PS3’s, Microsoft X-Box 360’s, and Nintendo Wii’s , although abused by some, are the source of harmless entertainment for millions of people worldwide. Greenpeace, however, argues otherwise. On their website, Greenpeace posted and article that exposes Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo for using harmful substances in the production of their popular game consoles.

Greenpeace’s report, Playing Dirty, claims polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates, beryllium, and bromine are found in all three game consoles. Beryllium, according to Greenpeace, is particularly nasty because it “does not break down easily and builds up in the environment” and “long term exposure can lead to impaired learning and memory functions” and can “interfere with thyroid and estrogen hormone systems and exposure in the womb has been linked to behavioral problems.” Phthalates, Greenpeace claims, are just as bad, inhibiting “sexual development in mammals: including humans and, especially, males.”

Though the report gives sound evidence and information about the materials found inside the internal electronic components of the game consoles, the report gives no information about how the materials could be transmitted to children and/or adults playing video games, and whether or not the video game systems present an actual risk of harming users. No mention is made about the how and if it’s even possible to come in contact with the chemicals (like, for example, if you were to take apart your Playstation and lick its bromide-tainted circuit board…what? You never tried it?).

Its hard to say what Greenpeace is trying to achieve with this article/study. Are they trying to save people from being poisoned by video game systems or developing an online gaming strategy? If they believe eating game consoles is a common practice, they may really be trying save lives….

Perhaps, the more realistic conclusion is that Greenpeace is just trying to ruffle people’s feathers—using the game systems’ popularity to gain publicity for their organization and foster support for their noble causes. For Greenpeace, this tactic could backfire and make the public believe that the organization seeks to merely stir up controversy, rather than make a real difference in the world. Perhaps they should stick with the battles that matter—the fights that everyone can get behind, like saving endangered animals, fighting pollution, and curbing global warming.

Anyway, I’m off now to play poker at my favorite online casino. Take that Greenpeace.

After the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (“mad cow”) that decimated massively the cattles in Great-Britain primarily, the H5N1 bird flu virus that proliferated in Hong-Kong, a less perceptible enemy is diminishing the population of bees.

If it doesn’t have any direct incidence on our well-being on the short term, its long term effect is questionnable giving that the survival of our specie is intrinsically tributory to this little symbol of technology of the Apoideas, the Apis Melifera.

Knowing that 3/4 of the worldwide plants, 1/3 of the human food supply, six million people depend viscerally on this uncommon plant-animal relationship, who could have imagined that such little insect performed a vitale role in our societies? Who could have imagined that it had such impact on our economies, our fates? Who could have imagined the magnitude of the damages awaiting us?

Five million of domesticated bees vanished in less than 48 hours without a trace from the surface of Earth : that is without ambiguity the problem the bee-keepers and the scientists are facing, have to solve, to defuse. The CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) is the explanation to their brutal hives disaffection. As the scientific community delves into finding the cause, they keep on banging their heads against the walls.

Whatever searches demonstrate : presence of white pockets in their abdomens asserting of their non digestion, growth of fungi in their tissues, existence of forty different chemicals in the analysis of their pollen, malnutrition linked to single crop diets (due to human forced pollination)… They all concord and conclude to the weaknessing of their immune system.

Pesticides are undoubtedly the key suspect in the investigations. French researchers support the theory by confirming that bees thrive in cities (where trees and flowers are not showered with pesticides). If it is so, how can we explain the desertion of hives in organic hives, too?

Many questions are in suspense, eager to be elucidated. Why do bees fail to return to their hives?  As an organizational structure maybe going back to the hive means imprisonment? Why humans be the only ones to aspire to freedom? Freedom of gathering pollen and nectar from all type of flowers opposed to exclusively one? Couldn’t they have this intelligence? Maybe it’s a natural order? Is their ability to learn affected or do they leave to avoid to infect the whole colony? Maybe their death is a conjecture! What if it was the end of their domestication? Why only adults die? Is it from a chemical or nutritional origin? Is it a virus or a neurotoxin? What if, it was simply a natural extinction of the specie? How many other species die without our awareness? And as I said precedently what if they were not dying? What if wild life has more temptation than the domesticated one?

The haze obviously still floats over the scientists’ orbit. I understand their frustration while challenging the probability of a problem impossible to thwart.

