Emma Watson on IG

Emma Watson highlights eco-fashion on Instagram

Emma Watson is always involved in important causes, and one of her advocacies is the environment and eco-friendly fashion. She’s currently on a press tour for the upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, and she’s also using Instagram to feature the sustainable, environmentally friendly, and socially conscious clothing brands and beauty products she’s using on the tour. Her posts contain descriptions of what she’s wearing and what makes them different–and good for the planet.

Check out her latest post and follow her too–maybe you’ll get inspired to not just cop her looks but also find out how clothing brands can be green and ethical.

Hello USA! Brilliant day visiting @theellenshow and attending the @beautyandthebeast world premiere. Such a privilege to share the evening with the actor who brought the original Belle to life, Paige O’Hara, the very talented writer of the animated film Linda Woolverton, and the legend that is Celine Dion! 😮🇺🇸🌹 Ellen outfit jewellery by @article_22. Peacebomb, its first collection, is handcrafted in Laos from Vietnam War shrapnel. Each piece helps clear unexploded ordnance, making land safe and providing new metal to artisans. Article22 began working with a village in Laos in 2009, that now has 15 families, husbands and wives making Peacebomb jewellery. They work part-time and earn at least 5x the local hourly minimum wage, providing them with the disposable income for books, school, fuel and medicine that their subsistence farming livelihoods can’t. @burberry pumps handmade in Italy with organic silk #30wears Trousers are @oscardelarenta and were worn in Paris during the Beauty and the Beast press tour #30wears Fashion info verified by @ecoage #ecoloves Skin prepped with Heritage Store Rosewater Glycerin Water (a US brand who have been making natural products for over 41 years). Foundation and concealer is @rmsbeauty "Un" Cover Up and “Un” Powder, who avoid using refined, bleached, deodorised and high-temperature, heat treated ingredients in their products. Contour was created with @tataharper Very Bronzing. Bronzing is @VitaLiberata Trystal Minerals Self Tanning Bronzing Minerals and Tata Harper Lip & Cheek in Very Sweet. Tata Harper is made in the brand’s US-based manufacturing facility. It is not outsourced to another company as most skincare manufacturing is. @janeiredale Brow Gel and Eyeliner in Brown were used and lips are @absolution_cosmetics Sweet and Safe Kiss Lipstick in #19 Rose Franc. Absolution give 2% of their profits to the international charity @careorg who support a number of initiatives including gender equality. All brands are cruelty-free. Beauty brands verified by @contentbeauty

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Ashley Biden launches sustainable, socially conscious clothing line

With many clothing brands opting to produce their apparel in other countries, it’s always refreshing to hear about a US clothing company choosing to make its clothes in the US–and benefit communities at the same time. Ashley Biden, daughter of former Vice President Joe Biden, has launched Livelihood, an apparel company that carries weekend-wear apparel, and its first line features hoodies made from organic cotton, which are manufactured in the US. What’s even better is that Livelihood is also helping to support underserved communities in the US. According to their website,

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these organic-cotton, Made in the U.S.A. hoodies, and 100% of the profits from the launch, will be deposited on a quarterly basis into a community foundation to be accessed by residents in two under-resourced neighborhoods: Riverside in Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia.

Livehood is available at Gilt.

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for GILT

Bioscarf

Protect yourself with Bioscarf

Scarves are great for keeping you warm. But what if they did more than that? What if they could protect you from pollution too?

Businessman Carlton Solle became sick after a trip to Hebei Province in China as a result of complications caused by air pollution. His doctor advised him to use a mask, but it was Carlton’s wife Hazel who came up with the brilliant idea of a scarf that also functions as a filter against airborne contaminants.

Thus, Bioscarf was born. The scarf has an N95 rating, which means that can block non-oil based airborne particles with a size of 3.0 microns in size or larger. What’s more, the Bioscarf is made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET water bottles, and its labels are made out of recycled PVC.

