ISSUE 15: JAN/FEB 2011
Latin Pop Star:
DEBI
GOOD GREEN GLAM!
NOVA FASHION: CALL OF THE WILD
AMAZONIAN
BEAUTY
MEN WE LOVE:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting, Pablo Fajardo, & Fabian Lliguin
women
CHICACO Gisele, Daryl,Trudie, & Janine GOES ECO-CHIC THE Rainforest ISSUE OF THE FOREST
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Editor In Chief DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WEBMASTER
Creative director Social Media Manager EDITOR-AT-LARGE GUEST EDITOR fashion DIRECTOr fashion editor ASSISTANT FASHION EDITOR beauty director Deputy EDITOR Features Editor EVENTS EDITOR NY EDITOR Chicago Editor take action editor contributing editor
contributing WRITER
contributing photographer
Anna Griffin karen snyder Wolfgang Kovacek K.Y. SNYDER Luke Trimmings starre vartan beth doane MICHELE LLANOS sarah griffin berns thuy nguyen emma pezzack Shahrnaz Nancy Southwick Nicole landers Vicki godal Johanna Bjรถrk Nikki Lin Heather Carter Zem Joaquin & Felica Rangel Brian Bowman VICKI GODAL Lynn Hasselburger Jolene Hart Erin McLaughlin Domenica Peterson Violeta Villacorta Russell Baer JEFFREY FITERMAN Emily Perez
ASSISTANT photographer
KEY hair STYLIST contributing hair STYLIST KEY MAKE UP ARTIST contributing MAKE UP ARTIST
contributing STYLIST
Scott Gregory Angel Romero Judd Minter Brian Bowman Julianne Kaye KELLY HUNT Akemi Yagi Jesse Olsen
COCO ECO MAGAZINEd is published by Coco Eco Magazine. a Copyright 2008-2011 Coco Eco Magazine. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher.
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EDITOR LETTER TO YOU BY ANNA GRIFFIN CONTRIBUTORS COCO ECO EDITOR LOVES: Looking Good, Feeling Better!
FASHION
08 10 12
14
A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION:
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How Leather Production is Harming the Amazon
NY EDITOR LOVES SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION: Ethical Fashion and Design Saves the Amazon Rainforest
BEAUTY AMAZONIAN BEAUTY
Used for centuries by the indigenous people who inhabit the rainforests, their beauty secrets are now yours…
BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT Ancient Remedies: Modern Wonders Beauty Director Loves Spotlight On Beauty: SEJAA
Gisele Bundchen’s natural skin care line, Sejaa, keeps beauty simple and eco-friendly.
DEBI NOVA: PURA VIDA LUNA NUEVA
The six-time grammy nomination shares her journey to live an eco friendly lifestyle.
MEN WE LOVE Leonardo DiCaprio, Pablo Fajardo, Sting, Fabian Lliguin
CALL OF THE WILD
Seeking handcrafted luxury and timeless urban separates, our nomadic warrior is ready for an ever changing world.
COVER STORY
28 30
TAKE ACTION RAINING SUPPORT
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS GO The Eco-chic Guide to CHICAGO
44 48 50 52
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A look at four distinguished men who are aiming to create change in the world through eco-conservation.
Women OF THE FOREST
36
54
FOUR FABULOUSLY ETHICAL Rainforest retreats
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70 76 88
LIVE PALM OIL: The Other Oil That’s Secretly Killing the Planet
SAVE THE AMAZON: SAVE THE WORLD GOING, GOING, GONE! OIL & OXYGEN JOURNEY INTO THE AMAZON Rainforest RX
92 94 96 98 100 102
E-SCENE virgin america does dallas hairdressers against aids shopping with your heart return to freedom rethink: green artivist awards
SHOPPING CONCIERGE Get it all here!
104 106 108 110 112 114 116
THE Rainforest ISSUE Jan/Feb 2011 / ISSUE 15
LETTER TO YOU 2011: The Year of Possibility
Whilst forecasting this issue, it was imperative that our first edition of 2011 be vibrant, positive and reflect a sense of newness and promise. Twenty-ten was a challenging year for most, as we were called to reinvent ourselves in an effort to survive a rapidly shifting world and marketplace. Interestingly enough, my letter this time last year spoke of a need for reinvention, and didn’t I call it? Now two weeks into 2011, we are already hard at work taking the lessons learned and applying them with a newfound sense of potentiality and responsibility. The possibilities are endless. With that in mind, we could find no greater time to do an issue dedicated to the rainforest. This natural resource so crucial to the stability and well being of our planet and therefore our lives is under daily assault from unsustainable agricultural, ranching, mining, logging, and other practices. Rainforests act as the world’s thermostat by regulating temperatures and weather patterns and are critical in maintaining the Earth’s limited supply of drinking and fresh water. In addition, a typical 4 square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies. 70 percent of the plants identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute as useful
8
in the treatment of cancer are found only in rainforests, with more than 2,000 tropical forest plants having been identified by scientists as having anti-cancer properties. However, originally 6 million square miles of tropical rainforest existed worldwide, but after deforestation only 2.6 million square miles now remain. Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down, the equivalent of 86,400 football fields per day, or over 31 million each year. Passionate and vocal about its preservation and protection, Latin pop star Debi Nova graces our cover and shares her commitment in joining the crusade, whilst we also feature activists Sting, Leo Di Caprio, Gisele, Trudie Styler and Daryl Hannah. Our fashion story, Call of the Wild, celebrates the nomadic warrior in us all with handmade and timeless separates fit for any urban Goddess, whilst our beauty story, Amazonian Beauty takes its inspiration from a rich color palette and translates key looks for the season. As we celebrate a new year, it is the perfect time to embrace the many bright and brilliant possibilities that lie in the coming months. We hope this issue of Coco Eco inspires you as much as it did us in creating it, and we wish you a very happy 2011. May this be your best year yet! Sincerely,
Anna Griffin Editor In Chief, Coco Eco Magazine
| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
www.cocoecomag.com
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CONTRIBUTOR HIGHLIGHT
BETH DOANE
EMILY PEREZ
NIKKI LIN
VIOLETA VIOCORTA
Beth Doane is a fashion designer, author, and consultant. She works with companies on how to be sustainable with their brands and manufacturing processes and is also founder of her consulting firm, Andira International, and CEO of the apparel brand, Rain Tees, which she created in 2008. Beth speaks all over the world about her work with tribal cultures in the Amazon and has been featured in press globally for her contributions to eco fashion and environmental causes.
Emily Perez is a Los Angeles native who single handedly made a bold career change into photography after over a decade invested in the film industry. A natural at story telling through the lens, she is one of LA’s emerging talents becoming known for her fashion editorial, celebrity portraits, and ad campaigns. Emily’s extensive cinematic experience in film behooves her in revolutionizing her edgy avant-garde style in photography.
Hailing from the Windy City of Chicago, Nikki studied English Literature at Loyola University with a concentration in Creative Writing. She has furthered her education in Journalism at Northwestern University and also Screenwriting and Design Communication Arts at UCLA. Nikki has served as Senior Editor for FreshCoast Magazine, based out of Oakland and Los Angeles. She has extensive writing experience covering such topics as music, technology, culture, travel and eco-trends.
In 1993, after seeing a need for clothing made with sustainable materials, Violeta started making one-of-akind garments and a collection made with natural and organic fibers she refers to as Rustic Elegance.™ Her clothes have been featured in national and international magazines, as well as interviews on television. She has dressed luminaries in the music and film industry.
Guest Editor
www.raintees.com www.andiraintl.com
Contributing Photographer
www.emilyperez.net
Chicago Editor
Contributing Writer
Most recently, Violeta Villacorta showed her collection at MOCA Geffen Museum in Los Angeles during Fashion Week.
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Anama Momentus Long Sleeve Poncho Top Produced from an all-natural cellulose fiber made from beach wood, and using the latest in Lenzing Modal fabric technology. These ultra thin, eco chic, soft and supple tops are already a big hit with Penelope Cruz and Halle Berry. - $50.00
Available at Fred Segal Girl, Bloomingdales and Macys
WorkCustom’s® Limited Edition Black Mamba Leggera An unrivaled hybrid of leather pants and leggings fashioned from an exclusive Japanese faux-leather that is incredibly supple yet breathable. Coupled with curve hugging lines and signature work zippers, the Black Mamba Leggera coils and wraps around the body like custom tailored leggings. Utilizing the best in faux-leather, WorkCustom® remains an animal-friendly fashion company that is strictly against the use of animal skins for human wear. - $440.00
Available at select boutiques and www.Revolveclothing.com
Aveda Uruku Bronzer
The Rahua Collection
The Aveda Uruku Bronzer combines the power of high performance botanicals and minerals for a smooth and natural-looking, sun-kissed glow with 100% color from the earth. Each duo-shade bronzer is embossed with a diamond symbol representing the Yawanawa anaconda snake. Available in Amazonia, Brazilian Sun, Bossa Glow (limited edition), and packaged in a 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR). - $55.00
From renowned stylist and colorist Fabian Lliguin, harnesses the Amazon’s potent and rare beauty secret for thirsty hair, the Rahua® nut. This powerful nutrient rejuvenates lifeless, damaged, dull hair whilst fortifying shafts, improving elasticity, preserving color and preventing breakage. Rahua also serves the new triple bottom-line: people, planet and profit, and benefits native tribeswomen who sustainably harvest this precious, rainforest grown ingredient. USDA approved organic ingredients, botanical-based, free of animal products and testing, parabens, sulfates, synthetics, silicon, chemical preservatives, GMO ingredients, dyes or petroleum.
www.aveda.com
- $32.00 - $75.00
www.rahua.com
COCO ECO EDITOR LOVES Looking Good...Feeling Better! Selected by: Anna
NUDE Skincare Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum
Larenim Certified Organic Raw Argan Oil
Formulated with the highest concentration of Probiotics, and proven to stimulate cellular renewal up to 70% and reduce cellular damage up to 50%, this clinically advanced serum works with the skin’s immune system to stimulate cellular renewal and correct premature.
Dynamic, delicate, and 100% organic is minimally processed from the seeds of Moroccan Argania Spinosa trees. The very rare argan oil contains high levels of vitamin E and essential fatty acids, including Omega 6 and Omega 9, therefore making your skin appear more supple and toned.
- $92.00
- $19.00
www.Nudeskincare.com
www.larenim.com
Griffin
Caudalie Premier Cru Eye Cream
Tela Beauty Organics Body Moisturizere
A high performance formulation that effectively and thoroughly diminishes wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dehydration, malnourishment, dark circles, puffiness, dark spots and loss of radiance around the delicate eye area. - $95.00
USDA Certified 100 % Organic, it uses a unique, synergistic blend of vitamins, teas and intense hydrators to eliminate free radical pollutants and protect, moisturize and strengthen skin’s retention. Acai and Shea Butter trap moisture into dry parched skin.
www.Caudalie-usa.com
- $28.00
www.telabeautyorganics.com
COCO ECO |
FASHION!
Green embroidered corset dress, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Leather jacket, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Necklace, MARIA FRANCESCA PEPE www.mfpepe.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO 14 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 www.calleencordero.com
www.cocoecomag.com
CALL WILD OF THE
Seeking handcrafted luxury and timeless urban separates, our nomadic warrior is ready for an ever changing world...
PHOTOGRAPHY by: Emily Perez PHOTO ASSISTANT: Scott Gregory STORY by: Sarah Griffin Berns, Fashion Editor ASSISTED by: Jesse Olsen MODEL: Rose Costa at Ford LA MAKE-UP by: Akemi Yagi HAIR by: Brian Bowman using Pureology
Shirt, GYPSY O5 www.gypsy05.com Vest and necklaces, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO 16 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 www.calleencordero.com
www.cocoecomag.com
Vintage Mongolian wool coat, STYLIST’S OWN Taupe embroidered shirt, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Pants, CHELSEA REBELLE www.chelsearebelle.com Linen necklace, Sweet Spruce www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com
Blouse, ELENA GARCIA www.elenagarciastudio.com Faux fur vest, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us Knit cape, ANITA ARZE www.anitaarze.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Cuff, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com
Vintage Mongolian wool coat, STYLIST’S OWN Taupe embroidered shirt, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Pants, CHELSEA REBELLE www.chelsearebelle.com Linen necklace, Sweet Spruce www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, MINK SHOES www.minkshoes.com
Leather jacket, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Necklace, SONIA B www.soniabstyle.com
Black pants, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Faux fur coat with hood, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Jewelry, SONIA B www.soniabstyle.com Rawstone necklace, SWEET SPRUCE www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com Tassled shawl STYLIST’S OWN
Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Feather jacket, RACHAEL CASSAR www.rachaelcassar.com Pants, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Boots, MINK SHOES www.minkshoes.com Necklace, STYLIST’S OWN 22 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
www.cocoecomag.com
COCO ECO |
FASHION EXTRA!
Step in the Wrong Direct A
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon 24 | COCO ECOŠiStockphoto.com/Brasil2 MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 PHOTO CREDIT:
www.cocoecomag.com
tion WRITTEN by: Domenica Peterson PHOTOGRAPHY by: As noted
The Amazon is home to one in ten of the world’s species, the largest variety of living plants and animal species anywhere on earth. Nearly 80% of new deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is for cattle grazing (2010 World Bank and Brazilian government reports). According to Greenpeace, the cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for 14% of the world’s annual deforestation and currently one hectare of Amazon rainforest has been lost to cattle ranchers every 18 seconds. Deforestation and pollution make Brazil the fourth largest greenhouse gas polluter in the world. Forests play a vital role in stabilizing the world’s climate by storing large amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change. The Amazon is estimated to store 80-120 billion tons of carbon, which if destroyed could emit fifty times the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the USA. While we immediately make the connection between meat consumption and deforestation, we also have to recognize that this is a fashion issue as large volumes of the world’s leather comes from those same cattle in Brazil. A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION | Continued
A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION | Continued
Over a year ago in Greenpeace published a report called Slaughtering the Amazon. In this report, they linked Amazonian deforestation “to many reputable global brands and retailers, including a long list of international Blue Chip companies.” China produces more leather garments and footwear than any other country, followed by India and Italy, but these countries do not produce enough hides to meet their huge share of the leather goods market and have to import from other countries. The USA and Brazil supply a high quantity of hides for production in other countries. About half of leather production globally is for shoes according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO 2008), 60% of which can be traced back to China, which imports leather from Brazil.
deforestation instead of turning a blind eye. Individuals need to put pressure on government to regulate suppliers and purchase leather products only from ethical sources. In response to the Greenpeace report, beef and leather buyers announced they would no longer buy cattle products unless the industry could prove it was improving and becoming more transparent. In 2010, the Leather Working Group developed a new traceability system to ensure that leather products from Brazil don’t result in deforestation, ensuring companies can trace the materials in their supply chains back to the meat packing plants where leather originates from.
According to Greenpeace, the cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for 14% of the world’s annual deforestation and currently one hectare of Amazon rainforest has been lost to cattle ranchers every 18 seconds.
The Leather Working Group is a group of brands, retailers, product manufacturers, leather manufacturers, chemical suppliers and technical experts that work together to develop an environmental stewardship protocol specifically for the leather manufacturing industry. It is made up of representative parties from different areas of the product supply chain including major footwear brands, tanners, technical experts and other industry representatives and members include Adidas, H & M, Nike, Puma, New Balance, Clarks, Timberland, K Swiss, Nine West, Dr. Martens, Marks & Spencer, and many more.