The stakes are high, the world depends on bees.

Six million people cover the seven continents. With the constant increase of the demand, production had to adapt responding by pressuring agriculture to augment extensively the superficie of arable exploitations, to develop intensive methods of output.

Rented by farmers, hives of bees travel by trucks to Florida (for oranges), to Maine (for bilberries), to California (for its almonds) to transfer pollen from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same or another flower. The process is called pollination. In this harmless (at first sight) exchange, the bee participates as the active element for fecondation. As a fair retribution, the plants reward them by a sugary liquid called nectar.

Thousands of hectares of lands rely on bees to perform a natural role for an unatural scale. Californian almonds, for instance, reperesenting 80% of the international market require 1,2 million colonies to do the job! Imagine yourself only eating pizzas or broccoli! Can’t human forced pollination be one the  major sources of bees decline? We, late, understood that their dance was their mean of communication. So therefore bees have no more secrets to reveal us? I wish Nature was that simple!  As a certainty, our ecosystem is fragile!

With the reduction of bees, economic sectors directly involve in bees activity experience already losses in pollination contracts, in honey productions. Other industries like the ice-cream feels already the repercussions.

Unless scientists find the harm, farmers, at the example of the southern Sichuan (China), will resort, as they did for their pear flowers to blossom, to hand pollination. Nature, now, needs a helping hand! What is feasable for a local production would be an Herculean task for a higher scale!

At a yearly rhythm of 30% of death rate, within 3 to 4 years bee-keepers will disappear (it may not be a bad future!). If bees don’t make the headlines now, believe me in 2035, date of their total extinction, they will make it!

On another hand, the death of domesticated bees doesn’t signify their extinction, does it?

There are many things I think about when I think of McDonalds, and being green isn’t one of them. According to an article on Sustainable Life Media, McDonalds has released their green – sustainable best practices, with the urging that their customers vote for “best of the best”. The report apparently highlights over 80 best practices from numerous McDonald’s markets that cover initiatives such as energy reduction, green packaging design, customer engagement on environmental issues, and greener supply chain management. Here are some of the highlights from the article:

Information and inspiration through innovative software – McDonald’s France’s use of an interactive software, EcoProgress, to manage and reduce energy usage in the restaurant, achieved an 11% savings in electricity for participating restaurants over the same three month period between 2007 and 2006.

Water conservation in Australia - McDonald’s Australia has implemented a variety of water conservation measures including extensive landscaping and smart irrigation practices. Advanced stormwater retention tanks can save almost four million liters of water over a 20-year period.

Supporting the development of Biodiesel - In Brazil, Chile and Argentina, McDonald’s has partnered with local organizations that transform used cooking oil into biodiesel. Currently, 270 restaurants in these markets deliver their used oil to be converted into biodiesel, representing over 1,000,000 liters of oil to date.

Creating a gold standard for green design - In August, 2008, McDonald’s USA opened its first corporate-owned pilot green restaurant and received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification in April, 2009. This “green building lab” in Chicago will help McDonald’s USA refine its green building strategy and identify practices that can be incorporated into future restaurants.

Engaging our employees and consumers on climate change – McDonald’s Japan participates in the Japanese government’s Team Minus 6% program to reduce CO2 emissions by 1kg per person, per day, by offering a discount to consumers who registered to participate in the program. During the 2007 campaign, McDonald’s Japan helped raise the number of participants from 40,000 to 380,000.

Uh, I don’t think so.

The idea of  “green-washing” really gets under my skin, but on some levels I think any step to raise the consciousness is a good one. A fellow designer (Ronny Bagdadi ) posted this message in response to asking the community what they thought and I think his words sum it up quite niceley:

All life depends on topsoil, the thin layer of nutrient-rich earth. 200 years ago the US had 21 inches of topsoil, today we have about 6 inches left. About 6000 sq. miles of land are cleared every year to raise livestock or about 10,000 acres/day. Land clearing leads to topsoil running off into the rivers and sea. It takes about 500 years for nature to create 1″ of topsoil. One lb of California beef requires 5200 gallons of water; one lb. of lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes or corn each require 24 gallons.

Going vegetarain is the most powerful way to protect the environment, and to prevent needless suffering of millions of sentient beings with nervous systems and brains just like ours. Going to SF on the 5N one is overwhelmed by the stench of filth and death as one drives past “Cowschwitz”

When McD’s stops selling flesh it will be green, until then it’s PR/marketing BS sold to naive folk.

