Today is World AIDS Day 2008, which is held each year on December 1st. It is a day when everyone comes together to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic.  This year marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.  As the organization’s site says, “Whilst we have come a long ways since 1988, there is still much more to be done.”

If you’re looking for a way to get your beauty on and raise some awareness, check out:

• Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 ($8.50), which sports the symbolic red ribbon.  During the entire month of December, 100% of the proceeds of this lip balm will be donated to YouthAIDS.
• MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam Products are available year-round and 100% of the selling price goes to MAC AID Fund.  Several choices in lipglasses and lipsticks are available.

What can $14 do?

$14 would produce 28 copies of free treatment and prevention information
$14 provides round-trip transportation for three people to attend support programs
$14 buys pantry items for nutrition program serving women living with HIV/AIDS
$14 buys formula for 15 babies
$14 covers the cost of school supplies for five teens affected with HIV/AIDS
$14 provides materials to support four volunteer tutors
$14 buys one unit of Therapeutic Recreation for one client
$14 pays for one food pantry bag, containing enough food for a family of three for one day.
$14 purchases one Hospitality Kit, containing personal hygiene and grooming products,
given to clients upon entering a housing program.

– MAC AIDS Fund Factsheet

What is Slow and Steady Wins the Race? “The mission of the label is to push and produce interesting and significant pieces from the simplest and most inexpensive fabrics and materials.” The bags are what immediately caught my eye. “The bags are based on the modern-day iconic handbag and are all executed in plain cotton muslin or canvas twill and then distilled to the sparest details of hardware and shape to identify it with its original. Through this process, the hi- fashion designer bag becomes a lo-fi object sketch and consequently an alternate icon of itself.” They still look cool, if not cooler, in a raw natural state. The bags have an understated - chic feel. It says: “I’m not trying too hard, but I still have an appreciation for design.” I applaud the effort, and would absolutely carry one of these canvas bags. Would you?

Items in this observation:

Beautifully illustrated with more than 100 specially commissioned photographs, and featuring 100 of Rose's most popular recipes, this book is as much a treat for the eye as for the taste buds. The unique style and atmosphere of Rose Bakery, as well as the people who prepare, buy and eat the food that is made here, are captured in Toby Glanville's evocative photographs.

Rose Carrarini became a pastry chef because neither she nor the customers of Villandry, the 'epicerie fine' she set up in London with her husband Jean-Charles in 1988, could find the pastries and desserts they wanted anywhere else. Now based in Paris, Rose has been serving simple, fresh and natural food that blurs the boundaries between home and restaurant cooking at Rose Bakery since 2002. Over 90 per cent of the products sold in the shop and served in the cafe are made on the premises with the best ingredients: Rose uses as much organic and locally sourced produce as possible, and has reduced the sugar content in her cake recipes to make them healthier without sacrificing flavour, texture or pleasure.

Rose Carrarini's approach to food and hospitality has proved to be very popular with the locals, who crowd into the shop on weekdays, choosing from the lunchtime display of salads, vegetable tarts and pastries displayed on the shop's counter, and line up on weekend mornings for a full English breakfast or a plate of pancakes.

This book makes the flavours and style of Rose Bakery accessible for people outside Paris, too.

All over the fashion world, people are saying, “green is the new black.”

On the streets of Toronto a new kind of It girlis in town - and you won’t find her in Holt Renfrew. She is the recessionista - the thrifty woman with a killer sense of style.

With the global movement to “go green” in full swing, with everything from Earth Hour, to organic produce, it was only a matter of time before the fashion industry followed suit.

Major brand names like, H&M, as well as designers like Katherine Hamnett, are taking a step into living harmoniously with the hip, tree-huggers of the world, with their snazzy, new, green threads.

According to Katherine Hamnett’s website, organic cotton – one aspect of eco-friendly clothing – is cotton grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers in soil that has been chemical-free for at least the last three years. Besides being pesticide-free, organic cotton can also help farmers get as much as a 50% increase in their income, as it costs less to produce than conventional cotton, which is responsible for using 25% of the world’s pesticides.

