If you’re a fashionable girl who finds herself outside at night, you may be thrilled to hear what we have to say. Lost Values is an ethical design group interested in near-forgotten things-in traditions and rich, cultural expressions. But they’re also fascinated with technology, and so they strive to uncover new and sensitive ways to integrate it into everyday life…to allow such cultural expressions to remain relevant and contemporary, but still steeped in culture and tradition.

So whether you are walking the dog, riding a bike home, or just taking a stroll with your beau by the moonlight, you will feel safer wearing products from Lost Values. Why? Because they look simply lovely by day, but also light up at night.

They have:

• Reflective Lace can be sewn into clothing or simply worn, as an elegant high visibility accessory and available in a variety of colors for the fashion conscious cyclist who wants to be seen as well as noticed.

• A Vintage Fan that is an elegant hand held accessory by day, and a beautiful ambient light in the evening. It’s one of the centerpieces of Solar Vintage, a collection, which focuses on the delicate integration of solar charged light technology into traditional crafted and near-forgotten fashion accessories.

• Solar Vintage Parasol is charged by the sun, and by night, it becomes a delicate, glowing chandelier.

• Reflective Woolly Hats (seen above) or scarves, hand crafted in Scotland with local wool from the Highlands.

• Reflective fruit bag/Vintage Purse also hand crafted in Scotland with local wool from the Highlands.
• And more!

Garments Without Guilt likes the idea of keeping the values and aesthetics of yesterday but combining them with innovation and ease of use. Bravo!

The poignant video above, narrated by Emma Thompson, illustrates the newest venture from Do The Green Thing called Glove Love. They explain, “Glove Love is an initiative where we take lonely single gloves that have lost their original partners, wash them and then pair them with brand new glove lovers. Click ‘Give Gloves’ to donate single gloves, or ‘Get Gloves’ to buy a matched pair”. Sounds simple enough, right?

The gloves are washed, repaired and then re-paired by Green Thing, who match them by size but not color, and also add recycled labels, nametags and letters of introduction.

Springwise told us that last winter’s strays were harvested from lost and found boxes through donations from The Natural History Museum, Transport For London and other organizations, and Green Thing is asking people to send in unpartnered gloves to keep its online store stocked. Profits go to Green Thing Trust, which is a registered charity.

As Green Thing points out, each sale keeps single gloves out of landfills and avoids manufacturing a new pair. It’s a fun and practical approach to sustainability, and one that Green Thing hopes will be copied by people in other parts of the world. Not just for gloves, but for “all sorts of single things that can be put together in new, creative and aesthetic ways”.

As temperatures drop, Garments Without Guilt hopes you can adopt a pair of lost and lonely gloves and give them both a partner and a home.

Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. But it seems that with accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts, scientists have concluded that we are already above the safe zone at around 390ppm – and this number is rising by about 2 parts per million every year. So unless we are able to rapidly return to 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.

That’s why On October 24th, people in 181 countries came together to speak with one voice on the most urgent issue of our times: the climate crisis. Through the website 350.org, people in every corner of the planet coordinated what is likely the most widespread day of environmental action in the history of the world.

At over 5,200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis. By the day’s end, it was clear: people of all kinds in just about every place on earth are calling for a fair, ambitious, and binding global climate treaty.

Though you may have missed the big day on the 24th, you can still make a difference. At the end of 2009, countries will meet in Copenhagen to craft a new global treaty on climate change. It is up to us to make sure that treaty is as strong enough to meet the latest science. The best way to do that is to be sure that world leaders hear this message and that the pressure continues to grow.

In the coming weeks, please join in to keep the pressure on and get the 350 message straight to decision-makers world-wide. A movement is like a bicycle-it needs to keep moving. And you are providing all the power.

Go to the 350.org website and click on Next Steps to find out how to sign your name to the pledge, upload and share photos and videos, sign up for action alerts and help spread the word.

When we first heard about EcoStiletto, we thought it was an environmentally friendly shoe company, so we filed it under “Footwear” and waited for a foot-friendly day. But actually, the name refers to how fashionable a small carbon footprint can be. As they put it on their About Page:

“EcoStiletto explains, in real-girl terms, how eco-friendly choices can help turn your carbon footprint from a ginormous Ugg into an oh-so-slender Manolo.”

And here’s something else on their About Page that we at Garments Without Guilt can really get behind:

“We’re not about guilt, we’re about information. We’re not about forcing you to change, we’re about giving you alternatives. Because everyone wants to make a difference, but no one wants to give up the little things that we love. Making a difference doesn’t have to mean making a huge change in your lifestyle. Sometimes it just means considering the alternatives.”

