Backlash to Earth Hour/Backlash to Sarah Marshall

A quick follow up on a story reported on yesterday at GSpot.

Check this pretty pessimistic Op Ed from The Digital Journal in response to the global initiative, Earth Hour, that occurred yesterday. The reader's comments following Digital Journal writer David Silverberg's opinion piece on the futility if not adverse effects of Earth Hour, are in strong agreement with the writer. From these comments, it seems as though people are sick of "awareness campaigns" like this one, Live Earth, Blackle.com (which functions like google.com but with a black screen.)

But here's the thing: from a GSpotting perspective, it's all good. Which is to say that debate and public discourse on the merit and actual impact of green awareness campaigns, eco- innovation, and environmental policy in both government and business, is all quite useful.


That an NGO like WWF could have Google participate, and that all the millions of Google users could not avoid reading about the world wide Earth Hour Campaign, this is all good stuff. It's almost like viral marketing.

In fact, it reminds me of a movie advertising campaign currently underway here in New York City, and possibly elsewhere, with disparaging comments about one Sarah Marshall. At bus stops, on taxis, and on buses, there are these signs saying, "I hate you Sarah Marshall," and "I'm so over Sarah Marshall," and "Those jeans DO make you look fat, Sarah Marshall," etc. Apparently, this is all for a movie to be released in June, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Unsure of what this movie is about or even if one will go see the flick, the more it is in our collective subconscious, the easier it is to even recall the name Sarah Marshall. Furthermore, it instigates heavy dialog among friends, strangers, and bloggers who even if they are calling it the most annoying ad campaign ever, are still talking about it.

More Green Options at American Apparel

All praise the t-shirt gods for inspiring American Apparel to release more colors in their organic cotton collection. We were beginning to think we'd have to wear oatmeal v-neck tees for eternity.

Google Earth Hour

If anyone woke up this morning to frantically search March Madness results on Google, great work Davidson, they would have seen a completely black page. Apparently Google.com has "turned the lights out" on the homepage for the entire day as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is encouraging PC users to join the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Also today, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour - from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm in their local time zone.

Banana Republic's Green Fashion Collection

A little bird has informed us at G Spotting that Banana Republic will be launching a green collection starting April 8th to commemorate Earth Day, falling this year on April 22nd. Banana Republic, a favorite retailer of many a business woman and hip professional alike, including my friend Rachel, is known for their classic, sophisticated separates and overall smart aesthetic. BR operates more than 500 stores in the US and 26 in Canada and is owned by Gap Inc, who this past quarter had a total revenue of $4.68 billion. When a store of this fashion influence and magnitude starts preaching that good green word, you know something big is about to happen.

The collection will include over 50 sustainabley sourced mens and womens pieces and 1 percent of sales, or up to $100,000 from purchases made between April 22-27 will go to the . Trust for Public Land. This Earth Week initiative is the first step towards the brand's $1 million commitment to the Trust for Public Land.you can check out more info at www.BananaRepublic.com/Earthweek, which will go live April 7th.

Next week the G-Spotters are going to the view the collection, so more to come on this lede.

Eco-Hip Hop? HOT 97 Goes Green!

We don't know how this escaped the radar for so long, but our favorite hip hop radio station in NYC, Hot 97 has a huge Green Initiative! This is unbelievably exciting considering Hot 97 has the best DJs in NYC, plays the best in contemporary and throw back mainstream hip hop and R&B music, and now they are putting on all their listeners to green tips and ideas.

Some of their initiatives included an event on March 20th partnering with TerraCycle, where a FREE iTunes downloads for every 4 vinyl records or 8 CDs turned in, instead of thrown out. TerraCyle is one of our favorite home-grown worm poop to fertilizer companies based in Trenton New Jersey founded by a couple of friends from Princeton who dropped out to make this super-sustainable poop product that is now sold in Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and other gardening heavy hitters.

They also have info about recycling in NYC, public transportation innovation, and clips from the Live Earth concerts.

Carrie Goes Green? Eco- Sex and the City

This fantastic frock looks so Sex and the City Carrie-style for real! Luckily for us non Sarah Jessica Parker budget gals, it is under $200, eco-friendly and available at super sweet online retailer BTC Elements.

Armour Sans Anguish makes delicious fashion including this fantastic dress in sunny California from reclaimed and secondhand fabrics. A definitely chic, mega shout out goes to the two hot designers at Armour Sans Anguish who give us fashionable green options to get excited about.

