I was on Facebook, checking out Garments Without Guilt’s group and our GWG page, called www.garmentswithoutguilt.com, and I saw that one of our friends had posted a video, “The Girl who Silenced the World for 5 minutes”. We’ve posted it above, but if you watch it from the Causes page, it counts toward the goal of getting 500,000 views set by a group whose donations go to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

But I was fascinated by the video itself, which is a speech from a 13 year-old girl at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janiero. The girl is Severn Suzuki, and she had a lot of powerful things to say.

“We hear about animals and plants going extinct every day—vanishing forever…. All this is happening before our eyes, and yet we act as if we have all the time we want and all the solutions. I’m only a child and I don’t have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you!

“You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer. You don’t know how to bring the salmon back up a dead stream. You don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can’t bring back the forests that once grew where there is now a desert. If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it!”

The full text of the speech is available here .

But I wanted to know who that girl was, and what she was doing now. I found out that she has continued the work she began at such a young age. After all, once you’ve raised $13,000 to get yourself and your friends to Rio for a UN summit, AND had Al Gore tell you, “That was the best speech given at Rio”, you’re off to a pretty amazing start.

The year after the video was made, in 1993, Doubleday published her book Tell the World, a 32-page book of environmental steps for families. Not bad for a 14 year-old. In 2002 she graduated from Yale with a B.Sc. in ecology and evolutionary biology and then co-hosted a children’s television series that aired on the Discovery Channel with her father, geneticist and environmental activist David Suzuki, called “Suzuki’s Nature Quest”.

(Photo from Collage)

In early 2002, she helped launch an Internet-based think tank called The Skyfish Project. As a member of Kofi Annan’s Special Advisory Panel, she and members of the Skyfish Project brought their first project, a pledge called the “Recognition of Responsibility”, to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August 2002.Though the Skyfish Project disbanded in 2004, she continues to write and speak about the environment.

In an interview with Collage Magazine, she spoke about speaking at Nike, which is one of Garments Without Guilt’s member companies.

“They invite various speakers in at their headquarters in Portland; they take very good care of their employees. Nike is trying to be seen as cleaning up its act, becoming more socially responsible. They actually have a sustainability department, which is working within Nike to try to change it. It’s good-the people I met had worked in NGOs and had decided that the best way they could make change was right in the belly of the beast…they’re responding to consumer pressure and changing.”

Here’s a photo on her Wikipedia page taken when she was speaking at the University of Alberta as part of the 2006 Revolutionary Speakers Series.

On our GWG Universe Blog this week, we talked about Do Something.org helping kids find causes they feel strongly about and then showing them how to do something about it. If today’s kids can get the early start that Servern did and follow up the way she has, we may have a bright future to look toward.

In the meantime, it’s up to us. Things like Facebook, with the Causes application and our GWG group and page make it easy to spread the word, so join us!

We at Garments Without Guilt like tea. So when we spotted this story from The Environmental Leader saying that Lipton Tea has a factory that has met its zero landfill goal, we were excited.

It happened at their Suffolk, Virginia facility in the U.S., where about 70 percent of the plant’s waste is recycled or reused, 22 percent is composted and the remaining eight percent is converted into usable energy. They even broke their savings down for us this way:

• 16 tons of plastic, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 13.76 tons
• 21,182 mature trees, the equivalent of 262 million sheets of newspaper
• 576,898 gallons of oil, enough to heat and cool 2,856 homes for a year
• 29,904 gallons of gasoline, enough to drive more than 837,000 miles in the average American car
• 8,722,000 gallons of water, enough to meet the daily fresh water needs of 116,293 Americans
• 5,108,600 kilowatt hours of electricity, or a years supply of power for more than 425 average homes

In looking for a video to illustrate this, we found only a television commercial that touts the green credentials of tea. We agree. Tea is good and good for you!

BUT…

…we also found a series of videos from The IUF- International Union of Food, Farm and Hotel Workers- about their “CasualTea” campaign. Placed on their YouTube Channel, the videos feature stories from tea factory workers in Pakistan who tell of less-than-ethical treatment. Lipton is owned by Unilever, so we visited their website and their Our Values, Our People page. They say they care, so let’s hope they listen to the IUF’s arguments and take the necessary steps to resolve the issues.

