Kerr’s Green Debate Team

LUSH cosmetics is a new market line that advertises bath supplies, make-up, and soap that are made from fresh and organic fruits and vegetables.  The company focuses on the idea of creation natural cosmetics that requires little to no preservatives in the product, packaging and transportation. The line also fights again animal tested products for animal rights activists. They only buy their resources from companies that have proven not to test on animals. It markets products that make the smallest impact on the environment to keep our green Earth green. The products are made with common natural vegetarian resources such as vanilla bean, rose oil, almond oil, seaweed, and even charcoal. The cosmetics are meant to make humans beautiful as well as our planet and ecosystem. The company has over 700 stores world wide and is continuing to grow and branch out not only the products, but the message of a drive toward a greener future. In Houston’s local First Colony Mall, in the Macy’s Department store, a LUSH product stand is actually inside the store. With personal experience, the workers there are incredibly friendly and even have live demonstrations of popular products such as the butterball bath bomb. The cosmetic line has hair, skin, bath, and shower products. In not only attracts a younger generation, but can appeal to an older generation that enjoys the same cosmetic products they normally enjoy with a great overall cause that helps our environment.  The LUSH product line has come along way and went from Constantine and Weir, Cosmetics to Go, and finally the brand name we’ve come to know and love today.

-Nicholas Chan

The day that you’ve been waiting for all your life is finally here and everything must be perfect down to the smallest detail. The hair, the shoes, the jewelry, and of course the dress. You’re wedding day silly, what other event where you thinking about? Like every girl knows your wedding day is the most special and important day of your life ever since you were small. The dress being one of the most important pieces to your dream. By know you would be wondering what does this blog have to do with being eco friendly? Well check out these brides in there wedding dresses.  http://www.cheap-chic-weddings.com/wedding-contest-2006.html If you already checked out the website then you all ready know what this blog is going to be about, if not allow me to inform you. Today I’m going to inform you about wedding dresses made from TOILET PAPER! Yes toiler paper!  You would have never thought that wedding dresses would or could be made out of toilet paper. I didn’t believe it ether but it’s possible. Like my September post this is also a contest meaning you can’t go out to the store and buy one of these dresses, you have to make it at home yourself. You have to have a lot of creativity to make a dress especially out of toilet paper. These brides made their dresses only using glue and or tape to hold the dress together. Making such an outfit isn’t as easy as it might seam judges look for creativity, beauty, and originality that is put in to the dress. If you would like to enter this contest then here are the requirements and anything else you might want to know.  http://www.cheap-chic-weddings.com/contest-rules.html Not only do the brides make the dress completely out of toilet paper but any hair accessory or head piece the bride want to wear with the dress must also be made out of toilet paper. What about the bouquet? Well in the contest rules they don’t mention anything about the bouquet but it can be made out of toilet paper if the bride decides to have one. I hope you liked this blog but here is a warning to any bride who wishes to wear a wedding dress made out of toilet paper. WARNING: Do not get that dress wet and be careful if you decide to wear it on you wedding day.    

-Betsy Garcia

Hi it’s me again, the eco friendly fashionista! Or the eco glam diva on the team. (lol) But I might not write any more fashion topics because I’m running out of topics to write about. Anyways today I’m going to tell you about eco friendly cosmetics. Yes I said cosmetics. I didn’t believe there were eco friendly cosmetics until not long ago. There are a couple of products I want to talk to you about. Burts Bee’s cosmetics are a great eco friendly product. I promise that all the containers that hold their products are all recycled. You might wonder what about the product? How can cosmetics be eco friendly? Well Burts Bee’s containers are all made from recycled materials. You might wonder how about the products? Well of the products are all natural and environmental friendly. Burts Bee’s products are from “beeswax, botanical and essential oils, herbs, flowers and minerals” and of course there products weren’t tested on any animals, so no cute little animal were harmed in the laboratories. Another company who has the same standards as Burts Bees is Lush. Lush testes their products on people not animals. The Lush policy states that no products can be used or bought from any supplier who tested on these cute creatures under any circumstances. And of course Lush uses all vegetarian ingredients in there products such as organic fruits and vegetables, essential oils, and little to no preservatives. Lush and Burts Bee are just a few companies that are eco friendly here are some websites so you can check out these cosmetics yourself.

http://www.lushusa.com/lush 

http://www.burtsbees.com

http://www.ecocosmetics.com.au/

http://www.korresusa.com/

-Betsy Garcia

As you have previously read by the notorious Betsy Garcia, you can be eco-friendly and fashionable. I, Sadiqa Bramlette, have volunteered myself as her apprentice and as someone to verify these fashionable finds. Not only can you make clothing from recycle objects, you find clothing made from eco-friendly things like bamboo, organic cotton, hemp (yes I mean pot), and soy.