I have always supported “little steps…” among those that are just waking up to the global consciousness. On some levels, this is that step, even though we are talking about McDonalds. I suppose if they are exposing and awaking consciousness to the importance of green issues among those who don’t have a channel to that info, that’s positive. Next step might be “McDonalds the Vegetarian Restaurant”…After that, I can only hope…

However in the great scope of things, I don’t believe McDonalds gives a shit about anything but thier bottom line.

What I am talking here is a matter of green. We in the jungle strive to work with socially and ecologically conscious businesses or those trying to be. We’re not perfect, heck, nobody is, so we’ve been told. But, there is a difference between just capitalizing on the green movement and really walking the walk.

In the jungle, we believe in a little thing we like to call ‘captivism’. As the name implies, it is the implementation of socially conscious business practices which are both sustainable and profitable. Being green can make dollars and sense, when it’s done right. We’d like to make ‘captivism’ part of your vocabulary as well.

So, how does one captivate through capitalism? It’s quite simple, really. You can be big, small and in between, so long as you make an effort to promote, practice and implement good business practices. And by ‘good’, we mean simply socially and ecologically aware philosophies and means of doing business. If you walk the walk, we can help.

Torn apart between two main factions, the pragmatic science and the fervous religion, between the original chaos preceeding its organic birth and the birth of  the prophets that legitimated the datation of its existence, the explanation of the formation of the world  is still synonymous of schism between the rival theories. Which one among the two eternal enemies will take over? Reason or obscurantism?  Science?  Or religion ?

In all matters, Science rationalizes what Religion mystyfies. In this tempestuous environment,  a more realistic standpoint stands up and plays the spoilsport, giving to the birth of the world another dimension, more human we shall say.

From the Big Bang of the galaxies where atoms play the key role to understand the expansion of the cosmos and the planets, justifying the evolution of  Mother Nature and its progeniture  – the diverse species inhabiting the planet -,  to the experimental iron pouring along 300 square kilometres of the South Atlantic ocean to populate the receeding phytoplancton that will absorb the excess of CO2 contained in the atmosphere by the “Polarstern”  laboring in collaboration with the Indian National Oceanographic Institute, science prevails in the elaboration of a rational explanation.

Years of atomic explosions, of organic transformations, of genetic mutations and organisations assert nowadays that our descendance as a specie has its ramification and origin among the primates. Although the lemurians appeared (to relativize the primate theory) to be a possible variable in our gene pool, the evolution from the Australapicus (2-3 million years ago) to the latest vestige of our hominid (animals able to walk upright) inheritance, the Cro- Magnon man (90,000 yrs ago) is irrefutable. Our far, far away cousin Lucy born in the African savannas testified without any doubt of  the hominid presence.

At a time where its majesty the “satellite” reigns in the cosmos sending us pictures revealing the unexpected like water on Titan on its south pole (Saturn’s satellite),  lava flows around Caloris crater on Mercury, at a time where our ascendance will experience the birth of a new ocean (thousand years) in the Afar triangle region in Ethiopia or the first step of the genetic surgery, what would be the weight of any flat religious explanations versus the round omnipotence of science? Nowadays, no more Galileo ban by the Roman Inquisition for his “lack of empirism”…

When science through history, geology… and facts speak out for our past and echoes our future, elevates our reasoning ability, religion distorts our reality to a more convenient story. Pumping its power from ignorance and fears that it instilled us, religion’s only goal was and still is to control. Now that we dispose of science to rationalize the incomprehensible, the unknown, it’s a blow to the truth not to acknowledge its predominance.                                                                                                    . 

Created from the generosity or the anger of a God, from the mix of earth and water or from Jupiter’s thigh, or whatever absurd and bogus human interpretation of their own ignorance, the uncertainty about the origin of humanity attests of the flaw of religion.

When science refers to prehistoric and glacial period extending life to million years ago, religion despizes the unknown and starts naturally its history with the christian, muslim… calendars with the birth or the emigration of their respective prophets. As a contradiction our history should not be fragmented in the acceptance of  the term “BC” as a referal point for datation. But I guess it’s taken for granted!