And the alternatives they offer are so lovely! Members can win free vegan shoes this month, or whatever eco-fashion item they’re giving away, and anyone can enjoy their info under categories like Eco Celebrity, Fashion, Living, and Beauty & Health and Newsworthy items. And don’t overlook the education of their “Big List of Things that Suck”, which includes things like Animal Testing, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Labels that Lie.

Get to know the founder and editor of EcoStiletto better by visiting a tour of her boudouir given to Ecouterre. You can tell she really lives and loves what she talks about. You can even meet her in the video above as she interviews eco-fashion designer Linda Loudermilk.
Take some time to explore the site and enjoy the aesthetic of eco-fashion!

Here’s a weird idea! You’ve probably heard of the “million man march” or similar things people organize to show the government they want changes made. Well, Seventh Generation has come up with the idea of a Million Baby Crawl, because though they may not be able to stand, they can still stand for something!

What could babies possibly have to protest or support? They’re busy learning how to use their body parts. Well, according to Seventh Generation, the company behind the campaign, mounting scientific evidence points to the fact that widespread exposure to chemicals can cause serious and adverse impacts on human health, particularly for children. So they’ve helped to draft a bill called the Toxic Chemical Reform Act that they’d like to see become law.

You think no one would expose their innocent babies to scary chemicals, right? Well, dangerous chemicals still lurk in our homes, in many of the products we use every day. Try reading the usage or warning labels on products that you use to clean your home. It can be terrifying. Seventh Generation brand-name products include: non-chlorine bleached, 100% recycled paper towels, bathroom and facial tissues, and napkins; non-toxic, phosphate-free cleaning, dish and laundry products; plastic trash bags made from recycled plastic; chlorine-free baby diapers, training pants, and baby wipes; and chlorine-free feminine care products, including organic cotton tampons.

So it’s a funny idea to promote a good cause, but then you look at the video above of babies crawling across a city street and perhaps you begin to wonder if anyone would actually allow a baby to do such a thing. The good news is that no one expects real babies to crawl anywhere but around their comfy playpens and carpeted home floors. Instead, you can create a virtual baby to crawl across a virtual landscape.

Join the crawl by creating a “crawler,” dressing him/her up and giving the little tike a message to shout from his or her cyber-soapbox. Add your name and submit it, where people can make comments on your “speech”. It’s still a little odd, but cute and different, and certainly attention-getting.

At Garments Without Guilt we want to be able to wash our ethical and environmentally made clothing in guilt-free detergents while wrapping our babies in chlorine-free or organic cotton diapers before playing on a floor that was cleaned with phosphate-free cleaning supplies. But even if we aren’t able to fully realize such a vision, we can take small steps—baby steps, even—toward a safer and more sustainable world.

The name seems to imply that we’ve found another company that combines music with recycled/upcycled fabrics, like Sonic Fabric, our previously featured wonder-product. There is a connection to music, but the more important connection is that they both are used to make Garments Without Guilt!

The name “Playback Clothing” refers to their reuse of items that would otherwise end up in landfills in the creation of their clothing line. Though there are other companies using recycled PET bottles in their clothes, Playback is distinctive because they use the colors of the recycled products themselves to provide the color of the clothing.

Their website says “PLAYBACK’s recycled cotton T-shirts and sweatshirts are made from collecting post-industrial cotton scraps and plastic and glass bottles and sorting them by color.” That’s why instead of the often drab colors of environmentally friendly clothing, Playback shirts are in shades like Beer Bottle Brown, Soda Bottle Green, and Water Cooler Blue, in addition to purples, pinks and other rich colors from salvaged cotton scraps.

But a musical connection is there—Playback’s blog tells us “Major bands like U2, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Wilco, Xavier Rudd, and Bon Jovi have made PLAYBACK their ‘go-to’ apparel brand for their fan merch. These bands have taken an eco-conscious approach to giving their fans exactly what they want: a high quality t-shirt or hoodie that oozes love and devotion to the planet.”

They’ve also gotten the attention of Hollywood celebs, “including: The Cast of Gossip Girl (Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Chase Crawford, and Penn Badgley), Dancing with the Star’s Cheryl Burke, and Entourage’s Adrian Grenier. You can see Adrian wearing our recycled men’s zip-up in sweat blue above!”

They go on to make a few interesting points about learning more about where your clothing comes from and choosing based on what’s important to you. They point out that organic cotton actually requires more water and land use due to lower yields, and often still uses harmful dyes. And strong chemical solvents are often used to cook bamboo into fiber for clothing. But Playback tells us they have yet to make a product that is less than 70% recycled. “In fact, most of our products are now 100% recycled, with contents plainly listed on the label. Because we recycle, we save tons (literally) of textile waste from going to landfills. We also require no extra land or water use, and our products come in the original color of the recycled component to minimize dyes. So, you know, we’re kind of on to something here.”