Green Sports Cars Get the Spotlight

The Daily News of New York City is the fifth most-widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of of 681,415. So when Daily News writes a story about innovative eco-friendly automobiles, that means a lot of eyes on smoking hot green cars.

Today's Daily News features two great articles about the changing face of green cars. The first article focuses on the Breeze, a small and funky looking beast of a very compact car powered by compressed air slated to be released in 2010. This air car can travel about 1,000 miles at up to 96 mpg on one fill up and sells for as low as $17,800.

The article right below is about newly zestified hybrid sports cars. Whereas the Tesla has been getting tons of press, this story focused on a few others including Toyota's new iQ, the world's smallest four passenger car measuring in at under 10 feet long. The article also mentions a prototype from Britain's Morgan called the Life Car, based on a 1940s Morgan, which runs on hydrogen.

Glamour Magazine Goes Green for April

The current Glamour Magazine on newsstands now features not only a smoking Salma Hayek looking just as sultry as she was wants to be, but also 22 pages of helpful green tips.

Some of the highlights include:
-A very helpful recycling cheat-sheet
-Great green beauty products -Personal reader testimonials about going green
-Tips for buying alternative energy and shopping locally
-Answering green questions ("Carbon Footprint, how many times can I reuse a water bottle, what's up with bamboo, etc.)
-Green home renovation "before" and "after"
-Win a Hybrid giveaway,
-A light bulb guide
-A shout out to one of our fave bamboo t-shirt companies, Tonic Gen who donates goods and/or services for each t-shirt purchase

My main criticism with the green section in this month's Glamour is the "8 Fashion favorites that help the planet" on page 178. Firstly, the denim isn't all organic cotton, the pieces are very basic, and they do not feature purely sustainable designers. Instead, there are green pieces from traditional fashion mainstays (except for a few accessories) that vary in price from designers like 3.1 Phillip Lim to Banana Republic.

More Hybrid Vehicle Options? Oh hells yeah!

Not to be outdone by the Japanese, the Korean Auto Market has begun demanding more hybrid options from their own car manufacturers.

Just yesterday, Toyota announced that it will begin selling its hybrid cars in Korea and today the Hyundai Automotive Group said that it will speed up its plans to mass produce its own hybrids. By 2009, Hyundai will have Hybrid versions of of the Elantra, the Sonata, and Kia.

Doing what these two fuel-efficient car companies do, Toyota’s hybrid Lexus RX400h will hit the Korean market in the second half of next year and Honda Korea plans to sell the sedan Legend (known as the Acura in the U.S.) in Korea also in the next year.

G-d's Green Soldiers

Sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I sit here on my own Jewish sabbath, a green chick looking for environmental meaning in this very holy time for my 2.1 billion Christian brothers and sisters. So with with great joy I found this great article about Christianity and environmental activism.

The Easter season is an appropriate time for churches to marry spirituality and ecology. "There is something inside us that responds to the Earth coming alive this time of year," said Doug Bland, chairman of the Earth Care Commission with the Arizona Ecumenical Council. "It's also a time when we face our own failings and sins. And as we look around us, we can see our role in the destruction of the planet."

Being a good steward to G-d's earth has been a major theme for the Pope, who continues to speak out as an environmental advocate and even plans to install solar panels on the Vatican.

Just as Easter brings the promise of rebirth and renewal to the Christian Community, so too arises an opportunity engage our friends, family and religious congregations in green dialog and action.

Check Out

Green Lent - An Episcopal priest living in Wyoming, blogs about ways to include green living in Lent, climate change and resource conservation.

The Regeneration Project - An interfaith ministry devoted to deepening the connection between ecology and faith.

Energy Foundation - An online energy-efficiency store for faith communities sponsored by Interfaith Power & Light.

Creation Care - The Evangelical Environmental Network formed because its members describe many environmental problems as fundamentally being spiritual problems.

My Candidate Is Greener Than Your Candidate

Thank goodness for the complete and well-rounded media attention focused on the 2008 presidential election because I was beginning to feel a lack of personal connection with the candidates. Almost. Courtesy of the endless one-on-one interviews, up to date campaign trail coverage, and daily nook and cranny attention to detail, we all know where the candidates stand on some of the most critical issues: favorite foods, celebrity endorsers, and traditional Somali tunic size.