This is where it gets sticky. We at Garments Without Guilt want to congratulate companies for their environmental achievements, but we’d like to see ethical achievements too. We want tea that is both eco-friendly and employee-friendly!

We also believe in the power of the pocketbook. When we as individuals buy the products that are in line with our ethics, we reward them, and at the same time, express to the others that there is room for improvement.

This played out in my most recent trip to the supermarket here in Sri Lanka. They were out of my favorite Zesta Organic Tea in tea bags. I already had some loose tea at home, but I wanted the option of teabags, and if I couldn’t be organic about it, I wanted to be ethical.

I remembered hearing about Mabroc Tea at GWG HQ. They call themselves “The Ethical Tea Brand of the World”. But I didn’t see them either. I spotted a box with the word “ethical” on and grabbed it. It was Dilmah Tea, and the box said “Dilmah is the world’s first truly ethical tea.” I read the rest of the information and I bought it. That’s how I made my money work to encourage guilt-free tea! And I found a TV ad from Australia about Dilmah, and featured it above.

Going to their website now, I see that their CSR work includes their own foundation for social justice and that they are members of the Ethical Tea Partnership. Visit their site, Ethical Tea Partnership.org (without the spaces, of course) to see what other brands offer ethical tea.

Armed with this information, you can now go out and flex your financial muscles to encourage guilt-free tea drinking!

Written by your Garments Without Guilt blogger, Malayna Dawn.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or RSPCA, has been awarding British companies with their recognition since 2005. Their RSPCA Good Business Awards acknowledge and promote companies that “go the extra mile to include animal welfare as part of their ethical business policy.” We at Garments Without Guilt love ethical business policies, so we’d thought we’d help spread the word.

The awards are open to companies in the UK that “show innovation and excellence in advancing animal welfare” in the Cosmetics, Fashion and Food industries. The basic judging criteria is explained in the video above, which was shown at last year’s awards night. But basically, their idea of guilt-free fashion includes:

• Company policies with regards to fur
• Providing clear and informative product labeling
• The way companies promote their products
• Sourcing of products
• Company aspirations on animal welfare

This year’s finalists are:

• George @ ASDA: for their ban on the use of fur in all clothing and product ranges, and their clear labeling policy for fake fur garments.

• Marks & Spencer: for their ongoing commitment to animal welfare. As well as a ban on selling fur, their aim is to source 100% non-mulesed wool by 2012. They are also looking into setting their own minimum standards for feather and down.

• New Look: for their no fur policy which requires new suppliers to sign their Animal Welfare policy and adhere to it. They are also beginning trials on sustainable fabrics including fabric made from bamboo, recycled plastic bottles and an organic cotton range.

• Tesco: for their Sustainable Clothing Action Plan which includes a ban on real fur and their E-leather footwear range that uses recycled leather.

The small companies in the finals are:

• Finisterre: For their no mulesing policy and their sourcing of merino fabrics.

• Izzy Lane: because Isobel’s flock of sheep was rescued as lambs from slaughter and live on the farm in North Yorkshire where their wool is used to create a stylish fashion collection, helping to support a network of rural hand-knitters.

• Neon Collective: because their high end ethical fashion store offers a range of vegan designed shoes, handbags and accessories which are completely free of all animal-derived products. The company also has ethical policies on pollution, recycling and packaging helping to create a mantra of ‘responsible luxury’.

David Bowles, Head of External Affairs for the RSPCA said, “We have had a record quality and quantity of entries to this year’s fashion category - a clear indication that companies are responding to the shift away from disposable fashion and towards responsible consumerism.”

This year’s RSPCA Good Business Awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, October 7th.

If you haven’t heard about the film HOME, then Garments Without Guilt is here to tell you that it’s a must-see. Take a peek at the trailer above.

As described on their YouTube page, “Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet… Every image shows the Earth’s treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve.” HOME explains the major ecological issues that confront us and shows how everything on our planet is interconnected—and they offset the carbon emissions from producing the movie too.

