I am what one might call a leisurely bather. If one wished for some reason to paint me in a less flattering light, “bathroom hog” may or may not be the term best used to describe my habits. I can say with all honesty that I have never taken a shower in under 20 minutes; my ideal duration ranges from 45 minutes to an hour. I don’t necessarily want to take that long, it’s just that with all the shampooing, deep conditioning, exfoliating, shaving, Clarisonic-ing, and cleansing required to keep me looking just barely presentable, there’s no way I’m getting in and out of there in 15 minutes. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is, and I definitely don’t feel guilty about making you wait outside the bathroom door for four hours. I will, however, cop to feeling the tiniest bit sheepish about the havoc I’m wreaking on the environment as a result of my over-indulgent tendencies. While I absolutely under no circumstances do not want this Shower Coach 5-Minute Shower Timer (I have enough passage-of-time anxiety already), it would probably be a wise $2.99 investment on my part. And hey, just because the sands of time are not shifting in my favor doesn’t mean I actually have to get out, right? [Complex]
Tag Archives: environment
CFDA And Vogue Launch A New Green Initiative To Curb Fashion’s Carbon Footprint
April is Earth Month, so naturally it’s the perfect opportunity for the fashion world (and, it goes without saying, the world over) to stand up and do what they can to take action. The latest venture into green comes from the CFDA and Vogue with Clean by Design, a new partnership with National Resources Defense Counsel. The council hosted a luncheon yesterday to announce the initiative, the premise of which could seem a bit strange — how does fashion directly impact the environment? Keep reading »
You’re Wasting Water By Shaving Your Legs, Ladies
Who is to blame for Mother Earth’s metastasizing environmental crisis? Women, of course. Are we tossing out too many sanitary napkins? Drinking too many lattes in cardboard cups? Well, yes, but this is more serious. Us ladies are “wasting” billions of liters of water every year leaving the water running while we shave our legs. According to a survey by the UK water company Thames Water, a third of women leave the water running while we shave our legs in the shower, which amounts to enough “wasted” water every year to supply London with acqua for 25 days.
Keep reading »
Behold, A Wedding Dress Made Out Of Newspaper
You’ve seen prom dresses fashioned with duct tape. The next DIY sartorial eyeful is a wedding dress made completely from newspaper. I can’t imagine any bride wants ink stains on her big day, but at least designer Jenna Braga proves she could hack it on one of those weird “Project Runway” challenges. And hey, if it does take off, maybe it will bail out the struggling newspaper industry! [YouTube] Keep reading »
Jay Leno Tells Ellen Page “We Should Pee Together!”
Not many starlets would talk about pee on “The Tonight Show.” But then again, not many stars would ditch fake-baking in Hollywood for composting at an Oregon eco-village. Ellen Page dropped facts about composting — apparently if you build it right, it doesn’t smell! — and announced how she and her eco-village pals liked to contributed nitrates to the compost by peeing together in a bucket. And that’s when Jay Leno said something very weird. [Huffington Post] Keep reading »
I’m Not A (Clean) Plastic Bag
Hopefully by now, everyone’s invested in a few reusable totes for grocery trips instead of ruining the environment with plastic bags. But while you’re being all green and eco-friendly, it’s important to remember that between schlepping groceries, gym clothes, and random finds around town, more than a few germs have most likely found their way inside that tote bag. A recent study tested 84 bags from shoppers in Tucson, LA, and SF and found that 12% contained e. coli and over half held other harmful bacteria. Sounds pretty shocking, but when you think about it, this really shouldn’t be news, especially if you’re dumping raw meat inside those canvas bags. Multiply that by the amount of years you’ve owned your eco-friendly bag, and that’s months of bacteria just festering at the bottom. Sufficiently grossed out? We suggest you get to laundering. [Consumerist] Keep reading »
The Birkin Goes Green
If you can’t afford a Birkin but are desperate to show off your fashion sense, then get yourself to Taipei. Some genius over there recognized the need for a Birkin-inspired, eco-friendly tote, so went a little DIY happy and screened an image of the covetable purse onto a canvas bag. Born from the creative moment is the Birkin designer reusable bag, perfect for carrying around all your goodies — from groceries to gym clothes — while inciting envy of those who are Birkin-less. Each tote only costs $45, which is a drastic difference from the real Birkins, and you’ll not only be helping the world but also your own appearance, and keeping your wallet happy. Interestingly enough, though, the real Birkin doesn’t have a wait list anymore thanks to the recession, you’ll have to wait three months to get your hands on one of these green-friendly designs! [BagSnob] Keep reading »
Are Your Jeans Responsible For Polluting China’s Pearl River?
Pollution of the Pearl River has long posed a problem for China’s ecosystem; however, the degree of contamination has become twice as bad since 2007. One reason, according to a new Greenpeace report, points to the denim factories lining the banks of the water. Clearly, China is a huge manufacturer of consumer goods, and the denim industry also relies heavily on Chinese production. According to CNN, Xintang (a town that is home to many of these factories) “produces 200 million pairs of jeans per year including 60 different foreign brands. That is just under half of the 450 million pairs of jeans sold annually in the United States.” During the dye process, garments are bathed in harsh chemicals, and while many of these companies claim that they recycle this contaminated water, the truth is that it’s simply dumped into the river. This isn’t just an environmental issue; several of the toxins released are cancer-causing. Keep reading »
Eating Green Just Got Much Easier
Low-output shower heads kind of suck and fluorescent lighting can make a girl look tragic really fast, so some of us justify our unwillingness to switch over and help the environment out just a little. But when the rare opportunity to stop taking total advantage of the planet while enjoying ourselves comes along, there’s really no reason to say no. On that front, may we present Partnership for the Environment, a website that helps you find environmentally friendly restaurants in your area and even tells you which exact aspects of the restaurants’ practices are treating Mother Earth so well. Given that we’re huge fans both of food and not watching the ecosystem turn into a flaming ball of terribleness all around us, we’ll be visiting often. Keep reading »
Perfume Has A Carbon Footprint?
Makes sense, actually. Just something you probably never thought of.
Now there’s the first carbon-free fragrance, brought to you by Blue Marble Energy and Sweet Anthem perfumes. Working together, the environmental org and the perfumery came up with EOS, with a women’s version smelling of tea rose and sandalwood, and a unisex potion spiced with cognac and white ginger. While those odors sound pleasing, the carbon-free process to come up with them isn’t. Reports the Independent: “Staying true to its declared mission of replacing ‘oil with fully renewable, carbon neutral alternatives,’ Blue Marble commissioned the perfumers to use brewery waste – a not very appealing mix of “rancid beer grains, green algae and a ‘sludge’ consisting of 50,000 different kinds of bacteria” – instead of petroleum … ”
Wow, maybe this is one of those cases where you’d just rather not know where your food perfume came from but enjoy it anyhow? [Independent.co.uk] Keep reading »