If, between science and religion, any doubt still subsists in your mind on the origin of the world, let me bring another source of enlightenment by considering Gustave Courbet’s interpretation, althought scandalous at the time, as veracious. Don’t you agree?

The Greenwash Brigade

2008′s greenwashes of the year

The Greenwash Brigade brings you our favorite greenwashes of 2008. Some good, some bad, some just plain funny — and in no particular order. (Vote for your favorite in the comments.)

• Fiji Water’s new green campaign: Yes, shipping water in container ships from a pristine aquifer in paradise is somehow green. Really? (Heidi)
• Big Three CEOs Drive Hybrids to DC: Taking a more economical and less carbon-intensive mode of travel on the second trip was an obvious choice, after the roasting they got for taking private jets. However, anyone who has done serious carbon footprint analysis on their travel has learned one thing — there’s not much difference in CO2 per mile, unless you up your passengers per vehicle. Using TerraPass, I did a quick round-trip calculation of a first-class ticket on Northwest from Detroit to DC and a 35mpg hybrid (slightly better than the Chevy Malibu Hybrid) and… the flight was 578 pounds and the car was 560. Fiscally and environmentally, it would have been better to fly a commercial carrier — even first class — than drive, because who wants to pay their CEO to spend two days driving to and from meetings? If they really wanted to show serious fiscal (or environmental) responsibility, they would have flown economy or carpooled with each other. The only reason I can think of for them to drive hybrids is to make the companies look green. (Janne)
• Clean Coal? – The ultimate oxymoron. Have a low-fat glazed donut with your clean coal. Burning coal is the leading source of global warming emissions. Burning coal isn’t clean. Mountain top removal isn’t clean. Carbon Capture and Sequestration is a pipe dream at this point. And the 2008 presidential candidates fell for it. Do they seriously think we think they believe it? (Jim/Janne/Dennis)
• Democrats and Republicans both have green conventions to cover for their lack of green policies. I don’t want to make the claim that the two parties have equally bad environmental policies, as a matter of fact I argued that one had acceptable policies (except for the coal thing) and the other had an astonishing lack of policies here. Neither party has policies that come anywhere close to equaling the efforts they put into greening their conventions. (Here’s a less-than-positive report from the Democratic convention, but hurricane Gustav and Sarah Palin seem to have drowned out any post-game news from the RNC, and all I could find was this analysis.) (Janne)
• Shell gets in trouble for greenwashing — though in the UK, not the US. I’m thankful that somewhere, someone has first determined that lying to customers is not acceptable, and that someone with the authority to enforce that law has bothered. (Janne)
• A Greener Apple? – Don’t eat that apple. Despite previous commitments to phase out the use of these chemicals by year’s end, it appears that the latest 3G iPhone’s ingredients include polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFR). Sony Ericsson and Nokia have PVC & BFR-free product lines. Source here. (Jim)
• GM’s “gas friendly to gas free” campaign: The company begging for money from American taxpayers spends far more on its SUVs than on investing in fuel-efficient vehicles. And like its brethren, it continues to spend millions opposing CAFE standards. How about “gas free to full of gas”? (Heidi)
• Beyond Petroleum — BP recognized the public demand to move to a post-fossil-fuel economy. While most of their advertising message has been updated with images of wind turbines and solar, 97% of their investment is still unfortunately in oil and coal.

Since age 6, Jonathan Goodwin discovered that disassembling and reassembling pieces, parts of a mechanism could be informative and fun before it led to be a passion. Put into practice to the real world and its gravitating problems, as a result cars have no secret for the magician.

To the question, which car is faster between a Lamborghini and a 1965 Impala, all the bookmakers will unanimously bet their crocodile-made shoes on the Lamborghini. And they would loose since Goodwin’s magic green hands transform any vehicle to the last fuel efficient technology.

What is the catch? None since nothing is sacrificed. Usually to go green implies a diminution of the car performance (pressing on the accelerator affected the guilt area of our brain, for pollution or consumption reasons) therefore deterrent for whoever identifies himself to the performances of a vehicle. Goodwin proved by competing a Lamborghini versus a 1965 Impala, that his green conversion was a positive and challenging addition to the little changes required by the global warming specter.

