ecobites

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Can the stories of our past become part of a sustainable future? There's no better Cinderella gown than a dress made out of Cinderella books. Ryan Novelline created this amazing storybook gown entirely out of recycled and discarded children’s Golden Books. The bodice was made from the gold spines and brightly colored illustrations make the full skirt. 

Karen Stewart and Howard Brown, partners in life and work, launched their ethical fashion brand in 2002 from Los Angeles, California. Inspired by their love and respect for nature and a passion for design, Karen and Howard were filled with a sense of purpose and determined to pioneer the sustainable fashion movement.

Manufacturing company VDS Group has received Platinum LEED-NC v3 certification for its factory Vintage Denim Studio. Recognized for its compliance with sustainable policies and procedures, the Bangladesh-based plant is now the world’s top-rated green apparel manufacturing facility.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is an internationally-implemented measurement of a factory’s practices regarding environmental concerns such as site conditions, water and energy usage, carbon emissions and waste management. The suite of standards awards points based on compliance, reserving the rating level of platinum for only the greenest facilities.

Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) founder Livia Firth will team up with British TV presenter, Observer journalist and author Lucy Siegle to host a special session at this year’s RITE Group conference on sustainable textiles in London on October 10th.

Speaking to RITE, Livia Firth commented, “Three years ago we embarked on a project to catapult sustainability in fashion into the limelight. We knew sustainability was the hottest game in town but how could we take it to a mass audience and to the next level? The Green Carpet Challenge has continued to grow, taking us to places we never dreamed of and giving us insight into some of the most fascinating supply chains and design narratives in the world. I am delighted to share some of these experiences with fashion industry professionals at RITE”.

The only large textiles in the world to have been created from the silk of spiders will go on display at the V&A in January 2012. The four metre long woven textile was made from the silk of more than a million female Golden Orb spiders collected in the highlands of Madagascar. But unlike mulberry silk from silkworms, in which the hapless pupa is boiled alive in its cocoon, the spiders were released into the wild at the end of each day. The hand-woven brocaded textile is naturally golden in colour and took over four years to create. It will be shown together with a new golden cape, woven and embroidered in Madagascar, which will go on public display for the very first time at the V&A.