The new eco-retailers "get it" and are leveraging design and technology to bring consumers outstanding shopping experiences. Joining Josh to discuss new developments in eco-retail are George Polisner, founder of web shopping portal Alonovo.com, Aysia Wright, founder of the Portland, Oregon-based eco-fashion boutique The Green Loop, and Jim Kloiber, co-founder of TwoKH, an upscale eco-home store in New York City.

The modern designers of the twentieth century ignored this question as they sought to demonstrate mankind’s dominion over the natural world. Relying upon new industrial techniques, they advanced their goal of bringing design to "the masses". Environmental respect was not an afterthought in this endeavor. It simply was not even a thought.

Who could blame the modernists?

Who knew that the unfettered deforestation relied upon to build our homes and dinner tables would contribute to rising global temperatures, soil erosion, species extinction, and community devastation?

Who knew that oil-fueled automobiles would lead directly to destabilizing climate change?

Who knew that the products intended to increase our quality of life would one day threaten to erode it?

The paradigm shift we are witnessing today is the recognition that how we design matters in a much larger context. It matters to the health of our natural habitat from the food we eat, to the water we drink, to the air we breathe. It directly impacts our ability to maintain and enhance our quality of life.

A new generation of designers is coming to terms with this reality and in the process advancing the new stylistic and theoretical agendas for their respective disciplines. In architecture they strive for LEED certification for their buildings, adhere to the tenets of the U.S. Green Building Council, and recognize that great design reveres form, function and respect for nature. In furniture and interior design, they use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainably harvested wood. They work with environmentally superior materials like bamboo. They choose fabrics like organic cotton. They internalize the tenets of Cradle to Cradle design and seek its product certification.

It is this greater design awareness that we profile at Vivavi. It is what is evidenced by companies like Patagonia, Nike, GE, Timberland, Herman Miller, and Toyota. Open the pages of Plenty, read Treehugger, MetaEfficient and Inhabitat and subscribe to Ideal Bite, and you’ll encounter twenty-first century designers whose products are relevant to the aesthetic, quality and environmental demands of our contemporary world.

Designers who forsake the environment are anachronisms. They are stuck in the old “modern design” paradigm. They are relics of twentieth century schools of thought that sought dominion over nature in place of balance.

Like with all paradigm shifts, as the new green design paradigm takes hold, these outdated designers will eventually conform to the new principles and embrace them as their own. In the meantime, we can support those who are leading the contemporary green design movement and encourage more in the design community to become mindful of their new roles and responsibilities.

Want to be a Green Designer? Check out these additional resources:

- O2 Network - international network for sustainable design
- DesignGreen - offers green design workshops

Know of more? Send us a comment and we'll add them to the list.

- Plenty Magazine – from eco-fashion shoots to green gadgets and insightful commentary, Plenty is spot-on when it comes to conveying green living in a modern context.

- Yogi Times – a magazine for the modern yogi, Yogi Times caters to the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets and does a fantastic job of integrating environmental awareness and a spiritual lifestyle with the wants and demands of modern living.

- Ode Magazine – a newcomer (in the U.S.) to the green scene, Ode delivers thoughtful commentary and inspiring storylines.

- Dwell – most people we know who read it call it their favorite magazine. Dwell makes design simultaneously accessible and awe inspiring. Most issues feature contemporary, green design.

- Treehugger – this online magazine written in blog format has become the bible of all things modern and green.

- WorldChanging – another online magazine written in blog format, WorldChanging is endlessly fascinating on all issues pertaining to sustainability and much more.

- IdealBite – think DailyCandy for the eco-minded. IdealBite delivers useful, relevant tips on modern green living to your inbox on a daily basis.

Click Here To Listen

You might be surprised to note that the largest buyer of organic cotton in the world is Nike. That’s right, the company has been busy becoming a steward of the planet by enacting some very innovative environmental policies. Small percentages of organic cotton are mixed with conventional cotton in many Nike garments. In 2003, of the 120,000 pounds of cotton Nike used to make its garments, 3,000 pounds were organically grown.

A slew of innovative materials are coming online to further push eco-fashion into the mainstream and offer garment makers a variety of fabrics with which to work. For example, both bamboo and soy are being spun into soft, luxurious fabrics. Bend, Oregon-based Of The Earth spins soy shirts that are amazingly comfortable.

When I started Vivavi I was intent upon making eco-fashion accessible to a broad audience. However, we’re now in the process of migrating Vivavi toward contemporary furniture and home accents and selling out our current inventory of women's eco-fashion. So where can you purchase great eco-fashion and what brands offer cutting-edge products? Here’s the short list:

Eco-Fashion Boutiques
- The Green Loop – based in Oregon, Aysia Wright has pulled together a very strong collection
- Gomi NYC – can be found on the Lower of East Side of Manhattan in New York City
- Pangaya – this online retailer works with many of the best brands on the market
- ejust – if you’re up in Quebec check out this trendy boutique.
- Hip and Zen – another online boutique that brings together strong collections