The film is supported by the PPR Group, whose branches and brands include such fashion luminaries as Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and, recently featured in our GWG Universe Blog, Puma. We at GWG love and cheer this fabulous marriage of fashion, film and eco-awareness.

On the HOME website, PPR Group’s CEO François-Henri Pinault writes that their financial support for the production of this film, “will allow HOME to receive an unprecedented worldwide airing from June 5th: a film accessible to everyone, at the same time, worldwide, nearly free, simultaneously in all media, to make as many people as possible around the world more aware of the state of our planet.”

If you caught it on June 5th, you know how jaw-droppingly beautiful it was. You may even have felt a sense of connection with the other viewers worldwide. If you didn’t catch it, you can still be part of it! It’s still available for free, in it’s entirety, on HOME’s YouTube Channel or their webpage, where a rotating globe maps some of the locations, and clicking them will show you stills from various parts of the world.

Also, check out The Good Planet Foundation at GoodPlanet.org to learn more.

Garments Without Guilt urges you to watch the whole video. And once you have, spread the word!

This organization of unconventional angels-Vitamin Angels-was created by the Organic and Natural Products Industry-an example of indsutry-wide CSR. They wanted to create a consumer-driven promotional program that woudl support a life-saving effort around the world—getting vitamins to undernourished children.

One in three children worldwide is undernourished. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality by connecting infants and children under five years of age with vital nutrients. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.

The video above gives you a little more information, but visiting their websites, vitaminangels.org and vitaminangels.com will tell you how you can get involved.

One of the things they do to promote their cause is to participate at events. For example, right now, as this is typed and posted, the Vitamin Angels team is at the Power to the Peaceful Festival in San Francisco. The Power to the Peaceful Festival (PTTP) is a fun, educational, hip, diverse and family-oriented event with international musicians on a main stage, a DJ tent, an open-air art gallery, eco village, social justice forum, green vendors and food booths, and a healing arts tent, and a kids zone offering arts and crafts, live theater, music, activities and a parade. The team will provide the crowd of over 70,000 people from all over the world with information about the organization and their important work. Pus, Vitamin Angels’ President and Founder, Howard Schiffer will be speaking on stage.

An upcoming event is The Celebration of Angels in Boston. In conjunction with New Hope, they’ll invite other companies at the industry-wide event, Expo East, to help them save the lives of children worldwide. They’ll be showcasing a variety of programs that natural product companies are already participating in to help them reach millions of children, while synergistically giving companies great exposure in the marketplace. They’ll introduce the children they’re working with in India, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti among others. In getting to know them and their stories, participants will learn why 25 cents is the MOST important, life-saving contribution they can make. An interactive adventure park will test people’s skills and challenge them and their colleagues. And then they can CELEBRATE the 15 million children they’ll reach in 2010 with live music, food and a party like no other!

Earlier this year, Vitamin Angels spread the word by hosting the Twenty-Twenty Revue in Seattle to benefit Operation 20/20. While guests were transported back in time to an era of 1920s care–free fun, they helped raise funds to connect infants, children, and lactating women to vitamin A and anti-parasitic treatments that eliminate the presence of intestinal worms that contribute to poor absorption of vitamin A.

So next time you’re at your favorite organic or natural health store, see if they are involved with Vitamin Angels, or find you how you can help on their website at www.vitaminangels.com/get-involved.

Carrotmob is named for a combination of ideas. “Carrot” from the old saying about dangling a carrot in front of a horse, tempting it with a reward-positive reinforcement-to get it moving forward, rather than the negative reinforcement of a whip. The “mob” part is obvious enough—a large group of people—but rather than an angry mob wielding pitchforks and torches, or a flash mob that shows up for the comedy of randomness, this is a mob intent on doing good. And their appearance *is* the dangling carrot.

Or as they say on their website: “Carrotmob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment to improve the world. It’s the opposite of a boycott.”

It’s easier to understand if you look at the example shown in the video above of the first ever Carrotmob event. A liquor store agreed to invest in upgrades that made their store more energy-efficient, so in exchange, hundreds of Carrotmobbers showed up at once to support the winning liquor store. To the right is a video of that campaign, with a bit of music video silliness before the big success is revealed.

