sustainable style foundation*

Last minute alert: SSF Co-founder and Style Ambassador Sean Schmidt (who's SSF blog is here) will be featured on KUOW (Seattle's local NPR station) tomorrow -- Thursday -- on "Weekday" with Steve Scher. They'll be chatting about socially responsible products and design, so please tune in and see what Sean has to say. Listeners in Seattle can find the show at 9:00 am PDT at 94.9 on the fm dial; those outside the Seattle area can listen to a live stream of the station. We'll update this post with more links after the show tomorrow. [KUOW] and [Weekday]

Update: The show is now available in streaming audio, either in Real Audio or MP3: High | Low. Great job, Sean!

SSF's own Collin Dunn, who pulls most of the strings on the website and handles lots of the communications duties, sat down last week to chat with Josh Dorfman over at The Lazy Environmentalist radio show; the episode began broadcasting today on Sirius Satellite Radio 114 and streaming live on Lime.com. Joined in the second half of the show by Andrew Sribyat, Co-Founder and Design Director of PIE (Project Import Export), a design house that handcrafts unique furniture, the three had a lively discussion about contemporary green furniture design and the intersection of "good design" with "green design" (that's right, it's totally possible!). It replays on Wednesday at 9PM; Thursday at 3AM, 2PM, 8PM; Fridays at 2AM; and Sundays 1PM, and is available as a podcast. Thanks to Josh and Andrew for a great chat! [The Lazy Environmentalist Radio Show]

Shop. Donate. Feel Good. Buying books? Need a gift or more great music? Getting an iPod? Ordering your monthly contacts or prescriptions?

You can now support us at Sustainable Style Foundation at the same time! All you have to do is go to sustainablestyle.freepledge.com before you start shopping online and click on the desired store's webpage. When you make a purchase during that session, a portion of what you spend will go directly to supporting our work. Now you can donate to SSF through the online purchases you already make -- at no extra cost. Some stores donate more than 10% of each dollar spent!

Many popular stores have signed up for this great program, including Amazon.com, Macy's, 1-800-Flowers, 1-800-Contacts, Apple, Drugstore.com, eBay, and new retailers are being added every day: Armani Exchange, DKNY, Gaiam, Couture Candy, Hotels.com...the list goes on and on. So the next time you're shopping online, please consider supporting SSF by clicking here first. There is no obligation, no membership and no hassle. Thanks a lot for your support! [sustainablestyle.freepledge.com]

Ack! Sorry for being unavailable for parts of the past couple days everyone; our site was part of a group of sites affected by a denial of service attack on the server hosting our site. Ivan and the good folks at sustainablewebsites.com were on it, and since they're well-protected and secure, we didn't lose anything (except the ability to access the site for awhile). We hope the hackers tired themselves out and will leave us alone now. Thanks for understanding!

SSF just wrapped up its annual membership drive, and we want to give a round of applause and pat on the back to everyone who signed up. We say it over and over again, but we really appreciate the support and couldn't do what we do without it. So, for those of you who signed up: thank you!! For those of you who didn't, don't feel bad; you can sign up anytime at the membership page. We want to recognize everyone who has supported us with a membership in the past year, so there's a new page in the Membership section of the site dedicated to our current members. Again, thanks a million to everyone whose name is on the list! [SSF Membership] and [SSF's Individual Members]

Attention Seattle-area friends of SSF: November's Cocktails for a Cause is right around the corner, and we'd love you to attend. Next Wednesday, November 1, we'll gather at The Palm Room at 5336 Ballard Ave NW (in Ballard) from 6-8 pm for a cocktail, music and fun to benefit another worthy Seattle non-profit.

This month, we're highlighting the efforts of The Ruby Room, a local nonprofit organization that provides formal gowns to Seattle area high school girls who are unable to purchase their own dance attire. Dresses and accessories are collected throughout the year and made available at boutiques in the spring. Each girl is paired with a personal shopper volunteer who assists her in picking out the perfect gown. The Ruby Room will be gladly accepting donations of gently used dresses and accessories at the event; if you have some collecting dust in your closet, please consider bringing them along!

For the uninitiated, Cocktails for a Cause is the Seattle Chapter's monthly event that highlights the good work of a fellow area non-profit with an evening of cocktails, music and fun. Each event features a different "cause-mo" cocktail of the night, and donations will go to benefit the featured organization. This month, we're happy to bring back The Palm Tea, a cocktail designed especially for this event by Kathy Casey Food Studios, for the event's "cause-mo".

There'll be live entertainment from DJ Patrick Napper, a no-host bar and munchies; donations for the evening's libations and food go to support The Ruby Room, so we hope to see many of you there!

With our annual membership drive starting to wind down (less than a week to go!), SSF is very happy to announce that we've added a new membership benefit, and it's a nice one, if we do say so ourselves. Every new company or organization that signs up (and every one that has this month) will receive a copy of "One World," a documentary series starring Olivia Newton-John about the Galápagos. In three half-hour episodes and an hour-long special, ten-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Harris presents these truly singular and evocative specials from Ecuador's Enchanted Islands of The Galápagos. Olivia joins researchers from the world-renowned Charles Darwin Research Station and The Galápagos National Park Service for a look at the work of naturalist Charles Darwin, exploring the amazing creatures that inspired his "On the Origin of Species" and theories on evolution - almost as controversial today as they were in Darwin's time.

Of all the specials done here, "One World" is also the first to focus equally on the people of The Galápagos as it does its famous wildlife. The programs feature extraordinary photography from veteran Director of Photography Kevin Ely and an inspired soundtrack from seven-time ASCAP Award-winning composer Tim Truman. The shows embody a genuine sense of adventure and discovery, as Olivia and her daughter Chloe embark on their first journey to this World Heritage Site and meet the people working every day to preserve and protect it. Olivia also visits with "Lonesome George," the last of the Pinta subspecies of Galápagos giant tortoise and according to Guinness, the rarest animal on Earth. SSF Co-founder Rebecca Luke was Associate Producer of the series, which is now seen in over 25 countries around the world!

We're proud to offer the DVD as a benefit of membership in SSF, and would encourage those of you still pondering it to sign up today; your membership fee is tax-deductible, gets you some cool benefits, and goes directly to support SSF's work.

SSF's annual Membership Drive is moving right along; with the month half over, if you haven't signed up, we still need your support! Thanks to Greene Street Greetings, you have another reason to it; they've graciously offered our members a 15% discount off any purchase. They offer the perfect canvas to deliver any message while maintaing high standards of quality and consciousness, Greene Street's greetings are printed with soy and vegetable-based inks on one hundred percent post-consumer waste recycled paper that is processed chlorine-free. Their website is hosted on a solar and wind-powered server, and for customers located in Manhattan, they offer carbon-free bicycle messenger delivery -- now that's a green business.

Check out their holiday collection, or use your own photo or image for any occasion; they'll help you create something memorable and sustainable, and we think that's a great combination. SSF would like to thank them for offering their support to SSF, and we hope you'll consider doing the same. Check out what's in it for you and sign up right here. [Greene Street Greetings]

We'd like to invite all sustainable Seattlites to October's Greendrinks on Tuesday, October 10. We're hosting along with our neighbors at the Studios at 5113 Russell Ave NW, in Ballard. As is the norm with Greendrinks here in the Emerald City, things will get started between 5:30 and 6:00 pm.

For anyone uniniated to the Greendrinks phenomenon, it's a fabulous opportunity for those involved with earth-loving nonprofits, green businesses and other environmental work to meet up once a month, have a drink and a chat. Here in Seattle, it moves around to a different location, hosted by a different organization each month, and we're happy to be hosting for October's gathering.

In the spirit of sustainability, anyone who arrives via carpool or other alternative or mass transportation can receive an SSF membership at a 20% discount. Come one, come all; it's going to be a great event. Special thanks to Roslyn Brewing Company for donating the evening's libations. Contact us via or phone (206.324.4850) with any questions. Hope to see everyone there!

The average plastic utensil is used for three minutes, and then discarded. A single plastic bag takes 20 years to decompose. Disposable products may be handy, but they are nothing but trouble once they've been discarded.

As we make our way through the alphabet with sustainable lifestyle tips you can implement today, D is for Dis disposables. There are more permanent versions of everything you can get disposable: coffee cups, razors, pens and numerous kinds of bags. More and more grocery stores have begun to offer their own canvas bags to use when buying groceries, and just about every coffee shop has a travel mug with their name on it. Pick 'em up, carry 'em around, use 'em and keep some junk out of the landfill.

Bags, mugs, and pens are easy and ubiquitous. But what's the best way to shave with a clean conscience? Grist's Umbra Fisk tackles sustainable shaving. You'll be surprised at the difference that one or two small changes will make.

Many thanks to Wow! Imports, who have signed on to offer SSF members a discount on their products. They offer fair trade crafts, eco-friendly vegetable ivory tagua nut carvings from Ecuador, recycled plastic bag animals from Africa and recycled aluminum wall clocks from Israel, and help sustain artistic communities around the world by offering artists competitive wages, healthy working environments, and the finest materials available, recycled and otherwise. Wow! Imports' goal is to make the lives of their crafters more pleasant while bringing joy to the recipients of their handiwork.

They're now offering our members a 10% discount on all their wares. We're happy to be partnering with them and hope you'll consider supporting both SSF and Wow! Imports with a membership. Get all the details and sign up here.

One of the most important things we try to stress at SSF is that we can't shop our way to sustainability. We want people to make more sustainable lifestyle choices, but that doesn't mean "buy more stuff." In this series, focusing on simple, easy, even fun things we can all do each day, cutting back on stuff is a biggie. There isn't any way around consuming stuff, from morning coffee to midnight snack, and everything in between. So, what's the story?

B is for "buy less stuff; buy better stuff." At the end of the day, a "sustainable lifestyle" comes down to consuming no more than can be replenished in place of what you've taken, and consuming goods at their "real price" -- considering the human and natural elements that went in to that t-shirt or DVD player. It's not about buying organic food, or organic cotton, or fair trade apparel, or fair trade chocolate, and saying "Yep, I'm sustainable now." The sustainable lifestyle is just that: a lifestyle. It pervades each aspect of your daily life, and it isn't as simple as stocking up on certified humane raised & handled eggs, organic milk and vintage denim and calling it good.

When it comes time to buy (and let's face, we all buy stuff, all the time), that's when it's time to dive into the Showcase section, browse our online sourcebooks, check out the product reviews in our blog, and make a sustainable decision. Sometimes that decision won't have anything to do with "organic" or "recycled" or "certified" -- it'll be a well-designed, well-made, timeless piece of furniture that'll fit your decor no matter what's around it, and you'll use it for 25 years without needing or wanting to replace it. There is so much great style being created with a sustainable twist that you don't have to compromise aesthetics for sustainability ever again, so whatever your style, ebrace it, go with it and invest in something really worth having.

Stay tuned for more A - Z; C is for Catch a Ride, is coming tomorrow.

Thoughout October, concurrent with SSF's annual fundraising campaign and membership drive, we'll be highlighting some things that you can do today to make your lifestyle more sustainable, all the way from A - Z. Being "sustainable" goes a lot further than just buying organic food or fair-trade clothing; it's all about the lifestyle as a whole, and thinking about everything you do from a sustainable point of view. Nobody's perfect, but we think there are lots of things that everyone should be able to do every day that'll make our planet better for us and everything else that lives on it.

A is for Alternative Energy. Wind, solar, biogas, hydroelectric, it's anything that isn't derived from fossil fuels. While once hard to come by, it's now available from utilities, retail green power products and renewable energy certificate products in states from Alaska to West Virginia and Alabama to Washington. Check out this map from the Green Power Network, a DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy project, to see if you can get renewable energy to help power your home or office. If competition for green power is already allowed in your state, you may have direct access to an alternative electricity supplier; if not, don't worry. Many utilities offer what they call "green pricing programs", which can help you support alternative energy in a different way. Green pricing helps you to support your utilities' investment in alternative energy by paying a couple cents extra per kilowatt-hour on your bill, in order to help defray the costs of acquiring renewable energy resources. Check this list to see what's available in your neck of the woods.

There are lots of ways to incorporate alternative energy into your sustainable lifestyle, even if you can't fit a wind turbine or solar panel in your back yard. Check back with us tomorrow for more Sustainable Lifestyle: A - Z.

We want to send a thank-you and cyber-hug to aGaiN NYC for supporting SSF through membership. For those unfamiliar with their work, aGaiN NYC handbags and accessories take recycled and repurposed materials (junk) and transform them into stylish accessories for modern life (funk). Equally environmentally and socially conscious, aGaiN's products are made here in the US by designer Allison Teich, whose environmental moment of clarity came when sipping a cup of daily coffee from a paper cup wrapped in a paper bag and topped with "an army" of napkins. Though eco-evils can get far bigger than a disposable paper cup, it sparked the idea that became the designer handbags she now designs. Despite the idea's humble origins, the line has blossomed into a collection of beautiful, useful products whose charm comes both from their clever design but also from the inherent beauty of reused, repurposed materials. Check 'em out at the aGaiN website.

Cheers to Allison and aGain for supporting SSF. As our membership drive kicks into high gear starting on Monday, we hope those of you who find inspiration in the work of people like Allison and SSF will consider supporting our work through membership. If you're ready right now, don't wait. You can sign up today right here; with just a few clicks, a new SSF membership and all the benefits that go with it will be yours.

The countdown to SSF's annual membership drive rolls on (it's coming next week!), and today we train the member spotlight on Ciel. Designer Sarah Ratty has conceived and produced a line of hip, luxurious and sustainable clothing. The varied collections make a more ethical and environmental choice available to the fashion-conscious, earth-conscious woman. From luscious organic cotton t-shirts to Alpaca cable knits, it's all certified and all fabulous. Ciel's gorgeous design-led garments are developed with a strong sense of ecology and humanity, and have attracted A-listers like Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller. They've also supported SSF through membership, and we thank them for doing so.

As a member-supported organization, SSF relies on individuals and organizations like Ciel to help insure our viability as an organization. Whether you love the feel of high-style organic cotton, or just want to learn more about the importance of making more sustainable choices every day, we'd love to have you on board. Check out our growing list of membership benefits, and sign up today!