Although these nuggets of personal information bring the voter closer to their candidate and in turn forge a bond and perhaps even a de facto relationship between leader and constituent, their are some equally important issues to think about which are under covered by the mainstream media.

So it is with that in mind that strongly suggest TreeHugger.com with its at a glance presidential green record. For instance, Barack Obama supports country-of-origin labels for food and has voiced support for labeling genetically modified foods. He also co-sponsored the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the most stringent climate bill in the Senate. Hilary Clinton calls for a Green Building Fund through which the federal government would allocate $1 billion annually to states to make grants or low-interest loans to improve energy efficiency in public buildings, such as schools, police stations, firehouses, and offices.

Tree Hugger comes through big time with this comprehensive and easy to follow break down of the candidates environmental stances.

Energy Star: Change A Light, Change Your Life

Starting this Earth Day, April 22nd, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will ask consumers to do a little bit more than “change a light” to fight global warming, when it launches the year-long “Change the World: Start with ENERGY STAR” campaign. The campaign’s cornerstone will be the new ENERGY STAR Pledge, which also launches on Earth Day at www.energystar.gov.

So far, the successful ENERGY STAR Change a Light campaign has inspired more than a million Americans to pledge to switch to energy-efficient CFLs and helped boost market share for CFLs to over 20% nationally. Check out the website to see how your state is doing in the pledge to collectively convert from energy sucking light bulbs to energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.

You Are Not Alone, Governor Spitzer

Thanks to my sister, Alice, for G Spotting this great article in Tikkun Magazine by Rabbi Michael Lerner about the recent infidelity/prostitution scandal that has come to light for former NY Governor, Elliot Spitzer. In his piece, Rabbi Lerner suggests that America's obsession with sexual perversity has obscured the bigger and even more perverse issues at hand: our politicians treatment of the war in Iraq, global warming inaction, and extreme world-wide wealth disparity.

The notion that our elected officials are being unfaithful to their spouses, their constituents, and the ideals upon which our country is founded on has lead me to the following question: What am I unfaithful to in my pursuit of a conscious, sustainable life?

If you type in "eco unfaithful" into Google, a website called Cheat Neutral comes up. Unsure if this is a joke or not, Cheat Neutral offsets your cheating by funding someone else to be faithful and NOT cheat. This neutralizes the pain and leaves you with a clear conscience.

It is interesting to think of the ways in which we as consumers, cheat on our green ideals.

Timb Totes, Ya'll

This past October, Timberland launched the Earthkeepers boot collection. This collection of burnished leather boots' footbed, sole, and lining are made from recycled materials, as well as Timberland's standard waterproof and seam-sealed construction to protect against the elements. Around the holidays to advertise the campaign, Timberland erected billboards around their hometown of Boston and also Providence. Once the holiday season was over, the billboards were taken down and were repurposed and made into slamming tote bags. Major props to Timberland for their durable gear, fashionable panache, and green integrity.

Thanks to Erica for G Spotting this story for us.

Old Faithful College Sweatshirt - Organic Please?

As my alma mater UNC's men's basketball team sailed to a huge victory yesterday against Clemson to win the ACC Tournament Championship, I had but a few thoughts in mind. 1)Is it healthy to love the fair state of North Carolina and its hard working people (and basketballers) as much as I do. 2) Is there anything more simple and concrete than the notion that Carolina=Good, Duke=Evil. 3) Where can a person get an organic cotton, Made in America hooded college sweatshirt.

About 8 months ago I lost my old Carolina hoodie; the grey one that said UNC in dark blue letters on the front, which saw me through most of my college days. Since that fateful seperation, I have been desperately seeking to replace the garment, but not wanting to buy a traditional cotton, Made in China, version. If I'm going to shell out the $65 plus for the sweatshirt, at least let it be a well made, well intentioned sweatshirt.

I have scoured the web searching for organic college gear. If anyone has g spotted eco carolina hoodies, please let me know!

Look Ma, I'm Retreating

Between May and December of 2007, the Columbia Glacier in Alaska retreated half a mile and lost 400 billion gallons of water. This mind-blowing time-lapse video, has 436 frames and was shot by the Extreme Ice Survey Project to highlight the effects of global warming. Equal parts beautiful and overwhelmingly alarming, this would be a good chain letter-esque email to cc all your friends on.

Major shout out to National Geographic for always bringing us the coolest content in their magazines and websites, and Gabriela from LA who first g-spotted it.