Organic cotton is the most practical of all the fabrics. It comes in many different textures and weights, plus it does not come in contact with those gross chemicals and pesticides that are used on cotton typically. Organic cotton is also easy to find especially being that large numbers of designers use organic cotton in their eco-friendly collections.

Bamboo is also most greatest creation ever (okay that was a little biased)! Many fashion designers use this magical fabric because it can mimic the texture of haute couture fabrics like silk and cashmere.

Hemp clothing is entering the fashion world with a bang (BANG!). Hemp was once associated with the people of the hippie community, but now hemp blends are being used in the latest fashions by eco-friendly designers like Stewart + Brown, EcoSkin, and many others.

Soy is becoming something other than a meat substitute; it’s become a fabric of choice. It is biodegradable, luxurious and a versatile alternative to cotton. Designers like Anna Cohen use soy in their lines.

Using fabrics like these and many other tricks, like do it yourself projects, can make you an environmentally safe fashionista.

-Sadiqa B.

The other day as I was surfing the net looking for a new fashion topic to write about I thought, Shoes! Who doesn’t love shoes? If clothes is eco-friendly why can’t shoes be eco-friendly? Well now it turns out that shoes fall under the eco-friendly category as well. I came across this website: http://www.simpleshoes.com so I decided to check it out and learn about there products.

• Recycled Carpet Padding- this material is found in there shoes since it’s very durable. That means you don’t have to replace your shoes every month. They might last twice as long then normal shoes do.
• Bamboo- since bamboo is grown quickly it is easy to obtain this material. Also bamboo doesn’t need pesticides to grow so in a way it’s an organic plant as well. Since bamboo is used in the shoes it reduces the yucky smell shoes sometimes get after a while. I would recommend these shoes if you want to avoid such a problem.
• Silk- I personally think that the process that silk goes throw is kind of gross so I’m not going to tell you how its made. If you would like to know you can check out there website and they tell you a little bit about it. Moving on, well silk is used in the shoes to keep you feet warm in a cold day and it works as well in keeping you feet cool in a warm hot day.
• Recycled Plastic- you know those plastic containers your water comes in? Well that plastic bottle could be used in making these shoes. The plastic is used to make shoelaces for the shoes.
• Hemp-this plant can grow quickly in any type of environment or climate with out using pesticides. So like bamboo I guess it can also be said to be an organic plant. They use this product because they say its very strong, durable and breathable material.
• Organic cotton- this cotton doesn’t use any pesticides so it’s not harming any insects or rodents, nor the people who have to go out and pick this cotton.
• Recycled Car Tires- many people don’t dispose of tires properly therefore the environment is then affected because of the lack of concern people have towards the environment. Well SimpleShoes.com uses one tire to make about six pair of shoes think about how many pairs of shoes you can have if you recycled your car’s tires when there not useful to you anymore.

Some of the other materials SimpleShoes.com uses on there products is; eco-friendly leather and suede, coconut, wool, recycled inner tubes, natural crepe rubber, recycled paper, and cork.

-Betsy Garcia

Last month in September I wrote a blog about fashionable recycled outfits. Well for many of you guys that enjoyed my previews blog, I have another fashion blog for you today. No I’m not going to show you more fashionable and creative outfits but I am going introduce you to the accessories that can go with that outfit. If your looking for a hand bag to go with that beautiful outfit of yours but you can’t find what you like or something different from what your friends have then maybe a newspaper bag is what you need. You might be thinking newspaper? Yes a bag made out of newspapers. What if it rains? Don’t worry its water resistant. The newspaper is laminated so that water can damage that purse. The cool thing about these bags is that they are hand made and trust me you’re never going to see another bag that is just like yours. Maybe a hand bag isn’t what you are looking for, maybe your searching for the perfect earrings to match that dress for tonight. Imagine you wearing real silver and being eco friendly as well.

You might think impossible but nothing is impossible these days. These earrings are real leaves from the Brazilian rainforest that are then hand dipped in real silver. How can this help the environment? Well every pair of earrings that is bought helps plant a tree at Nugaard Designs. If earrings aren’t what you need how about a necklace? You can get a beautiful necklace handmade from recycled glass. These are just some of the accessories available, if you’re interested in any of theses items here are some websites; but remember being green and fashionable at the same time isn’t cheap.

http://www.uncommongoods.com

http://www.delight.com

http://www.planettrash.co.uk

http://www.buygreen.com

- Betsy Garcia