Italy is often considered the source of high fashion, quality leather goods and is the world’s second largest shoe exporter in terms of value. Leading Italy’s leather export industry are their handbag lines, which account for nearly two thirds of the trade value of Italian leather goods (MIPEL, 2008). In 2009, Greenpeace reported that the two leading Italian leather processors which create products for Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada among others, source their leather in part from the Amazon.
Major shoe companies Adidas, Nike, Clarks, Geox and Timberland have all committed not to buy leather from Amazon destruction, prompting the recent decision by Bertin, one of the world’s largest leather exporters, to commit to stop sourcing cattle from newly deforested areas and implement a traceability system to ensure the sourcing. Bertin will register and map all farms that directly supply cattle to the company.
Supply chains must be made transparent in order to solve this problem. Large retailers and clothing manufacturers must take action, consciously sourcing raw materials from ranchers and supplier companies not engaged in Amazon
For the rest of the supply chain, including rearing and nursery farms, it will implement a traceability system from farms to its slaughterhouses and processing facilities by 2011. They will also ensure that they don’t buy cattle from indigenous and protected areas or from farms linked to slave labor, land conflicts and land grabbing.
The new protocol requires meat packers certify that all their direct suppliers have registered their farms by late 2010, providing GPS coordinates of their holdings.
A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION | Continued
How can we as consumers make a difference? We must advocate our lawmakers to act quickly on climate change while at the same time buying only ethical leather. We must make conscious decisions in our fashion choices to buy leather products that do not support deforestation. Purchase leather from companies you trust and companies that are taking action against deforestation leather. Fake leather is not necessarily a good alternative. While not harmful to animals or attributing to cattle deforestation in the Amazon, it is often not good for the environment.
Costello Tagliapietra’s AirDye collection PHOTO CREDIT: Domenica Peterson
Fake leathers are often made of plastics, largely acrylic which is one of the most polluting synthetic fibers. Research your leather products and where they come from to make educated decisions.
 We must take collective action to implement legislation, regulations, and industry-wide policies that will insure better practices. We need to pressure our politicians and vote where it counts. Encourage transparency from large companies and support large organizations like Greenpeace and the UN working to create effective legislature and policies to address the problem of Amazon deforestation. Before you buy that next handbag take a few minutes to think about where it came from, and do something about it.** THE LEATHER WORKING GROUP www.leatherworkinggroup.com
GREENPEACE www.greenpeace.org
Brazilian sourced Leather boots & purse PHOTO CREDIT: Domenica Peterson
Mayu Hand-Knit Ruffle Alpaca Scarf Made by Andean artistans, from 100% Peruvian alpaca fiber, this ruffle scarf from Mayu is as comfy as it is stylish. Tie and cinch it long or short, and use it to add some flair to any outfit — be it a fancy dress or an old jacket. - $120.00 www.shopmayu.com
Ecoist Glam crossbody Big enough to hold all your essentials, this glam crossbody bag from Ecoist is made from recycled candy wrappers. For every handbag sold, Ecoist plants a tree. What’s not to love? - $75.00 www.ecoist.com
Beyond Skin Red Recycled Faux Suede Chelsie Boot These stylish vegan ankle boots are made from recycled suede — which makes them pretty much the perfect sexy guilt-free shoe. I would wear them with nude-colored pants. - $153.00 www.beyondskin.co.uk
Andean Collection Tagua Bib Necklace I love statement pieces, and this large bib necklace, made from tagua nut sustainable harvested from the rainforest, says: “I’m here and I care.” The female artisans in Ecuador who made it are paid fair wages and share in the profits of the company as partial owners. - $68.00 www.andeancollection.com
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| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
www.cocoecomag.com
NEWEDITOR YORK LOVES Selected by: Johanna Björk
Loup Charmant Short Nightie Top + Bloomer Set
Waryma Kaha Bracelet
Loup Charmant (which means The Charming Wolf) “celebrates femininity and inspires connection with the magic of our natural world. Like an ancient memory of a world we once knew”. This soft and airy set made from Indian organic cotton is something I would wear and cherish for years.
The Waryma Kaha bracelet is traditionally used to protect the wrist of an archer from the impact of the bowstring, but also as a physical adornment. It’s made in the Amazon, Brazil by Waimiri Atroari indigenous peoples, using traditional arumã straw fiber. - $25.00 www.ecostasy.com
- $145.00 www.loupcharmant.bigcartel.com
Michelle Lane Elegant Truth Bracelet
Kirsten Muenster Fossil Series Ring This one-of-a-kind ring by sustainable jewelry designer Kirsten Muenster is made from fossil coral and recycled sterling silver. Wear it to spark conversations about endangered plants. - $500.00 www.kirstenmuensterjewelry.com
This rope bracelet by Michelle Lane Jewelry is inspired by mathematics and the aesthetic pleasure mathematicians draw from their work. To me, it’s a representation of the interconnectedness of everything on this planet — “a gentle reminder that we are more than Man.” - $140.00 www.shop.michellelane.net
COCO ECO |
SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION!
ANDIRA International: Ethical Fashion and Jewelry Save the Amazon Rainforest
Beth Doane showing oil sludge on top of the ground in the Amazon rainforest
WRITTEN by: Vicki Godal PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Beth
Doane & ArteSania
The Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the earth’s oxygen, 70% of the world’s plants with anticancer properties, thousands of edible fruits and is the world’s largest natural resource. Connected geographically by the Isthmus of Panama, the South American rainforest is in North America’s backyard. Based on those facts alone, one would assume the Amazon rainforest would be protected and safeguarded without question. Unfortunately, it’s not… except by a few, who have literally dedicated their lives to saving the Amazon rainforest. These rainforest guardians protect this precious resource in unique, compelling and (this is Coco Eco,) eco-chic, fashion forward style. When she was very young, Beth Doane started an import company for European fashion named Andira International, after an endangered, medicinal Brazilian rainforest tree. Doane had no idea how prophetic that name would become in her life. After a short time, Doane decided SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION | Continued
SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION | Continued
to shift her company’s focus to promoting only ethical fashion lines that didn’t destroy the planet. Doane sought out sustainable fashion lines that educated consumers on environmental and social issues and didn’t cause more damage to the earth in the process. “I was unhappy with how the fashion industry was one of the most toxic industries for our environment,” Doane said. “I knew that it wasn’t fair for me to complain about something without looking at solutions. What I could do to really make a difference.” When Doane discovered no such brands existed, she started Andira’s first sustainable fashion line Rain Tee.
Merazonia, a “rescue an animal” program” helping rehabilitate trafficked and abused Amazonian animals, is another rainforest effort supported by Andira. Andira also works with Amazon Watch on the Chevron case in Ecuador, as well as with Peru’s Angels of the Amazon. Doane’s ultimate goal for Andira International is to create global change on critical issues through consumer awareness using fashion and eco conscious brands like Rain Tee as information channels.
”I knew that it wasn’t fair for me to complain about something without looking at solutions. What I could do to really make a difference.”
“Being a voice for the children I work with around the world. Writing a children’s book that outlines their stories, journeys and lives. Sharing that with the world is the most incredible thing,” Doane said. “Consumerism without thinking is largely what has brought us into the global climate mess we are in. We need to know what we are really buying in order to create a beautiful future. If people knew what they were supporting when they bought an average tee I think everyone would want to buy things that were ethical.”
“I spent hours educating myself, attending global One of the first ethical chic rain forest collecconferences, working with tions Andira picked up was eco-jewelry line leaders in the sustainable ArteSania by Laura Cardenas. Cardenas’ Ecuafabric industry and condorian upbringing is her inspiration. Beth Doane, necting with designers Andira Intl. Founder who had moved from fast “When I started designing jewelry, I was just fashion to what I call fair drawn to nature. Part of my culture, where I fashion. I flew to rainforest countries to do art grew up, everything is natural. We are surrounded by an amazing sessions with these children,” Doane said. “I wit- variety of flora and fauna,” Cardenas said. “I use these natural matenessed first hand what they needed most and rials for everything.” created my brand, one step at a time.” Cardenas’ 2011’ ArteSania collection mixes mediums. Every collection Rain Tee designs, produces or imports, integrates fair trade and labor practices “I have been designing with natural shells, stones and seeds in their with cruelty free production, meaning no ani- purest form. Now I’m mixing them up and combining these materimal parts or products. Doane set up Rain Tee’ als together,” Cardenas said. “For example, horse hair with pearls manufacturing ethically, to offer stable employ- or paja toquilla with red huayruro seeds from the Amazon. I love ment and fair wages to Amazon based workers. working with different fibers, especially the hand woven horsehair. Doane then asked children living in endangered It’s so light that I can create fabulous large earrings and they don’t rainforests to draw what they saw happening weigh anything at all.” around them, with art supplies she brought them. When a child’s artwork is printed on a tee shirt, Like all designers, Cardenas has had some trial and errors on the Rain Tee sponsors the child’s education. Rain Tee journey. also donates creative and educational supplies to Amazon schools regularly. “One of my favorite Ecuadorian products is Tagua, a nut that comes 32
| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION | Continued www.cocoecomag.com
Beth Doane with Amazon children
Beth Doane gives art supplies to children living in the Amazon
ArteSania eco – jewelry. Ecuador beach stone /tagua nut/aquamarine stone
SPOTLIGHT ON FASHION | Continued
from a rainforest palm tree. I started designing rings and bracelets with them as they look stunning with sterling silver,” Cardenas said. “However, living in Arizona, since they are seeds, the heat and dry desert kept shrinking them. So I had to change my design for a drier climate.” One of Cardenas shell ring designs incorporates a spiny oyster shell cherished by ancient Incas in pre-Colombian history. “The shell rings are fabulous,” Cardenas said. “Depending on the depth where they are found they change colors, from white to orange, red and purple.” Cardenas employs native Ecuadorians to produce ArteSania. ArteSania eco – jewelry. White horse hair earrings
“I work with a group of women in Ecuador that hand weave my horse hair designs. There’s also a well known hat designer that has a community of women that hand weave the paja toquilla, a palm used to make the well known Panama hats,” Cardenas said. “I’ve incorporated woven palm into my designs as well.” According to Cardenas, people buying ethical jewelry and designs helps build awareness about nature, not only environmentally but also internally. “Being in touch with nature, living a more conscious life is about building awareness. Every little bit helps,” Cardenas said. “So, if you can make a difference by what you are wearing, what bolder statement is there?” These women are daily engaged in saving the Amazon rainforest, however, does what they do in the rain forest really affect us...only if we breathe.** RAIN TEE www.raintees.com
ANDIRA INTERTAIONAL www.andiraintl.com
ArteSania eco – jewelry. Orange spondylus / turquoise necklace 34
| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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COCO ECO |
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BEAUTY!
| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
www.cocoecomag.com
AMAZONIAN
BEAUTY WRITTEN by: Emma
Pezzack, Beauty Director
Rainforest environments are a cornucopia of dazzling and complex life forms, in a color palette that spans the sublime to the exotic and everything in between.These forests play a critical role in most beauty products manufactured today with everything from powerful antioxidants like acai berry, to omega-rich and emollient cocoa butter, all harvested from pristine environments with people working hard to keep them that way. Used for centuries by the indigenous people who inhabit the rainforests, their secrets are now yours‌ PHOTOGRAPHY by: Jeffrey Filterman STORY by: Emma Pezzack MODEL: Ana Cristina, LA Models MAKE UP by: Julianne Kaye using jane iredale cosmetics ASSISTED by: Kelly Hunt HAIR by: Judd Minter using Pureology
Alima Prancer Collection
COCO ECO BEAUTY | Continued
NATURE
BABE
Four Alima Pure brushes made with cruelty-free bristles and bamboo handles, are paired with two, on-trend, pure mineral shadows that look natural or dramatic depending on your mood. Everything you need, nothing you don’t. - $45.00 www.futurenatural.com
Even natural girls want to look good but not everyone is blessed with natural, bare-faced beauty. You like to enhance what you have without looking like you tried too hard or are sacrificing your values, and you don’t have to. With this line-up of environmentally friendly beauty products, your eco-activism can now extend to your makeup bag… Josie Maran Argan Color Stick – Petal Pink Cocoa butter is prized for it’s skin softening and superior skin hydration and this stick comes loaded with it, plus natural looking color that will make you look radiant. - $22.00 www.josiemarancosmetics.com
Physicians Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Tinted Moisturizer Evens out skin tone with skin loving nutrients and minerals for a flawless finish that looks like you’re wearing nothing. - $9.95 www.physiciansformula.com
Scotch Naturals WaterColor Nail Polish - Neat
Living Nature Thickening Mascara
This revolutionary new formula nourishes and conditions while delivering salon-lasting color without any harmful or toxic ingredients. Neat is a polished looking pink that looks like your nails, only better. - $14.99 www.scotchnaturals.com
Get luscious lashes that have great definition without clumping or too much volume, giving you pretty peeps, not bambi lashes. - $29.00 www.livingnature.com
ThisWorks Turbo Balm Cocoa butter, Tahitian Monoi and Rose Oil make this is one of the creamiest, most effective dry skin balms on the planet for use anywhere and everywhere you need it - $12.00 www.futurenatural.com
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COCO ECO BEAUTY | Continued
Glamazon You rule in the eco-fashion stakes and your uncompromising approach to merging that style with beauty is no less impressive. Green with glamour is the mantra and you firmly believe that being an eco-activist doesn’t mean sacrificing how you look… Josie Maran Limited Edition Eyeshadow Quad 100% Pure Fruit-Pigmented Mascara – Black Tea With acai berry extracts, green tea and provitamin B5, this mascara pumps up the volume admirably giving impossibly long, full lashes. - $21.00 www.futurenatural.com
Argan and Moringa oil infused mineral color provides as much or as little drama as you like in a color combo that will take you from day through to night - $24.00 www.josiemarancosmetics.com
Raw Natural Beauty VitaFirm Duo Foundation Get the glow of healthy skin without looking like you’re wearing foundation, and feed your skin while you’re at it with brazilian acai and argan oil extracts. - $42.00 www.rawnaturalbeauty.com
Nvey Eco Makeup Brushes with Compostable Handles Any girl worth her weight in glamour knows that the secret to great makeup application is using the right tools. Cruelty-free, synthetic fibers and corn resin compostable handles make this set a must. - Prices vary www.econveybeauty.com
Vapour Organic Beauty Mesmerize Eyeliner with Smoky Eye Tool Palm oil and coconut oil make sure this eyeliner glides on for perfect application and smooth blending with color that stays put. Draw a very thin line close to the base of lashes for great definition without looking like there’s anything there. - $18.00 www.vapourbeauty.com
REVOLUTION ORGANICS Freedom Glow Beauty Balm Get guilt-free glam and a healthy glow anywhere, anytime with these sheer color tints, that are loaded with coconut oil and are 85% organic, 100% natural. - $34.00 www.revolutionorganics.com
COCO ECO BEAUTY | Continued
Eco-Warrior! You fancy yourself as an urban eco warrior, greening the concrete jungles of the world and conquering the modern city landscape one tree at a time. A strong, clear look is what’s required in this scenario, and since when has a cool red lip in the face of adversity ever let a girl down...