The Simple Things

Today's NY Times featured a Health and Fitness article touting the benefits of push-ups as one of the singular best upper body exercises a man or woman can do. Based on national averages, a 40-year-old woman should be able to do 16 push-ups and a man the same age should be able to do 27. Unfortunately, these standards aren't being met by our less than in-shape US population. Anecdotally, I witness the push-up anxiety that people experience every time I instruct a client to drop down and give me ten at the 92nd Street Y gym, where I work as a physical trainer.

This old-school exercise requires no equipment, merely your own body weight, it involves no strange yoga/pilates/zumba/nia movements, and yet it provides a workout equal or better to any new stuff the gym industry throws at us.

Indeed the notion of simplicity is quite fitting for moving our lives in a sustainable and green direction. At first, simplifying one's daily routine might seem pointless and hella frustrating But, in most instances like walking instead of driving, slowing down while you eat your food, and avoiding cleaning products which contain unpronounceable ingredients, your emotional, physical, and financial health will benefit.

Emotionally simplifying through greening your life might mean bringing your own bags to the grocery store and avoiding adding to the billions of plastic bags that are tossed out yearly, in this country alone. That experience provides a sense a pride in one's actions, and re-affirms the idea of common good. Simple enough, but important feelings for us all to regularly have.

Greening your life yields physical benefits from simple changes like walking more, biking more, turning off the power in your house (TV, computer, Wii) and going outside to garden. Check out BodyBuilder.com's great Calorie Calculator to find out how many calories are burned doing all types of daily exercises ranging from gardening to having sex.

Lastly, simplifying your life in a green way that results in healthier finance means putting your money where your mouth is. By purchasing organic beauty products, home care products, food, bedding, etc. you are investing in your own health and helping prevent future sickness and doctor's bills. Or, considering the oil prices we are currently faced with, simply not riding alone will save you a ton money of money and even strengthen your friendships. Robust finances and less pollution all achieved with simple steps.

Check out this cool article from SeattlePi.com about simplifying and greening from a "Working Dad's" perspective.

Sigg Haiku

The following is a poem for my water bottle. Mind you, this is not just any water bottle; it is a Sigg. I am stopped at least 3 times a day to be complimented on said bottle, and so this poem is is dedicated to my source of inspiration.

Sigg of my life, yes
eyes lift from The Post and stare
you hold water, calm.

Jenna Jameson Covered In Oil

In what is becoming the hottest trend for Hollywood vixens, Jenna Jameson joins the list of PETA pin-up activistas which includes women like Ms Dita Von Teese, Pamela Anderson, and Eva Mendes. Personally, I love the the eye candy photos cum substantive food for thought that sparks interest in animal love. These women seem passionate about our mammalian cousins, and I dig that, but this skivvy clad Jenna Jameson pleather ad has got me to thinking.

Pleather is made from either polyvinyl chloride (most often referred to as PVC) or polyurethane. Both of these petroleum based materials release crazy dioxins during the production phase as well as "organic pollutants", a delicious oxymoron, indeed. What's more, the process of producing a pound of PVC releases CO2 emissions equal to burning a gallon of gas.* The vinyl industry argues that chemical tanning for leather uses carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, which is clearly a sucky alternative, and so at least with pleather the animal's life is spared.

So the debate continues between pleather, leather, and public indecency/going nudey for the cause. Choosing between the latter and the first option, Ms Jameson, who has lost a great deal of weight in the past years (please Jenna, go back to your fighting weight, i.e. porn weight, for all of us thick girls) picks pleather for her PETA photo. But certain questions still persist: Are these vixens vegetarian, as they stand victoriously in front of the PETA banner? Is activism the new spotlight grabber, instead of a sex tape leaked onto the internet ? And most importantly, who heads PETA's PR department because surely they deserve a monster raise.

*Check out this great Slate.com article to read more about pleather.

Purchasing Power: Greening from the Top Down

Today was the 25th annual National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) Conference held in New York City. As Chief Green Amiga of Ride Amigos, a car-share service, I quite luckily was able to attend the Purchasing Managers’ Throwdown. As one would expect of head buyers of pens, toilet paper, coffee, and 18-wheelers for major corporations like Colgate, Pzifer, Lehman Brothers, and Johnson &Johnson, these folks were quite the feisty bunch.

