nvokh - An Eco Clothing Company Run By You

nvohkâ„¢ (pronounced ‘invoke’), are a company I signed up a while ago but realised I have never written about. They’re the first community-managed, eco-friendly, surf-inspired clothing company that began recruiting members via www.projectnvohk.com on December 4, 2007 and now have over 2,200 future members.

So what does this mean?! Essentially, you enter your email on their website, and once they hit 5,000 people you will be asked to contribute $50 per year to running a brand new eco-friendly clothing company. You are involved in making the decisions, and choosing designs. You even get a limted edition “founder” t-shirt if you actually become a founder. 10% of net profits go to environmental charities and 35% to members based on how much they have invested.

The full details are:

• members will contribute $50 in annual membership dues (YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO PAY ANYTHING TODAY) to…
• receive regular business updates and provide ongoing feedback via message boards
• help make major business decisions including logo design, product designs, advertising, sponsored athletes and musicians, etc.
• members will be invited via email to login to nvohk.com and read about specific business decisions on the table. members will then vote on their preferred outcome. when members reach a consensus of 60%+ (active votes), the decision will be executed via nvohk’s management.
• earn reward points based on 35% of net profits (1 to 1 ratio of dollars to points!)
• identify and select beneficiaries for corporate charitable donations (10% of net profits!)
• YES, as a member, you really are in charge

Marks & Spencer and Oxfam Exchange Clothes

For 6 months (that started at the end of Jan) Marks & Spencer (M&S) have joined forces with Oxfam to set up a clothing exchange. Designed with the dual purpose of encouraging people to recycle clothes and raise money for Oxfam’s work, customers who donate M&S clothes to Oxfam will receive a voucher £5/€7, valid for one month, to use with their next purchase of £35/€50 or more. Although buying new clothes paid for with old clothes isn’t the best way of doing things in my opinion, it’s certainly not a bad way of encouraging people to recycle clothes if they are planning on buying more anyway. And perhaps they’ll find something they like in Oxfam!

This is part of M&S’s Plan A - a five year, 100 point “eco-plan”, another point being charging for plastic bags. It’s nice to see a retailer with firm actions in place and a willingness to do them. Their five pillars, to achieve by 2012 are:

• Become carbon neutral
• Send no waste to landfill
• Extend sustainable sourcing
• Help improve the lives of people in our supply chain
• Help customers and employees live a healthier life-style

What do you think?

Green Link Love - Other Great Green Sites 2

After my first Green Link Love post I received a few emails, two of which stood out. One asking “What is link love?” - it’s simply linking out to other sites that might be of interest to your readers. The “love” part is because it helps the other website as you provide a link and, if done correctly, can help them in their search engine rankings. This isn’t the reason for doing it of course, but it can help.

The second interesting email was asking whether it was a good idea to link out to competing websites. The way I see it is other green sites are not competition for us. If one person can make a difference by recycling or making an effort to be environmentally responsible and sustainable then they are part of a wider community that are helping make the world a better place. A website is the same, no matter how large or small, that site can make a difference and is part of a community. One that we’re proud to be part of. That said, let’s move on….

As before, for more fun green things on the web, see Adam’s increasingly popular Fun Green Roundups.

First up is the wonderfully named WEEE Man that is a depiction of a human made up of the average amount of electronic waste a UK citizen would use in their lifetime. The WEEE refers to European legislation called the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment directive. Full of tips, it’s worth taking a look at.

The ever expanding Green Options has turned one year old. To celebrate, the excellent Sustainablog will be featuring one of our posts every week from now on.

David runs The Good Human, a site that encourages people to be better humans, whether through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues that mean a lot to you or just being more aware of your life and surroundings. Some great stuff on there, such as 30 uses for a dead tree, and I like the 10% discount on Simple Shoes he currently has at the moment until March 31st.

The National Geographic Intelligent Travel blog is always good value, like the world’s first solar city. Actually Marilyn sent me a link to a stunning article about how your electronic trash is sometimes shipped out to places like Ghana where adults and children melt them down to sell the often toxic metals inside. Fascinating and frightening.

There are a few websites for “green” jobs, though the market is still relatively new and there is yet a definition of what a green job actually is. If you want a job that matters, one place to look is Jobs That Matter. If you’ve tried them, let me know.