Bare Escentuals High Shine Eyecolor Dazzle even the most stoic opposition with this high wattage eye color that will make your eyes pop. - $16.00 www.bareescentuals.com
ZuZu Luxe Lipstick – Scarlet Containing coconut oil and mineral color pigments, this moisture-rich formula is long-lasting with a creamy finish. - $18.15 www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com
Dr. Hauschka Volume Mascara Soothing black tea and eyebright extracts enhance this creamy, natural looking mascara that plumps and protects. - $28.90 www.drhaushcka.com
Jane Iredale Active Light Under-eye Concealer With antioxidants and cucumber extracts, this soothing concealer reflects light to create a perfect visage that looks clear and flawless - $25.00 www.shop.janeiredale.com
100% Pure Healthy Skin Foundation – White Peach Facing the daily grind can wear down even the strongest among us so creating the right foundation is critical to staying the course. With a superfruit combo of cacao, acai and goji, this one has you covered all day.- $32.00 www.futurenatural.com
Kjaer Weis Crème Blush – Desired Glow As the name suggests, this creamy organic blush gives a beautiful, barely flushed look to cheeks that’s the perfect compliment to a strong lip. - $54.00 www.spacenk.com
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COCO ECO |
BEAUTY EXTRA!
Brazilian
BLOWOUT WRITTEN by: Emma
Pezzack
Unparalleled shine, strength, condition and health. When it comes to hair, you want it all right? Luscious locks are coveted by all of us and hair products containing nutrient rich ingredients from the rainforests are some of the best you’ll find. Instead
Ojon Restorative Hair Treatment This remarkable treatment incorporates a high concentration of Ojon oil that’s fair trade and sustainably gathered by the Tawira Indians of Central America who’ve been using it on their hair for over 500 years. One treatment makes a huge difference. - $55.00 www.ojon.com
of fantasizing about your perfect head of hair, get set to have it with the help of these brilliant hair treatments…
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THE STORY OF COSMETICS | Continued
BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT | Continued
Rare El’ements Treatment Oil With nutrient-rich botanicals, hydrating nut oils & energy-giving aromatherapy, every opulent drop holds the secret to rebuilding and promoting stronger, healthier hair growth. - $44.00 www.futurenatural.com
Artisana Raw 100% Organic Coconut Oil Extremely rich in medium chain fatty acids, raw, cold-pressed organic coconut oil is one of the best hair treatments money can buy providing optimal hair and skin health. - $11.99 www.shoporganic.com
Rahua Finishing Treatment Carol’s Daughter Healthy Hair Butter A blend of essential oils is combined with a base of creamy cocoa butter to soften, smooth and deliver healthy shine. - $16.50 www.carolsdaughter.com
Repairs and strengthens even the most damaged strands using super-fine rahua nut oil that penetrates the hair shaft to deliver nourishment where hair needs it most. - $45.00 www.rahua.com
Lush R & B For smoothing even the most wayward tresses, this is loaded with cupuacu butter and other tropical oils to revive and rebalance your misbehaving hair. - $18.95 www.lushusa.com
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COCO ECO |
BEAUTY EXTRA!
Ancient Remedies:
Modern Wonders WRITTEN by: Emma
Pezzack
Usually found in our food sources, ingredients like cacao, acai, cupuacu butter, coconut and more are increasingly found in our beauty products. Used for thousands of years by local tribes in the know, that brilliant and ancient knowledge is transforming the landscape of modern beauty products to make you look more gorgeous than ever. Paciifica Solid Perfume – Brazilian Mango Grapefruit A modern take on an ancient form of perfume, the delicious scent of brazilian mango is contained in a base of coconut oil that co-mingles with the warmth of your body. - $9.00 www.pacificaperfume.com
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Burts Bees More Moisture Raspberry & Brazil Nut Shampoo The Body Deli Mini Coconut Cream Kit It’s almost impossible to list the ways in which coconut oil, cream, butter, pulp and water can be used to tackle issues from dry skin, to diaper rash to split ends. This miracle nut is one of nature’s true wonders. - $20.00 www.thebodydeli.com
Treat Pomegranate Acai Berry Organic Sweet Cream Body Cream The Amazon Acai berry has 10 times the antioxidants of grapes and twice the antioxidants of blueberries. Considered to have the best nutritional value of any fruit on earth, your skin will eat this up! - $17.00 www.treatbeauty.com
Intelligent Nutrients Hair Balm Not purely for chocoholics, cacao (or cocoa) seed butter is used liberally in beauty products for it’s superior shine, softening and hydration properties, and it packs an antioxidant punch. This balm creates a perfectly tousled style or slicked back hair in just seconds. - $24.00 www.futurenatural.com
You’ve probably eaten them at some point but Brazil nuts also produce an oil, saturated in omega-3 and other essential fatty acids, that deeply moisturizes and conditions at a cellular level. - $8.00 www.burtsbees.com
BareMinerals 100% Natural Lipcolor Loaded with cupuacu butter this decadently creamy and luxurious lipstick delivers healthy nutrition and long-wearing color to lips. - $15.00 www.sephora.com
Intelligent Nutrients – Anti-Aging Serum A potent blend of acai, argan oil and patented Intellimune complex, that delivers the equivalent antioxidant power and omega fatty acids as 10lbs of berries. - $16.00
www.futurenatural.com
Cacao Lip Balm Who doesn’t love chocolate? This lip balm will give you your guilt-free daily fix using only organic raw cacao butter and the coldpressed oil of the cacao bean. - $3.99
www.navitasnaturals.com
Aveda Uruku Color Gloss Morena 100% mineral & plant derived color pigment from organically grown urukum, with moisture rich cupuacu butter, babassu, buriti oil and acai berry. Gives the shine of a gloss with the intensity of a lipstick. - $16.00
www.aveda.com
Beauty Director LOVES Selected by: Emma
Pezzack
The world’s rainforests contain tens of thousands of ingredients that play a crucial role in our natural and organic beauty products, delivering everything from potent antioxidant power (acai berry), to superior hydration (cucpuacu, murumuru and brazil nut butters). These products may not turn you into Giselle (one of the worlds top models & a well-known brazilian beauty), but they will make you look and feel great…
Ituri Forest - Kokochi
RMS Beauty Lip Shine – Moment
Blending the art of fragrance alchemy, rich oils and pure botanicals, sustainably harvested daily from the forest and hand poured into carved wooden pots. Beautiful!
Nutrient-rich Moringa Oil is mindfully collected from the ‘miracle’ tree and used liberally in these addictive lip shines to provide superior hydration and moisture.
- $24.00
- $29.00
www.ituriforest.com
www.futurenatural.com
Moisturizing Body Butter Brazil Nut Just what dry winter skin craves and needs, this body butter is loaded with brazil nut oil and cupuacu butter for ultra soft, velvety skin. Slather on and don’t hold back! - $14.50
www.brazilbeautyproducts.com
COCO ECO |
SPOTLIGHT ON BEAUTY!
Sejaa Pure
SKINCARE WRITTEN by: Jolene Hart PHOTOGRAPHY by: Nino Munoz
& Kevin O’Brien
One look at Sejaa’s modest, earth-toned packaging and simple, functional skin care and you might not guess that it’s also a much-buzzed-about natural beauty brand with the world’s top-earning supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, at its helm. Where is the glamorous packaging, the splashy model photos and the dizzying lineup of products? Spend a few weeks using Sejaa’s Pure Skincare Kit, which contains just three basic skin care products, and the brand’s understated beauty is emerges. Sejaa, from the Portuguese word for ‘to be,’ arrived on the natural beauty scene in March of 2010. The line was inspired by Bundchen’s Brazilian heritage and her support of environmental causes (she became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme in 2009), as well as her desire to empower and build self-esteem in young women. “I wanted to teach girls to love themselves and take care of their bodies. What is the first thing you see every morning? Your face! What do you put every day on your face? Cream! I have made the simplest, purest cream—an everyday cream—but it comes with an affirmation,” Bundchen told Vogue in April 2010. 52
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Creams are essential to the Sejaa line, which currently includes a day cream, night cream and a mud mask. Each product meets Bundchen’s exacting standards: free of parabens, petrochemicals and artificial or genetically-modified ingredients, packaged with 100% recycled materials and printed with soy-based ink. What’s more, Sejaa production runs on hydroelectric power, offset by renewable wind energy credits. By now you must be curious, as I was, about the products created and backed by such a famous face. What’s inside these eco-friendly packages? Sejaa’s Day Cream contains a base of natural ingredients that calm, hydrate and protect the skin, including aloe juice, shea butter and argan, sandalwood, jojoba and borage oils. It’s light, and lightly fragranced. The Night Cream adds additional powerhouse antioxidants like royal jelly, green tea and ginseng to an even richer natural base, with a soothingly earthy scent perfect for the evening. Both creams absorb instantly, and produce a soft, almost powdery finish on the skin. Although they are rich in natural oils, there was no shine or greasiness left behind by either cream. Another key product in the Sejaa skin care line is the Mud Treatment, a mask made with highly-absorbent bentonite clay that draws impurities from the skin. Gisele has said that she relied on mud to dry out blemishes when she was a teenager. And the purifying, adsorptive properties of the mask are an ideal balance for the deeply hydrating creams. Sejaa may be fronted by one of the world’s more recognizable faces,
but it has the feel of a local, indie brand. And it’s a refreshing step away from complicated beauty routines that many of us subscribe to. The simplicity in Sejaa skin care is itself inviting. It’s just one aspect of the lifestyle of health and ecoconsciousness that Bundchen promotes. “We want to have a higher consciousness behind this whole thing, to actually do it in a way that I can show that from the moment it is planted, from the moment it is harvested, from the moment it is put into the bottle, that everything is done in a thoughtful way, respecting the environment…At the end of the day, what’s really important is what is inside the product,” Bundchen says in a Sejaa video. From my trial of Sejaa, there is a clear sense of awareness about the products. In an industry with mega-beauty brands, I am impressed that Sejaa started small, with a clear mission. And I look forward to watching it grow, with care and purpose. Look out for a cleanser, body lotion and hair care on the horizon.** Sejaa PURE SKINCARE
www.trysejaa.com
COCO ECO |
COVER STORY!
Strapless gown, PROPHETIK 54 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 www.prophetik.com
www.cocoecomag.com
Pura Vida
Luna Nueva
Debi Nova
WRITTEN by: Shahrnaz Nancy Southwick, PHOTOGRAPHY by: Russell Baer
Deputy Editor
On a rare and beautiful rainy fall evening in Los Angeles, I had the chance to meet the stunning and compassionate recording artist Debi Nova for some green tea and cookies. Debi is not only a talented musician with six grammy nominations to her credit and appearances, tours and recordings with the likes of the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul, Louie Vega, Ricky Martin and Britney Spears, she is also a dedicated humanitarian. As soon as we began our interview, I was struck PHOTOGRAPHY by: Russell Baer PHOTO ASSISTANT by: Angel Romero STORY by: Sarah Griffin Berns ASSISTED by: Beth Doane MAKE-UP by: Akemi Yagi HAIR: Judd Minter, using Pureology STYLIST by: Jessica Pastor
by her candid nature and her willingness to share her journey to live an eco friendly lifestyle. Debi Nova is a force of nature. Having been raised in Costa Rica, a place of beauty and intrigue, her entire being and soul exudes the same passion and feeling that the rainforest brings to mind. Her music inspires the senses. After listening to her songs, the tracks linger in your psyche COVER STORY | Continued
COVER STORY | Continued
and the melody stays with you. Her exotic looks and rich heritage capture your attention, but it’s her soulful music that captures your heart. CEM: Tell me about your experiences growing up in Costa Rica. DN: I grew up in a place where 25% of the territory is tropical rainforest and I’ve always felt its presence in my being. In the rainforest, ecosystems are formed by a wide variety of species and you will never see a thousand of the same type of trees in close proximity to one another. Quite the opposite, you will see an eclectic mix of species working together to create the perfect habitat. In the rainforest nothing is ever wasted. Every single organism, living or dead, has a function and a place in the system. Some capture light, others water. The dying plants become food for others; it all happens in complete harmony. To me that has always been an example as to how we humans should interrelate, allowing and celebrating the beauty of our differences and being conscious of our actions against each other and this earth. Costa Rica is also a country in development and it has huge potential. I am proud to be from this beautiful place.
DN: In the rainforest you are always the listener. The airways are completely saturated with sound. The first layer is a continuous deep vibration of crickets chirping. Building on top of this buzzing undertone are the birdcalls, the monkey howls, hissing bugs, rustling leaves, and heavy rain.The rainforest is so loud that you almost don’t hear it.
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CEM: You come from a country that is rich with culture. How does the philosophy of “Pura Vida,” the signature phrase of your country meaning, “Pure Life, Good Life,” translate into your personal experiences?
“If we live in a society where women are berated, belittled and abused there is no way we can evolve. Women are the pillars of family they are the columns of society. We all have a voice!”
CEM: Costa Rica is known around the globe for its conservation efforts. More than 26% of its land is under protection. This safeguards more than 5% of the entire world’s biodiversity and its extremely rich with renewable energy. It gets about 99% of all it’s electrical energy from clean sources and is aiming to become carbon neutral by 2021. The country’s advocacy for human rights and education is unparalleled. That is a huge step towards changing the way countries do business. Costa Rica is definitely on the forefront of the eco and human conscious frontier. Can you describe what the rainforest sounds like for us?
CEM: What inspires you to create?
DN: My process is ongoing. For me, being quiet and at home is a much easier way to tap into my creativity than when I am on tour. I have the belief that every conversation, everything you listen to, is all a part of our creative process. I try to live life with an open perspective.
DN: You cannot stress about the future; everything you do sets you up for the next stage of your life. The stage is my life. It gives me energy. I want to tour the world and share and inspire people with my music. I worked on my debut album Luna Nueva for the past 6 years. I thought about and created these songs from deep places in my being. I gave birth to them so to say, and I have released them into the universe. I am ready for something completely new. Performing and entertaining is very powerful. Music is probably the strongest tool we possess to communicate with people and get messages across to inspire. I think artists have a very big responsibility to be the catalyst for change to help the environment and change the world. CEM: The environment is in danger. How can we take steps to change the path of this destruction? DN: We absolutely cannot continue pillaging from this earth and destroying the atmosphere. We will have a major impact on our entire ex-
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COVER STORY | Continued www.cocoecomag.com
Draped halter top, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us
Dress, LEILA HAFZI www.leila-hafzi.com
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Silver belt & Turquoise cuff, CALLEEN CORDERO www.cocoecomag.com www.calleencordero.com
Strapless gown, PROPHETIK www.prophetik.com
COVER STORY | Continued
istence on this planet. Everything points to the necessity of this change. It has to start at home. It must be a conscious decision that we as individuals have to make. It is a matter of education. Educating the younger generation to choose to live an eco conscious lifestyle, to be on board with this eco movement, and to stop our over consumption and the creation of all of this unnecessary waste, is imperative. CEM: You made this move to America ten years ago. How did leaving Costa Rica and immigrating to the United States change your music? DN: My album, Luna Nueva, is a collection of ten songs in a combination of Spanish and English. I wrote this album very freely like it was a conversation. When I speak with my friends and family it is always a mix of both of these languages and cultures and this lifestyle shines through in my music. It is a mix of the old and the new. Blending the new electric sounds of living in America with the organic nature of my background in Costa Rica.
Being able to bring awareness to vital causes like this is an important part of my responsibility as an entertainer. If we live in a society where women are berated, belittled and abused, there is no way we can evolve. Women are the pillars of family; they are the columns of society. We all have a voice! It has to be up to each individual to respect human rights and preserve the environment.
