Here I am in West Palm Beach and look what’s on the scene – the Palm Beach Navajo – local, handcrafted sandals made famous by the queen of iconic style, Jackie Kennedy.  An enduring classic, the Navajo line now includes the Key West, Newport, Kenya and Provence styles.  Just add over-sized shades, skinny slacks and channel that retro vibe.  …if only these kicks were more eco friendly :(

find ($96/pair) @ jackrogersusa.com

If you’re not keen on petroleum and corn doesn’t quite cut it, you just might be the next Joe driving a methane-fueled car. That’s right; according to one UK-based company, your car can run on, well, your waste. Yep, that kind of waste. The developer that’s created the odorless methane gas from human excrement promises the same vehicle performance you’re used to, and to prove it, they’ve created the Bio-Bug, a Volkswagen Beetle retrofitted to run on the green (in theory, not color) fuel.

Kick-started by a gasoline engine, the Bug shifts to methane as soon as the powertrain reaches a certain temperature. From there, it runs on the green gas until it’s depleted, and then conveniently switches back over to gasoline, ensuring that the driver isn’t stranded in the middle of nowhere. Crap.

Apparently, roughly 11,500 cars in Sweden are already running on biomethane. The Bio-Bug, which was debuted last week in England, is just one example of what sewer sludge conversion can achieve. For years, companies like GENeco have been powering plants and routing energy back to the grid. So that leaves only one question: Are you committed enough to drive a people-powered car?

You won’t find Better Homes and Gardens in any of my bookmark folders – but I do like their DIY instructional on repurposing a flea market chair into a shelf and towel rack which I came upon over at Recyclart.  Nice idea for that weekend country retreat of yours.

We were invited to visit Weleda in Germany and have posted a series, covering their gardens, the company and their products.  With the final post to round out the picture our, Green Globetrotter Jessica Howell brings it all home…

What’s more environmentally minded than a trek through Weleda‘s Biodynamic Medicinal Gardens? Not much, as it turns out. The skin care company’s lush lot of land in Schwabish Gmund, Germany, is a haven for organic herbs and blooms, all 135 acres rooted in the company’s philosophy that body, mind and soul work in tandem with the world around us.

Ecologically diverse and quite stunning in function, the gardens sprawl across the German countryside and can be hiked to from the village center. During our stay, which was hosted by Weleda, we holed up at the simple yet practical Hotel Pelikan, eco-friendly (and equally uncomfortable) in its lack of air-conditioning during what was apparently the country’s hottest summer in 100 years. Go figure.

During our two-day stay, we walked the gardens, harvested bittersweet nightshade, toured the city at dusk, and indulged in the Italian cuisine of Restaurant Fuggere – patio seating highly recommended. It was lovely. It was quick. And it offered a unique glance into the culture of a global company that’s striving to redefine the beauty sector.

Interested? Contact Weleda in Schwabish Gmund directly to arrange a group tour of the gardens, given on an as-needed basis from April to mid-October and allowing access to an on-site organic cafe, and naturally, well-stocked Weleda shop. (Phone: +49 (0)7171/87488-11 or fuehrungen@weleda-naturals.de)

Related:  previously on altCon:

the Weleda series (the gardens, the company, the products)

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• (video) Briton Becomes First Man to Walk Entire Length of the Amazon – orange.uk

8 bottles recycled and kept out of the landfill = 1 new polo shirt.  These green polo shirts are made from 100% post-consumer recycled PET bottles. 8bottles states that the Performance Polo is the only pure recycled polo with no post-industrial fiber or added dyes.

The company hand-sorts and cleans the bottles, then transforms them into microfiber moisture-wicking fabric.  The fabric, which is said to feel like silk, is colorfast and washable.  Appropriately enough – the natural green color of the shirts comes from the recycled bottles.

$39.95 @ 8bottles.com

Gotta love the birch tree and bird pattern on this baby blanket.  Handcrafted from the finest organic cotton – the blanket features a beautiful fabric overlay of hand screen printed birch trees.  The overlay is printed from a limited edition print, using environmentally friendly, solvent free inks on unbleached cotton/linen.  The baby -friendly underside is beautiful soft, organic cotton flannel.

made to order – $53 from SewnNatural

(Also available with garnet red, light blue or forest green birch forest overlays).

The challenge: take a burned 1920′s row house and give it a re-birth as the greenest home on the block.  Watershed Architects looked upon the burned out shell of Richmond’s 11417 Grove Avenue (above – front + back) as a blank green canvas.  The property, which is currently on track for LEED certification, retains its original form and character while incorporating an impressive array high performing, green building practices.

The home’s low energy design features a substantial investment in renewable energy technology (solar panels) and water harvest.  The homeowner’s mental and physical health is enhanced through the utilization of non-toxic finishes and biophilic systems, such as an interior living wall (above, L) and a very cool green roof and garden (above, R).

We may not hit the outdoors as much as we used to, but we do love well made, great looking, sustainably-made active wear.  We jumped at the chance to fire off a few questions at Tom Podkolinski, Design Director of U.K. based Finisterre, a premiere purveyor of high performance sportswear and surf apparel.  Hope you enjoy our exclusive interview.

AC: You make great looking apparel.  How do you balance look, performance and sustainability when designing a garment?

Tom: Thanks! In our products we strive for the purity, simplicity and durability of function. For me, design is about creating an enduring legacy and when form follows function new ideas and technologies often create original solutions and future classics. Given that the performance/function of all our garments comes fundamentally from the basic structure of the fibre and cloth, there is durability in the design that is built to last.

The fabrics and fibre are as much a part of the form as the silhouette and overall application. The better something performs in its environment the more beautiful, it’s no accident that we are so often humbled by the majesty in form and function found in the natural world – simply stunning!

AC:  When featuring products on altCon we often find consumers questioning the origins, or foreign manufacture of products – how important to Finisterre is a new product’s sourcing and cradle to cradle product cycle?

Tom: When we started Finisterre we had a lot of discussions about this — which direction should we take, what is best? Where do you go organic, recycled, locally sourced, hemp, etc etc?

There are so many issues surrounding all of those aspects, it’s complex. In the end I think it boils down to having as much information as possible at your disposal, what is good and bad about a fibre, material or process, are there ways we can make it better? Then you can make informed decisions.

You can’t live in absolutes, there has to be give and take. At Finisterre it’s all about research, research, research. Then through our supply-chain traceability our customers can find out exactly how the garments have been produced and why we have made the decisions that we have!

As for cradle to cradle, everything needs to be there eventually, and clothing is going to be massively important as part of that shift. We want to be a part of that and make it as easy as possible for this transition to happen. All of our garments and fibres can be recycled, biodegraded or up-cycled.

The fabric of our Anabatic waterproof jacket (photo above), for example, is made from eco circle polyester by Teijin and is entirely recyclable to the same quality of polyester in a closed loop system. We encourage our customers to return something to us for repair and ask them for feedback on anything which could be changed to improve efficacy and durability.  (more…)