G2bgreen has a green to-do list. The tips are pretty unorganized and it is a long list, but there is some gold in there. And while on the subject, they have a list of places to go for green jobs.

Fancy some eco art? Eco Artware creates gifts from recycled , reused and natural materials. If coasters made from re-used metal traffic signs, or a bottle opener made from an old bike chain sound good to you, then take a look. Life Goggles will be reviewing some of their products over the next few months (i.e. when I buy something from there for my wife’s birthday!).

Cool Green Gadgets does exactly what it says on the tin, looks at cool green gadgets.

Finally a question for you - http://www.localcooling.com/ - Has anyone tried it or heard of it?

Well that’s it for this time. Any comments, please post them below - was this too long, too short? Needs more pictures? Would be better as an audio or video post? Just let me know!

If you want to be featured here, drop me a line and we’ll take a look.

Real Deal Recycled Tarp Hat Eco Product Review

It’s not often I get wolf-whistled in the street, at least not by a group of school girls, but that’s exactly what happened when I wore the Real Deal tarp hat they kindly sent me. You can probably see why from the photo….

The hat that is made in Brazil out of recycled canvas tarpaulins from cargo trucks used for transporting goods. Inside the hat it tells me that most likely the fabric has traveled from the Amazon to Sao Paulo and back. It looks like it too, pretty filthy, but in a cool, rugged way.

I like the fact it’s making use of recycled tarp. The package came flat, so saved waste on delivery packaging. The hat is tough, so just popped into shape.

Every hat is truly one of a kind as obviously no two tarps are the same. You can even individualise it when ordering, stating whether you mind holes, frayed edges, or want patches or even Portuguese writing. I’m not a big hat wearer, but actually think it’s kinda cool. Maybe I’ll stick to wearing it out in the back garden though The website’s good too, take a look at The Real Deal, they’re $29 plus $8 for shipping and handling in the US only at the moment.

Bourgeois Boheme Launch New Ethical Shoe Range

Bourgeois Boheme, have launched their first range of animal-friendly and stylish footwear. Called Jiva and Esperituel, the BB-branded shoe ranges are for men and women.

Handmade and ethically produced in Portugal and India, the range is made of microfibre, the highest quality and most eco-friendly leather alternative, and is 100% animal-friendly. Even the glue used is water-based.

Alicia Lai, founder of the London-based company said: “We saw there was a gap in the market for footwear that is not only animal-friendly but also stylish and affordable. It’s something we’ve looked for without success for years, so we finally made our own.

“We created Jiva and Espiritual to spread the message of ‘fashion with compassion’ to the mainstream market so that not only vegetarians and vegans, but all fashionistas will start making consumer choices that are kinder to the wider environment and support small ethical businesses like our own.”

There’s a small range of shoes at the moment, but what’s impressive is that each of the designers and factories has been handpicked for their ethical work conditions and kinder-to-life sensibilities - it’s not often you they know exactly how your shoes have been made.

‘Footwear for the ethically conscious’ is embossed on the sole of each shoe.

Interview With Lauri From Foundclothing.typepad.com

Ever seen a hat, glove, scarf or similar in the street and thought ‘I could use that’? Well Lauri used to but went one further and did pick them up and use them. She then started her own website Foundclothing.typepad.com and things have grown from there. Life Goggles caught up with her for a chat.

Let’s start at the beginning - why pick up discarded clothes?
Why not? These items are usually only slightly worn, and sometimes they still have the price tags on them. Sometimes they’re designer fashions that I could never afford. I pick up pretty much anything that I can carry and that’s usable — clothes, jewelry, little toys, whatever I can find. The clothing focus came about when I realized how much found clothing occupied my closet.

Then after that, why photograph them and start a website about it?
I was sitting in the lobby of my law school (Cardozo in New York City) one Sunday afternoon, looking for a way to avoid doing my schoolwork, and the idea struck.

How long has the site been going? And you’ve built a bit of a community now right?
It will be two years in March.

Do you really wear everything you find? Do you give some to other people or to charity or what?
Not everything. Sometimes I find things that are too big, or for men, or not my style. I take them because someone else might not, and they might end up in the landfill. My hallway’s got a huge pile of stuff that I’ve got to get rid of once the weather gets better. Friends have encouraged me to sell the items online, using the “found” aspect as a draw.