“In the rainforest, you are always the listener. The airways are completely saturated with sound. The rainforest is so loud that you almost don’t hear it.”
CEM: Tell me about some of the charities and organizations that are close to your heart.
DN: I am working with UNiTE, the UN Secretary General’s personal campaign to end violence against women. It will last until 2015 and our goal is to eradicate and prevent gender violence. My work with them has just begun! We recently launched a texting campaign, that if you text to a specific number a contribution will be made to UNiTE. I am also working with the eco fashion brand Raintees and the Costan Rican based non-profit organization, Kids Saving the Rainforest. There are many reasons why I chose 60
these particular charities. For UNiTE, one reason being that in Latin America there are more domestic violence cases than anywhere else in the world, even though violence against women is a problem that exists in every society. It’s a cultural change and an education change that must happen. I spoke at the United Nations about this in November and felt honored to be able to lend my voice as both an entertainer and woman to this important cause.
CEM: Tell me about Rain Tees and Kids Saving the Rainforest.
DN: Rain Tees is an amazing organization started by Beth Doane that creates organic t-shirts. “Saving Trees with Tees” is the motto. Beth travels to third world countries, communities and schools where she donates art supplies. The kids paint what they experience in their lives and environment, and these are the designs that are then featured on the Rain Tees t-shirts. The shirts are all eco friendly and for every t-shirt sold the organization plants a tree through Kids Saving the Rainforest in Costa Rica. Being able to bring awareness through organizations such as Rain Tees and Kids Saving the Rainforest I feel is a necessary step to helping people realize that this part of the world is vital not only to the earth’s climate, but also to its survival. CEM: Debi Nova is an inspiration with her tireless efforts as a humanitarian and her enormous contributions to the preservation of the rainforest. She is embracing her responsibility of being an entertainer with a voice, striving to make a positive difference, not only in her native country of Costa Rica, but also all over the world.** DEBI NOVA www.Debinova.com
UNiTE http://endviolence.un.org
KIDS SAVING THE Rainforest www.kidssavingtherainforest.org
RAIN TEES www.raintees.com
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Draped halter top, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us
COCO ECO |
MEN WE LOVE!
Leonard DiCaprio
Tom Munro/JBG Photo 62 PHOTO | COCOCREDIT: ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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MENLeonardo WEDiCaprio, LOVE: Sting Pablo Fajardo, & Fabian Lliguin
Jungle Warriors Saving the Rainforest Across the Globe
WRITTEN by: Beth Doane PHOTOGRAPHY by: As Credited
The journeys, trials, and ultimate triumphs of these four incredible men prove that Amazon warriors come from around the globe to support the same vital cause: Rainforest preservation. I have been lucky enough to meet almost all of them personally and they have each touched my life with their mission and incredible accomplishments. I hope that learning of their contributions to saving our planets most exquisite and endangered ecosystems is as inspiring for you as it has been for me.
MEN WE LOVE | Continued
MEN WE LOVE | Continued
Pablo Fajardo PHOTO CREDIT: Kellee Laser Photography
Leonardo DiCaprio For American actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio, global warming is “the number-one environmental challenge,” and in 1998 he established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to create a sustainable future for the planet. The Foundation is now called the Leonardo DiCaprio Fund at California Community Foundation and this year DiCaprio joined forces with the World Wildlife Foundation-US to save tigers, a rainforest dwelling species on the brink of extinction. Leonardo personally pledged $1,000,000 towards the campaign saying, “Tigers are endangered and critical to some of the world’s most important ecosystems. By protecting this iconic species, we can save so much more.”
Pablo Fajardo When it comes to honoring the heroes of environmental causes, there may be no better or more unlikely example than Pablo Fajardo. Raised in extreme poverty, in a tiny town in the jungles of Ecuador, Pablo went on to become the lead lawyer in what is slated to be the largest environmental court case in history. Spanning more than thirteen years the case is against Chevron (previously Texaco), the multinational energy company accused of illegally dumping nearly 17 million gallons of crude oil and 20 billion gallons of drilling waste into the Ecuadorian Amazon between 1964 and 1990. I met up with Pablo in his office in Ecuador earlier this year where he told me how the cancer rate in his village alone is now estimated at seven times higher than the rest of the country’s population and skin disease, respiratory ailments, and reproductive disorders are common. Determined to have this largely unknown tragedy heard worldwide, Pablo inspired more than 30,000 indigenous people from local communities to file the official court case.
Tiger populations are dwindling rapidly and more than 90 percent of native tiger habitats no longer have wild tigers. Three tiger species have gone extinct since the 1940s and without major funding it will be extremely difficult to save those remaining in the wild.
Pablo says he is confident that a verdict will be reached soon -although how soon remains uncertain. One thing is certain though, the more people that hear of the work and achievements of Pablo and his team, the more they may be inspired to also achieve what was once thought to be impossible.
DiCaprio utilizes his website and social media channels to drive awareness to these issues.
For more information on what is happening in Ecuador and to stay updated on the Chevron case, visit Amazon Watch.
Twitter: @LeoDiCaprio www.leonardodicaprio.com
www.amazonwatch.org
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Sting With sixteen Grammy Awards, legendary singer, songwriter, and actor Sting is also working to save our planets rainforests. He and his wife, Trudie Styler, founded the Rainforest Foundation International in 1989 (which in 1999, became the Rainforest Foundation FUND) in direct response to a plea for help from a Kayapo Indian leader in Brazil who was seeking to protect his peoples’ land. Today, the foundation promotes worldwide awareness of tropical rainforest conservation and supports indigenous peoples efforts to conserve their land. Comprised of three branches operating in Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, it also has projects in Africa, Asia, and The Americas. In the 1990’s, the Rainforest Foundation International aided Indigenous Communities of the XINGU basin in Brazil by training Indian leaders, developing educational and health programs, and working with the “Schola Paulista de Medecine” and was also successful in helping the Brazilian Yanomami tribe by providing emergency relief when gold miners invaded their territories, bringing diseases and starvation. The main source of funding for the charity comes through concerts that Sting hosts with artists around the world. www.rainforestfoundation.org
Sting PHOTO CREDIT: Sting
MEN WE LOVE | Continued
MEN WE LOVE | Continued
Fabian Lliguin Fabian’s story takes us through enchanting jungles and lost Amazon tribes to the Upper East Side of Manhattan where I met him in his divine hair salon, Cocoon. Here, I had the chance to discuss his latest beauty endeavor that has sold out in stores from Los Angeles to London and has Gwyneth Paltrow writing its praises. Born on the coast of Ecuador in 1963, Fabians incredible life journey took him to Vidal Sassoon on Fifth Avenue where he trained as a hairstylist before opening his own salon in the Theatre District in the 1990’s. In 1994, Fabian took a trip back to his homeland where he saw environmental destruction that inspired him to create the Institute for Tribal Rights before returning to New York in 2002 where he met his wife Anna Ayers, a fashion designer and forecaster with whom he launched Cocoon. Together, Fabian and Anna also created their exquisite and wildly successful Amazon Beauty hair care line called Rahua, which uses the oil of the sacred rainforest Rahua seed. Rahua harvesting is sustainable and the line itself is paraben, silicone and sulfate free, and 100% vegan. The products are ultra-luxurious and have turned even the most hard to impress celebrities and supermodels into instant fans as the tiniest drop gives instant shine and smoothness to hair without adding any weight. Now well-established in his synergistic life as a hairdresser, entrepreneur, and preservationist, Fabian is already sourcing materials for a skincare line and plans to open branches of the Institute for Tribal Rights in additional indigenous areas of Latin America. www.rahua.com
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Fabian Lliguin PHOTO CREDIT: Fabian Lliguin www.cocoecomag.com
COCO ECO |
TAKE ACTION!
Raining Support WRITTEN by: Heather Carter PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: J
Henry provided by the Rainforest Alliance
“Save the Rainforest!” Suffice to say that most of us have heard the cries. As our earth’s most complex eco-system, rainforests provide an incommensurable source of renewable natural resources and much of the food we eat, medicine we take, materials we use, and air we breathe have been an initial product of these ecosystems. Sadly, because of lack of government responsibility and greed, rainforest deforestation has drastically upset the earth’s equilibrium. Less trees result in poorer air quality, as well as water pollution, loss of bio-diversity, and harm to indigenous tribes. Still, the most harmful threat of all is perhaps is the increase in global warming. Luckily there are a few incredible organizations working to bring balance back to our planet through rainforest conservation. Amazon Watch is an organization focused on advancing the rights of the Amazon Indigenous 68
people. They run programs designed to uphold indigenous rights and give tribes the educational tools needed to adequately defend their land. Amazon Watch also monitors government mega-projects that could cause destruction and are the voice and the safeguard for tribes who otherwise would not be heard and do not possess the resources to fight back. The Rainforest Alliance is focused heavily on conserving rainforest biodiversity. The New York based non-profit aims to transform and regulate land use, ensure good business practices, and reform consumer behavior. They are structured with divisions targeting sustainable forestry, illegal logging and many more. As consumers we can also take action by only buying products that have earned the right to carry a certified seal by meeting the Rainforest Alliance verification standards. Sabrina Vigilante, director of the Sustainable Value Chains at the Rainforest Alliance, explained to Coco Eco, “The Rainforest Alliance offers conscientious consumers with an easy way to go green by linking them with businesses that have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability, and by choosing certified and verified products and services, consumers are helping to transform the global marketplace into a more sustainable model, one that protects wildlife and workers alike and one that promotes better lands, lives and livelihoods.The little green frog is your assurance that goods and services are produced in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable way.Thanks to Rainforest Alliance certification, millions of acres of working forests, farms, ranchlands and hotel properties are managed according to rigorous sustainability standards.”
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Rainforest Alliance approved foods.
The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is known as environmentalism with teeth and it really does live up to its name. Since the mideighties they have successfully and passionately campaigned against corporations whose practices place profit above principles. RAN is arguably the most direct in its approach to activism and was named “some of the most savvy environmental agitators in the business” by the Wall Street Journal. Their non-violent tactics of persuasion can largely be credited to their ability to use the general public as leverage. Corporations rely on the masses to buy their product, RAN targets companies who lack corporate accountability and discredits them to the consumer, thus forcing them to apply responsible business methods in order to retrieve public favor. RAN invites you to take action by exploring ways in which you can get involved. As our future generation’s existence on this planet depends on the actions of today, we owe it to mankind to safeguard the tropical treasures of our rainforests for generations to come. Thankfully, a simple way to do that is by supporting the work of these nonprofits so we can finally put an end to rainforest deforestation and the climate change crisis it is so largely contributing to each day.** AMAZON WATCH www.amazonwatch.org Rainforest ALLIANCE www.rainforestalliance.org Rainforest Action Network http://ran.org/content/get-involved
COCO ECO |
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS!
Gisele Bundchen 70 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin O’Brien | January-February 2011
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WOMEN OF THE FOREST WRITTEN by: Nicole Landers PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Each
Featured Individual
Gisele Bundchen born in Brazil is a supermodel, actress, mom, an active environmentalist, is now also an animated eco superhero. Along with AOL and A Squared Entertainment, Gisele launched a web series on AOLkids.com, “Gisele & The Green Team”. The web series and interactive site is a creative destination that is educational and entertaining, showing Gisele and a group of teenage supermodels with super eco powers. Gisele firmly believes if one respects themselves they will respect the world around them too. In a recent press release, Gisele states, “There’s a vital connection between empowering our youth and protecting our planet. We hope to not only teach young girls about important environmental issues, but support them in building self-confidence and discovering their inner potential.” She is the Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Environment Programme and for the past five years, has donated a percentage of the profits from her line of sandals, Ipanema Gisele Bündchen, to protect the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. Gisele’s beauty is undeniable and she recently launched a line of skincare, Sejaa Pure Skin Care. Sejaa is all natural and produced with as little impact on the environment as possible. Another one of Gisele’s causes has been a family affair; The Agua Limpa (Clean Water) Project applies sustainable environmental management and promotes the recovery of riparian vegetation and the micro basins of Horizontina and Tucunduva (State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil), which is the region where the top model was born. She also has a blog where she shares her projects and passion with the world. Truly beautiful from the inside out, her insight and love of the earth are what makes her a true eco-heroine. www.blog.giselebundchen.com.br/?lang=en WOMEN OF THE FOREST | Continued
WOMEN OF THE FOREST | Continued
TRUDIE STYLER Trudie Styler is a force to be reckoned with. A renowned film producer, founder of Xingu Films, an actress, mother, organic farmer, activist, environmentalist, married to Sting and has 20 years of work in preserving rainforests around the world under her belt, she founded Rainforest Foundation International in 1989 along with her husband. They both saw first hand what was happening in Brazil and focused on taking action with the indigenous people, later funding programs in other countries such as Latin America, Asia and Africa. In 1999, Rainforest Foundation FUND replaced Rainforest Foundation International and today the mission is to protect and support indigenous peoples, and traditional populations of the rainforest in an effort to protect their environment and fulfill their rights. Janine Licare PHOTO CREDIT: Marianne Coates
JANINE LICARE Janine Licare’s journey in environmental activism and founding Kids Saving the Rainforest is truly remarkable. At the young age of four, she and her mother left the US and settled in Costa Rica. Growing up with nine other children in her graduating class, she was the first to go to college in the US, and was accepted into the prestigious Stanford University. Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSRF) is a non-profit founded in 1999 when Janine was only 91/2 years old and she saw first-hand something needed to change. With her mother, she created the KSRF store in Costa Rica where 100% of the proceeds from locally produced items are sold to tourists to raise awareness and funds. The monies raised contribute to preserving the local rainforest land, rehabilitating baby and injured animals, supporting a wildlife sanctuary, and to insure the survival of the endangered Titi monkeys. The next phase for Janine and KSRF is to grow the Animal Rehabilitation & Educational Center in Costa Rica to study and create proper living environments for some of the rarest species of monkeys left on our planet, including the Titi and Spider monkey. **
The Foundation turned 21 years old in 2010, and to date,Trudie has raised more than $23 million for the cause. On one of her many visits to Ecuador she witnessed first hand the environmental damages caused by oil exploitation in the rainforest. “I met mothers in Ecuador who have to make an appalling decision: either to give their children no water or contaminated water, knowing that it will make them sick,” recalled Trudie. There are over 30,000 people and half are children that were exposed to oil contamination through air, water and land in the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana. The contamination led to wide spread cancer, miscarriages, skin disorders and respiratory illnesses. After meeting the families first hand, Trudie enrolled The Rainforest Fund, UNICEF and the Frente de la Defensa de la Amazonia, a pilot project that brings clean water to areas with high levels of contamination, severe health needs, poverty and minimal access to basic services. Specially-designed filtered water barrels that cost no more than $500 to build enable families, health centers and schools to have clean water, even in the most toxic areas. Working with the local community and tradesmen, the water barrels were installed in rural houses and shelters. If maintained, these filtered water barrels will last up to 50 years. “Once you see and meet the families that are so in need of clean water you realize how lucky you are just to be able to bring up your children in a safe place with a supply of clean water,” said Trudie. Winning many accolades over the years for her work in the environment, in 2010 Trudie launched an organic food brand in the UK called, Lake House Table. She is truly unstoppable. ** www.rainforestfoundationfund.org
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WOMEN OF THE FOREST | Continued www.cocoecomag.com
Trudie Styler PHOTO CREDIT: Jaime Travezan
WOMEN OF THE FOREST | Continued
DARYL HANNAH Daryl Hannah, a high profile actress best known for films such as Kill Bill, Blade Runner and Splash, is also known for her activism in preserving Planet Earth. Through her website, she focuses on stories about human rights, environmental preservation, and the welfare and protection of other species. A subject dear to her heart, Daryl works with Amazonwatch.org, a non-profit that protects the rainforest and advances the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. Most recently Daryl aided Amazon Watch with the Peruvian Amazon Achuar Indigenous Leaders and demanded during a stakeholders meeting in Los Angeles that Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), clean up their pollution in the rainforest. Between 1971 and 2000, Oxy drilled more than 150 wells and built nearly 300 miles of roads in the formerly intact Amazon rainforest homeland of the Achuar indigenous people. For every barrel of oil Oxy produced in Peru, they dumped eight barrels of toxic wastewater into the Amazon. The Achuar ask that Oxy take full responsibility for cleaning up the environmental disaster it left behind when it departed after 30 years. From this tireless effort from Daryl and Amazon Watch, this indigenous tribe won an appeal in December for this human rights and environmental lawsuit. This is major victory for the indigenous people of Peru and the preservation of their rainforest. Daryl’s work has not gone unnoticed; she is truly an eco warrior of the highest good.** www.dhlovelife.com
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Daryl Hannah with Amazon Watch team members PHOTO CREDIT: AMAZON WATCH www.cocoecomag.com
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COCO ECO |
ECO CHIC CTY GUIDE!
