Eco-Bikini

My fiancée is a sports fanatic. He’s got a burning passion for basketball but every other sport that would involve some extreme adrenaline rush is right up his alley too.  Now I’m not saying I keep active just to keep up with him but what I am saying is I do genuinely love some sports, especially those that the athletes can be fashionable with; and among all the sports there are, I would have to say gymnastics, ice skating and water ballet/synchronised swimming have the most attractive outfits.

But since those aren’t exactly common recreational sports that your average Joe and Jane indulge in on a daily basis, we’re pretty much left with the next best thing -swimming or more accurately beachside/poolside lounging , a sport (if you can call it that)which celebrities seem to excel in.

And with the number of swimsuits they pack for each holiday trip, I can’t help but wonder how many among those are actually eco-friendly creations from the following Aaron Chang.

Recycle your bras for charity

I don’t know about the lot of you out there but this week I’m in the mood for recycling. Perhaps it has everything to do with the fact my drawers and wardrobe was screaming in suffocation but it is probably more likely due to my loving mother’s “visit” and remarks of “concern”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not messy, everything is neatly folded, packed, stacked and tidily put away...the problem is I’ve just got too many clothes and I’m running out of space to put /hang them (possibly actually ran out of it too).

I’m certain I’m not alone when I say I’ve got pieces that I’ve only ever wore once or possibly even not at all because it has lain hidden among the rest since the day it joined my wardrobe family collection. And I’ll probably never ever wear again (or wear for the first time since I brought it home) because:

The DNA of Legends

Who here among us have never heard of the eminent RMS Titanic and her legendary role as the imperial vessel of maritime dreams and the grand stage that played out the tragedy of 1,517 doomed lives back in the early hours of 15th April 1912?

The RMS Titanic was at her time, the largest passenger steamship in the world; and although her size in modern times has come to be easily surmounted, the magnitude of her presence can and will never be because her devastated maiden voyage. Though she lays at rest, embedded deep into the ocean’s floor and amongst great threats of decay from underwater microbes that eats away at her iron, the RMS Titanic lives gloriously in our memories; her tragedy romanticized and further made legend by blockbuster movies such as that by director James Cameron depicting her sealed fate.

The rediscovery of the RMS Titanic back in 1985 launched a debate over ownership of the wreck and the valuable items inside. It was a long and painful process that ultimately saw the RMS Titanic Inc., a subsidiary of Premier Exhibitions Inc. awarded ownership and salvaging rights by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on 7 June 1994. Since 1987over 5,500 historic objects have been salvaged from the tragic watery grave. Most of the objects now lay as part of museum exhibits but some are part of private collections while others are ‘recycled’.

Bouquets of eco-dreams

Bouquets and weddings go hand in hand- whether it’s for the brides and bridesmaids ornate handheld or ostentatious centrepieces to adorn the halls of the grand event, bouquet of flowers are ever present and in abundance too.

Factually weddings are one of the largest consumers and indirectly drivers of cut flowers industry.  Depending on the grandeur of event, flowers can be consumed as decor of the event by the tonnes; which end up costing the happy couple thousands of dollars at a time and at the same time, irreversible damage through the flower farming use of toxic pesticides and emission producing transportation. The toxic chemicals used will seep into the soil and water and from your flowers into the air they breathe inside your home, thereby silently raining death through its beauty.

The most common eco and healthier solutions are substituting conventional fresh cut flowers for the use of organic silk flowers or organic/sustainably grown flowers. But there are still alternatives to the two aforementioned ones.

Recycling Oyster Shells

Oysters are a prized delicacy all across the globe. The demand for it makes oyster farming and wild oyster harvesting a lucrative industry that many traders/businessmen indulge in. Now when the harvest of wild oysters is not done well (perhaps in the sense of non-selective harvest or non marine ecology preserving harvest methods employed) and the oyster farms employs the use of chemicals in raising the shellfish, it gives rise to the concerns over the sustainability of it all.

But whilst those concerns are obvious and quite well known, the link between oysters and eco-sustainability doesn’t end there. Did you know that you can and should recycle oyster shells? Yes, you read that line correctly, because I did write RECYCLE OYSTER SHELLS.  

