Christie Matheson - Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style

Appealing to readers' sense of style, Matheson slyly steers us toward consumer goods and services that minimize our earth-stomping human footprint. She's brave enough to say buy less of everything, and even the politically fraught buy nothing. Matheson's genius is to make this seem not only doable, but fun.

Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash and Bottlemania: How Water Went On Sale and Why We Bought It

Green Chic is a bible for any environmentally-conscious fashion-philefrom a green dry clean to a pure pedicure, Matheson serves up style in a life guide to saving the planet and looking good doing it!

Jill Kargman, author of Momzillas

Copyright 2008 by Christie Matheson

Cover and internal design 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Cover photo iStockphoto

Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systemsexcept in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviewswithout permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.

P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410

(630) 961-3900

Fax: (630) 961-2168

www.sourcebooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Matheson, Christie.

Green chic : saving the Earth in style / Christie Matheson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1082-2 (trade pbk.)

ISBN-10: 1-4022-1082-5 (trade pbk.)

1. Environmental responsibility. 2. Alternative lifestyles. 3. Organic living. 4. Sustainable living. 5. Environmentalism. I. Title.

GE195.7.M38 2008

333.72dc22

2007044209

Printed and bound in Canada.

WC 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my sister, Jen

It's a question of discipline, the little prince told me later on. When you've finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, in The Little Prince

CONTENTS

in which I say hi and explain green chic

a few helpful terms to know

baby steps to greener living

being green a su casa, in two parts

ecofriendly food, wine, and more

beauty and personal care

info for fashionistas

everyday transportation, and ten travel tips

parties and celebrations and such

a little section about the big picture

these are a few of, well, my favorite green things

some of the things I read in the course of my research

INTRODUCTIONS

I am not a veteran environmentalist. I don't live in a house made of recycled tires, I've never handcuffed myself to a tree, and I don't grow my own organic rutabaga. But I am interested in being green. If you picked up this book, the same probably applies to you.

I'm a writer. I write about food and wine and fashion and spas. I've written about how to make a cake that looks like a designer handbag (you would not believe how long that takes), what goes into a perfect martini, and the thread counts of certain Italian sheets. In other words, I often write about things that are considered chic. (Does that mean I am chic? Well. You make the call in a few chapters.)

I'm a regular person, and I enjoy certain creature comforts: I like taking hot showers. I don't want to convert my entire wardrobe to hemp (though I did find a sexy hemp-and-silk top that gets tons of compliments). I'm never going to be someone who can go for a whole year without buying anything new. But that doesn't mean I have to abandon any hope of green living. While researching this bookwhich I did for a year while living half the time in Boston and half the time in San Francisco, where my boyfriend, Will, lives (he's now my fiancI'll tell you later about how he proposed with an ecofriendly ring)I discovered that you can definitely be green without giving up everything you love. I also figured out that being green can be decidedly chic, a combination that no other green living book has explored.

It's a no-brainer. None of the designer cakes, martinis, or Italian sheets are even remotely as chicand I mean really, truly, deeply, timelessly, Jackie-O-and-Audrey-Hepburn chic as living green.

This is not because being green is trendy right now and a current pet cause of many celebrities (though it is, of course, and that helps raise awareness about a hugely important issue). Fads come and goif you look at a photo of yourself decked out in your middle school style (what was up with those bangs?) you'll appreciate thatbut ecofriendly living is more than a passing phase. Like anything truly chic, it is always in style. It has to be. Green living needs to become the standard, so that at some point we don't even label it anymore.

In order for that to happen, we need to embrace the fabulousness of green living. And it is fabulous. Being green can help you look gorgeous, have a killer wardrobe, feel amazing, travel in style, create a home that's an oasis, host fun parties, eat incredible food, and drink phenomenal wine, all while feeling more connected to your friends, family, and nature. Yeah, okay, this all sounds like a commercial for green living, but I'm not kidding. If you don't believe me now, talk to me in 212 pages. This book gives you all kinds of easy ways to be greenand to be chicer than ever at the same time.

And anyway, all the chic stuff is just a very nice bonus. Which brings me to the real reasons why living green is the only way to go. I'm going to get serious for a minute. I promise the rest of the book isn't this stern and scary. But before we get to the fun ideas we need to get why it's important to live green.

We are destroying our planet.

Does that sound too dramatic? This is a dramatic situation. You probably hear about this all the time, and maybe you're tempted to tune it out, but here's the deal: Human activity burning fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) to power our cars and airplanes and energy plants and the factories that make all the stuff we consume like crazy, plus cutting down trees in an out-of-control wayis causing the release of way, way, way too many greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide [CO2 ], methane, and nitrous oxide) into the atmosphere. (Since CO2 accounts for about 80 percent of greenhouse gases, that's the one you usually hear about.)

Those excess greenhouse gases are trapping heat close to the earth's surface and warming up the atmosphere and oceans. Dangerously so. Glaciers are melting. Deadly heat waves are becoming increasingly frequent. Catastrophic hurricanes are raging more often. Cities are flooding, while lakes are drying up. Farms and our food supply may be threatened by drought. Destructive wildfires are escalating. Polar bears are drowning. Penguins are dying. This is bad.