Downtown Chicago Provided by MAGAZINE Chicago Office of Tourism2011 76 Photo | COCO ECO | January-February
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ECO CHIC
GUIDE to... Chicago WRITTEN by: Nikki Lin, Chicago Editor
Chicago is known for unmatched vintage art deco design, the indie at heart, political fervor and now a green mission that offers a multitude of eco-friendly options to tickle your hearts desires. Less than 5 years ago, the city set forth an Environmental Action Agenda that has not only raised awareness on a tremendous scale, but also the attention of the eco chic in the way of unique and artistic expressions in lodging, dining, shopping and more. Join us as we explore the ever romantic Windy City and find out that eco-consciability can be an affair to remember...
ECO CHIC CITY GUIDE | Continued
STAY! theWit At the epicenter of the Chicago loop, theWit exercises intelligence in its use of our environment. Building materials were sourced responsibly and recycling practices were employed during construction. Eco-friendly soaps and personal care products await guests in their luxe baths. One of the most innovative features is the lighting, designed by one of Chicago’s premier design firms. The building’s striking architecture allows newbie, theWit, to sit center-stage against the art deco design of Chicago.** 201 N. State St. Chicago, IL 60601. Ph. 312.467.0200 www.thewithotel.com
Hotel Allegro Hotel Allegro brings you to all the glamour of the famed Chicago theater district, starting with the historic 2500-seat Cadillac Theater, an Art Deco gem housed in the same building as the luxury hotel. Hotel management adheres to a standard for the lodging industry known as GS-33, which encompasses almost 30 environmentally responsible components required by a hotel. The GS-33 ensures a hotel is Green Seal Certified, making the Hotel Allegro beautiful in more ways than one.** 171 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601. Ph. 312.236.0123 www.allegrochicago.com
Hotel Monaco Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, the Hotel Monaco is in the Loop business district and just steps from North Michigan Avenue shopping and the popular Millennium Park. A former hat factory on the banks of the Chicago River, the transformed Hotel Monaco draws guests in and surrounds them with all manner of stimulations. Hotel Monaco also holds one of the nation’s 37 Green Seal certifications, meaning excellence in eco standards.** 225 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60601. Ph. 312.960.8500 www.monaco-chicago.com
Photo Provided by theWit Hotel
Photo theWit Hotel| January-February 2011 Photo Provided by Hotel Felix 78 | Provided COCO by ECO MAGAZINE
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Hotel Burnham Hotel Burnham is the essence of a Chicago boutique hotel. The unique establishment brings to life old world elegance with a contemporary sensibility. Situated in Chicago’s Reliance Building, the Hotel Burnham offers luxury accommodations and architectural grandeur. Designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1895, the Reliance Building was the predecessor to the modern skyscraper. More than a century later, vivid mosaic floors, red marble walls and filigreed elevator grills replicate the original building..** 1 W. Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602. Ph. 312.782.1111 www.burnhamhotel.com
Hotel Felix The Hotel Felix presents an upscale and intimate experience with inspiring natural elements. In the works is a very promising “Green Roof ” project. Design inside of the building is a sleek and simple elegance, while the exterior is an example of Chicago vintage architecture. Hotel Felix sits in the North Loop, where one can experience the Chicago Loop Bridges for romantically picturesque daytime or midnight strolls. The Miracle Mile is one block away, providing shopping as more than just an option.**
Photo Provided by Hotel Allegro
111 W. Huron St. Chicago, IL. 60654. Ph. 312.447.3440 www.hotelfelixchicago.com
Photo Provided by Hotel Monaco
Photo Provided by Hotel Burnham
ECO CHIC CITY GUIDE | Continued
SHOP!
Photo Provided by Grasshopper 510
Grasshopper 510 Color is measured on a wavelength in units called nanometers, and 510 represents the measurement in nanometers for the color green. Combine the 510 with the symbolism of a grasshopper--prosperity, wisdom and a leap of faith-- and you’ve got a name that speaks to the environmental movement. Accessories and handbags, as well as countless gift items and luxury home goods are all made of recycled, organic, sustainable, natural, vintage or repurposed materials.** 1944 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60647. Ph: 773.292.0510 www.grasshopper510.com
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Photo Provided by Vintage Underground
Vintage Underground Vintage Underground is 3,500 square feet of vintage jewelry, clothing, antiques and collectibles, custom steampunk jewelry and accessories and other unique finds. Located in the fashionable Wicker Park area literally underground, those in the know peruse a mindboggling selection in a wide price range. Vintage Underground specializes in costume jewelry and carries a huge number of styles from the mid to late 20th century. Vintage art deco style jewelery is prevalent. ** 1834 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, Ph: 773.252.4559 www.chicagovintageunderground.com
Photo Provided by Greenheart
Greenheart Greenheart is Chicago’s premier eco-fair trade non-profit shop, carrying both fair trade and eco friendly products. Those in the neighborhood consider themselves lucky to have a resource that enables a greener lifestyle. One can find a variety of goods including recycled accessories and handbags, home goods, gourmet treats, glassware, jewelry, personal care, and more. Greenheart believes consumers have the power to affect a positive world change by supporting sustainable and fair business practices.** 1911 W. Division St., Chicago, IL 60622, Ph: 312.264.1625 www.greenheartshop.org
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SHOP VINTAGE! Andersonville Galleria The Andersonville Galleria is located in the heart of the thriving Andersonville retail corridor. This eco chic pick is not your standard boutique but rather a retail market building that currently features over 90 fair-trade and eco-conscious vendors offering apparel, jewelry, artwork, home furnishings, giftware, accessories, antiques, and gourmet treats. Upon visiting the Andersonville Galleria one experiences a sense of community and consciability on an extraordinary scale.** Photo Provided by Andersonville Galleria
5247 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640, Ph: 773.878.8570 http://andersonvillegalleria.com
Be Bye Baby Be Bye Baby is a store for expecting mothers and new parents, with an eco perspective. The storefront location and on-line store offers a vast selection of organic and vegan products such as exceptional quality infant and toddler apparel, super soft towels and blankets as well as bath and body supplies. Classes in several areas such as birthing, different kinds of care and prenatal exercise keep customers returning for more than just the products.** 1654 W. Roscoe St., Chicago, IL 60657, Ph: 773.404.BABY www.bebyebaby.com
Post 27 Post 27 strives to provide a source for great interiors by inspiring people to mix and match items of different styles and eras to create personal and one of a kind environments. The location is an ever-changing and creatively displayed space filled with vignettes of products that range from mid-century furniture pieces to accessories made locally from reclaimed or re-purposed materials. Many of the vintage furnishings receive a “new life� through reupholstery, refinishing, or modification.** Photo Provided by Be By Baby
Photo Provided by Post 27
1819 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL 60622, Ph. 312.829.6122 www.post27store.com
ECO CHIC CITY GUIDE | Continued
EAT! Bistro Campagne Bistro Campagne is a warm and friendly neighborhood restaurant in the tradition of a true French bistro. It is the food, however, that is at the heart of a great bistro, and Chef Michael Altenberg offers a seasonally changing menu of classic bistro fare that is based on the best ingredients he can find. Bistro Campagne is committed to the use of organic foods and strongly supports the sustainable, low impact agriculture movement. Favorite dishes are the C么te de Porc and G芒teau au Crabe.** 4518 N. Lincoln. Ave., Chicago, IL. 60625. Ph. 773.271.6100 www.bistrocampagne.com
Bleeding Heart Bakery The Bleeding Heart Bakery provides amazing and thought provoking pastry that is as delicious as it is beautiful and cutting edge. With their punk baker chic, owners Michelle and Vinny have been featured on several television shows. The baked goods are so exceptional they eventually acquired their own show on TLC. Recommendations are Cake Balls (actually a recycled food item, made to stop waste of cake tops and scraps) and also the Veruca Salt Cupcake.** 1955 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago, IL 60657. Ph. 773.327.6943 www.thebleedingheartbakery.com
Photo Provided by Bistro Campagne
Photo Bistro Campagne Photo Provided by Uncommon Ground 82 | Provided COCO by ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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Uncommon Ground For over 20 years, the Chicago eco-classic Uncommon Ground has thrived in the Wrigleyville area while the new Edgewater location boasts the country’s first certified organic rooftop farm. The 2500 square foot deck is made from postconsumer recycled materials. While both restaurants are supplied by the farm year-round they also use seasonal, locally produced, family farmed & organic products whenever possible. Must have dishes include sweet potato fries that come with a goat cheese fondue and also the “Winter Omelet”.** 800 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL. 60613. Ph. 773.929.3680 (Wrigleyville) 1401 W. Devon Ave. Chicago, IL 60660 773.465.9814(Edgewater) www.uncommonground.com
Trattoria No.10 Housed in Chicago’s theater district in a historical landmark building, Trattoria No. 10 pairs fine Chicago Italian cuisine with eco-consciability. The restaurant has achieved environmental certifications through the Green Restaurant Association and the Green Chicago Restaurant Co-op, both of which are standardizing green businesses. Popular items are the Butternut and Acorn Squash Ravioli with sweet walnut butter sauce and their Ravioli filled with asparagus tips and aged provolone cheese with a sundried tomato sauce.** 10 N. Dearborn, Chicago, IL. 60602. Ph. 312.984.1718 www.trattoriaten.com
Photo Provided by Bill Lambert, Erickson Design/ Lambert Letterpress
Photo Provided by Trattoria No.10
Photo Provided by Bistro Campagne
ECO CHIC CITY GUIDE | Continued
INDULGE! Studio Within Studio Within is an eco-friendly salon and spa that provides a soothing atmosphere and award winning salon services. Facial services are of considerable repute at Studio Within, amongst their many featured menu items. Green efforts include use of energy and water efficient methods, use of organic products including color line and interior décor as well as a program to donate all hair that is cut to produce oil spill mats.** 1834 W. North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, Ph: 773.252.4559 www.studiowithin.net
Allyu Spa
Photo Provided by Blueberry Moon
Allyu Spa is a sustainably built and consciously operated luxury day spa in the Rivernorth area of Chicago. Allyu (i-yu) is the Quechua word for community, representing their commitment to the unique and evolving needs of clientele and the earth. In addition to state-of-the-art spa resources, Allyu also offers wellness workshops and other community resources. Allyu incorporates indigineous South American healing practices into Western wellness, in an eco-friendly environement.** 600 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60654, Ph: 312.755.1313 www.allyuspa.com
Salon Echo
At work on the next design of jewelry. Photo Provided by LOVE HEALS Photo Provided by The Circle Salon
The concept sustaining Salon Echo is the result of 30 years of experience in beauty and wellness by its artistic director, Maria Sigman. Amongst spa services such as facials, massage and hair care; Salon Echo also offers resources for Reconnective Healing as well proving that beauty comes from within. Products, services and the facility itself help people look, feel and be better in fundamental and meaningful ways. Salon Echo strives to accomplish these goals in ways that are harmonious with the environment.** 1134 W. Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, Ph: 773.989.2358 www.salonecho.com
Blueberry Moon Nestled in the heart of Lincoln Park’s Halsted Street Shopping District, Blueberry Moon’s atmosphere is a relaxing blend of original pieces of Chicago Architecture, eco-friendly raw materials along with salvaged antique elements. All treatments and products are Aveda- based. Most recommended treatments are facials and body care, in addition to Pea in a Pod services for expecting mothers.** 2108 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60614, Ph: 773.529.3333 www.blueberrymoon.com
The Circle Salon The Circle Salon selects some of the industry’s finest eco-friendly styling products and tools to introduce to their clients. When building out the salon, all building materials were either salvaged or contained recycled content, all paints used were low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds). The Circle Salon staff are many and well experienced in the needs of all clients, offering versatile options in hair styling and salon treatments.** Photo Provided by Blueberry Moon 84
2135 W. Division St., Chicago, IL 60622, Ph: 773.715.1026 www.thecirclesalon.com
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EXPLORE! The Art Institute of Chicago The world reknowned Art Institute of Chicago houses both a museum as well as a highly competitive art school. Housing more than 300,000 works of art one finds themselves wandering in awe along silent corridors of some of the most classic pieces of our time. Some notable works on display are Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Hopper’s Nighthawks, Toulouse-Latrec’s At The Moulin Rouge and one of our favorites, Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day.** 111 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 60603. Ph: 312.443.3600 www.artic.edu Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism
The Field Museum of Natural History Located just off of Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan in Campus Park,The Field Museum of Natural History is one of the landmarks of science and knowledge that Chicago is famous for. In exploring the museum, one can expect to encounter Sue the Dinosaur, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex currently known to man (fierce). We also recommend the Grainger Hall of Gems which features a large collection of diamonds and gems from around the world.** 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago, IL. 60605. Ph: 312.922.9410 www.fieldmuseum.org
Millenium Park
Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism
One of the newest attractions in Chicago is the Millenium Park, located at the Northwest side of the infamous Grant Park just off of Michigan Ave. The park has quickly become the quintescential location for public artwork displays, free musical entertainment through the summer months as well as ice skating in the winters. The centerpiece of Millenium Park is the Jay Pritzker bandshell designed by Chicago architect Frank Ghery. 201 E. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601. Ph: 312.742.1168 www.milleniumpark.org
Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism
ECO CHIC CITY GUIDE | Continued
GETTING AROUND! Cycling in Chicago Since the advent of the bicycle in the 1860’s, Chicago has been distinguished as one of the premiere cycling locations with such public cycling destinations as Grant Park, Burnham Park and the Chicago Park District’s 34-mile Lakefront Trail which has become a way of Chicago life for residents and visitors alike. Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley made it his goal to see to it that Chicago would become the most bicycle friendly city in the US. **
Walking & Public Transportation Chicago is an extremely vertical city with its innumerous skyscrapers. To properly experience this city one can rely on a far-reaching public transportation system as well as easy to navigate streets. Taking a walking tour of the city provides the visitor with time to notice every delicate nuance of the city’s architecture and it’s many hidden gems. Venturing about on the CTA system’s “El” Trains is like feeling and listening to the heartbeat of the city. **
Mies Van Der Rohe- Train Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism
City Segway Tours Growing in popularity, City Segway Tours are perfect for the city of Chicago. Chicago Segway tours as well as private tours are available. Perhaps the most fun place to ride your segway is along the City of Chicago’s beautiful lakefront.** http://citysegwaytours.com/chicago
Zipcar Due to the city’s easy to travel subway system many residents have latched onto the occasional Zipcar rental in more of a routine manner. Because of high demand, Zipcar locations are virtually everywhere throughout the city if you want to explore a little further outside of the beaten path.** www.zipcar.com
Marathon Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism
Chicago Lake Front Bike Path Photo Provided by Chicago Office of Tourism 86
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COCO ECO |
LIVE!