The scarf comes in four understated colors at the moment–white, black, olive, and olive with black trim–and they cost $89, making it pricier than regular scarves, but then again, this is no ordinary scarf! Shop on the Bioscarf website, and check out their Facebook for updates! If you buy a scarf, you’ll be able to help different causes supported by the company. Under its PlusOne program, the company will donate one Bioscarf to an individual at risk for every Bioscarf sold, and part of its initial production run is allocated for the Standing Rock protesters and victims of the recent forest fires in the southern US.

Support Thoughtful Threadz

Thoughtful Threadz, the brainchild of Nicole Lynn Jones, is expanding its debut collection with the InnovaTees line, which will feature more categories and the works of more artists. The brand prides itself on offering “causal clothing”, which means that it

…would have a positive impact on society, encourage intelligent discourse, promote open-mindedness, allow for different perspectives and ideas to be expressed, celebrate the human spirit, and inspire greatness.

The shirts send out positive messages–literally–and are American-made. They’re also printed through an eco-friendly process, and the designs use water-based inks.

You have just over three weeks to help out, so get yourself over to Thoughtful Threadz’ Kickstarter page! You can donate a minimum of $1.

Support verrrde, an eco-friendly affordable clothing boutique project.

Spotted on Indiegogo: a fundraising project for verrrde.com. Michelline Fedele, the woman behind verrrde, is looking to establish a clothing story that carries eco-friendly, but affordable clothing, and she needs some extra help to ensure that every item is indeed eco-friendly and costs under $100. She says on verrrde’s Indiegogo campaign page:

With your generous contributions, we will have enough to buy our merchandise (with a focus on dresses, tops, and accessories) for the first quarter Spring 2014.

I have done a lot of research finding wholesalers who offer clothing using renewable resources, recycled materials, and who are also committed to making the planet a better place to live. All items sold will be under $100, making eco-friendly clothing more accessible to the everyday woman. I have been in the retail business for over 7 years and I am a master at being thrifty and fashionable.

This definitely sounds like a great idea. We could all do with stylish eco-friendly clothes that won’t break the bank, and we need more people and stores that carry them.

There are only six days left to go for this campaign, so go on and lend your support! As of this writing, she’s already raised $3,031, exceeding her $3,000 goal, but a little extra help wouldn’t hurt!

The 100-day shirt

In April, a project called “Wool&Prince: The Better Button-Down. Guaranteed.” kicked off on Kickstarter. The project, the brainchild of Mac Bishop, promised “A wool shirt worn for 100 days straight. No washing. No dry cleaning. No wrinkles. No odor.” The campaign is supposed to end on May 22, but the money it has earned has gone far and beyond its initial goal; right now, it sits at more than $300,000. Bishop launched the 100-day challenge in which he wore the shirt for, well, 100 days; the challenge ended in February and he reported that “The shirt stood up to everything I threw at it—whether it was a five mile run or 72 straight hours of wear during Hurricane Sandy.”

That certainly sounds intriguing–imagine how awesomely convenient it would be if none of us had to wash, say, our jeans, office clothes, and even workout clothes and bras as frequently as we do now. We would save a bunch on laundry, not to mention water.

Read more about the shirt and the project at Wool&Prince.

H&M unveils its collection of eco-friendly dresses

H&M eco-friendly dresses

H&M has come out with its collection of eco-friendly gowns and dresses. The line is called the Exclusive Glamour Collection, and features dresses made of hemp, organic cotton, and recycled polyester. It’s definitely a great way to take the concept of eco-friendly fashion even further, showing all of us that it’s not only shirts, tops, and pants that can be green.

Eco-fashion predictions for 2012

Happy new year, everybody! With 2012 just getting started, you can expect that people are weighing in on what will be fresh, hot, and new for the year. Even the eco-fashion world is coming out with its own predictions for the year. Ecouterre has all the details in its feature entitled “22 Eco-Fashion Predictions for 2012“, with forecasts by Summer Rayne Oakes, Starre Vartan of Eco-Chick, and Safia Minney of People Tree.