A Quick Trip to the Cambridge Salvy

So I am in Cambridge Maryland doing some family visits and busuness. Whether I am donating or looking for fabulous finds, this Salvy rarely disappoints.

This trip uncovered some great Ralph Lauren skinnies in stripes and florals. There was also a great tone-on-tone floral Ann Taylor shorts. At $4-$8 per pair, someone can get their 80's on. Sadly not my size:(

--til next week Restore, Refresh, Recycle, Renew

Go green with apps

Your iPhone (or other smartphone) is your PA (personal assistant) and the apps you carry are a fashion statement. Help green your closet with these eco-apps.

Track your daily commute, business trips or vacation carbon footprint with Carbon Tracker by Clear Standards. Other features allow you to set and monitor goals. Carbon Tracker is a GPS enabled app. It is free.

Mission Zero and 3rd Whale offer iPhone apps that allow you to stay up to date on Sustainability news while on the go. 3rd Whale will help you find Green Retail in your vicinity as well.

Whole Foods offers up an app with over 2,000 recipes by various categories - gluten free, high fiber, what you have on hand. The app also includes store locations.

Clif Bar helps snow bunnies make environmentally responsible ski choices while they help make the world "snowier." Free and cool.

Keep an eye out for Big Room Inc.'s app in development. It will help consumers make sense of eco-labels and make recommendations about various products while in store.

Load your PA with green apps today.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

Coming Soon in Philadelphia

Just in time for Fall, Philadelphia Designer and Entrepreneur, Sarah Van Aken debuts SA VA, a comprehensive fashion destination. A grand opening of the Center City flagship store, SA VA 1700 Sansom Street, 215-587-0004 is set for August 29th. The store will feature Van Aken’s own line of women’s ready-to-wear apparel, also named SA VA; her own, custom-designed jewelry; and local and fair trade accessories including handbags, scarves, hats, gloves and sweaters. The location will also house a design studio and adjacent garment center.

A webstore with innovative interactive social media will debut a month later. The focus of the site will be communication and design collaboration using such tools as blogs and twitter. According to Van Aken by way of her press release,'“It’s important to me that my clients feel they can influence the creation of our garments,” says Van Aken. “At SA VA, we encourage our patrons to bring in, e-mail or tweet photos of their fashion inspirations, so that we can work collaboratively to craft a piece of clothing that is at once uniquely ours and also influenced by their style, likes and dislikes. If we incorporate that into a piece, our guest can track the creation and production of their ‘signature item’ through the design studio, garment center and eventually into the retail boutique, where we may even name the piece after the guest who inspired it.”Interested clientele can visit www.savafashion.com for links to all of the interactive components of SA VA.

'The release further states, 'Van Aken is also passionate about sustainable production throughout her enterprise. No detail is too small to be overlooked; the retail boutique will feature 100% recycled and recyclable hangers, natural fiber packaging and custom-made, reusable shopping bags. Furniture for the garment center, design studio and even Van Aken’s own office was salvaged from vacant offices or otherwise repurposed. In keeping with this model, Van Aken also practices what she calls “social sustainability.” SA VA will create 22 new jobs in Philadelphia within two years, all of them positions that are fairly compensated.

I can't wait to check out SA VA - socially responsible fashion and innovative social media all in my backyard!

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh, Renew

Walmart Teams with Department of Energy

According to a NYT article by Sara Goodwin, published on July 29, 2009, Walmart has turned one of their parking lots into a giant LED testing lab. The goal is to see if Walmart and a score of other retailers can use LED lighting to reduce neighborhood light pollution, energy costs by 50% and maintenance costs by 80%.

Since April of 2008 12 major retailers have been working with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a list of criteria necessary to successfully implement the use of LEDs. New technologies can be costly to install and/or implement, but LED technology is relatively well developed and may be less costly than other solutions.

Walmart is testing in the parking lot of its new store in Leavenworth, Kansas. "We wanted to test the technology parameters of the recommendations ... to find out how it actually performs in the environment and with our shoppers," said Don Moseley, Wal-Mart's director of sustainable facilities. 33 poles support 92 fixtures controlled to shed light on the parking lot and reduce light drift which causes neighborhood light pollution. The bulbs have a 10 year relamping time frame as opposed to the 2 year relamping plan for their other bulbs. There is an estimated 3-6 year investment payback period, however, Moseley stated,"While that cost is an important decision, if all the other parameters prove true and the other savings are there, and we have a safe and secure shopping environment, at that point, then, we try to negotiate for volume purchase." Key factors in the decision to adopt LEDS will include: maintenance and customer acceptance.

Walmart greens again - good for Business and good for the Environment.

-- till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew