1, Loomstate, one of our favorite organic lines, is having a sale on GiltGroupe.com this Friday, 6/12. Gilt Groupe is invite only, so click HERE to join as my friend! The sale starts noon on friday, at discounts up to 70% off.
2. The situation in Peru is escalating. Over the weekend, police conducted a violent and deadly raid, opening fire on peaceful indigenous Awajun and Wambis protesters, killing 25 and injuring more than 150.
International oil, logging and mining companies have been handed over the rights to even more of Peru’s Amazon by President Garcia – killing, displacing, and destroying indigenous communities. At this moment, over 50,000 local Peruvians are conducting peaceful protests to defend their rights and the environment, but they are under siege.
In Hollywood, actors Q’orianka Kilcher, Alex Meraz, Colin Farrell, Clifton Collins Jr, Jesse Garcia (Quinceañera), Woody Harrelson, and Esai Morales are protesting in solidarity. Please SIGN THE PETITION.
3. Where thoroughbreds go to retire – the other dark-side of horse-racing. While millions of viewers watch this year’s Belmont Stakes, former champions like Charismatic and War Emblem are half a world away in Japan. Thousands of other less famous U.S.-bred thoroughbreds have also been exported overseas for breeding and racing. When they are no longer useful, most of these horses will be slaughtered. PETA undercover investigators have recorded exclusive footage in a Japanese horse slaughterhouse.
1. What’s simple, classic, and not allowed to be worn with baggy pants? Check out this 100% synthetic Chelsea Boot from TOPMAN. Hot, and only $100! Next, if your metal-head babysitter from 1985′s wardrobe got turned into an amazing, urban, hi-top – these gold ‘n black faux-snakeskin foot-prizes would be it. Dang! Only $70 at TOPMAN.
2. Dr Cow Cashew-Bazil Nut & Macadamia vegan cheeses now available online! They are not cheap, but they are insanely yummy.
3. Speaking of cheese – I got to try the very-talked-about, soy-free, melty-as-hell Daiya cheese while mingling at a star-studded PCRM event last week. Yum! Not sure when it’ll hit stores, but it was stretchy and delicious when heated.
4. Has anyone tried the So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage? I saw it on the shelves in Whole Foods, but I haven’t tried it yet and want to know: how does it taste? Can you steam it or foam it? Does it curdle in tea? Tell me!
5. Once again, the Canadian Seal Hunt is leaving a trail of blood. Please watch the video and click HERE to help.
6. A new study has found that crabs feel and remember pain. So that’s what a brain and nervous system do? It seems silly to even have to point this out, but unless scientists shock living things, the public thinks that brains and nervous systems are just for fun. As if you neeed one more reason to boycott Red Lobster? Duh, what’s trawling?
2. These shoes are golden! Cool, Vegan, fair-trade, and eco-friendly, does it get any better than that ? Jinga was started 3 years ago by two gals who give back at least 5% of sales to a social project in a Rio de Janeiro favela (shantytown) which provides activities and education to children to keep them away from gangs! (Thanks to reader Michael B. for this info!)
3. Undercover Animal Lover. This guy is an ethical vegan who risks his safety killing animals all day and shooting undercover footage so we can get a glimpse into the heavily-shrouded meat and dairy industries. Can you imagine? Read this rare interview with TIME magazine, and check his HBO documentary Death on a Factory Farm airing March 16.
4. This Sunday, March 15th, eat good vegan food and help farm animals!
Farm Sanctuary’s Dinner Night Broadway East 171 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002 Sunday, March 15, 2009 Reservations for your party are available between 7:30 and 10 p.m.
Reserve your table online at www.opentable.com or by calling Laurie at 212-228-3100.
Be sure to mention Farm Sanctuary when making your reservation.
5. One of our favorite organic companies, Loomstate, is having a party at one of our favorite eco-boutiques, Kaight, on Friday March 20th. Get a free Loomstate organic tee with any purchase of Loomstate S/S ’09!
6. Person to know: Historian and Activist GEORGE DRAFFAN
” ‘Development’ is a euphemism, much like the word ‘efficiency.’ Efficiency within the current system is really about how fast you can turn forests and mountains into wastepaper and soda pop cans. Is that good? If the purpose of life is to consume and destroy, then international trade and industrial civilization are definitely proven ways to speed that up .”