What is his secret then? Undoubtedly sharp knowledge on mechanics and savoir-faire. To eliminate the gas drawbacks, engines and transmissions are extirpated. The key to the open surgery is the Duramax engines peered with the Allison transmissions. Contrary to the common thinking, diesel engines augment the torque (the power output of an engine is expressed as torque multiplied by rotational speed). From a level of 600 foot-pounds in a gas engine, it pulses to an average of 850 for a diesel! Set your seat belt for the amateurs of speed.

If you love your Hummer and you desire to leave a clean footprint on earth, why not considering a little retrofitting. So far, 160 Hummers went under Goodwin’s scalpel successfully! Isnt’ it the opportunity to reconcile your love for performances and fuel efficiency?

With Goodwin, Good wins!

What comes to mind when we see present time pictures of Venice is who could have guessed that the city of water would one day emulate the mythic Atlantis in its tragic fate?

Far from being a tale originated from the Greek mythology, Venetians are witnessing powerless the wrath of Poseidon or more rationally the consequence of the annunciated global warming.

Now and then, we are informed of the disappearance of animal species, of the meltdown of glacial regions somewhere in the world but it’s so far from our lives that it is almost unrealistic!

But this time, only eleven hours separate us from the premises of the catastrophe, from the fantasy, the fear of the reality. For the people who need to see to believe, open your eyes, the images are eloquent about the Venetian tragedy. Contrary to the Poles, Venice is accessible to whom disposes of an airplane ticket for a pseudo-romantic trip.

Venice, to my regret, is sinking.  Subjected to flood tides from Autumn to Spring, it incresases its odds to sinking.

Stoic facing the events, Venetians adapt their everyday lives to their city whims and rhythm. Armed with boots and umbrellas the climatic adversity doesn’t scare them anymore! Fatality or fortitude what wouldn’t they do for the love of their city?

Saint Mark’s square, the core of Venice that my feet once stepped upon, is already under water! No more pigeons, no more tourists enjoying a cappuccino or a gelato at the terrace of the cafes, no more pigeon-man surrounded by the flashes of voyeur-like cameras. All those nostalgic images will sink into forgetfulness or be part of the past.

Not so fast… Experts say that the best way to save Venice is to lift the city above sea level by pumping water into the soil underneath the city!

Who is next? The Netherlands?

The anger started in Bolivia where the people felt stripped out of their “material inheritance and natural resources”, and will definitely soon inflame the world. It’s official now Europe is preparing to a massive attack on individual tap water consumption. Great Britain launched the offensive in proposing to tax the tap water upon the volume consumed. Demonstrations already unwelcomed the uncongruous project.

As the result of the discrepancy between the high consumption and the depletion of the resource, the commodious response of the government is unsurprisingly the increase of the price of the commodity. When will it reach the American continent?

The overexploitation of water sources from the corporatocracy (Dasani in 50 Indian villages), the greenhouse gas, the climatic changes, consequences of the human footprint, are the significant symtoms of a coming shortage. When global warming peers up with human recklessness, the eradication of the vital commodity is not too far. Nationalized, privatized (soon?), speculated the water issue is so dramatic that scientists found the way to turn our urine into water! That’s where we are! Cogitating for the humanity not to end that soon! What a pityful acknowledgement of our impotence!

Since the USA is the biggest consumer what is the future of the commodity? When Europe surrended to its energetic dependency in the 1973 oil shock, they reformed radically and consequently their consumptions. Water in France, because of its price is regarded as a rarity. Not here, is its price a determining factor as well for their waste behavior? What I know for certain is that from now on, responsibility will have its price!

When governments, to the image of England put the blame on domestic consumption in order to inflate their profits to persuade the public to responsible behaviours (effective weapon in France), they found an easy target to the visible part of an iceberg. If you analyze who among all the actors of an economy leaves the biggest footprint, domestic consumption represents the smallest portion of the water consumption. To understand the concept, to define water footprint is inevitable.

The water footprint for the novice is the extent of water use in relation to consumption of people and logically for any given country, the volume of water needed for the production of the goods and services. The data is relevant since the accused, the domestic consumption appears like David facing Goliath that would be in the circumstance, the agricultural sector.