Ethical
Rainforest Retreats WRITTEN by: Starre Vartan PHOTOGRAPHY by: Featured
Location
Rainforests are just plain amazing places to visit; if you’ve never experienced the echoing cries of a monkey through the trees (or was that a rainbowdappled bird?), then you’ve got an amazing treat coming your way when you venture forth. Unlike North American or European temperate forests where animals are shy and a day long hike can reveal little more than the backside of a white-tail deer and some lovely songbirds trilling, a hour long stroll through the rainforest (especially with a native guide; they aren’t expensive), can reveal upwards of 20 different kinds of animals, insects and reptiles. Not only is the sense of discovery palpable each time you spot a new creature, but when you spend your money travelling to areas known for their rainforests, you help it to remain a valuable part of the local economy, which means that it’s less likely to be destroyed and much more likely to be protected. Check out these amazing, ethical, and sustainable retreats that give as much back to the rainforest (through good local jobs and forest protection) as you’ll find when you spend some time in the green.
88 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa
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Kapawi Eco Lodge and Reserve
Costa Rica’s Beachfront Rainforest Manuel Antonio is one of the most visited areas of Costa Rica, and for good reason; the national park there, mostly encapsulated on a peninsula, is literally crammed with howler, capuchin and spider monkeys, two- and three-toed sloths, and brilliantly colourful birds and insects at every turn. Costa Rican guides are notoriously welleducated and will find different creatures for you to photograph and admire even if you go back to the park several times. Just up the hill from the incredible beaches and rainforest preserve of Manuel Antonio is the Arenas del Mar resort, which is right out of your Indiana Jones (but comfy!) fantasies. Enter the property on a long road that wends through the trees (I saw sloths and monkeys just a couple hundred feet inside the property!) and check in midforest under a pavilion, then take a battery-powered golf cart to your room. The rainforest was minimally disturbed when constructing the Arenas del Mar, and it is so quiet you can hear the ocean waves just below, and many rooms have views. Accommodations are discreet, with giant showers, and features include supergreen amenities, like locally made organic spa treatments. On site composting, furniture made from recycled materials, CFL lightbulbs, local produce, hardcore recycling and pools that are ionized so the water is safe for the native animals to drink (and better for our skin and hair too) are just a portion of what this resort does to be seriously green. www.arenasdelmar.com
Kapawi Eco Lodge and Reserve It takes two plane rides and a canoe trip to get to the Kapawi Eco Lodge and Reserve in Ecuador’s rainforest, but for a truly local and totally out of the way experience, this is the place to be. Surrounded by 2 million protected acres of rainforest, it is one of the planet’s most well known native-run lodges. The Achuar people are the owners, managers, and workers at this lodge and if you are lucky, they might ask you to their homes to try manioc beer and other rainforest treats. Imagine waking at midnight to the sounds of the rainforest, completely unadulterated by nocturnal lights and so far from civilization you can see the stars through the breaks in the trees. Beth Doane, Guest Editor for this issue of Coco Eco, was blown away when she got a chance to visit Kapawi a few months back, “On the rivers we saw pink river dolphins and giant otters, the giant otters being most rare since they are an indicator species. Seeing them so close to the Kawpawi was a sweet reassurance as to just how eco the lodge is indeed.” Accommodations include private porched cabins built in the vernacular style of the local people constructed on stilts above a huge bird-filled lagoon. www.kapawi.com ETHICAL Rainforest RETREATS
| Continued
Bolivia’s Mountainview Rainforest Retreat ETHICAL Rainforest RETREATS | Continued
Daintree Down Under Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa is only a 40-minute drive from the Great Barrier Reef, so if you are planning an Aussie holiday, give the beaches a rest and travel inland to see what else the island continent has to offer. One of the few places where visitors can easily interact with native Australian aborigines, Daintree is run in partnership with the Kuku Yolanji tribe.
Bolivia’s Mountainview Rainforest Retreat Named one of the top ecolodges in the world by National Geographic Traveler Magazine, Chalalan is a located at the end of a fivehour boatride through the heart of the Bolivian rainforest, so you’re practically guaranteed to be relaxed by the time you reach your destination. Surrounded by the Madidi National Park, which features waterfalls, acres of rainforest and even snow-capped mountain peaks stretching above the green horizon, you get a bit of everything a Chalalan.
Ensconced in the rainforest, the buildings were constructed to take advantage of the local microclimates and to minimize disturbance of the local flora and fauna. And they are even more low-impact as they are housed about 15 feet above the forest floor; yep, we’re talking rainforest treehouses!
Each of the lodge’s cabins was designed by the people from the community of San José de Uchupiamonas and is made from local materials, including palm walls and roofs and sustainably harvested hardwood floors. The lodge was constructed as a creative and sustainable answer to local poverty and unemployment that was rampant in the region in the early 1990’s.
Take a hiking tour and learn about medicinal plants in the world’s oldest living forest or indulge your creative side with a painting class using colors from the local clays. If you’re not really into roughing it, but still want to experience the rainforest, Daintree offers plenty of spa treatments that feature the healing waters from the close-by waterfall.
A group of families joined together to solve their economic problems while still protecting the land they so loved. With the help of Conservation International, the community built the solar powered eco lodge, which is available for three-night minimum visits. While staying at Chalalan, one can bird, insect, or fungus-hunt (with a camera only, of course), swim in the lagoon, or take a night hike or canoe ride to find nocturnal animals and night-blooming flowers. All the guides are native to the area and are trained as educators, as well as sharing traditional knowledge.
www.daintree-ecolodge.com.au
www.chalalan.com
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Palm Oil The other oil that’s secretly killing the planet
WRITTEN by: Beth Doane PHOTOGRAPHY by: Greenpeace
& Beth Doane
“Whether it’s used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or processed into a biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the climate crisis.”- Los Angeles Times. In early 2008, I was working for the first time in Costa Rica with a non-profit organization that dealt with reforestation. We spent hours driving through small villages and on dirt roads running through plush jungle, and it was there that I noticed thousands of acres of perfectly aligned palm trees that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. Since they were surrounded by tropical rainforest vegetation or growing up alongside the roads, one might not even realize that they didn’t belong there at all. I watched as the palm oil was being harvested, mile after mile, with hundreds of men collecting it, one tree at a time. Everything looked fairly harmless, compared to the smoldering slash and burn residue I was used to seeing in other Central and South American countries. What I had to remind myself was that even though all of the palms looked lovely, immense amounts of forest were completely destroyed to plant them. 92
Palm oil remains one of the most severe and largely unknown threats for our worlds last remaining rainforests. It also turns out that as consumers we are guilty of contributing to the destruction in more ways than one would begin to imagine. Palm oil is an edible plant oil derived from the fruits of palm trees and it sits at the top of the list of our world’s leading agricultural commodities. Found in hundreds of products that we consume on a daily basis, including cooking oil, cosmetics, personal care products, pre-packaged foods, candy and snacks, it’s also being researched and used as a bio-fuel which is highly controversial because the deforestation necessary to harvest palm oil is killing the very environment that bio-fuels promise to better protect. Some scientists estimate that the use of palm oil biodiesel releases 8 to 21 times the emissions as conventional diesel fuel. Unfortunately, as a result of the volume and annual billion dollar profits made from harvesting palm oil, issues such as environmental destruction and wildlife extinction, although recognized, have been carefully avoided by governments and food manufacturers alike. Palm oil is also considered a monocop, meaning that the natural biodiversity of plant and animal life is removed to grow a single crop variety. Because of this, several problems exist. The crop becomes vulnerable to disease and unnatural insects and other pests. In naturally occurring rainforest habitat such infestations are rare because individual species are always widely dispersed and maintain a delicate balance. Since these crops are unnatural, they also fall subject to complete destruction from a single cold spell or drought, which in turn can alter the local and national economy that has become dependent on the new resource.
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Hundreds of thousands of acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed every year for palm oil plantations
In countries like Costa Rica, vast palm oil plantations like these are becoming common
As the mass deforestation from palm oil harvesting accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, it’s also one of the primary reasons why Indonesia and Brazil are now the world’s third and fourth largest greenhouse gas polluters.
Dove and Nestle who are responsible for the worst of forest destruction. Greenpeace offers insight on shaky environmental track records of all types of companies which are expertly examined and challenged by their teams.
An article in the New York Times stated, “In Indonesia at least half of the world’s wild orangutans have disappeared in the last 20 years; and 80 percent of the orangutan habitat has either been depopulated or totally destroyed.” Many scientists agree that this loss of species is almost exclusively due to palm oil, especially in countries like Borneo. As I studied all this further I started to feel horrible knowing that things as simple as chocolate chip cookies could have killed one of the most intelligent and gentle animals on earth. It turns out I wasn’t the only one. In 2008, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, two Girl Scouts from Ann Arbor, Michigan, stopped selling the celebrated Girl Scout cookies after they realized the affects the palm oil in their cookies had on the environment and this critically endangered species. They even started an education drive, website, and petition against palm oil and explained how palm oil production leads to unnecessary conflict between orangutans and people. “We’ve seen pictures of orangutans set afire and beaten because they eat crops like palm oil,” they said. “You really just want to reach out and do all that you can to help save them.” So what’s a chocolate loving environmentally aware girl with a heart to do? Start by following the work of organizations like Greenpeace who have shown us that often its massive brands and companies like
I urge everyone to read the labels on everything you put on or in your body, and scan them closely for palm oil and palm kernel oil (and its sneaky derivatives such as palmitic acid) and make sure you choose brands that don’t contain these substances. Palm kernel oil is also often hydrogenated, which means that it’s converted into a trans fat, found in products like chocolate. Trans fats are considered dangerous because of their highly negative effect on cholesterol levels so careful where your chocolate is coming from. The good news is that the stance the two young girls took in Ann Arbor against Palm Oil encouraged the Girl Scouts Company to review their ingredients and make changes that avoided palm oil altogether and if one major company can do that-so can every other company in the world that chooses palm oil based on profits.** GREENPEACE www.greenpeace.org
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Save the Amazon: Save the World... WRITTEN by: Starre Vartan PHOTOGRAPHY by: Manuel
Antonio
A few relatively small areas of the world have a larger than life impact on the health of the rest of the planet as the Amazon rainforest. Covering 1.4 billion acres in Brazil, Peru and other bordering countries, it represents half of the remaining rainforest in the world, and is just about the size of the continental United States. The rainforest in South America is home to 10% of the world’s species, produces 20% of the global oxygen supply, acts as a giant carbon sink, 1/5 of the world’s fresh water pours from its depths, and it’s home to thousands of indigenous people. Each of these pieces of information is significant in itself, but put together, the Amazon becomes a major organ in the body of our planet. And we are hacking away at it. If all these numbers make it hard to imagine the Amazon’s import, think about it this way; if just five of the planet’s cities were to disappear, (say New York City, London, Tokyo, Rio and Shanghai), nobody would argue that it would have a huge impact on human culture. So it is in the ecological realm. Specific locales and ecosystems, when damaged or threatened, are so valuable in a multitude of ways, so necessary for the healthy functioning of the Earth, that they are irreplaceable. Imagine if people were actively destroying our great cities, block by block, every day? Seems ridiculous, but that’s what’s happening. Yet about 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been eliminated by human activity. If we stay on the track we are on today, about 50% might be gone by 2030. The reason we should care about the Amazon is because it supplies invaluable resources for human beings and our ability to continue life on Earth as we know it. 94
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A Home for Multitudes: The Amazon rainforest is home to so many diverse species that new ones are found all the time (even birds, insects and mammals!). In the last decade alone, a new species was discovered ever three days in the Amazon rainforest. One in ten species on the planet finds its home in the rainforests and one in five birds is found there. It is the largest collection of plants and animals in one place on the planet. If you’ve seen the Sean Connery movie “Medicine Man” you know that promising drugs are based on plants and plant compounds found in the rainforest. Anti-tumor medicines used to treat leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease have been developed from a rainforest plant and d-turbocuarine, which is derived from a vine, is used to treat multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. What other plants might ease or cure human ailments? When we lose those plants before they are found, we lose the ability to heal ourselves and cut off a supply of future pharmaceutical breakthroughs. The Lungs of the World: The majority of trees in temperate forests lose their leaves for six or more months out of each year. But when those leaves come down, trees don’t produce oxygen and take carbon dioxide in. So during the winter, the oxygen that you and I breathe comes from places where the trees are still green, and especially the rainforests. The size of the Amazon rainforest means that it can literally be called “the lungs of the world”; it produces about 20% of the oxygen on planet Earth. If you think about it, one out of five breaths you take contains oxygen produced by the incredible biomass of plants and trees that grow there. Climate Change Mitigator: The flip side of the oxygen production that makes the Amazon rainforest the planet’s lungs is the
fact that it’s a carbon sink, which means that the vegetation there both stores and utilizes the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, pulling it from the atmosphere. About 10% of the carbon stored by biomass is stored here. Every time a rainforest tree grows, some CO2 gets buried in its trunks and leaves, which take hundreds of years to decompose. Some CO2 gets stored in the soil even when those trees break down. A Home for (Native) People Too: Over 350 unique indigenous and ethnic groups call the Amazon basin home. While the 30 million people who live there aren’t all subsistence forest-dwellers, they all depend on it for food, fresh water, medicine, and some for their livelihoods. Rainforests the World Over: Of course, the Amazon, while the largest contiguous rainforest, is not the only forest of this type in the world. Many people don’t realize that they have rainforests right in their own back yards. One doesn’t have to travel to South America to see them, and they are located throughout the world, from the giant evergreens of Washington state in the US to now disparate patches of rainforest in Indonesia to those in Mexico, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, and even down under in Australia. Each of these ecosystems harbors incredible diversity and serves as a critically important fresh water, clean air and habitat resource.**
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Going, Going
GONE
WRITTEN by: Erin McLaughlin PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: As Noted
If you’re like most people, you have read heart wrenching stories and perhaps watched documentaries about the illicit trading of drugs, weapons, women, and children. But how often do you hear about the illegal trafficking of our planets most endangered wildlife? As a $20 billion dollar industry, animal trafficking has made its mark on the black market rather quietly compared to drug and arms dealing. While it remains the third largest illegal activity in the eyes of the United Nations and the second largest for Interpol, the topic has been largely and sadly neglected in mainstream media. The estimation of some 38 million wild animals being captured and sold in Brazil alone is enough to get people’s attention, isn’t it? Perhaps not.The fact that an overwhelming ten to ninety percent of animals captured die during their treacherous journey is partly why the issue remains lost in the global media. It doesn’t help that a relatively small percentage of wildlife trade is considered legal and regulated 96
and thus ‘okay’ by some standards. According to Dr. Laurel A. Neme, author of Animal Investigators and international consultant specializing in natural resource management, as well as a wildlife advocate with extensive experience working with global environmental organizations, the small risks and penalties associated with animal trafficking, especially the trading of endangered species, give any organization with the proper methods the ability to import and export as easily as they please. This is in part because authorities have a difficult time catching these criminals as a result of massive land areas where they trade, very limited numbers of enforcement officers patrolling in these remote places and, until recently, few proper wildlife forensic labs in which to link evidence to the criminals. Still, the rate at which criminals are apprehended in most regions is less than ten percent. Arguably much worse is the way the animals themselves are handled and transported. By taping beaks and mouths shut and stuffing highly sought after tropical birds and monkeys into stockings and hidden compartments of suitcases, traffickers are able to ensure their goods get across the border without a voice, and often without eyesight. Many birds end up with perforated eyes so that they can’t react to the light and are squished into objects like PVC tubes. A staggering number of animals are captured for pet trade and endangered species sold live are drugged and abused every step of the way. Once captured, endangered primates, tigers, birds, and reptiles are just some of the species marketed as exotic pets. Other jeopardized species end up as coats and fashion accessories, home décor, or as nothing more than chemical compounds in traditional medicines.