So what’s this recycling oyster shells business about and what exactly can they be recycled into?
Well strictly in the context of this article, oyster shells recycling refers to a program where ‘used’/’consumed’ shells of oysters are collected from businesses as well as individuals and recycled by being placed back into the waters to help bring back up the declining wild oysters population.

Eco-Couture by Adele Wechsler

Alright if you’re into sustainable living and you’re planning a green wedding, then surely you must be in the market for a green wedding gown. Sure there are more than one options available to keeping it green, lets recap:

Option 1: Something old with sentiment and love -the wedding gown passed down from mummy dearest! Being sentimental pays!
Option 2: Something vintage – second hand wedding gowns might sound like a turn off but some pieces are truly masterpieces that you will no longer be able to find or have made today with the same precision of handwork.
Option 3: Something new but in green – Shop for Organic/natural eco-friendly wedding gowns. You’ll find there are off the shelf models and custom designed ones available.

I appreciate that most green brides are going to rank Option 3 as their primary preference, so here’s another green eco-bridal couture designer’s collection to help with the choices.

Eco Couture Bridal

Weddings are a mile stone in people’s lives. It is that special moment in time when the union of two people, very much in love I might add, formally and officially takes place and thereby initiates the birth of new bonds and ties between families once separate known as two.

Weddings are wonderful. They play hosts to a colourful spectrum of emotions as you’ll find some people cry at them, some others toast (endless glasses at that) to the merriment, while others such as me become inspired, bewildered and left in awe by the fashions on parade.

Yes, weddings, they aren’t just about the union, they are also about the dresses! People will really invest in the clothes they wear to a wedding but the pinnacle of the event and the largest investment of the event is most certainly ‘what the bride wore’.  

Now if you’re a blushing bride to be, or simply an admirer of beautiful gowns (of haute couture), then you will want to look at the following Vert pieces by Jessica Iverson because they aren’t just ravishing and stunningly beautiful, they are also stunningly green! No, don’t worry, I didn’t mean green in a literal sense but instead merely in an environmentally friendly sense.

Sustainable shopping suggestions

How many among you have read Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a shopaholic or watch the movie adapted from it as directed by P. J. Hogan and stars Isla Fisher? Now how many can identify with the story’s central character, Rebecca Bloomwood and sympathise with her? Honestly although I don’t think I’m anywhere near her level of addiction, I do feel her pain because I know I’ve been guilty of buying myself a whole new outfit when I’m feeling down in the dumps...but thankfully I’ve never splurged myself into a landfill sized financial turmoil.

Anyway, if you’ve got the itch to bring home a ‘shelf-friend’, then the least you could do is make sure it’s an eco-friendly sustainable one (and one that won’t leave you eating cardboard for the rest of the year).

Here are three cool suggestions that you can take a look at, bearing in mind how all of them are sustainable and eco-friendly as they were made from ‘reclaimed’ materials:

Eco-friendly leather, fact or marketing ploy?

From our last article we pretty much summed up what the leather tanning process was for – to change raw hide into the stable durable material, leather.  But in light of the “green lovers/awareness era” every so often we hear about products being made of eco friendly leather. Now is there really such a thing as eco-friendly leather or is it simply just a gimmick, another devious marketing ploy to boost the sales of conglomerates?

Well the truth is I’m not sure if we can ever say leather has zero environmental impact because to say that would be the same as saying genuine leather does not come at the expense of animals. However I do believe it can now be said that leather can be a sustainable product.

Usually when the market talks about eco-friendly leather, it is probably referring to leather that came to be from a sustainable tanning process – which means underwent a vegetable tanning process instead of a chemical one.

Understanding Leather

Leather has long been part of our lives, despite the controversy that arises from its uses; leather is pretty much embedded in practicalities of almost every one of the modern industries. From the fashion catwalks to the factory floors of the heavy industry or our modest/elaborate homes to the white halls of the hospitals, leather you will find is ever present to serve as aid or accessory.

Now although its use is so widespread, you find it alarming to learn how there is only such little awareness about it.  Not too certain that’s true? Well then just ask 10 people (at random)the following three questions and you’ll be lucky to find at least 1 among them who can answer all:

What is leather?

How is leather made?

It is obvious that leather isn’t animal friendly but is it environmentally friendly?

Here are the facts: