sustainable style foundation*

Mark your calendars and save the date: SSF's annual Membership & Donation Drive is coming in October! If you like what you see here, and think we're providing a useful service and doing necessary work, we'd love to have you on board with us. We've been updating our membership benefits package with cool discounts to some of the businesses that support us, so there's never been a better time to sign up. You don't have to wait until October; do it now and beat the rush.
Throughout the drive, we'll be highlighting the businesses and organizations that have already signed up. Today we train the spotlight on Not Just Pretty Modern Organic Clothing, a fabulous boutique selling the best of the best in sustainable fashion, jewelry, bags and body care. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, Not Just Pretty is helping support forward-thinking designers and conscious citizens who want to look fabulous, live well, and do good, all around the world. They're also supporting the work of SSF, and we thank them.

It's voting time for the fashion half of the Umbrella Inside Out design competition! The esteemed judges (including SSF co-founder Rebecca Luke) have narrowed down the field, and after two days of voting, there are three finalists left. The competition, in which designers were asked to submit plans for a couture garment made almost entirely from used or discarded umbrellas, produced some very compelling results; click here to check out the finalists and then be a part of the democratic process and get your vote on. Hurry -- voting for each day ends promptly at midnight EST. SSF was proud to co-sponsor the competition, along with TreeHugger and I.D. Magazine.

I was totally psyched to see one of my favorite people in the world on the September/October Issue cover of E Magazine. Summer Rayne Oakes is much more than a model. She's a Cornell trained entomologist, she's an environmental activist and most importantly...a really incredible person. Her projects are too numerous to go through here but I encourage you to go to her website (click on her name hyperlink above). You go girl!!!

Another great discovery while doing the Puyallup Fair...several of the beer gardens were serving Wild Hop Lager, an organic beer by Anheuser-Bush. Tastes like...beer, a pretty good beer at that. But it's ORGANIC. Giddy yup!

The next time you travel, travel green. Rental car giant Hertz has thrown its hat into the sustainability ring by offering a "Green Collection" of cars. The selection of four models, the Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Buick LaCrosse and Hyundai Sonata, get at least 28 mpg; most of the Camrys, Fusions and LaCrosses also carry EPA's SmartWay certification, indicating lower emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. With more than 35,000 cars in the Green Collection, Hertz guarantees availability at 50 major airport locations across the US; more than 18,000 of them are also SmartWay certified. Each of the Green Collection can be reserved by specific make and model at either hertz.com, by calling Hertz at 1-800-654-3131 or by ringing up your favorite travel agent. [Hertz] via [GreenBiz]

Few things are absolutely certain in life, but there's definitely one thing we can all count on: death. As morbid as it sounds, we've all got to go some time, and when we do, there are several options awaiting us. In her new book, Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death," Lisa Takeuchi Cullen looks at them all in a sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, always interesting way. Big believers in the idea that we can all be sustainable in life, we were interested to see what sort of sustainable after-lifestyle choices we can make.

At the top of the list is what Takeuchi Cullen calls "the next big thing in cemetery trends" -- biodegradable burials. The first in the country, Ramsey Creek Preserve, in South Carolina, is more of a state park than a cemetery. Ramsey Creek classifies itself as a memorial nature park; according to their website, "Memorial nature parks are memorial parks specifically designed to save and restore significant wildlands. These parks will be a convenient, economical, beautiful, environmentally responsible and mainstream alternative to existing memorial parks." These biodegradable burials are cheaper than the traditional kind, and the profits go to expanding and restoring the preserve. Ramsey Creek is just the first of a growing list of such "green burial" options, and a fascinating alternative to more traditional methods of burial.

Spent Sunday at the Puyallup Fair and was wowed by a couple things. First, I was there with friends to watch the finals of the Susan B. Komen Foundation. The Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign was organized by Wrangler Jeans and many other companies from the Western Industry to raise awareness and support for breast cancer research. Even our local Renton Western Wear has gotten into the act and is offerering the T-shirt you see at the left.