Guys, if you’re lucky enough to be out of the snow and near a warm, inviting beach (hello, Palm Beach), why not shuffle on down to the water’s edge in a pair of these Vans Rata Vulcs. The uppers are made of 100% hemp and the inner lining gleams in vibrant orange.

$52 @ zappos.com

Review of Neola wedge from the Twist and Shout Collection: If you’re looking for style and comfort, pull up a chair and try on a pair of these beauties. Go easy on your feet and easy on Mother Earth. I love how the platform wedge gives me a couple of inches of height without my having to squish my tender toes into a pair of heels. The vegetable tanned leather is super soft, rubber lining is nice and comfy and the cork sole is strong, renewable and durable. These babies look great with jeans, sun dresses or tunic & tights. For a casual evening or brunch with friends, they’re a perfect match – day or night. They fit nice and snugly.

UPDATE: Congratulations to our lucky winner, Megan! Thanks to everyone for participating. Stay tuned for our next eco fab giveaway.

Great Green Giveaway: For the well-heeled .. One lucky winner gets to pick their size and favorite color of the Neola style (photos above). Choice of flat sandal or wedge. Prize value: $139.95 + free shipping to anywhere in the USA or Canada. Contest ends Wednesday, March 14. For prize notification be sure to add the following to your email address book: m at AlternativeConsumer.com.

To enter, be sure to take a peek at all the collections at naya.com. Simply let us know your favorite color (red, black or sand) & why you’d like to be the winner. If you’d like to receive more than one entry, do any of the following, leave a comment for each.

• OPTIONAL: follow Naya on Twitter and/or Facebook – leave an additional comment for each to let us know.

More optional ways to receive additional entries:

• Sign up for our free monthly enewsletter for insider tips, news & deals.
• Join us on Twitter – tweet about the giveaway (no more than once per day), be sure to refer to @altCon, and leave a comment on this post.
• Receive additional entries 2 more ways: subscribe to our RSS feed, or like us on FaceBook. As always, we will not share your email info with anyone. Good luck!

Naya means renewal and was created for women who want beautiful, comfortable shoes that leave a softer footprint on our earth. Naya has partnered with national nonprofit Soles4Souls to launch Renew Your Soles, a nationwide shoe donation and recycling initiative designed to encourage people to recycle their shoes to keep them out of the landfill and help people in need. more @ nayashoes.com

Neola is available at Nordstrom’s for $139.95

Details: Vegetable tanned leather upper; rubber lining; cork sole … sandal is lifted by a woven-wrapped wedge.

full disclosure: Naya provided me with a Neola wedge in black for the purposes of this Tried and True Green Product Review and Great Green Giveaway.

The passion for global fashion can now be accessed through Serengetee, a t-shirt company that offers shirts with pockets made from fabrics from around the world. The company’s motto, “Wear the World” certainly embodies their goal. The company was started by a young world-traveler, Jeff Steitz. He circumnavigated the world on Semester at Sea in the fall of 2011. While abroad, Jeff collected fabrics from all of the regions he visited including Africa, South East Asia, South America and more. He has also collected fabrics from different regions of the United States to add to the Serengetee t-shirt pattern collection. (more…)

Vladimir Levestam creates wonderful designer jewelry out of found and salvaged wood. The basic raw materials of his designs were collected during the professional thinning of the Crimean National Park. Levestam also creates pieces that combine wood and amber (hardened pine pitch) like the woodsy amber and wood ring pictured above.

Many of his handcrafted designs cost less than $50.

These handcrafted dangle earrings are made with recycled silver and matte finished in 24K gold. The OOAK (one-of-a-kind) earrings have a unique, uneven, organic shape. $48 @ the anakim Etsy shop

Something new from something very, very old –  Andrea Bonelli  cast an ancient ammonite fossil in recycled sterling silver to create this elegant, sustainable necklace (photo above).

These ‘Rescued Again’ earrings (above) were created via the marriage of a pair of matching upcycled pocket watch gears and two repurposed 1920 Red Cross pins.

$28.95 @ the steampunkjunq Etsy shop

related: more eco-friendly fashion finds on The Alternative Consumer

This handmade ring was created from a souvenir spoon from Long Beach California. The ring is a solid banded size 8 and is marked with the date the spoon was first purchased at the beach — 1905. This ring weighs 5 grams of solid sterling silver.