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Photo from ANIMAL INVESTIGATORS by Laurel A. Neme highlighting Brazilian Federal Police Commissioner Jorge Pontes holding jaguar tooth necklace (with 44 teeth from 11 jaguars). PHOTO CREDIT: Brazilian Federal Police.
Smuggled live birds found in vehicle at border crossing south of San Diego. PHOTO CREDIT: US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The legal wildlife trade by itself reportedly includes over 25,000 primates, 2 to 3 million birds, 10 million reptile skins, and over 500 million tropical fish. Imagine how many illegally trafficked animals die under the radar for these products every year, every day. The actual number remains unknown.
forestation, poaching, and climate changes, don’t these animals have it hard enough as it is?
To traffickers, the value of these animals is nothing but a dollar sign. Dr. Neme’s studies and extensive research speak for themselves. “Ounce for ounce, products such as rhino horn and deer musk can be worth more than gold or cocaine,” she states. Additionally, Dr. Neme reported on a study done by the United Kingdom office of the International Fund for Animal Welfare which covered five areas of the English product trade market over the course of seven days. Products (i.e. animals) ranged anywhere from a $70,000 live two-year-old Siberian tiger, $65,000 chimpanzees, and an $8,200 seven-year-old gorilla. Elephant products alone amounted to over 5,500 individual listings in that time period with single ivory sculptures hitting the $18,000 mark. “[The IFAW study] revealed well over 9,000 separate offerings by private individuals and traders. Of these, about three-quarters (6,750) were from protected species whose trade was illegal,” Dr. Neme concluded. If these animals manage to be rescued from traffickers, they are often too weak or ill to be released back into the wild, especially infants who have not learned how to properly fend for themselves. In these cases the animals are kept in captivity until they can be shipped back to their country of origin. When they can’t find a home at a care center to be rehabilitated, they’re as good as dead. With global de-
Imagine twenty years from now showing our children or grandchildren pictures of Bengal tigers and African elephants, Toco toucans and Spider monkeys, because photographs are the only remnants of these creatures. Fortunately, illegal animal trafficking isn’t an untouchable problem. It isn’t an issue solely for Africa or Asia or any of the countries where the most famous of our endangered species originate. It’s happening everywhere and, as it’s largely an issue still in the dark, it’s up to all of us to bring it to the surface and take action. Learn about and donate to organizations like the Wildlife Alliance which use funds to rescue animals from illegal trade practices and support ranger patrols to protect wildlife and their habitats. Give back and spread awareness about the shelters that house rescued animals and forensic labs that prove their captors guilty. In the absence of stricter government laws and regulations, the best way to combat illegal animal trafficking and help these animals is to simply give them a voice before it’s too late.** Dr. Laurel A. Neme www.laurelneme.com
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Oil AND Oxygen WRITTEN by: Lynn Hasselberger PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: As Noted
Oil and oxygen: which one can you live without? Even if you’ve never been to a rainforest, I can almost guarantee that you’ve been touched by one—if, that is, you live on the planet Earth. Rainforests provide 20 percent of the world’s oxygen and absorb 20 percent of the world’s man-made carbon dioxide emissions. Our world’s rainforests will be wiped out within 40 years if the rate of deforestation continues unchecked. Will there be enough oxygen? While not the main reason behind deforestation, our addiction to oil is not helping. Some of the world’s most promising oil and gas deposits lie deep in tropical rainforests and we’ve heavily tapped into some of those already. When we examine the ways oil extraction can harm rainforests, it becomes clear that we are creating a path to our own destruction. Oil extraction in rainforest regions release toxic drilling by-products into local creeks; and rivers and broken pipelines and leakage often result in persistent oil spillage. Also, the practice of storing toxic chemicals in open waste pits pollutes the surrounding lands and waterways, killing plants and wildlife. It has happened in Peru and Ecuador over the past decade where more than one thousand pits of crude oil and toxic waste the size of swimming pools remain. To top it off, the pursuit of oil requires the construction of roads for accessing remote oil sites and opens land to colonists and developers who damage the surrounding forest through slash-and-burn agriculture, as well as introduce domestic animals, illegal poaching and hunting. It can also introduce deadly foreign disease to local 98
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Daryl Hannah, international celebrity, Pablo Fajardo, lead lawyer on the Chevron oil disaster lawsuit, and Emergildo Criollo, plaintiff in the lawsuit, stand together in solidarity at a Chevron-Texaco oil production site in the Ecuadorian Amazon. PHOTO CREDIT: © Amazon Watch
forest dwellers. Flaring, a process used by oil companies to burn off by-product natural gas in the open air, is also highly dangerous as the flames add pollutants to the air and can cause fires that destroy forest and threaten the lives of locals. Sadly, it is the Indigenous and local people who often gain the least and stand to lose the most. Their homes, culture, health and environment are always jeopardized when oil companies move in. They also receive little (if any) monetary compensation. In many cases, the fees and royalties end up in the hands of corrupt government bureaucrats before they can be distributed to the communities. Some of the most severe examples of rainforest oil extraction gone wrong occur to this day. Ecuadorians are demanding justice in a landmark class action lawsuit against Chevron, originally filed in 1993. In one of the worst environmental disasters on the planet and thirty times the size of the recent BP spill in the gulf coast, Chevron, (previously Texaco) dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and spilled roughly 17 million gallons of crude oil into the Amazon. In Peru Occidental Petroleum is blamed for causing severe injuries by knowingly dumping a daily average of 850,000 barrels of toxic wastewater into the tropical rainforest inhabited by The Achuar, an indigenous people of northern Peru, over a 30-year period. Occidental is also blamed for gas flare induced acid rain and improper waste storage in unlined pits. According to Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, a plaintiff in the case, the Achuar people have suffered ’devastating health impacts’ as a result of Oxy’s practices.
Oil pipelines run through so many countries like these in Ecuador
In August 1992, in Brazil a pipeline rupture caused a 275,000 gallon spill which caused the Rio Napo to run black for days and forced Peru and Brazil to declare national states of emergency for the affected regions. Hopefully, these examples will not make us feel helpless, but motivate us to take action. Beyond basic conservation, probably the most impactful action is to use your voice to call for sustainable fuel alternatives: ~ Sign up for Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network Action alerts. ~ Take action on behalf of the Ecuadorians. ~ Host a screening of the documentary film Crude to help spread the word in your community and raise funds. As said so well by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Nature is running out of patience.** TAKE ACTION http://chevrontoxico.com/take-action/send-chevron-a-message.html HOST A SCREENING http://chevrontoxico.com/take-action/crude-house-party.html
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Journey into the
Amazon
WRITTEN by: Violeta Villacorta PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Violeta Villacorta and Shuar Velásquez
For over twenty years, I have dedicated my life to design and the environment, inspired by cultures, nature and the beauty around us on a personal and professional level. However, my soul has been reaching for deeper meaning.
in Ecuador. While at a private screening of Avatar at director James Cameron’s office, we spoke of our mutual interest to promote arts and crafts to generate sustainability for communities. Upon his invitation, I traveled to Ecuador, where I spent a week working with Cofán artisans.
After working for six years as senior designer at Patagonia, my own collections and other companies since 1989, I dedicated much of 2009 to my inner journey. In the stillness, I listened for insights that would guide me to my true purpose and mission.
My first trip involved getting to know them, learning their goals and needs, while earning their trust. I told them my intention was to work as partners, making quality goods for discerning markets and generate higher revenue to benefit their community. Arts and crafts are one of the main sources of income for the Cofán, yet they currently do not have lucrative outlets for their products.
Born in Peru, raised in New York and educated at the United Nations International School, I was immersed in a richness of cultures and global awareness. Although I adopted a green consciousness in my life and profession early on, it was no longer enough to create earth friendly goods or live ‘green’. I was moved to incorporate my values and skills in the work with indigenous Amazon communities.
With a goal to keep my promise and return in October to continue the first phase of our collaboration, after raising funds from a network of friends, family and colleagues through Kickstarter.com, I returned to work with them for a month. The arts and crafts center, built with the funds raised before I arrived in the community, is a place where the artisans can work and showcase their products. Once there, we collaborated on product to generate orders and open new markets. We also worked on communication and technology trainings, including strategies to bring experts in business and marketing so they can run their businesses independently.
Through Amazon Watch, I met Emergildo Criollo, President of the Cofán Community of Dureno 100
Asociación Sukû is an organization of women artisans whose mission is to contribute and improve social, economic and cultural development of its members and the community, strengthening their cultural and spiritual identity through projects in agriculture, forestry, arts and crafts, and protection of the rainforest.
In the meantime, I connected with others working with Amazon
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First visit to Cofán Community
communities in Peru. Roberto Persivale, a financial consultant at Asesorandes, introduced me to a remarkable group of visionaries from varied fields. Accomplished businessmen and women who are adding value to the Amazon through ecotourism, fashion, carbon credit, food, traditional crafts and furniture industries. On our first meeting via Skype, I met Kurt Holle, cofounder of Rainforest Expeditions, and PaTS designer and entrepreneur Gerry Cooklin who works with Amazon communities on exquisite managed-forest products. During a cross-cultural forum at the University of Piura organized by Wampis intellectual Shuar Velásquez, Kurt met indigenous communities who wanted to engage in the marketplace. He explained, “It’s not that they do not want to participate in the markets. They do. But they want to do it on their terms.” These are not uncontacted communities. They are peoples threatened by development, with high quality forests in their ownership looking to use markets to add value to their forest and protect it. Historically, indigenous people have been, intentionally or not, hurt or taken advantage of by government programs, timber extractors, miners, and oil companies, creating an almost tangible wall of distrust. I traveled deep in the Amazon where Kurt invited the group of creators, entrepreneurs and 19 indigenous leaders to a four-day retreat at one of RFE’s eco lodges in the Tambopata Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, in November. Attendants were carefully selected and six companies with a track record for sustainability. Melting the frigid barrier of distrust in a paradisiacal setting Kurt said, “The only thing on our agenda is to generate friendships.”
Kangopacho seed necklace
We spent days exploring the rainforest, and evenings talking about ways indigenous communities can partake in business arrangements. Dril Bustamante, from the Ashaninka community of Cutivereni, summarized the group’s feeling: “The partner must not only share his income, he must also share his knowledge. We want to learn to be the administrators of the business, so we can do it on our own.” In a powerful meeting of minds and hearts Deep in Forests was born. We all came with a shared vision: committed to the protection of the Amazon and cultures that are the stewards of the most biodiverse ecosystem. Four main actions were agreed upon: to evaluate business models to establish profitable and sustainable ventures; create a brand to sell sustainable Amazonian products and services; search for capital to invest in these ventures; and implement communications tools to facilitate operating the joint ventures. While we start with Deep in Forests, I continue my work with the Cofán in Ecuador. When we align ourselves with our true purpose, all the pieces fall into place effortlessly and the real work begins. ** DEEP IN FORESTS www.wix.com/deepnforests/dinf
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Rainforest RX Will Miracle Cures Be Lost Forever?