Do you still buy new things?
Yes, but not much these days. My astronomical law school loans, which are now in repayment, keep me out of the shops, for the most part.

Do you recommend others to follow in your footsteps? Not everyone can obviously as they’ll be nothing left for you!
Definitely. It makes life fun, like an endless treasure hunt. It saves you money. It helps the environment. It’s quirky and fun. It makes for good stories at parties to say, “this fabulous shirt? I found it on the sidewalk.”

Your site also has other random musing on there - do you just post when you feel like it or is there a grand plan?
I’m a writer by trade, and something of a bigmouth on the keyboard, so it’s hard for me to be quiet. Ultimately, I’d like to create a book out of my website - I’m actually working on such a project right now. It focuses on the idea of abandonment - of the clothes that I find, and of people. We live in such a fast-paced culture that we throw things away without even thinking about the consequences. On a related note, people throw each other away; many folks end up feeling abandoned by parents, friends, partners, even by life itself. Anyway, any agents out there are encouraged to contact me!

Any advice to people starting out as a freegan?
Not really, other than “go for it” and “keep your head high.” Freeganism is a wonderful thing, and I’m glad that people do it. But I’d prefer it if everyone thought twice before they chucked something in the trash.

And finally, what’s bee your best find?
That’s tough - I’ve found gold jewelry, Armani sweaters, fur-trimmed jackets and other valuables. So many choices. Let’s say it’s this Club Monaco skirt, which is timelessly fashionable. I found it in a municipal garbage can a few blocks from my house last summer.

Lauri, you’ve inspired me, I’m going to pick up all those single, lonely gloves I see in winter.

GreenKnickers Interview

We’ve taken a look at GreenKnickers before in out reviews and shop section so we thought as it’s nearing Valentine’s Day and you might be thinking of buying underwear for a loved one, we’d have a chat to Sarah Lucy Smith. She set up GreenKnickers with friend Rose Cleary-Southwood.

Tell us about how you came to start GreenKnickers - you are an underwear designer by trade right?
Before Rose and I started GreenKnickers I studied Eco Design and also worked for a textile designer. I began making underwear from the pieces of scrap fabric that would end up on the cutting room floor. I fell in love with making undies at this point. Having studied eco deign and wanting to use my ethical position to inform my design I began to understand more detail around the issues surrounding exploitation, organic cotton and other ecological fabrics. Once you know even a little bit about these things there is no turning back - it can make you feel quite radical. The next step for me was to share what I knew and try to use my designs to inspire so I created a little website with all my quirky knicker designs called GreenKnickers. The website got a huge response and so I went about radicalising my best friend Rose who was disillusioned working in buying and merchandising. The rest is history.

Why did you become an underwear designer in the first place?
I tried all kinds of design before settling on Underwear (which has come in handy running a business) including textiles as well as web design and illustration. When I began experimenting with underwear I began asking people about their relationships with underwear and it was fascinating. I came across secret identities expressed by underwear. There seemed to be surprising and subversive things going on making it, for me, the ideal way to get involved in a new kind of self expression and activism.

What made you specialise in ethical and organic underwear?
The ethics came before the underwear, my mother is a gardener by trade and is in love with nature. She taught me about the wonders of nature surrounding us even in Brixton, South London, where I grew up. Rose and I both had mothers who taught us about having a holistic approach to living and when fair trade organic fashion came along it just made sense to us.

What’s important to you in the underwear you choose and design?
It has to be perfect. It has to fit perfectly, it has to make you smile every time you pick it out of the drawer and it has to have done some good in the world before it gets to the end user and then carry on doing good.

Does the fact your products are environmentally friendly impact the design and ergonomics of your products?
Eco design makes SO much sense when it is done right. There is so much beauty and relief if designing something ethical and we try to reflect this in both the humour and aesthetics of the designs. We spend a lot of time making our garments fit really well measuring real people and making a pattern for each size individually. Apart from this though the organic fabrics we use are just more comfortable. Conventional cotton is typically only 73% cotton (the rest being chemicals and resins) and most underwear today is made from entirely synthetic fabrics. There is a huge number of people who can’t wear synthetics, half of them manage to seek out natural alternatives and the other half suffer in silence in itchy synthetic fabrics.
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