On Sunday October 11, 2009 a fabulous EcoFashion show was held at the New York City Ecofest in Central Park. Featuring clothing made from natural fabrics by many designers for both men and women, the show was one of the best I’ve seen. All photos by Beth Fiteni.
In the last 2 weeks I have seen 3 great films and helped with a memorable campaign to kick off Climate Week in NYC:
FILMS
No Impact Man: about Colin Beavan and his family who lived with a minimal impact on the environment in their NYC apartment for a year — local food only, bikes, home-made cleaners, and cloths instead of toilet paper. Very inspiring to see how the family copes with their choices. He also has a book out of the same name.
The End of the Line: Documents the depressing state of our world fisheries, showing the marked decline in fish populations, the overfishing by commercial fishermen, and the appalling waste of bycatch.
The Age of Stupid: had its world premier in NYC the first day of Climate Week (Sept. 21, 2009) and shows a man in the future looking back at our present day through a series of 4 stories, and asking why we didn’t act sooner to prevent the human causes of climate change. Really drives home the urgency of the issue and the stupidity of our current ways.
THE HUMAN HOURGLASS
An amazing organizing effort by Oxfam, NYPIRG, and others, several hundred people gathered in Central Park to form a human hourglass on Sun. Sept. 20th 2009 to show the earth dripping down through the hourglass and forming the words “Tck Tck Tck” to signify that time is running out to act on global warming. Fabulously organized event and very moving to witness. Hope it has the intended effect, to send a message to world leaders who will meet to re-negotiate a greenhouse gas treaty in Copenhagen in December. Best video I can find so far:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/national/092109_video_human_hourglass
Earth Night Eco-Fashion Show
Under New York’s crowning glory, the Empire State Building, decked out in green lights, several hundred Eco-partiers reveled the night away at Earth Night, “a party for the planet” on April 22, 2009, the 39th anniversary of Earth Day. Organized by Margaret Lydecker of Greendrinks NYC, and a little help from some friends such as EarthDayNY, the night featured free samples of eco-friendly Hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and was held at the new high-end green furniture store called “Environment” at Broadway and 18th Street.
The best part of the night was the Eco-Fashion Show featuring fashions from the 2009 collection at House of Organic on Ludlow Street. The show was produced by Colin Miles, who said he feels that green is the right way to go, and interest in eco-fabrics is increasing.
Below are some photos from this great night.
All photos by Beth Fiteni
The Hearst Corporation hosted the 2009 Heart of Green awards at its 57th street location, the first LEED Gold skyscraper to be built after 9/11. Multiple people received awards, including Deirdre Imus for her work to protect kids from toxins, Alicia Silverstone for her vegetarian lifestyle, and Frances Beinecke, leader of the NRDC for her lifetime of achievement in effective environmental policy (they must have read my post from February 2008!). Two other significant leaders who were honored, though not individuals, were Planet Green—my favorite channel!! (of course) — and the very City of New York, which we all love and appreciate, for its innovative strategies being implemented through PlaNYC.
None were more moving than an award accepted by Ohio teacher Greg Perry, nominated by his students, who after encouraging them to start the Ultimate Green classroom and organize a huge green expo, found out that he had cancer. I know I wasn’t the only one crying as he struggled to speak at the podium while accepting his award, and I think his passion and dedication despite his physical constraints spoke loudly through the silent room. He was the only recipient to receive a standing ovation, and well deserved. I wish him and his students all the best.
For more info on these awards and lots of other great green info, see thedailygreen.com.
The Go Green Expo in New York, organized by Bradford Rand, took place on April 8-19 at the Hilton in NYC. While I saw numerous inspiring exhibitors selling all kinds of green goods and services from green job training to make-up, my two favorite vendors were Mr. Ellie Pooh (mrelliepooh.com) who make paper from elephant poop, thereby saving the lives of elephants in Sri lanka who would otherwise be killed for eating people’s rice paddies, and also reuseniks.com (reuseniks.com) who sells reusable dry-cleaning garment bags so you don’t have to take a plastic one every time—so simple yet so brilliant.
Speakers at the Expo included Mariel Hemingway, the Lazy Environmentalist Josh Dorfman, renowned eco-journalist Jim Motavalli, Ken Rother of Treehugger, Sarah Beatty of Green Depot, and even Nigel Barker the photographer who has dedicated his talents to documenting the issue of government sanctioned Canadian seal slaughter.
Of all the speakers, the one I found most inspiring was Mattie Kahn of Teens Turning Green (teensturninggreen.org), a young woman who spoke with remarkable confidence and passion about her groups’ activities to raise awareness among teens, through such efforts as a green proms campaign. She said a small group of representatives planned on going to Albany to lobby for a bill to ban Styrofoam—good luck Mattie!
For more info see gogreenexpo.com
WISE- The Women’s Initiative for a Sustainable Earth
The 1st New York Women’s Conference for Sustainability was held at the end of March in Southampton, NY and I was honored to join Christie Brinkley and other dedicated women as part of a panel discussing what inspires me as an activist. Many shared unique stories about how they came around to activism, and I emphasized that activism can be big or small—start with the people in your daily life (non-judgementally, of course) and then take it to bigger involvement. The panel covered many topics including energy conservation, reducing toxins in our homes, and radiation from nuclear power plants.
Thank you to Dorothy Reilly for organizing this inspiring event.