“The difference is ethical. By choosing organic cotton t-shirts you’ll feel how soft, stylish and luxurious they are. More importantly, you’ll help change thousands of lives for the better,” said Hamnett on her site.

“I will always try to pick the organic over the regular product, even though the price difference can sometimes be silly. I know no pesticides were used on it, and that helps me sleep better at night,” said Holly Jackson, who is in charge of a sustainability committee at the University of Maryland. “I think if people knew the bad effects of pesticides, they’d be a lot more inclined to pay the extra dollar for an organic item.”

In November, last year, a front-page expose in The New York Timesreported that its independent testing laboratory didn’t detect any seaweed in a randomly selected ‘VitaSea’ Lululemon T-shirt. “Personally, I would rather go to Value Village, CTS, or Black Market, and pay six bucks for a really cool, vintage-y blouse – as opposed to paying a ridiculous amount of money for a plain t-shirt,” said Reyes. “And besides, who wants seaweed in their clothing?”

At H&M, organic cotton t-shirts costs about twice as much as a regular t-shirts. This is why Brittany Schein from Oklahoma City, Okla. thinks that the ‘green movement’ is nothing more than a carefully-crafted marketing scheme. “Caring about the environment is the trend right now. They know that if people see a regular shirt versus an organic one, they will buy it – even if it is a little more expensive,” said Schein.

Nina B, a student from Boston, Mass. said, “I have one ‘organic cotton’ dress from H&M, but I would have bought it if it was regular cotton. The fact that it had a special tag didn’t influence my decision to buy it.”

Another online magazine that has set its sights on creating a greener closet for us all is treehugger.com, a website that “sympathizes with the fact that most people aren’t willing to compromise their current lifestyle in order to improve our shared environment,” and understands that by living green through “education and action … you don’t need to run off to live with the wolves to contribute to the betterment of Mother Nature.“

Though it may be true that most of us aren’t looking through Craigslistfor a new, howling roommate, it may just be a little unfair to say that we won’t budge to save our planet. The movement of the recessionista takes on a ‘Fashion without victim’ approach – one shared by Katherine Hamnett, only with a lower price tag.

“I do think that it’s [thrifting and buying vintage] exponentially more ‘green’ than ‘organic’ garments. Producing more clothing still uses more resources – even if some are ‘organic,’ still pollutes,” said Nina B. “To me, it just seems like a way for people to spend money and then pat themselves on the back for being ‘green.’”

Even some firm believers in the ‘green movement’ remain cautious when it comes to buying into ‘buying green.’ Jackson said, “A lot of brands ‘greenwash’ people now. By making an item seem environmentally friendly, when really, they only care about the profit.”

In the battle between seemingly eco-friendly corporations and savvy recessionistas, it is unclear which side is “greener” (pun most definitely intended). For one, buying more things – even if they are organic – isn’t necessarily ‘green,’ as valuable resources are still being used up. And, although it would appear that refraining from over-consumption of brand-new, fabulous threads is significantly greener, some used, vintage items like real fur and leather don’t exactly spread feelings of ‘eco-love’ to some of the Earth’s creatures.

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• H&M to launch organic garments

This is great news for Broadway!

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched the "Broadway Goes Green" initiative.

Que es eso, you ask???

The plan is to reduce Broadway's carbon footprint, which measures just how much greenhouse gases they produce.

Ten Broadway theaters have already started helping out! As of today, they've already replaced about 10,000 light bulbs with more energy-efficient ones.

Bloomberg said, "By this time next year, the lights on Broadway will burn just as bright, but the energy bills and our city's carbon output will be lower."

Looks like a win-win situation.

He added, "This commitment will raise the level of awareness for everyone involved in these shows including the audiences and that's going to have an impact that reverberates far beyond the Big Apple."

Aside from changing the bulbs, the theaters will try to use environmentally friendly items, such as environmentally friendly materials to build scenery sets. They'll also recycle and reuse props.

The theaters will use rechargeable batteries in equipment when possible and they're even going to wash costumes in cold water.

The environment will benefit and so will their pocket books.

Now if only more people started seeing Broadway shows again!

[Image via WENN.]

Via Trendhunter