The one-of-a-kind ring was created by Dan Kemp and is listed for $84 @ his dark artistry Etsy shop

Laura Bergman makes lovely jewelry and accessories from antique glass and reclaimed bottles she recovers from the woods and rural farmlands of Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. These antique brass filigree teardrop earrings (pictured above) hold the glowing remains of ice blue glass from locally recovered broken Mason Jars.

$24 @ the bottled up designs Etsy shop

related: more eco fashion finds on The Alternative Consumer

Dara Gerson and Ashley Lowengrub of Alkemie Jewelry make all their wonderful pieces by hand from 100% reclaimed metals in their Los Angeles studio. Pictured above (l to r) are the Cicada ring and Egyptian Cobra and Lion necklace.

This year’s winner of the Red Carpet Green Dress competition has just been announced. Suzy Amis Cameron (photo on right in an earlier winning design), founder of the Red Carpet Green Dress design contest has announced the winning dress and surprise actress who will wear the sustainable gown to Sunday’s 84th Academy Awards.

Actress Missi Pyle, the vivacious actress recently seen in the Academy Award nominated film “The Artist,” will wear a design by Valentina Delfino, who was born in Venezuela and is now based in Miami. Delfino’s design was chosen from among hundreds submitted by designers who entered a sustainable dress design in the Green Dress competition, which began last November.

Swan & Stone created this mens style fedora hat (above) from Dijon yellow and azure blue, hand-felted wool. The designers make their hats entirely by hand, from fibers harvested on their Vermont farm.

Farmer/felter Samantha Stone raises the animals and makes gorgeous felts using home-grown wool and other locally-sourced natural fibers like alpaca and mohair. Designer/milliner Nora Swan uses her years of experience as a theatrical and fashion milliner to transform Sam’s felt into striking couture-grade hats and accessories.

$175  @ the Swan & Stone Etsy shop

Gray Harris Tweed Effie Bag (above) is made from luxurious Harris Tweed. Harris Tweed has been hand woven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and made from pure virgin wool, also dyed and spun locally in the Outer Hebrides.

$105 @ the Mairead Etsy shop

related: more eco fashion featured on The Alternative Consumer

Women of talent all over the world go unnoticed every day. However, with organizations like Thirty One Bits, a portion of these women are now being recognized and given the opportunity of a lifetime. The organization was started by Kallie Dovel. Dovel was inspired by the hard work, perseverance, and beautiful craftsmanship displayed by the women she met on a trip to Uganda in 2007. She visited the village of Gulu, Uganda and discovered the art of making jewelry out of recycled paper, a common trade of the local women of the village. Despite their incredible talent and creativity, these women were struggling to make an income that supported their families. Dovel was inspired by their drive and brought some of their jewelry back home with her to the United States, determined to help the women in any way that she could.

Thirty One Bits is now the product of this inspiration. Dovel, along with a group of close friends has created an organization that services 108 women in Gulu Uganda. They purchase a monthly stock of jewelry from each woman, providing them with a sustainable income. Each woman stays in the program anywhere from three to five years, building business skills and saving money. The program does not just provide the women with a steady income, but also offers services such as: vocational training for a foundation in business, individual business mentors, AIDS education programs, community groups for emotional and mental support, a bank account for each woman, a finance-training program, as well as English lessons. These services are provided in hopes that each woman will graduate from the program with the materials and skills needed to start her own business and provide for her family. find online @ 31bits.com

PS: Hey Cassandra -  we’re loving the do good, look good nature of the line … the wedding collection and spring 2012 look awesome … all from recycled paper!

related: more eco-fashion on The Alternative Consumer

Anyone who wears Eileen Fisher appreciates classic style … Now you can save some green, and tap into some sustainable Fisher style by shopping at Green Eileen in Yonkers, Woodbury Center and Irvington, NY.

Or – give and you shall receive … donate your gently worn Eileen Fisher threads to one of five designated locations whenever you’re ready to pass them along. Receive a tax receipt and $5 EF gift card for donating any pre-loved Eileen Fisher items.

It’s a nicely sustainable closed loop system with an extra good karma kick … Green Eileen helps fund programs for women and girls in our local, national and global communities. To date, the foundation has sold over $500,000 recycled pieces and contributed over $425,000 to programs which support women and girls.

What happens to items that don’t make the cut? find out more @ greeneileen.org

Related:

• more green do-gooders on The Alternative Consumer
• more eco-fashion on The Alternative Consumer