We think so too. And we also believe that as long as people are being what our friend Kelsey Timmerman, author of the book Where Am I Wearing calls “engaged consumers”, our choices will continue to support and encourage those who create Garments Without Guilt!

I yelled the title at you because I’m so excited about this concept, and the concepts that inspired the artist, Alyce Santoro, to create it. As a music lover, this may be my favorite upcycled fabric yet! Sonic Fabric is a textile woven from recycled audiocassette tape. And you can still listen to it by running a tape head over it! How cool is that?

She calls it a “durable, versatile, audible textile”. Visually, it’s impressive too—the sheen of the tape creates a shiny, durable fabric that has been made into “shimmery dresses, sparkly umbrellas and sleek ties”, say Inhabitat (and their pics).

Jasmin Chua from Ecouterre tells us, “Santoro’s limited-edition neckties, made in collaboration with Julio Cesar from 50 percent recorded audio cassette tape and 50 percent colored polyester, are a testament to Sonic Fabric’s versatility—as well as its ability to transform even the stuffiest of suits into what Santoro dubs stealth “superhero garb.”

“The wearer becomes a beacon for other-dimensional, intangible, subtle forces of good,” says Santoro, “…much in the manner of a superhero, only this part of the superhero garb can be worn on the outside in the most conservative environment without detection!”

That whimsical quote gives you a good sense of the artist, but wait until you hear about her collage of inspirations from Sonic Fabric’s website: “Sonic Fabric was inspired by the use of small strands of cassette tape used as wind indicators, or ‘tell-tails’, on sailboats., and by Tibetan prayer flags inscribed with wind-activated blessings.” I guess the answer, my friends, is blowin’ in the wind! The video above connects all the dots for you, as well as showing you the variety of patterns and creations that have been made from them—including sails and prayer flags— of which I am equally fond.

If you’d like to get a sense of what the fabric sounds like when played, check out this YouTube video of
Jon Fishman of the band Phish, performing live in concert.

Santoro explains, “Since Jon and I both seemed to have a penchant for orange donuts, I made the ‘musical suit’ an exact replica of the dress he traditionally wore on stage. This video of the intro to “Love You” from the Vegas show in 2003 was provided by an anonymous fan. For more information, please see my other websites, sonicfabric.com, alycesantoro.com.”

At Garments Without Guilt, we love to see creative upcycling that continues to inspire!

Written by Malayna Dawn, Alyce Santoro’s newest fan, for Garments Without Guilt.

You may have seen the post on our Garments Without Guilt Facebook page - this video is great introduction to The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP), set up in 2007 by HRH The Prince of Wales, also known as Prince Charles. Using Sting’s lyrics, “I’ll send an SOS to the world…”, on September 30th 2009 The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) launched its Rainforest SOS campaign.

Building on the success of the public awareness phase of the project launched in May, which has gotten over 4.2 million viewers for the campaign frog film, the PRP is now asking people across the globe to send a Rainforest SOS message to show their support for emergency action for the rainforests.

You may not realize it, but Prince Charles is known to be passionate about organic farming and sustainable development. A 2007 Vanity Fair article says “More than a quarter-century has passed since the Prince of Wales began calling for wiser stewardship of the environment and doing what he could to set an example.” They also dub him an environmental hero.

You’ll find that part of the brilliance of this campaign is the utilization of star power. It’s not that it’s a new idea, just that it’s definitely effective. Sting is joined by David Attenborough, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams, Pele, Richard Branson, Rod Stewart, Billy Connolly, Vivienne Westwood, Stephen Fry, Daniel Craig, Olivia Newton-John, Richard E. Grant, Joanna Lumley, and one very large frog.

That’s quite fun to watch in itself, but then if you go to the webpage that Sting suggests, Rainforest SOS.org, scroll down to their video gallery. You can even make your own video with the frog! And the video they offer as an example is…well…endearing enough to make anyone want to join up.

Their About page gives us this quote:

“If deforestation can be stopped in its tracks, then we will be able to buy ourselves some much-needed time to build the low carbon economies on which our futures depend. I have endeavoured to create a global public, private and NGO partnership to discover an innovative means of halting tropical deforestation. Success would literally transform the situation for our children and grandchildren and for every species on the planet.” - HRH The Prince of Wales

The PRP’s work is focused on two specific aims. The first is to raise awareness of the damaging effects of deforestation for everyone. The second is to identify appropriate incentives that will encourage rainforest nations to stop burning down vast areas of valuable forests.

We can help by simply adding our names to their petition and sending our own SOS to the world at Rainforest SOS.org.