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Money & Style

Living Green
By Amy Selby

A green style guide featuring fashion, personal care products and interior décor that reflects your commitment to a healthier Earth.

Living green doesn’t always mean taking extreme measures to reduce your carbon footprint. The green life does require a shift in thinking and a few changes in the choices that you make every day. Small changes, such as conserving energy through appliance choices and good habits, made daily can add up to a reduction of carbon emissions and personal utility savings.

Green products have come a long way. Eco-friendly personal products and clothing have been around for some time, but the earthy toothpaste and hemp clothes often meant you’d have to sacrifice taste and style for sustainability.

These days, thankfully, you don’t have to resign yourself to chalky and gritty beauty products or burlap sack fashions to support green companies. Many established brands are issuing out everything from organic makeup lines and organic cotton jeans to household cleaning supplies and food brands produced in plants run by sustainable energy sources.

So, if you can’t afford those solar panels or a wind turbine, try supporting companies and products that promote eco-initiatives. Today’s Chiropractic LifeStyle has compiled a list of green-friendly choices you can incorporate into your daily life—read on and live green!

Green Chic Fashion

Green is the new black. Eco-fashion isn’t a passing trend, many designers are reprioritizing their clothing lines to be kind to the environment and the health of consumers while improving the working conditions of those producing their fashions. As a result, you can find clothing that incorporates or is made entirely of environmentally sensitive fabrics, non-animal and recycled materials, without chemicals or bleach and using responsible production techniques.

Shoes
Charmone
Uses animal-free materials in their designs. You can buy the shoes at shoes.com and check out the full line at charmoneshoes.com.

Mink
The shoes are handcrafted in Italy using animal-free materials. Minkshoes.com

Neuaura
Designer Arti Upadhyay uses animal-free materials and environmentally friendly production techniques in this new line of shoes for women. Neuaurashoes.com

Terra Plana
Buy casual and dress shoes created from sustainable and recycled materials. Terraplana.com

Handbags
Ella Vickers
The Recycled Sailcloth collection of handbags brings a nautical spin on everyday totes and modern clutches. Ellavickers.com

Helen E. Riegle, Her Design
This handbag designer believes in high style with low impact. Her designs use natural objects, organic, sustainable and cruelty-free materials. Her-design.com

Organic Denim
Kuyichi
These jeans are not only stylish, but made of a Peruvian organic cotton and produced in fair trade with Peruvian farmers. For a look at the summer collection and a listing of retailers, visit kuyichi.com.

Levi’s Eco
The famous American jean company unveiled the organic cotton denim line, Levi’s Eco in 2006. The jeans also feature a coconut shell button and dye made from natural compounds. Levistore.com

Clothing
Ecoganik
You can look good and contribute to environmental causes says Ecoganik designer, Genevieve Cruz. Her line of women’s contemporary casual wear uses certified organic and eco-friendly fabrics. Ecoganik.com

Perfectly Imperfect
Jadie Kadletz’s soulful fashion vision follows the ancient Chinese Wabi Sabi way of life—fashion both made by hand and made by nature. The handmade quality of this line of organic cotton knits helps us see and appreciate the beauty in imperfection. Pi-tees.com

Under the Canopy
Outfit your bed and your body with this environmentally and style conscious home and clothing company. Underthecanopy.com

Beauty for Men and Women
Natural ingredients have long been associated with beauty products. But as consumers have searched for anti-aging formulas and acne-fighting creams, natural ingredients have been switched for lab-created concoctions. Thankfully, a few easy changes introduces organic materials, vitamins and Earth-friendly ingredients and packaging to your bathroom. Switch out your cotton swabs and balls for organic varieties and consider these cosmetic companies.

Skincare and Makeup
The Body Shop
Reacquaint yourself with this longtime environmental advocate—The Body Shop offers a complete line of beauty and cosmetic products using natural ingredients that were ethically and responsibly grown (and bought). Many products are made with or packaged in recycled materials. Thebodyshop.com

Carol’s Daughter
From Lisa Price’s Brooklyn kitchen straight to your hair and skin, this natural collection of men and women’s hair, bath and skincare products retains its homemade charm. Price’s moisturizing recipes are paraben- and sodium laureth sulfate-free, and also free of petroleum-based products.

Nvey Eco
Wear makeup without the worry of traces of lead and other harmful substances with this certified organic makeup collection. This Australian company creates products that nourish, protect and condition your skin. Econveybeauty.com

Physicians Formula Organic Wear
This line of foundations, bronzers and blushes use organic cornstarch and jojoba seed oil for an all-over eco glow. All packaging is recyclable. Physiciansformula.com

Personal Hygiene Products
Burt's Bees
Since 1989 Burt’s Bees has been producing Earth-friendly, natural facial and body ?cleansers, shampoos and conditioners, makeup, baby products and chemical-free sunscreen. Burt’s Bees products use on average are 99 percent natural ingredients, with half of their product line using 100 percent natural ingredients. Burtsbees.com

Care by Stella McCartney
You may know Stella McCartney for her runway fashion or just as Paul’s daughter, but we’d like you to consider her new line of certified organic skincare, Care by Stella McCartney. The beauty line is formulated with 100 percent organic active ingredients, free of petrochemicals, parabens, silicons and genetically modified ingredients. The benefit to you is more vitamins, antioxidants and organic elements to pamper your skin. Sephora.com

Tom's of Maine
This pioneer in all-natural personal care uses recycled materials in their packaging for their deodorants, toothpaste, mouth and body wash. Tom’ toothpaste is flavored with natural oils and uses naturally sourced sodium monofluorophosphate to fight cavities.