Eco-Fashion Brands
- Stewart+Brown – the best of eco-fashion that we’ve come across from Karen Stewart and Howard Brown
- Ecoganik – pushing heavily to bring a real fashion sense to eco-fashion at a fair price point
- CoolnotCruel – Sara Cross has developed a strong line of staples that will compliment any wardrobe
- Loyale Clothing – Jenny Hwa’s line is gracefully transitioning from yoga to everyday wear
- Natural High Lifestyle – Frank Angiuli’s line of casual hemp wear offers perfect items for that chill L.A. vibe. The company’s flagship store is on Main Street in Santa Monica, CA.
- Loomstate – thank you, thank you, thank you for giving us Loomstate. Finally, organic cotton jeans that look great in styles for both men and women
- Edun - chic clothing line designed by Rogan (also makes Loomstate) in partnership with Bono and wife Ali Hewson
- Linda Loudermilk - Linda Loudermilk's "luxury eco" collection takes eco-fashion into the realm of haute couture
- Patagonia - designed for style, comfort and function, all cotton clothing is 100% organic

Lastly, if you want to private label your own organic cotton t-shirt collection, then American Apparel and T.S. Designs are the partners for you. American Apparel supplies the organic cotton t-shirts. T.S. Designs uses state-of-the-art eco-friendly dyeing and screen printing processes. Contact T.S. Designs for more details.

The signs around us indicate that this is what we must do and they could not be clearer. Focused action in this area supports so many desired outcomes. Here is the first in a series of examples outlining how actively promoting sustainability yield so much benefit.

Let’s consider the war on terror. From what we know about him, the Saudi Arabian Osama Bin Laden became outraged with the United States because of the influence and military presence that the United States maintains in his country. The United States created a military presence in Saudi Arabia to keep pressure on Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s rule and promote stability in the Middle in order to ensure continued access to oil.

Let’s consider what happens if we no longer need oil. We no longer must coddle authoritarian regimes. We no longer must house troops in Saudi Arabia. We no longer must spend our national treasure and put American lives at risk in the Middle East. We can take the most significant action of all to increase our national security and eliminate terrorist attacks against the United States; we can leave the Middle East.

Yet, there exists a still greater long-term threat to our national security resulting from our dependence on oil. China, the largest of the Asian tigers, is now the second largest economy in the world and is projected to surpass the United States by 2030. The United States and China are on a collision course. As China hunts for oil to ensure its continued economic growth it begins to step on America’s toes. Oil supply is finite. Demand for oil is not. Continued reliance upon oil will pull the United States and China into conflict that could ignite the next world war.

If the United States eliminates its dependence upon oil, it can cede Middle Eastern oil to the Chinese. It can allow the Chinese to become embroiled with nations who are not accountable to their citizenry, a much better fit for China than for the United States. The United States and China can remain amiable trading partners and better manage what is fast becoming the most important bilateral relationship on the planet.

And still, there exists a greater long-term threat to the United States as a result of our dependence upon oil than even that posed by China. The scientific community is an agreement that human activity is causing the world to heat up which is causing the climate to change. The threat to not just the United States but all of humanity from climate change is the most dangerous threat of all. It is not a doomsday prediction to talk about oceans rising, coastlines and fisheries disappearing, croplands lying fallow, and fresh water supplies dwindling. We are witnessing these events right now.

Eliminating our dependence upon oil can ensure national and global security and stave off a series of future disasters that could bring civilization to its knees. To reply continually upon the bones of extinct dinosaurs to power the global economy is folly when better solutions are at hand.

We can eliminate the three greatest threats to our national security - terrorism, China’s economic rise and global climate change - by advancing clean, abundant energy sources like solar and wind. This cannot be dismissed as naive or utopian vision. Consider who is investing in solar and wind energy technology. Silicon Valley venture capitalists for starters. The same people who backed the companies that give birth to the information revolution are now backing the energy revolution. Venture capital firms like Draper Fisher Jurvetson have invested in next-generation solar technologies called “nanosolar.” General Electric, the company with the second largest market capitalization in the United States, ranks second globally in wind turbine manufacturing. These companies take their investments very seriously and are envisioning a future in which solar and wind energy play a major role.

So how do we create the new energy economy based on solar and wind technology? It requires a series of steps and concerted action by our politicians, businesses and citizenry. First, we must increase dramatically the required mileage per gallon of our automobiles. The automobile makers must recognize that our current mileage per gallon levels jeopardize our national security and they must take appropriate action. The President with the support of Congress must introduce new mandates, offer tax incentives to automobile companies and apply strict penalties to those who do not adhere to the new letter of the law. Americans must do their patriotic duty to purchase automobiles that get better mileage to the gallon. It no longer makes sense to line the pockets of Saudi potentates just to fill up the tank of the old Hummer, Land Rover or Envoy.

Energy subsidies that our government currently allocates to the oil, coal and nuclear industries must be redirected to the solar and wind industries. In order to minimize economic dislocation and increase the likelihood of this scenario occurring, oil, coal and nuclear companies must be offered the opportunity and economic support to transition their economic portfolios away from their outdated, twentieth century technologies to the energy technologies of the future. They must fully believe and feel that their future prosperity is possible and tied to solar and wind.

We must accelerate current initiatives to create a transportation infrastructure for clean burning hydrogen energy. We must put filling stations in place throughout the country and prepare to build new fleets of hydrogen powered cars and retrofit old fleets with hydrogen power capability. Hydrogen burns clean but it is derived from other sources of energy. Once we have built our wind and solar capacity, the energy from these abundant sources can be harnessed to create hydrogen fuel to power our automobiles.

Ultimately, our reliance upon solar and wind energy will eliminate our dependence upon oil and coal and make nuclear energy irrelevant. The twenty first century will be powered by twenty first century energy technology. Our energy security and continued economic prosperity will be ensured. The United States will be safer. The world will be cleaner.