New York

Brooklyn Grange, Amazing Pioneer Urban Farm

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Brooklyn GrangeThanks to the Columbia Business School Sustainability Club, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit one of the first and largest urban farms in NYC– the Brooklyn Grange, actually located in Long Island City, Queens.

With a view of the Manhattan skyline, this 40,000+ sq ft (1 acre) farm exists as proof of the power of determination, as the farm required hoisting over 1 million lbs of soil to the roof of a huge warehouse. The 3 main partners are young inspiring entrepeneurs dedicated to healthy local food.

Now in its 4th year, many types of greens, vegetables and seeds are raised and sold to chefs at area restaurants, so this is a successful for-profit enterprise. The soil is made up of compost for organic nutrients mixed with lightweight, porous stones, with an elaborate subsystem for drainage. The food is grown organically and air quality is monitored and found to be of better quality than at street level. The farm also boasts several chickens and two small bee hives. More on this incredible farm and its events and CSA are at: http://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com

Green Festival NYC 2013– Beth’s Favorite Products!

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The 2nd national Green Festival (green festival) at the Javits Center in New York City took place last weekend, and did not disappoint. The event included hundreds of exhibitors of green products and advocacy organizations, as well as multiple educational workshops on everything from healthy food to eco-friendly vehicles. Several workshops focused on sustainable and fair trade fashion, one of my favorite subjects, bringing together some of this area’s top experts. (Stay tuned for a blogpost on one of the weekend’s highlights: an Eileen Fisher eco-fashion show!) Since last year I wrote about my favorite exhibitors, I thought I‘d continue the tradition.

1) My favorite product was ipad/Nook/Kindle covers made from recycled fleece jackets. Available from Refleece in numerous happy colors, these fun covers help keep old jackets from ending up in landfills.

Fleece Kindle Covers

2) Second favorite exhibitor was SpinGreen who are also making sure old clothing gets a second life. Spingreen expands recycling at schools by placing clothing collection bins at schools. Usable clothing is given to several charities, and stained or ripped clothing is repurposed for home insulation or car seat stuffing, again diverting waste away from landfills.

Casket by Green Burial Council

3) Call me morbid, but third, believe it or not, was the Green Burial Council, since many burial practices involve the use of toxic chemicals, and it’s not something we often think about. The council educates about environmentally sustainable funeral / cemetery / cremation options, and have set forth the World’s first standards and eco-certification program for burial grounds and burial products.

These are just a sampling of the numerous forward-thinking organizations featured at Green Festival. My main takeaway is how inspiring it is to witness the creative innovation, dedication to craft, and caring for the planet that all the participants exhibited. It gives me hope seeing so many people who care enough to make the planet’s sustainability part of their business. I hope these qualities become mainstream sooner than later.

Eileen Fisher Rocks the Runway at Green Festival

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Eileen Fisher -- Green Festival NYC 2013
Eileen Fisher clothing is known for its simple, comfortable design. It is casual but stylish and high end, and can be found at well over 50 Eileen Fisher stores around the country. What makes it special is that the company is committed to using sustainable fabrics such as linen, hemp, and organic cotton. The company makes an effort to work with fair trade producers, and to use low impact dyes on many of its products.

At the Green Festival in NYC (April 2013), I had the pleasure of witnessing a fashion show of the Spring Collection. The best part was that the classic, chic designs were worn by real live eco fashionistas, such as Greta Eagen, Sass Brown, and Emma Grady, all who write about eco fashion. Each model explained why she chose her piece. Eileen Fisher also used the event to highlight its new clothing recycling campaign “We’d Like Our Clothes Back Now, Thanks Very Much.” For more, see eileenfisher.com.

Eco-Chick’s Sustainable Spring Fashion Party

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Fabulous eco fashion event last Thursday night at Green Spaces in NYC hosted by Starre Vartan from Eco-Chick.com, one of my favorite blogs.

Eco-Chick's Sustainable Spring Fashion Party
Eco-Chick’s Sustainable Spring Fashion Party | Photo by Rose Brook

50+ people came out to support sustainably-made clothing, mostly made right in NY, by designers including Elsa and Me, Feral Childe, Study NY, Sylvia Heisel, Carrie Parry, Auralis and others.

This conscious event included vegan and organic provisions, and generous goody bags filled with organic cotton socks by Pact, all-natural hand soap by Mrs. Meyer’s, and other green schwag.

Great to see so many new designers making beautiful clothing and accessories while keeping the planet in mind.

Ground for Hope: GreenFaith Inspires Environmental Stewardship in Long Island

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Reverend Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith, addresses the crowd

GreenFaith, a NJ based nonprofit, came to Temple Beth David in Commack, Long Island on 3/10/13 to enliven the community of faith’s efforts on stewardship of the earth.

Through their Ground for Hope event, over 100 people from different religious backgrounds came together to learn:

  1. How their institution can grow gardens that provide food for the needy,
  2. Opportunities to save energy & money in their buildings, and
  3. Ways to inform their communities about sustainability issues.

Inspiring and educational, it was a great opportunity for people of different faiths to meet local sustainability leaders and recognize that stewardship of our environment is a goal shared commonly by all. See Greenfaith.org.

Proud to have been a part of organizing this great event!

The Truth About Clothing Discussed at Columbia Forum

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Yael Aflalo, Catherine Tyc, Sass Brown, Gretchen Jones, and Raz Godelnik
Elsa dress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On January 17th, 2013, the Columbia Business School Sustainable Business Committee held a packed forum in Manhattan entitled, “Sustainable Fashion- Timeless or Trendy?,” discussing the sustainability of our clothing. Many audience members were shocked to hear about how toxic the production of fabric is, given the amount of pesticides and chemical dyes used. The panel included several eco-designers (hemperjeans.com; gretchenjonesnyc.com, thereformation.com) who use natural or repurposed fabrics. Also speaking were film-maker Catherine Tyc, and Sass Brown, Dean at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, and author of a beautiful book entitled “Ecofashion” and the blog Ecofashiontalk.com. Q&A centered around how to make more people aware of this issue, and the concept of transparency and labeling requirements for clothing. Several designers brought their designs, and particularly impressive was a NY-based designer who created the “Elsa” dress- simple and classic, made of organic cotton (See Elsa and Me) . Also of note was another NYC company encouraging clothing exchange, called Closet Dash. For more on this event see http://www.cbsacny.org/article.html?aid=1260.