The natural long-lasting deodorant works well without aluminum. Instead, zinc ricinoleate—a natural ingredient found in castor beans—and herbal ingredients absorb odors. Drugstore.com or tomsofmaine.com

Nail Polish
Acquarella
Here’s a non-toxic choice for your fingernails. This water-based nail polish contains no animal products or by products. acquarellapolish.com

Suncoat
Shop for water-based nail polish and a biodegradable natural nail polish remover at suncoat.naturalproductsshopping.com.

For Your Home
If you’re already making conscious energy choices, you’re well on your way to transforming your household into a green home. In addition to conserving water and energy you can intermingle sustainable furniture and accessories along side your antique chaise lounge and grandmother’s china.

Interior Décor
Mio
In addition to energy-saving bulbs, you can now add sustainable lighting fixtures, wallpaper, sidetables and home accessories from Mio, a home décor store in Philadelphia. The lighting fixtures are modern, eco-friendly and affordable at $75-$175. Mioculture.com

Urban Woods
Based in Los Angeles, this eco-friendly furniture company uses wood reclaimed from local sources. Urbanwoods.net

Vivavi
Add a modern flair to your living and bed rooms with furniture that is made of non-toxic materials, recycled and renewable materials that are responsibly harvested. The company shows its commitment to green living through its showroom and headquarters—both are powered by wind energy. Vivavi.com

Floral Arrangements
VeraFlora
VeriFlora certification means the flower growers are environmentally friendly, and want to get even friendlier. They cut the amount of water, toxic chemicals and fertilizers used to produce flowers to get the VeraFlora seal.

Shopping and Cleaning
Ecobags
The next time you shop, bring your own bag. Ecobags are manufactured under fair-wage and fair-labor and are made of a variety of natural and organic materials including renewable fibers, certified organic cotton, recycled cotton canvas, hemp and hemp-cotton blends and natural untreated and unbleached cotton and canvas. Ecobags.com

Envirosax
This Aussie company is now available in the states. Envirosax’s reusable bags hold the equivalent of two plastic shopping bags, thanks to their reinforced seams. Plus, they’re a better fashion statement. Usa.envirosax.com

Feed Bag
Former model and activist Lauren Bush has partnered with the United Nations and Whole Foods Market to offer the FEED 100 reusable shopping bag. Each bag is $29.99 and your purchase helps to provide 100 nutritious meals to school age children in Rwanda through the United Nation World Food Program’s School Feeding Program. Feedprojects.org

Method Home
Method offers cleaners that are dye- and perfume-free, nontoxic, biodegradable, naturally derived and never tested on animals. Methodhome.com.

Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Supplies
All of their cleaning supplies are made with natural essential oils, are biodegradable and phosphate-free. Mrsmeyers.com.

Seventh Generation
Seventh Generation is one of the leading brands of nontoxic household products. Shop for everything from trash bags to toilet paper. Seventhgeneration.com.

Online Eco Boutiques
Gaiam
This fitness and eco-living retailer features a fair trade marketplace, energy efficient climate control products, earth-friendly cleaning products and home and outdoor accents. Gaiam.com

Organic Style
You’ll find everything for a green home here—apparel, garden accessories and tools, fresh flowers and bed, bath and pet products. Organic Style partners with growers and artisans who adhere to sustainability standards, safe working conditions and offer fair wages. Organicstyle.com

Viva Terra
Order elegant bedding, furniture, clothing, kitchen and bath, interior décor and gift items from this online catalogue. All of the products featured on the site reflect a commitment to ecology, sustainable sources, fair wage and high-quality craftsmanship. Vivaterra.com

Shop Green, Shop Online

Buy eco-fashions at the following online stores:

A Green Practice

You can easily translate your green living choices made at home to your practice. You wouldn’t be alone in your endeavor. A 2008 IBT Market Pulse Survey of financial institution executives and their environmental initiatives found that 73 percent of those surveyed say they plan to build new or remodel an existing branch in the next year or two. The majority (75 percent) of the executives that are building new branches are considering the use of green building materials. Aside from a green building plan, the study found that the executives had the following initiatives in place: [place chart here]

Green Goodie Award

We have to give credit where credit is due. These companies are making efforts to reduce carbon emissions and use greener energy sources, such as wind and solar energy.

Green Goodie Award

TCL applauds the following retailers for nixing plastic bags from their stores and encouraging customers to shop with reusable bags.

A New Dream Home

Zero emissions is what green builders are striving for, but is it within the realm of possibility? Yes! There are a few zero-emission homes that exist. In California, several green-seeking homeowners have worked toward zero emission status thanks to state government incentives. Our neighbors across the pond have passed new housing regulations that will mandate that all homes in England will be emission free by 2016. Back in the states, architecture students at Georgia Institute of Technology built a solar home and it’s on display at its Atlanta campus.

©2008 Today's Chiropractic