WRITTEN by: Johanna Björk PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: As
Noted
Indigenous people and animals who call the rainforest home have long known how to self-medicate, using the plants growing in their natural habitat. Leaves of certain plants are sometimes eaten and digested whole to help clear intestines of parasites, and animals also know how to protect themselves from insect bites and fungal infections by rubbing medicinal plants and insects into their skin. They learn this by observing others, passing the knowledge on from generation to generation. As we lose rainforest, we are also losing its inhabitants, the keepers of all this medicinal knowledge. In the year 1500, an estimated six to nine million indigenous people lived in the tropical rainforests of Brazil.Today, as the world’s population hovers around 7 billion, there are less than 250,000 indigenous people left in Brazil. Prescription drug spending in the U.S. was estimated at around $246 billion in 2009. At least half of those medicines have active ingredients derived from rainforest plants. Yet, we have not even scratched the surface of this incredible natural apothecary. Only 10% of the rainforest plants used as medicinals by Amazonian Indians have been examined by modern scientists. Of the few that have been studied, treatments have been found for childhood leukemia, breast cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, and scores of other illnesses. Furthermore, 70% of the plant species identified by the US National Cancer Institute as holding anti-cancer properties come from rainforests. If a cure for cancer or AIDS is to be found, it’ll almost certainly come from the tropical rainforests. PHOTO CREDIT: Beth Doane | January-February 2011 102 | COCO ECO MAGAZINE
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PHOTO CREDIT: Kellee Laser
Some think it’s already been discovered. Graviola (which is called guanabana in Brazil and soursop in the U.S.) is an evergreen tree that grows in the Amazon region. It can grow to be nearly 50 feet high and is covered with green, long and glossy leaves. The greenyellow fruit is shaped like a human heart and has a skin reminiscent of a cactus. It is widely available and hugely popular at local markets. In the Amazon it is eaten fresh, but we are more likely to see it used in juices, smoothies or sorbets. For centuries, Indian tribes have used Graviola for medicinal purposes. Every part of the plant has healing powers and is used to treat conditions like fever, diarrhea, coughs and flu, asthma, hypertension and diabetes. It’s also used to ease pain caused by rheumatism, arthritis and osteoarthritis, and as a sedative. In an 1976 plant screening program by the National Cancer Institute, the leaves and stem of Graviola showed active cytotoxicity against cancer cells. Much of the subsequent research on Graviola focuses on a novel set of phytochemicals called annonaceous acetogenins. Three separate research groups have isolated compounds in the seeds and leaves of Graviola which have demonstrated significant anti-tumorous and anti-cancerous properties. One study demonstrated that an acetogenin found in Graviola had 10,000 times the potency of adriamycin, a chemotherapy drug currently used to treat many types of cancer. Active compounds from Graviola and other Annona plants are also being studied for their effect on AIDS. Earlier this year, a potential cancer drug called EBC-46 was deemed ready to be tested on humans after successfully treating solid tumors in over 150 animals. EBC-46 is derived from the seeds of the Blushwood Tree, a tropical rainforest shrub. Testing results have
Graviola, also known as guanabana or soursop, is an evergreen tree that grows in the Amazon. It contains an acetogenin that has 10,000 the potency of a commonly used chemotheraphy drug. PHOTO CREDIT: Tatiana Gerus, Creative Commons
indicated that the drug could work to counter a range of malignant growths, such as skin cancers, head and neck cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Results have not yet been published in any scientific journal and further testing is needed, but the prospects are very exciting. As often the case when it comes to natural medicine, the scientific community has divided opinions about natural cancer drugs. Some feel that they are being kept out of the market because their naturally derived ingredients mean that cannot be patented, and thus lack the prospect of profitability. If we continue at the current pace of destruction, half of the world’s rainforests will be gone by 2025, and all of them by 2060. That’s just fifty years from now. We cannot afford to loose this valuable resource. In New York, where I live, a new corner pharmacy seems to be popping up every day, the most common reaction being “What! That used to be a cute restaurant/ gay bar/punk rock club/awesome boutique!” Let’s work hard to avoid a future where we are left looking upon a clear-cut field of what was once rainforest, saying, “That used to be the cure for cancer.”**
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Virgin America Does Dallas Whilst Standing Up to Cancer! WRITTEN by: Anna Griffin PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Virgin
America
The Virgin brand has long been synonymous with cool and their rapidly growing domestic airline,Virgin America, is no exception. Not only are they a stellar example of leadership in sustainability in aviation (organic in-flight snacks, fuel-efficient planes and they actually recycle!), they also lead the field in customer service, technological innovation, and in-flight entertainment, not to mention style. Ask anyone who’s flown with them, but traveling with VX makes you Sir Richard Branson and SU2C co-founder Rusty Robertson
want to fly again (which is no small feat considering the cattle-like feeling we have all been reduced to by the old dinosaur carriers of the sky). Integral to an experience with any part of the Virgin Group (undoubtedly the most notorious and sexy brand on the planet), is not only the encouragement of a chic but responsible hedonism, but also an energetic approach to philanthropy, getting involved and making a difference. As Virgin Group Founder, Sir Richard Branson says, “A night when everyone gets merry is good, but it’s even better if you can combine it with something that makes a difference for others.” [1] The Virgin America December 1st inaugural launch to Dallas Fort Worth, most definitely lived up to that moniker. When you go on one of these adventures, it is a be-at-the-airportat-the-crack-of-dawn experience. However, upon arrival we were
True Manganiello 104 Blood’s, | COCO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 Melinda GatesJoeECO
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Sir Richard Branson and the Inaugural Crew touch down in Dallas
given the red carpet treatment and once on board a spankingly brand-new aircraft, safely airborne and chilling in their signature ambient lighting, the party started. It is of course not without notice that the early morning cocktails were sponsored by sustainable and oh-so-eco-chic Veev, and as always with the phenomenal VX InFlight team, served to us with a huge smile. Enough to get even this sleep-starved Editor in Chief in the mood. Still, whilst celebrating Virgin America’s exciting new route, mingling with several fun celebs like True Blood’s Joe Manganiello, Zombieland’s Amber Heard, Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet, and Maura Tierney, and enjoying free Wifi and other goodies, there was a deeper cause at stake. Having partnered with Standing Up To Cancer (SU2C), Virgin America encouraged flyers to stand up in the fight by tapping their social networks to raise money. Those who had secured the largest network of donors to give to SU2C’s groundbreaking cancer research funds scored a spot at the launch party and the airline matched their donations dollar for dollar. As we touched down into Fort Worth to the traditional fire engine hose-down, we were greeted on the tarmac by Longhorn steers, lassoing cowboys, a traditional Texas style BBQ, and a cheeky Sir Richard in chaps! The celebration continued into the night at the Winspear Opera House with a surprise performance by country music icon, Willie Nelson who brought the house down with his legendary tunes and positive vibes. To attend a Virgin event is always a memorable and privileged experience, but to be granted a private audience with Willie sealed the deal. However, the real celebration of the evening was undoubtedly the
Sir Richard Branson with county legend Willie Nelson
dollars raised for SU2C. As Co-Founder Rusty Robertson said, “By bringing great minds together and using the power of movies, TV, music, sports, and now an airline, we can surround people with a hopeful message and big results in the fight against cancer, like nobody has before.” Moving forward, as SU2C’s Official Domestic Airline partner, Virgin America has pledged to support SU2C’s mission by driving awareness and funding for lifesaving cancer research. On Virgin America, everyone can join the SU2C movement at 35,000 feet via the Red platform. Travelers can visit Red’s Shop section, choose a donation, swipe a credit card and join the fight to bring an end to cancer - right from their seat. 100% of the funds raised via the Stand Up Dallas-Fort Worth campaign and onboard go directly to cancer research. Beyond the glitz and glam of Virgin America’s most recent launch into a brave new Texan frontier, they are also Standing Up To Cancer. Now that’s sexy!** VIRGIN AMERICA www.Virginamerica.com STAND UP TO CANCER www.standup2cancer.org [1] As quoted from Business Stripped Bare, Virgin Books, 2008.
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Hairdressers Against AIDS
When Beauty Speaks, The World Listens WRITTEN by: Brian Bowman PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Hairdressers
Against Aids
Imagine an event so powerful that it included two days of demonstrations, a live on-air mention on The Early Show, video simulcast in Times Square, over a billion online impressions, and a conference held at the United Nations. Hairdressers Against Aids (HAA), a prevention program implemented by a partnership of L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and UNESCO, launched on November 31, 2010 in New York City. On the eve of World Aids Day, professionals from the fashion and beauty industries, as well as those closely related to the HIV epidemic gathered to speak at the United Nations. I was shocked to discover the current statistics, and after 3 decades since its inception, that 33.3 million people worldwide are still living with HIV/AIDS. I am not afraid to admit to personally turning a blind eye to this tragic reality after losing my father to AIDS in1991 at the tender age of 17. I arrived at JFK on November 30 and met with 4 of my coworkers from L’Oréal. In typical narcissistic hairstylist fashion, the conversation immediately became about how large our presence was going to be at this event. Anyone who has ever had their hair cut can tell you that hairdressers are some of the biggest sensationalists in the world, but what made this event significant was the industry coming together for a good cause beyond our own. Having all had personal experiences with HIV, we were affected very differently and were united in that experience. The next day we gathered in the hotel lobby of the Hyatt in Grand 106 Bowman | COCO ECO MAGAZINE January-February 2011 Melinda Gates sharing Brain his personal| journey
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Carsen Kresley, Kate Shindle, André de Shields, and Sheryl Lee Ralph
On The Early Show
Central. I looked around uncomfortably at the faces of familiar friends and those new to me, as if my silence warranted an excuse to run in fear of exposing my pariah. I settled into the atmosphere making my customary jokes and small talk and adjusted to our walk to the United Nations through the rain. Just at this moment I ran into one of my friends Tony. As good friends and LA colleagues, running into each other happens frequently, but something that day felt different. When I saw him he was leaning against one of the HAA banners and asked me to take a photo.
The next day, with a newfound hope and enlightened spirit, 500 hairdressers assembled in L’Oréal’s lobby. Armed with Flip video cameras, we hit the streets to capture the thoughts on the fight against HIV from our fellow New Yorkers. For the first time, I finally felt that my place within the industry meant more than making people beautiful on the outside, and it was about caring for those that need us to stand up and make a tangible difference. I could not have been prouder to be a hairdresser that day and even through freezing 30-degree temperatures and torrential downpours, we happily sloshed through the bitter streets spreading love and awareness. If ever there was a need for transparency, it was now.
Looking at him I realized I had kept my father’s death a secret all these years because I feared being accepted. In an instant and as a result of the overwhelming passion and commitment of my fellow comrades, I understood that my own personal struggle had been shaped through the embarrassment and fear of this disease, yet that it had also given me irreplaceable bonds of friendship. Tony has always known my story and as an HIV sufferer, has never judged me. As we walked over 2nd and 3rd Avenue, entering the United Nations together, I experienced a life-changing epiphany and in an instant, to all who would listen, I started sharing my story. What better place to expunge those 20 years of grief and sadness than inside the walls of the UN where the whole world was listening? There I gave a long-overdue accolade to my father, to Tony who alongside millions of others continues to suffer and fight everyday, and to all of those whom we have tragically lost to this disease. Finally after decades of wishing, hoping, and believing I could will this part of my history away, I realized that the freedom I was seeking lay in ending my silence, and this was the time and place for it to happen.
Entering this new decade we must realize that together we can prevent many things. I know this because I saw it at work in NYC. HIV and AIDS exist and still take countless unnecessary lives, but with a voice and effort we can change this. My relevance as hairdresser has shifted by the ability to discuss my own experiences in a commitment to making a difference. “AIDS is a judgment we have brought upon ourselves” was a statement made by Mary Whitehouse, and a statement we can all hold true.** HAIRDRESSERS AGAINST AIDS www.hairdressersagainstaids.com
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SHOPPING WITH YOUR
HEART WRITTEN by: Vicki Godal PHOTOGRAPHY by: The Spiral
Foundation
The Spiral Foundation held its annual holiday bazaar in Pacific Palisades. Co-founder Marichia Simcik spoke as James Simcik manned the beverages. Showcasing Spiral’s recycled plastic bottle and telephone wire bags, belts, bangles and jewelry, embroidered stationery, toys, dolls and clothing, Marichia proudly described how the Spiral Foundation typically works. “I discovered ‘Healing the Wounded Heart Shop’ in Vietnam. The shop sells handcrafted items produced by young, disabled artists with proceeds funding health care, medical and educational programs,” Simcik said. “So far, they’ve been able to pay for 250 heart surgeries for their local children.” Simcik calls it “shopping with your heart” and it is, 100 % of Spiral Foundation net proceeds fund medical aid in Vietnam and Nepal.** THE SPIRAL FOUNDATION www.spiralfoundation.org
Italian actress Maria Grazie Cuccionetta shops at the Spiral in Rome, Italy | January-February 2011 108 |Foundation COCO ECO MAGAZINE
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Director Steven Spielberg trying out a stool at the Spiral Foundation
Actress Nicole Kidman at the Spiral Foundation
Spiral Foundation work in Vietnamt
Director, James Cameron with Spiral Foundation wife Suzy Amis Heart Recipient
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Return to Freedom Life for America’s Wild Mustangs WRITTEN by: Vicki Godal PHOTOGRAPHY by: Bristol
MacDonald
Return to Freedom, an American Wild Horse Sanctuary was the evening’s focus at the Cornell Winery in December. Surrounded by amazing close ups of America’s wild mustangs by photographer Bristol MacDonald, the antique filled winery was packed with guests, there for the period atmosphere as well as the auction and raffle to benefit ‘Return to Freedom.’ Founder Neda DeMayo was moved by the reception. It means so much that this many people turned out,” DeMayo said. “And Bristol’s art is so spectacular, they can get a real feel for why we do what we do.” Providing sanctuary to 200 wild horses, Return to Freedom was the first to rescue entire family groups, as wild horses live in tight knit herds. Return To Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity and habitat of America’s wild horses through sanctuary, education and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world.** RETURN TO FREEDOM www.returntofreedom.org BRISTOL EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY www.bristolequinephotography.com Return to Freedom founder, Neda 110 |DeMayo COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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Director, James Cameron with wife Suzy Amis
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ReThink GREEN WRITTEN by: Vicki Godal PHOTOGRAPHY provided by: Rethink:
Green
Rethink: Green, an art exhibition, organic tasting and green awards to benefit Los Angeles Environmental Charter Schools (ECS) and the Green Ambassadors Institute took place in Culver City’s art district at Blackwelder LA during the holidays. Created by eco couture designers Elena Garcia Hosts included Ed and Rachelle Carson Begley Jr., Anna Getty, Lisa Ling, the MTV Buried Life crew and Heroes’ James Kyson Lee. Guests enjoyed environmental art, organic cuisine and music with a message by Ray Fresco and the Makepeace Brothers. Planet Green’s Boise Thomas and Darren Moore emceed Rethink: Green, which also honored 10 of 2010’s environmental leaders. ECS is a model for green learning and was incorporated into 10 schools in California in 2010 with plans to launch nationwide in 2011.** RETHINK GREEN www.echsonline.org
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| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011 Ed Begley Jr. and Rachelle Begley
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RethinkGreen. MTVBuriedlife
Heroes, James Kyson Lee
Young Green Ambassadors
Lisa Ling
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Artivist Awards WRITTEN by: Vicki Godal PHOTOGRAPHY by: Artivist
The Artivist Film Festival honors artists and activists whose work changes the world for the better. In December, 2010, The Artivist Film Festival Awards honored activist and actor Peter Fonda with a lifetime achievement award at the Los Angeles’ Egyptian Theatre. Artivist is the only film festival that exclusively showcases films that explore environmental, humanitarian and animal rights efforts and issues. Four thousand southern Californians attended Artivist, which featured 45 documentaries and independent films. Soul Food actors’ Vanessa Williams and Boris Kodjoe hosted the awards which also recognized filmmakers Barbara Pyle for Environmental Humanitarianism and Avis Richards for Community Advocacy. Pyle’s ‘Captain Planet and the Planeteers,’ co-created with Ted Turner, was Nielson’s number-one animated children’s series for five consecutive years. Richards founded Birds Nest Foundation™, a documentary, public service announcement and short film producer for non-profits.** ARTIVIST FILM FESTIVAL www.artivist.com
Artivists’ Christopher Riedesel, Parky DeVogelaere, honoree Peter andECO Artivists’ Bettina Wolff at Artivist 2010 114 Fonda | COCO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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Bettina Wolff, Jorja Fox and Christopher Riedesel
Artivist 2010 host Vanessa Williams and honoree Avis Richards
Luke Tipple
Frances Fisher and Esai Morales
Jonathan Morgan Heit
Nicole Ari Parker and husband Artivist 2010 host, Boris Kodjoe
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Green embroidered corset dress, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Leather jacket, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Necklace, MARIA FRANCESCA PEPE www.mfpepe.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com
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Shirt, GYPSY O5 www.gypsy05.com Vest and necklaces, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com
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Vintage Mongolian wool coat, STYLIST’S OWN Taupe embroidered shirt, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Pants, CHELSEA REBELLE www.chelsearebelle.com Linen necklace, Sweet Spruce www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, MINK SHOES www.minkshoes.com
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Blouse, ELENA GARCIA www.elenagarciastudio.com Faux fur vest, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us Knit cape, ANITA ARZE www.anitaarze.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Cuff, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com
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Vintage Mongolian wool coat, STYLIST’S OWN Taupe embroidered shirt, ROBERTO DE VILLACIS www.devillacis.com Pants, CHELSEA REBELLE www.chelsearebelle.com Linen necklace, Sweet Spruce www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, MINK SHOES www.minkshoes.com
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Leather jacket, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Necklace, SONIA B www.soniabstyle.com
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Black pants, SKINGRAFT www.skingraftdesigns.com Faux fur coat with hood, THE BATTALION www.thebattalion.us Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Jewelry, SONIA B www.soniabstyle.com Rawstone necklace, SWEET SPRUCE www.sweetspruce.com Feather headdress, AROUSE POTENTIAL www.arousepotential.com Boots, CALLEEN CORDERO www.calleencordero.com Tassled shawl STYLIST’S OWN
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Bikini bottoms, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Feather jacket, RACHAEL CASSAR www.rachaelcassar.com Pants, MALIA MILLS www.maliamills.com Boots, MINK SHOES www.minkshoes.com Necklace, STYLIST’S OWN
| COCO ECO MAGAZINE | January-February 2011
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