O2 - Issue 2 - (Page 45)

HANE MCQUADE Photovoltaics are suited for rooftops, fields—and messenger bags. McQuade hatched the idea while looking for a cellphone charge in Spain. Today, his company Voltaic makes handsome, comfortable bags that allow the gadgets to refill their batteries on sunshine. Better still, he used his business acumen to get Voltaic’s China factory to switch over to recycled PET plastics. edge stuff not only for its of-themoment silhouettes, but also its adherence to a strict eco-policy. The Originals Each of the names on our list of 50 eco inspirations has a predecessor. These are the men and women who looked out for future generations even before the word “sustainability” was associated with stewardship of the planet. Some of the legacies include John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club, the world’s first organization dedicated to preserving the wildnerness, and in whom we see shades of Wangari Maathai. Or Theodore Roosevelt—the U.S. president initiated the largest land acquisition program in the history of the National Park Service—whose flame is rightly carried by Will Rogers and the powerful minds at the Trust for Public Land. Rachel Carson’s evocatively written Silent Spring shook Americans into awareness of chemical pesticides, just as Robert F. Kennedy’s books, such as The Riverkeepers and Crimes Against Nature, offer epiphanic accounts of water pollution and permissive government. As you explore our “Forces of Nature” in greater depth, you’ll see how many are acting in the spirit of an earlier trailblazer. And keep in mind that new ground is being broken quite directly in their name: The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, named for the author of The Sand County Almanac and a leading early voice in land ethics, recently earned the highest-ever rating from the U.S. Green Building Council; it is the first carbon-neutral building to be certified by the council’s LEED assessment model. Who would top your list of the 50 most important forebears to the contemporary sustainability movement? Let us know at editor@the-riverhouse.com CAMILLA NORRBACK This maker of “ecoluxury” fashion makes sure her clothes are sustainable in every step of the production process. Organic cultivation, check, environmentally friendly processing, check, natural dyeing process, check that, too. Norrback is preventing toxins from touching both Earth and skin. DOMINIQUE CONSEIL Boundless energy characterizes the president of Aveda, who's building on the legacy of founder Horst Rechelbacher. By sustainably sourcing Uruku pigment for its makeup, the company is helping the Yawanawa people of Brazil re-seed bare patches of Amazonian rainforest home and stave off loggers and rubbertappers. One hundred percent certified wind energy offsets the company's Minnesota factory, a first in the beauty biz. And look for the company to shout its message more loudly in 2008, with the launch of a new advertising campaign that highlights a different green issue every two months. BART BETTENCOURT AND CARLOS SALGADO We can’t get enough of these two Brooklyn talents, whose company, Scrapile, we featured in our last issue. Like the New Yorker who dutifully dumpster-dives, Bettencourt and Salgado create dynamic modern furniture from leftover wood pieces collected as close by as the Steinway piano factory. Also keep an eye out for the duo's extracurricular activities. Besides Scrapile, for example, Bettencourt runs a company that supplies green building materials to designers and contractors all over the East Coast. JOHANNA HOFRING The Swedish fashion designer and proprietor of Ekovaruhuset stores on Ludlow Street and in Stockholm is suiting up your hippest neighbors. It’s cutting- CHRIS VANDYKE CHRIS VANDYKE PHOTO COURTESY NAU, JOHANNA HOFRING IMAGE BY TOR SÖDERIN. THE TIME IS NAU FASHIONING STYLE FROM SUSTAINABILITY The makers of outdoor gear have their priorities in order. These companies are taking measures to protect the ecosystems that they and their customers enjoy so much. Take Patagonia, which allows consumers to bring back their old clothes for recycling. The field also has expanded to include newcomers like Nau, where VanDyke is president and CEO. Nau's clothes are made of sustainable materials, customers can support social and environmental causes through its 5% Program, and it encourages Internet shopping to minimize the environmental impact of transport and storage. Of course, Nau wins equally high marks for the urban appeal of its wardrobe, and the attention-grabbing retail outlets designed by Skylab. [ O 2 G R E E N M A G A Z I N E . C O M ] 45 http://O2GREENMAGAZINE.COM

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O2 - Issue 2 Contents Letter Freshpicks Itinerary The Hunt Flight O2 Outer Beauty Fuel 4 Thought Health Tech One to Watch Great Outdoors Features Future Focus Musings

O2 - Issue 2

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