The day got really interesting though when James Martin, Senior Director of Global Sourcing for News Corporation, gave a presentation entitled “The Path To Becoming Carbon Neutral." News Corporation, owned by love him or hate him Rupert Murdoch, controls the biggest media companies on earth including, but not limited to, and naturally in order of importance to me personally; American Idol, MySpace, The National Geographic Channel, The Wall Street Journal, FOX, and the Simpsons. With a media portfolio as diverse as this, it only makes sense that their steps to becoming “Carbon Neutral” by 2010 are equally myriad and dynamic.

Some of their more understandable tactics (because I won't lie when I tell you they lost me with some of the jargon about hydroelectric power) included reducing energy use by retrofitting lighting, using Energy Star rated equipment, harnessing alternative fuels to power tv/moive sets ( 24 actually runs entirely on biodiesel), harnessing green power from geographically appropriate sources, and integrating hybrids vehicles into their global transportation fleet.

In the midst of touting the benefits of corporate ride-sharing through our RideAmigos software, Head Amigo Jeff and I approached Mr. Martin following his presentation to alert him that we represent a viable option currently available to aid News Corp in their bid to go carbon neutral. Clearly a bit unfamiliar with earnest 25 year olds attempting to revamp his multi-billion dollar transportation infrastructure, he tentatively agreed to take a look. A partnership between Ride Amigos and News Corp would demonstrate great leadership and vision on the part of this mega media giant, and would mean an equally significant new account for our small but mighty ride share squad.

All in all, this day was about innovation at all levels: top to bottom, and bottom to top.

Lather it up, Little Darlin'

I have recently become involved with Teens for Safe Cosmetics, an organization of bright and precocious teenagers who besides from being much more poised and together than I was in high school, are also working to change the face of a 20 + billion dollar industry. The cosmetic industry caters to and targets an already self conscious population of young women with their creams, lotions, toners, gels, makeups, shampoos, conditioners, anti-frizz serums, promising unattainable coiffed perfection. In actuality, these seemingly delightful scented products are made with nasty toxic chemicals including coal tar, formaldehyde, phthalates, and many other unpronounceable and unhealthy additives (which Travis thinks sound like Smurf names), which serve to further exacerbate acne, degrade hair and skin quality and cause skin irritation (at best) and can lead to skin diseases and cancer.

After speaking with these seriously driven and hip young women (think Gossip Girl sassy but with an activist chic twist) as they prepare for their April 4th "Turning Green" Runway event, I decided it was time to join them and in doing so, ween myself from a beauty regimen consisting of mostly traditional cosmetic products. So, I bought Alba Pineapple Enzyme Face Scrub and Lotion, Kiss My Face Lavender Deodorant, and Avalon Organics Awapuhi Mango Shampoo and Conditioner. Also, I am wearing Priti Organics nail polish in a deep red/blackish, because I got a manicure on Saturday at the Priti Organic Spa here in NYC.

With zesty new organic products being absorbed by my largest organ (epidermis), I checked out L'Occitane, a favorite skin care brand, to see what goodies I could add to the cosmetic arsenal; only to be disappointed in their very limited organic product selection. In fact, the woman working at this particular store on New York's Upper West Side assured me the heavy chemicals used in their products were merely to preserve them and extend the shelf life. This obviously made me think to myself, then how the heck are organic beauty products preserved? As it turns out, semi-synthetic ingredients are used to extend a shelf-life for most cosmetics, but natural components like Tea-tree oil, Vitamin E, and Rosemary can also do the trick. This is how organic products achieve the preservation effect. Soap Kitchen is a great website to read more about the specifics.

What Is G Spotting?

G Spotting is the confluence of a million ideas that have been swirling inside of my head. As a Producer for The Lazy Environmentalist (an easy green, lifestyle radio show and blog), an Account Executive for the Four Hundred (Only High-End Sustainable Fashion Showroom in existence), the Chief Green Amiga for Ride Amigos (A global ride-share website) and a green writer for EcoFabulous, Ecorazzi, and Complex Magazine, I am up to my neck in the new green world order. So, it felt like it was time to start connecting the green dots, or Spots, in one place.

What is up with G-Spotting, really? Firstly, the definition of G-Spot: being exactly on the right point, ripe for stimulation, which results in authentic and intense satisfaction. Secondly, being able to find the spot: knowing how and where to locate the right G. Finally, considering the big G is green, being able to find and keep up with the lighting pace of environmental innovation, sustainable growth, and eco-commerce. Monitoring and connecting the the dots of development and breakthroughs in this new green economy: That is G-Spotting.