PETA’s brilliant, new video features the voices of Pink and Ricky Gervais as a rabbit and alligator duo who have a very interesting confrontation with some people at the coat check. Read More
“I have heard people suggest that because humans are natural that everything humans do or create is natural. Chainsaws are natural. Nuclear bombs are natural. Our economics is natural. Sex slavery is natural. Asphalt is natural. Cars are natural. Polluted water is natural. A devastated world is natural. A devastated phyche is natural. Unbridled exploitation is natural. Pure objectification is natural. This is, of course, nonsense. We are embedded in the natural world. We evolved as social creatures in this natural world. We require clean water to drink, or we die. We require clean air to breathe, or we die. We require food, or we die. We require love, affection, social contact in order to become our full selves. It is part of our evolutionary legacy as social creatures. Anything that helps us to understand all of this is natural: Any ritual, artifact, process, action is natural, to the degree that it reinforces our understanding of our embeddedness in the natural world, and any ritual, artifact, process, action is unnatural, to the degree that it does not” — Derrick Jensen (Author, The Culture of Make Believe)
Have you ever had this conversation with someone? You know, the one where you try to describe the actions of this culture – the affects our society has on wild nature, on each other, on children, on women, on animals, on indigenous peoples, on the poor. You see an interconnectedness, a pattern with a possible origin, and the response you get is “well, people are natural, everything comes from nature at some point, therefore everything we do and say and think must be natural“. You know deep down that this rationalization is flawed but you just can’t articulate why. You accuse the person of being nihilistic, or of rationalizing every terrible thing this culture has resulted in from genocide to child labor to domestication and Monsanto, but you still haven’t pinpointed the line that must be drawn between “natural” and “unnatural”. I found that the quote above really hits the nail on the head, without having to be an ecologist to understand it.
1. Viori’s Tees and Scarves, 100% US-grown organic cotton, water-based inks, made fairly in the USA.
2. NY Coalition for Healthy School Lunches is an organization that promotes plant-based farm-to-school nutritional and educational implementation. I had a chance to go eat a delicious, vegan meal with the kids in Harlem last week, and I have to say that the menu, which was designed by a collaboration between Candle 79 and the school, was really yummy! Find out how you can get involved by clicking below:
3. Reware’s JuiceBag ES300 Solar Messenger charges iPods, Cell Phones, GPS, Cameras, etc, and is made from recycled soda bottles.
4. Refinding’s reclaimed accessories, made from reclaimed materials like trading cards, nylon, matchbooks, and type-writer keys.
6. Sameunderneath Knit Blazer on Sale, 75% organic cotton, 25% polyester
7. HBO premieres the documentary “Death on a Factory Farm”. Get program schedule here. Watch a clip from the doc:
8. Of The Earth organic cotton hoodies.
9. Veg News weighs in on obstacles to estimating the number of veg kids. The CDC fails at surveying.Read the article:
10. Do you ever have a clogged drain and you end up buying the toxic, animal-tsted Draino? Finally there’s a pure, natural environmentally-friendly, enzyme-producing bacteria that liquefies grease, fats, and other organic wastes and controls odors in drains, garbage disposals, and septic systems. Earthworm! What’s best? It’s only five bucks at VeganStore.com.
“If a group of aliens came to this planet and said they would bring us all sorts of goodies like jet skis, tomatoes in January, computers, and so on (or at least they would bring them to the richest of us), on the multiple conditions that we offer up to them a yearly sacrifice of a half-million human lives, change our planet’s climate, individually spend increasing amounts of time serving them, and socially devote an ever-increasing amount of land and other resources to their service, we would rebel in a flash. Or at least I hope we would.” - Jan Lundberg, Anti-Road activist making analogy to car culture, Alliance for a Paving Moratorium
The EPA is considering reversing a Bush Administration decision that has prevented many states from taking action to reduce global warming from cars. You can sign the petition HERE, and then consider the issue even further. Some say that the most destructive aspect of cars is destroying mountains to access metals to build the car itself. Sorry hybrid lovers – sorry electric idealists – sorry LA! According to WorldCarFree.net, A car causes more pollution before it’s ever driven than in its entire lifetime of driving. The EPA now estimates that mountaintop removal will double over the next decade, destroying forests, river systems, animals, and anything else that may be in the way.
When you combine that with ever-increasing road-building, which requires 250,000 tons of sand and gravel per mile, in addition to millions of annual deaths, and tens of millions of annual injuries caused by car accidents, we can’t help but wonder if arranging your life to do most things locally isn’t the best option? Maybe those locavores are on to something? Anyone else wanna give up their cubicle to work from home?
I could even go into the energy required to build certain bike frames (and how no matter how far you ride it, you could never compensate for the energy used to make the alloys) but I’ll save that for another day. Get out your walking shoes… hmm..wonder what those are made out of and how much the person was paid who glued on the sole and stiched the seams?
Bob Barker, of The Price is Right fame, will host the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) 20th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, March 14, 2009, at 7 p.m., at the Broward County Convention Center. Pamela Anderson is the guest of honor. The black-tie-optional affair will provide members and supporters the opportunity to meet, mingle and relax while enjoying an exciting, eventful evening. Highlights of the gala will include a gourmet vegan dinner, an open bar, silent and live auctions featuring items from actress Kim Basinger and basketball player Yao Ming, and book signings by PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk and PCRM’s Dr. Neal Barnard. All proceeds from the gala will be used to fund ARFF’s Humane Education program, which has educated thousands of schoolchildren in Florida on veganism, companion animals and wildlife. Tickets for the gala are $250 and can be purchased by calling (954) 727-ARFF or visiting http://www.arff.org <http://www.arff.org>
The “Clean” Coal myth is explored in this hilarious ad by the Coen brothers for This Is Reality. Can the dirtiest source of energy really be the solution? We didn’t think so either.