According to Hoekstra and Chapagain’s study, a correlation has to be established between the water footprint and the consumption of food and agricultural products. America, being the biggest producer of agricultural goods logically its water footprint should be the highest worldwide : it actually reached 2480 cubic meters per capita and per year. As explained, because of its consumption pattern, America with its 120 kilos of meat per year and per capita, three times the world average, as the biggest consumer, therefore the biggest producer becomes the biggest water footprinter. Not yet, but definitely among the first since other factors more prevalent come into the equation. Given that 16000 liters are necessary to produce one kilo (2 pounds) of beef, 1000 liters for a liter of milk, we are not surprised by the figures reported by the World Bank concerning the 120.9 billion cubic meters of water consumed by the agriculture, on its own.

In the country of the hamburger and the cotton t-shirt, they ulitize respectively 2400 liters and 2000 l, simply do the math to understand the magnitude of the damages on the water supply.

To give you figures that speak on the agricultural cost over the global water footprint on a worldwide scale, rice consumes 21% of the total volume of water used for crop production, wheat 12%… Agriculture acts like a sponge when it comes to consumption, 73% of the water pie! The domestic share is only 5%! To the examination of those figures should not governments shift their targets and aim at the real problem?

The agricultural sector as the black sheep, should be reformed. New solutions appeared on the market to replace technics that consume too much water. Rainforest and supplementary irrigation technics are the new methods for manageable and sustainable agricultural policies. For obtuse minds pricing should be the last resort to raise awareness.

Unlike the precipitated measures taken against the oil depletion (biofuel, the source of the inflation on the corn, of the reduction on the share of the commodity dedicated to human consumption, of the upheavals and riots in agriculture-based economies), let’s develop rational and adequate solutions proper to any given economy.

In its third year, the Junk to Funk fashion show has found a home in Portland. This is by no means a Hollywood, diamond encrusted, red carpet event. It is not a part of fashion week in New York. The designers showcased do not reside in the lap of exclusive fashion houses in Italy. Each piece is a one of a kind homage to recycled materials. Yes, the designers invoke a Galliano and McQueen call to arms for silhouettes, busty ball gowns, and couture feel, minus the lace, silk, chiffon, and taffeta. In their place, you will find bubble wrap, magazine and newspaper pages, bottle caps, old sheets, tires, wire hangers, video tape, balloons, feathers, old couch material, human hair, sticks, tents and a cornucopia of bags.

The pieces are judged upon the percentage of recycled components used, creativity and fit, of course. Imagine the childhood romps through old trunks in the attic, the imagination not stifled by age, but rather magnified through the looking glass of experimental design. At $20 dollars per ticket, no self-proclaimed artist in Portland should ever miss this show. Futuristic aesthetics lead into marvelous ball gowns Marie-Antoinette would have been proud to paint the town red in. It is easy to imagine most of the creations residing behind glass at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. A glimpse into our world, a reflection of the devastation we leave daily in our wake, and the transformation it can undergo with the guidance of artistic vision. It should come as no great surprise that I would find it an honor to wear these walking works of art.

The show invokes images of the past & future united in a realm where power suits are made out of cat food bags, queens hold court in gowns made from vintage Vogue magazines, and Portland’s Major-Elect, Sam Adams, hosted the evening’s festivities dressed in a couture, plastic tuxedo jacket and bowtie.

The atmosphere is at Junk to Funk is playful and fun yet conscious. Everyone in the audience leaves with a tiny nestled scavenger nestled in their chest. On your way home, suddenly, the ordinary becomes transformed into limitless possibility. Garage sales, thrift stores, and the garbage cans of neighbors take on an elemental hue. The world we know becomes transformed into something exotic, trapped in neither the past nor present, but bursting into the future in torrents of paper, metal and plastic. Materials once discarded are turned into wearable works of art. Each piece reflects a time in our history, where we begun to reuse components of daily life to create future awareness.

Portland is the perfect eco friendly city to host such an event. An ode to fashion brought to life through recyclable materials. Portland, Oregon is known as “the City of Roses’ and has been called “the most sustainable city in the US”. It is a city a city dedicated to maintaining over 200 parks, 50 miles of trails, and remains interconnected through an award winning transit system. In 2000, Portland became home to the green Development Resource Center, encouraging and helping residents build, and maintain eco friendly homes. It is here, nestled alongside the green heart of Portland, that sustainability and fashion converge to test and exalt the borders of what we can recycle. Objects of found art are surfacing as jewelry pieces, and recycled couture, creating a stunning display of craftsmanship, innovation and awareness. We are ready to wear what we were.