design=love

klean kanteen: pretty in pink

I've wanted a Klean Kanteen for a long time, but never got around to ordering one. But today when I visited their site and saw the above pink ones... I finally snatched one up. Klean Kanteens were developed out of concern for the negative health and environmental impacts associated with the pervasiveness of plastic in our society and food chain. 

The plastic bottles you buy at the store or carry your water in may contain Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA exposure has been linked to a wide array of illness and disease, including breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, liver abnormalities, and prostate cancer. To reduce your exposure to BPA you should go purchase your own Klean Kanteen, avoid plastic containers with the code 7 on the bottom, not microwave food in plastic containers, not put plastic containers in the dishwasher. If you must use plastics make sure they are polyethylene or polypropylene which have the recycling code #1, #2 (HDPE), #4 (LDPE), and #5 (PP). For more information about BPA, check out this q&a.

The other great thing about the above bottles is that Klean Kanteen is donating $4 of every sale of all sizes of pink classic bottles to the Breast Cancer Fund in support of their work to eliminate environmental and other preventable causes of breast cancer. 

oh YEAH we did!

So so so so elated. I love that word. It really sums up how I feel. The President, my President, Thee President of The United States of America, is Barack Obama. I'm so impressed with our country. I always knew I was voting for him, but was worried, b/c of some crazy people I've run into during the election, that it just wasn't going to happen. But it did and I could not be more excited for what is to come! I wish I could give him a big hug! 

obviously, i'm voting for...

One [of the many reasons] I am voting for Obama is because he believes that global warming is a result of human activities and has ideas on how we can make our environment cleaner for future generations.

Global warming, caused by the buildup of man-made carbon dioxide, is causing Arctic sea ice to melt at an alarming rate. Over the past three decades the Arctic ice cap has shrunk by 1 million square miles — an area six times the size of California. Last September, the ice shrank to a level not expected to occur until mid-century. Most scientists are now warning that nearly all of the polar bear's summer sea ice could vanish by 2040 -- and many think it could happen by 2012, which could prove catastrophic for the polar bear. Unless we take effective action now, the polar bear could lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming and become extinct in Alaska by 2050.

I am very passionate about protecting the polar bears, so I was very excited when I saw the above poster. If polar bears could vote, I'm sure they would vote for someone who would fight for them and not against them (as miss sara palin did). no seriously, she did!

The poster is showcased, along with other Pro-Obama posters at Design For Obama. Where graphic designers and illustrators can post their designs in support of Obama/Biden. 

aveda + the earth = love

I love Aveda. My mom always gives me a hard time when we're at the mall and I want to buy my hair products from them b/c they are a 'bit' pricey. But mom, they smell good, are totally plant-based, and their bottles are biodegradable. [note: ok i don't compost them, but whatever, that's besides the point] Anyway, back to the point... Aveda loves the earth!

Aveda just launched a cap-recycling program, the first of its kind in the United States. The beauty company discovered that most plastic caps do not get recycled because they're made from polypropylene (more commonly known as #5 plastic). If you're like me, an avid recycler, this came as a huge shock! On treehugger.com, I found out that most recycling plants have machines that slice off the tops of polyethylene terephthalate (PET; #1) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE; #2) bottles and then discard the offending caps. Alternatively, the recycler would grind up the plastic altogether and then skim the lighter (and more commercially valuable) PET and HDPE plastic away from the heavier polypropylene, which is then consigned to a landfill. 

Also on treehugger.com, they note that more worrying is "the fact that these caps are often thoughtlessly cast aside as litter and end up polluting our rivers and oceans, where birds and other marine creatures mistake them for food because of their enticing colors. Aveda's pilot caps-recycling program enlisted the help of the company's salons and stores, as well as schools across the nation, to collect more than 50,000 pounds of water, soda, detergent, and shampoo polypropylene caps. The collected caps were then sent to a plastics recycler to see if they could be ground up and remolded into new caps."

You can help by dropping your caps off at an Aveda salon or store near you. The Aveda Bottle Cap Collection program accepts rigid plastic caps from soda, juice, shampoo, and laundry-detergent containers, as well as other flip-top caps.

a beautiful dedication

Wow. What an amazing and beautiful tribute to those who lost their lives in the September 11th attacks at the Pentagon. I'm sure you guys have seen it on the news but I just couldn't help but share more photos and thoughts about the Pentagon Memorial that was dedicated today on the 7th Anniversary of that tragic day. 

I saw an interview this morning with the designers and was really touched by their thought process. The families of the victims were involved in choosing this particular design. You can view photos of the construction process here.

One of the designers, Julie Beckman, had this to say about the memorial design, "We were looking for a way to create a very special place that's dedicated to each individual. The site has 184 benches. Each is engraved with the name of one of the victims, and each has its own reflecting pool. What makes a contemplative, beautiful place really came down to a place to sit, the sound of running water, shade and trees and so on."

project runway new favorite...maybe

So I'm starting to really like Leanne Marshall. At first she was super quiet and shy. I didn't really notice her right away. Then she made that scary brown floppy dress in like the 2nd challenge and I was like "ew what is this girl doing?" However, now that she's had time to relax and focus, I really think her designs are coming together quite nicely...

Then I took a look at what she created outside of PR. She's pretty awesome. All the photos above (and you can click to enlarge them) were from her past couple collections. I really love how she works with the fabric in such a surprising way. The folds that emphasize certain areas and hide others are very well crafted. I love the combination of texture and color in some of the garments as well. And how cute is the collar on that burgundy jacket?! I could go on an on with my [wannabe] fashion critic drivel, however, I'll stop b/c honestly I have no idea when it comes to this stuff, I just like it :) hehe.

Oh, and did you know Leanne has her own etsy site!? Well she does! Etsy even asked Leanne to share with us, her own favorite etsy finds. There's also a great bio piece that Leanne wrote about herself. Definitely check it out!

project runway: kelli

Sorry to anyone who hasn't watched yet, but I couldn't help but express my sadness that Kelli got eliminated today. I really liked her and thought she was a fresh new kind of personality to hit project runway. She had a unique perspective and and interesting aesthetic. Or maybe it's just because I liked her tattoos. I always love when people get tattoos related to their profession. Kelli has fabric scissors tattooed on her arm and I've seen other fashion designers with spools of thread. I always wonder what a graphic designer could get... a mac powerbook? an xacto knife? spray glue? hmmmm... i'll have to think...

...anyway back to project runway. Even though yes, the outfit wasn't so good, Kelli did not deserve to go. That dumb guy Daniel always looks so scared. I did like his blue plastic cup dress, but ew he's the one that did the purple stewardess cocktail dress for the Olympic challenge. Blah on him.

But I'm sure Kelli will go on to do great things even though she won't make it to the end. I was checking out her fashions from before the show and she made some amazing stuff. I like how she uses bleach and dye to add splatters and visual texture to her fabric. Bye Kelli, I'll miss you!