Text and images taken at Caravan, Vivian G. Kelly
Image of Carob nib tins from www.sweetriot.com
Image of Tee from www.teesforchange.com
Time/Place: Mid afternoon, Earth Day 2008, April 2008, Caravan's Uptown shop, 128 East 91st Street, NYC
In the spirit of Earth Day, we made the hike over to Caravan’s uptown location, located on a quiet tree lined street, nestled among some of NYC’s oldest homes. THINK PR had organized a gathering for the eco minded to celebrate the day hosted by Lauren Bush and Fashion Designer Sylvia Heisel. Over 100 people showed-up to socialize with some inspiring people, such as the hostesses and Sarah Endline, and environmentalist, Danny Seo,who are helping make the world a better place to live.
In honour of the day, we wore a few eco friendly pieces, among them, an incredibly comfortable bamboo and organic cotton tee from Tees for Change. Our eggplant tee had one of the Colorado based company’s upbeat sayings, “Choose Happiness”, printed on the front. The tees have more than just a catchy saying though; they have a mission – “to inspire you to live life with passion, purpose and positivity”. Better still, the tees are dyed with low-impact dyes and for every tee purchased on the website, the company plants a tree. These tees are well-priced too, and retail between $28-32.
www.TeesforChange.com
To read more about Caravan’s cozy designer boutique, visit their website,
www.shopcaravan.com
Caravan is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11:30am – 7:30pm
We carried our other eco friendly piece, Rimistyle’s vegan modern bubble tote which drew compliments from the eco friendly but well heeled crowd in attendance; and spotted more than one Vuitton bag and a few super sized David Yurman rings.
www.rimistyle.com
Our first stop was to check in with veteran fashion designer, SYLVIA HEISEL, and inquire about her latest initiative – a capsule collection of cotton and silk eco friendly tops and dresses.
LYRA MAG: You’ve always cut a mean blouse, like the white cotton one you’re wearing. Are you going in a new direction with this mini collection?
SYLVIA HEISEL: This collection is made up of organic cottons and silks. Each piece is hand dyed.
LYRA MAG: “Wearable art” has been a topic of discussion in the fashion world for quite a few seasons now. Is that where this was headed?
SYLVIA HEISEL: No! This is fashion, not “wearable art”. It’s an aesthetic inspired by other cultures. What’s significant and new is that I’m going back to craftsmanship. I’m interested in the idea of making something that is well crafted and collectible. THAT’s what I think is new in fashion at this time.
www.sylviaheisel.com
Next, we spoke with SARAH ENDLINE, the founder of sweetriot, who had just flown in from a meeting in San Francisco, to be at the Sunday event. If you think carob is not your “bag”, think again, and get back to us after you’ve sampled some of sweetriot's 100% cacao nibs. These little delicacies that resemble coffee beans, are 100% carob nibs dunked in 50%, 60% and 70% dark chocolate. Unbelievably, they have the same number of calories as the very un-organic Tic Tac mints – a mere 1-2 calories apiece!
While it’s great to have your chocolate and not budge from your current trouser size, more significantly, the chocolate used for these treats in sourced in Latin America and the tins they’re packaged in are created by emerging artists around the world. Final production occurs in New York City, not China, for a change.
Each tin retails for $3.99 and is available at Whole Foods.
www.sweetriot.com
www.wholefoods.com
Out in the mini courtyard, we had the good fortune to get a few words in with Environmental Consultant, DANNY SEO.
We loved Danny from the get-go for his “easy environmentalist” attitude. Quipped Danny, “I’m for the 95% of the population that’s eco-minded 5% of the time.”
At this time, he’s working with retail giant, J.C. Penny on their “Simply Green” initiative, which is “all encompassing and across the board”.
Simply Green products will be available in all 1,074 of JCPenney’s department stores.
Speaking with Danny prompted us to do some research. According to an article in www.greenbiz.com, the Simply Green label will help highlight products that fall in three categories: organic, renewable or recycled. Products must be made with at least 70 percent organic raw materials will meet the organic standard. Goods bearing the renewable label will be made from at least 25 percent renewable materials, including bamboo, soy or wood from certified forestry operations. To meet the recycled standard for the Simply Green label, products must contain at least 25 percent recycled materials, including cotton, glass or polyester from recovered plastic bottles. Items in the collection range from towels to new mattresses by Simmons that are made of soy and natural latex.
LYRA MAG: We’re working on a co-authored eco book project, that’s geared towards “the easy environmentalist”. Do you think that this will fly with the people you’ve come into contact with? What do you think of this idea?
DANNY SEO: Healthy people listen to their intuitive voices, and going green fits into that; maybe that means being partially vegan, or partially vegetarian. Companies are making it easier now and it’s almost like there’s no excuse now to not participate in some way. Trader Joe's is offering incentives to shop green. My feeling is that there will be an eventual point where it tips and being green will be mainstream.
To read more about Danny Seo, visit his website,
www.dannyseo.com
More information is also available online at
www.greenbiz.com
To view J.C. Penny’s Simply Green products, visit their website,
www.jcpenny.com
Our last stop was with LAUREN BUSH, the Founder and Director of Team Feed. Lauren was wonderfully down to earth and obviously committed to the green cause. Her involvement began with the organic FEEDBAG she designed in 2004. Each FEEDBAG sold feeds 1 child for 1 year. The children who benefit come from 74 countries around the world and all proceeds go to the United Nation’s Food Program. Here’s a bag that makes a difference, in 2005, WFP fed over 21.7 million children in over 74 countries!
Said Lauren, “My idea in designing the bag was to find a way to raise public awareness for child hunger.”
The original FEEDBAG is available on Amazon for $59.95.
www.amazon.com
To read more about the FEEDBAG initiative, visit their website,
www.Feedprojects.org
Lauren has designed a new FEEDBAG that will be exclusively available at Whole Foods markets as of May 1st that will retail for $30. We’ll be stopping in to buy one. At a mere $30, it’s probably the least expensive but most important bag we’ll ever purchase.