St. Louis Park's Wi-Fi
Rock 'n' Roll Excess Hits New Low
Reverb: King of the Road
Winded
Winded - an Interview with Bridget Ulrich
Technology
Ask Miss Verdant
Yo V! I feel like a spaz, but I’m a busy student and drink coffee everyday. I waste TONS of paper cups. Am I hurting myself AND the planet by drinking coffee?
–Jittery Joe
Well Joe, there’s a solution to your caffeine quandary: walk or bike to the nearest co-op or Kowalski’s and buy a 1-pound bag of Peace Coffee. It’s like starting your day with a cup of good karma. The beans are shade-grown, fairly traded and organic. This means the beans are grown under the cover of trees; canopy trees replenish soil nutrients, then there’s more biodiversity because migratory critters in the rainforests have places to live. And, you feel good knowing farmers earn livable wages for their hard work.
Plus, Peace Coffee is an eco-friendly company. It roasts, packs and distributes beans under one roof. In the metro, beans are delivered on bike year-round and businesses in the ’burbs have beans delivered via biodiesel van! For a list of Peace Coffee distributors and coffee shops (like my favorites, Open Book or Lori’s Coffee House) go to peacecoffee.com and don’t forget your own travel mug.
Miss Verdant: Help! I live in nothing but jeans, but I heard cotton growers need tons of pesticides. Nothing comes between me and my Calvins but I might make an exception for this. Advice please? –Distressed Denim Diva
My Dearest Distressed, the thought of eco-friendly designer denim gives me the blues. Unless jeans melt my cellulite and give my face a dewy glow, my b’donk is not shimmying into a $300 pair. That said, Del Forte and Loomstate are fabulous brands offering some “jeanius” organic options. It’s also worth your time to try the secondhand route, but don’t forget to sanitize them! Try Oxy-Boost. It’s a chlorine-free cleaner you can even use around the house. If you’re adventurous and cash-strapped, the how-to book 99 Ways to Cut, Sew & Deck Out Your Denim (Potter Craft, $24.95) has 99 90-minute solutions to any denim quandary.
z Del Forte denim is available at Birch Clothing (
z Loomstate is available at Birch and Len Druskin (3140 Galleria,
z Oxy-Boost is at River Market Community Co-op (
So, Miss V, my best friend’s fiancé is an earth-loving guy who’s turned her on to the joys of a conscientious lifestyle. But somewhere between her post-vegan body makeover, Foley + Corinna burlap country tote,
Bridezillas are bad enough, but let’s pretend a bride flying her control-freak flag for the sake of Mother Nature is slightly redeemable. My top ways to tame the green monster with an eco-friendly bridal shower are:
1.) Ditch paper invites. Use an e-vite instead. 2.) Ask guests to walk, bike-ride or organize a carpool. 3.) For ambience, try Timothy Han candles (made from essential oils, nongenetically modified, pesticide-free soy wax and a bleach-free wick) and flowers from the farmers market. 4.) For good eats, try a potluck. Stipulate ingredients must be organic. Assign people vegan recipes too. Leftovers can go home with guests in reusable Tupperware. 5.) Since wrapping paper undermines this whole operation, have all the bridesmaids pool funds to purchase a set of Spa Organic Bedding by Lauren Ralph Lauren. Everyone can wrap the bridal gifts with a different sheet. 6.) Supplant the shower with a group activity. Since 1995, thousands have volunteered to restore endangered and natural areas along the
Maniezheh Firouzi
Soho Girl
local designer Amy Michielle Freeman’s fashions take billboards out of the sky and into your closet
In a consumer-driven culture, walking advertisements—think preteens with Abercrombie & Fitch plastered on their sweatshirts—are as common as Starbucks. But
Freeman is the founder and lead designer of Soho Exchange, a full-service boutique launched in 2003, which offers design, wardrobe styling and consulting. But don’t assume her creations are disposable – this designer reuses vinyl billboards to construct her clothing.
Freeman uses vinyl from advertising companies and transforms it into jackets, totes and rain hats. Items like a tea-length circle skirt or a belted, collared raincoat can even be customized for the client. Fan of Coca-Cola? Then a red coat it is.
But before it’s wearable, the vinyl needs work. “The billboards are filthy and the material doesn’t have a lot of give like other textiles,” Freeman explains. To prep the vinyl for her customer’s closet, she cuts the salvageable pieces from the sheets she receives from the warehouse, then soaks, scrubs and applies astringent—all before cutting it into the pattern pieces that make up her next design. Not surprisingly, the vinyl isn’t always comfortable. But Freeman’s clients think that’s a small price to pay to be green and hip.
Freeman might be inspired by billboards, but the green movement wasn’t what inspired her to start using them. “It has influenced me to continue, but sustainability is so ingrained in who I am that I don’t think about it,” she says. But other people are thinking about it, and those who choose to be fashionably green can have Freeman to thank for it.
Alyssa Cogan
The Gifts that Keep on Giving
For some, the term “re-gift” conjures up images like that pink bunny suit in A Christmas Story or a Chia Pet. For STEM editors, however, it reminds us of one of our favorite stores. ReGifts in
It might not be a Louis Vuitton or a Coach, but these conventionally shaped handbags (above) are made from the unconventional: reclaimed license plates. $74.95
Absolut is usually associated with a different kind of shaker, but here, mini versions of the popular liquor bottles take on salt and pepper. $16.00/set
Bad night out? Wash away the memories of conversation lulls and awkwardness with unique, all-natural “Blind Date Body
Straight from the streets of NYC, this taxi-sign wall clock will pimp any bachelor pad. $19.95
A 5x7 inch frame is made from a recycled bike chain and is sure to leave its recipient popping wheelies of joy. $39.00
All available at re-gifts.com or at ReGifts,
Aaron Leth
Squeaky Green
the beauty of using organic products to stay clean
Your kitchen is stocked with organic fruits and veggies, you’ve traded your Saturn for a Schwinn, and you never leave a room without switching off the lights. But what about that chemical-based cleanser you lather on your face? Not to mention your petroleum-based lipstick. The good news is that there are greener ways to look your best.
On average, your face absorbs 60 percent of what you put on it, so sticking to organic products keeps your skin happy naturally. Luckily, some of the best tools are right in your pantry. Use salt to clean your face, kill bad breath and whiten your teeth. For another easy facial cleanser, grab a teaspoon of olive oil and mix with a teaspoon of salt.
If you’re willing to pay for some green grooming, Aveda has a flax seed aloe strong hold gel ($13, Aveda salons) that’ll keep even the most unruly of hair in check. For other options, look for Intelligent Nutrients, Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher’s latest planet-friendly brainchild. The products are good enough to eat—literally. The company believes “we should never put anything in or on our bodies that does not have nutritional and protective value.” The proof is in the products with lines like Organic Harmonics hand and foot care, dubbed “delicious personal care.”
Carla Continenza
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