Check out their website to learn more or help organize a mob in your area.

And remember, carrots are good for your vision, they’re healthy, and they grow in the ground like grassroots movements.

In our earlier post called “Design Ideas for Guilt-Free Living and Giving”, we were reminded that there are a lot of artists using recycled items to create pieces to decorate our lives or to refunction things to make them useful in a new way. We found one such artist when writing the blog post “Eco-Fashion E-Mag is Carbon Neutral but Action Packed!” named Jeffrey Steorts. He uses found objects in his work, collecting discarded items like the gears from watches and glass, then combine it with wood. Sixty to seventy percent of his materials are recycled items, often accompanied by antiques.

Treehugger offers more art from others’ discards in a slideshow called “Rethinking Trash into Inspired Art” with 33 examples, but we’re going to share just a few of our favorites.

Two artists have found innovative ways to repurpose old luggage. Alex Uncapher figured out a great way to reuse luggage as housings for speakers. While Crockett Bodelson worked to turn a suitcase into a chair-adding as few new materials as possible. Designed also to be easily broken down for storage or moving, all the materials in the chair have been salvaged. Jaymi Heimbuch, who compiled the slideshow for Treehugger says, “Suitcase chairs are a lot of fun, and transforming something that has traveled the world into a place of rest is a great idea.” Another piece of furniture is a seat made from an olive oil shipping drum.

Here’s a guilt-free garment—one made from over 500 discarded flannel Crown Royal liquor bags, by artist Colleen Miezejeski. Each cut up and reassembled into a gorgeous outfit of a boned and lined bustier top. Photo via Chris Tackett.

And you can accessorize with jewelry made from computer parts. Artist Christine Dhein says, “Landfills across America are filled with valuable resources, including glass, aluminum, plastic and even gold. The value of these resources is lost to us because they were discarded before their full potential was harnessed. It is my hope that this artwork will inspire viewers to see the potential value in the discarded in a whole new way.”

And finally, if we don’t do something to make use of discarded materials, we may end up in a future that looks like this artwork from Masakatsu Sashie. In this unfortunate future, we’ve created alternate living spaces from the consumerist materials we’re churning out now, and hovering above a planet we’ve destroyed.

As they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Let’s go treasure hunting!

Continuing our journey to save the world from plastic trash, we wanted you to know about EcoBags.com, a website that sells reusable bags from several different companies.

“Our reason for creating ECOBAGS® is simple: We exist to provide products, information and inspiration that help people reduce, re-use and recycle. Starting with the simple step of bringing your own reusable cloth bag to shop may seem trivial, but it creates a “mindset.” Like anything, the more people who take this simple step, the more it becomes the natural and right thing to do.”

The video above is posted on their Resources page, and gives you an idea of how big the problem is right now. It’s by Algalita.org, an organization we told you about in our post from last year, “Where does all the plastic go?”.

With kids going back to school, EcoBags has some good suggestions for school lunches that can help teach kids smart habits and to be conscious about the planet in everything they do. “Hey, our kids are smart. They want a clean world. Talk to them about it. Give them ways to participate” said Sharon Rowe, CEO & Founder of EcoBags.

One suggestion is a reusable sandwich bag. The sandwich sack is made of natural muslin cotton and was originally created to be a produce bag. But at 8-1/2” x 11, it seems the perfect fit for school supplies.

Under their Back To School section you’ll see this riddle:

Q: What’s stinky, slimy and weighs 18,000 pounds?
A: The annual lunch waste from one “average” school in the US!

You’ll also find reusable utensil sets (to replace plastic sporks in plastic wrappers), water bottles (to replace disposable juice boxes) and a variety of cloth bags (to replace brown paper sacks). And if you’re really attached to the shape of the old paper sack, they have cotton versions so you won’t get too sad. But the cute designs are even cooler than the metal lunch boxes we carried as kids. And they’re ethical and socially responsible too.

EcoBags offers a very cool way for kids to have eco-ethical lunches every day!