{"id":65,"date":"2008-06-30T10:03:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-30T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/2008\/06\/30\/green-is-the-new-black\/"},"modified":"2008-06-30T10:03:00","modified_gmt":"2008-06-30T15:03:00","slug":"green-is-the-new-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/","title":{"rendered":"Green is the New Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time the other day I heard this phrase \u201cGreen is the New Black\u201d. At first I thought this statement was in reference to the actual color green, but no, this statement refers to the fashion industry becoming more environmentally \u201cgreen\u201d. So as a proclaimed fashionista, I had to check this out! How could I miss such a trend?
At first chance, I googled the statement \u201cGreen is the New Black\u201d and the amount of websites choices I had was phenomenal! There were t-shirts with this phrase printed on them, information detailing that the quote dates back to Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (via 2006), a book literally called \u201cGreen is the New Black: How to Change the World with Style\u201d, and much more. As I was reading the list, I thought, could my clothing and<\/em> my pension for fashion be ruining the world?
My answer to both questions was yes.
Ugh.
The truth hurts. But I surely can\u2019t be that much of an earth destroyer! Come to find out, I am and I am not. So, where could I make changes?
I found this article on Ivillage.com, called: \u201cHow to Use Your Purchasing Power to Help the Earth\u201d. The article is excerpted from the 2008 book \u201cBig Green Purse\u201d written by Diane MacEachern. In the article, MacEachern provides seven ways individuals through their shopping and spending habits can contribute to making the world better, they are:<\/p>\n

1. Spend less.<\/strong> When we use less it reduces the impact of manufacturing needs to produce products, prevents pollution, and curtails global warming. More importantly, there is more money in your pocket to either save or pursue activities to enrich your life!<\/p>\n

2. Read the labels.<\/strong> Because the US government does not regulate a company\u2019s use of words like \u201cgreen\u201d, \u201cnatural\u201d, or \u201cbiodegradable\u201d. Read the label of the product, and it will be a give away to the truth. You can also check out the website www.climatecounts.org<\/a> to check if the company\u2019s \u201cgreen\u201d statements are true.<\/p>\n

3. Support sustainability.<\/strong> Look for brands that use the words \u201cSMART Certified\u201d because these companies have \u201cAdopted comprehensive standards guaranteeing that their products protected the public\u2019s health and the environment throughout their entire commercial \u2018life cycle\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

4. Look for third party verification.<\/strong> When a company says they are producing \u201cgreen\u201d products ensure that are and look for these third party labels to support their claims: Green Seal, The LEED Green Building Rating System, Energy Star, VeriFlora, Fair Trade Certified, and USDA Organic.<\/p>\n

5. Choose fewer ingredients.<\/strong> The fewer the ingredients in a product usually translates to the less chemical are within the product.<\/p>\n

6. Pick less packaging.<\/strong> Get this, 1 out of every 11 dollars we spend at a store pays for packaging! Whoa! In order to get more bang for your buck, you should consider: buying in bulk, purchasing \u201crefills\u201d, recycle packing as much as possible, bring your own bag, choose concentrated items (i.e. laundry detergents- I promise, they work the same!), and avoid Styrofoam. <\/p>\n

7. Buy local.<\/strong> I didn\u2019t need to author to tell me this! I swear by buying local. Not only does it ensure your community\u2019s economic viability, but it has environmental and health benefits. Also, local food growers are usually more stringent about following US environmental and health laws and regulations.<\/p>\n

I was glad to find out I was doing \u201cpretty well\u201d on MacEachern\u2019s list, but there are some areas I can definitely improve on, especially numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6.
I guess for me, this leads me to ask the question, when are people around the world going to have the \u201cgreen\u201d epiphany? And though MacEachern\u2019s article offers people a feel good approach to creating a more sustainable environment (through their pocket); what does it take to make people catch on? I know for me, if it wasn\u2019t through my Public Health program or my environmentally conscious friends I would not have successfully accomplished numbers 1, 5, and 7. And now spending the summer working on anti-hunger and anti-poverty initiatives, I know it is my responsibility to help sustain the world and work on making numbers 2, 3, 4, and 6 a part of life. Even if it means that I might not be able to be the fashionista I want to be (I am okay with that!).
But perhaps this is the best part of going \u201cgreen\u201d: the fashion and beauty industries can stimulate people not just to be aware of what being \u201cgreen\u201d is, but they can provide ways for people to use their buying power to apply green living to their lifestyles. Although I think the industries are far from adopting all of the \u201cgreen\u201d principles, recognition is the first step. And for an industry where one thing is \u201cin\u201d one day and \u201cout\u201d the next, I just hope \u201cgreen\u201d, like black, will always be in style. Well, because, it has to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time the other day I heard this phrase \u201cGreen is the New Black\u201d. At first I thought this statement was in reference to the actual color green, but no, this statement refers to the fashion industry becoming more environmentally \u201cgreen\u201d. So as a proclaimed fashionista, I had to check this out! How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[145,146,144],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-fashion","tag-green-is-new-black","tag-green-living-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreen is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Green is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the first time the other day I heard this phrase \u201cGreen is the New Black\u201d. At first I thought this statement was in reference to the actual color green, but no, this statement refers to the fashion industry becoming more environmentally \u201cgreen\u201d. So as a proclaimed fashionista, I had to check this out! How […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ELCA World Hunger\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5\"},\"headline\":\"Green is the New Black\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":814,\"keywords\":[\"fashion\",\"Green is New Black\",\"green living tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/\",\"name\":\"Green is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/green-is-the-new-black\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Green is the New Black\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/\",\"name\":\"ELCA World Hunger\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5\",\"name\":\"ELCA World Hunger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ELCA World Hunger\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/author\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Green is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Green is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger","og_description":"For the first time the other day I heard this phrase \u201cGreen is the New Black\u201d. At first I thought this statement was in reference to the actual color green, but no, this statement refers to the fashion industry becoming more environmentally \u201cgreen\u201d. So as a proclaimed fashionista, I had to check this out! How […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/","og_site_name":"ELCA World Hunger","article_published_time":"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00","author":"ELCA World Hunger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ELCA World Hunger","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/"},"author":{"name":"ELCA World Hunger","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5"},"headline":"Green is the New Black","datePublished":"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/"},"wordCount":814,"keywords":["fashion","Green is New Black","green living tips"],"articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/","name":"Green is the New Black - ELCA World Hunger","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-06-30T15:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/green-is-the-new-black\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Green is the New Black"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/","name":"ELCA World Hunger","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/1cee2863327a7f2a39d9ea76a2e3e7d5","name":"ELCA World Hunger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abaf1c029e123e778e3d14739a5fdb1f6b1f59fb379c3cf59678a50423b5bd44?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ELCA World Hunger"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/author\/hungerrumblings\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}