a front man like U2’s Bono backing you up, you should be able to do more than just what everyone else is doing. Translated? When the indie designers in Seattle are struggling to make ends meet, and are making their lines more sustainable than yours, there’s a big problem. I mean, they don’t have the luxury of having Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) buy 49 percent of the shares in their company, they work craft fairs.

So during the recent NYFW, when fresh faced Edun designer Sharon Wauchob unveiled her vision for the label (which was stunning), and we all discovered that roughly 70 percent of the line is now made in China, it was a real slap in the face to what the brand initiated and inspired us to believe: That empowering other countries, like those in Africa, through job creation could, as Goodlifer points out, be an “important tool for societal transformation, something that is urgently needed in the world of conscious fashion.”

Edun’s new chief executive, Janice Sullivan (former president of Liz Claiborne Inc.’s DKNY Jeans division and who later ran Narcisco Rodriguez), says in a recent Wall Street Journal article about taking on Edun, “The whole celebrity piece wasn’t the draw for me. I am all about the product.”

Gulp.

Everybody’s got to make a buck, but when you brand yourself as more than that and involve community from the get go, shouldn’t you be more than that?

Image: Ali Hewson and Bono wearing Edun for a recent Louis Vuitton ad

The post The Fall from Edun appeared first on EcoSalon.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a group of roughly 100 well-known apparel brands and retailers including Nike, Levi’s Timberland and Patagonia “Have developed a software tool to help them measure the environmental impact of their apparel and footwear, from raw material to garbage dump.”

This Eco Index, similar to what appliances go through to achieve an Energy Star label is an informal software tool that asks companies to consider their environmental and labor practices. The answers to the questions translate into an eco-value score that, (when the program is ready for the retail market), will allow consumers to make a decision whether they want a product based on its index score.

Many of the companies are hoping it will be an invitation to try their product as it will set them apart from competitors based on insider know how.

The index will debut at the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City next month.

While many of the questions companies must answer cover significant supply chain steps like manufacturing, shipping, and even disposal, one of the biggest eye openers for consumers will be to see their part in the equation.

The WSJ reports that for example, consumer washing of a pair of Levi’s 501’s contributes to half of the water used and carbon dioxide produced in the life of those jeans. Levi’s has already won points simply for advising consumers to wash with cold water, line dry and donate to Goodwill which puts them ahead of the curve.

Like Energy Star ratings, the Eco-Index value system will allow a semi-sustainably aware public of the need to conserve and have more of a connection to what they are wearing and how the clothing got to them.

Do you think the public is ready for this and that it will make a dent in how we consume?

Image: ecouterre

The post New Eco-Index Challenges Manufacturers and You appeared first on EcoSalon.