Denim “fur” and “leather” hits the G Star Runway. “Just when you thought you’d seen every incarnation of denim there is, G Star brings you “fur” and “leather” made out of denim.” Read the full article HERE.
From the left: Shelley Whelan - Montreal Retail Manager & Rep, Julia Grieve - Founder & CEO, Colin Seymour - Toronto Retail Manager & Rep
PRELOVED held their first US in-store event on Sunday evening at the Greenpoint, Brooklyn boutique, ALTER. The Spring ‘o9 collection is made entirely of reclaimed items like bed sheets, shirts, suiting, and even curtains! These items would otherwise end up in a landfill, and have been reconstucted into really gorgeous garments for ladies and gentalmen, alike. Founder and CEO, Julia Grieve told me that she never intended to be an environemntalist, she just liked working with reclaimed fabrics. But now, as Preloved heads to the forefront of the green-fashion movement, she realized the importence and gravity of making sustainability ‘cool’. Nothing says sustainable like turning trash into gorgeous, head-turning garments. You won’t find find any granola on their runway!
The Zuri Tee $169.00 at ALTER
The line does include wool, but it is recycled from old sweaters that would otherwise be garbage. I’m not going to be complaining about it. Hopefully this trend will catch on, and with styles as awesome as the Zuri Tee, who can resist?
ALTER consists of two boutiques across the street from eachother in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Owned and operated by Roy Caires and Tommy Cole, they carry a great selection of eco and veg-friendly items incuding their own repurposed line “This Old Thing?” as well as Matt & Nat accessories, Melissa shoes, and they have more coming! ALTER is carrying the women’s collecion for Preloved currently, and will be carring the men’s collection within a few weeks.
Speaking of Matt & Nat, I love their new vegan, canvas, Bauhaus bag with 100% recycled lining.
Girlie Girl Army shows us how to get superpowers from superfoods! This is a 101 for anyone who wants to know the basics of the superfood phenomenon! This is for dudes too! Wanna stop chugging sugary, milk-protein-laden workout ‘food’ and get a longer-lasting, healthy high for that extra curl, press, or pull-up? Try these foods! Also, if you didn’t hear Chloe’s sexy visit to the boys at Hot97, click here.
Veganic farming is wha…? Veganic farming takes organic farming and brings it to it’s logical conclusion. Who wants to eat organic potatoes that grew in factory-farm feces and blood? Ugh.. the vegan permaculture movement is taking hold! The Huguenot Street Farm in New Paltz, NY is one successful example. Check out their funny video here, and stay tuned for more updates on the veganic farming movement:
FICA is full of it. The ‘Fur Information Council of America’ insists that fur is the “natural, responsible choice“.
If you’ve already started rolling your eyes or laughing, you are not alone. In WWD, for the final day of NY Fashion Week (The Feb 20th, 2009 issue), FICA paid for an ad that was disguised as a part of the paper to make it seem as though fur garments were heavily talked-about in the publication.
In fact, aside from one shawl by Issac Mizrahiny, there wouldn’t have been any fur in the publication that day. Boo hiss to Issac for his hideous new fur collection. Also watch his attempt to lose weight eating “vegan” M&Ms.
"Peanut M&M's are vegan" ...right
Also boo, hiss to TV Host and supposed ‘style expert’, Robert Verdi who I spotted in the lobby, surrounded by plastic fur-hags, wearing this atrocious hood (Did his Court-Dress wig fall back, or was he going for the evil Skeksis look?).
Skeksis from "The Dark Crystal"
Tim Gunn should give them both a stern talking-to in the ways of educated and compassionate elegance. The only way to look like a bigger jerk is to have tan-lines in the shape of aviators on your head. Oh wait…
What I love (and by love, I mean hate) about FICA’s pretty-in-pink website is the total avoidance of ever mentioning an animal oustside of abstractions like “species” or “populations”. If they did acknowlegde that individual animals with brains and nervous systems existed, they’d have to follow through with logic that would contradict their reference of animals as “natural resources” to be used “responsibly”. I won’t even make the historical comparisons, you can do that yourself.
fire on peaceful indigenous Awajun and Wambis protesters, killing 25 and injuring more than 150.
Posted by TheDiscerningBrute 
Also boo, hiss to TV Host and supposed ‘style expert’, Robert Verdi who I spotted in the lobby, surrounded by plastic fur-hags, wearing this atrocious hood (Did his Court-Dress wig fall back, or was he going for the evil Skeksis look?).
