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30 December, 2010

Stevia is A Super-Beauty Food

30 times sweeter than sugar, Stevia, the herb-derived non-caloric sweetener that has replaced those others recently, is actually a beauty remedy as well!

It comes from a small green plant (stevia rebaudiana) found in Paraguay, the native Guarani Indians have apparently always used it to sweeten their drinks.

It's also good for fruit salads and to sweeten whipped cream!

For your beauty regimen, its ultra-sweet power gives it its super hydrating properties, particularly for your entire body. Its "steviosides" not only moisturize but also soften the skin. Melvita makes an exquisite blend of thym infused honey and stevia called Apicosma that reveals ultra-soft, creamy rich and touchable arms, legs and all-over. You can also try blending some of your own beauty Super Potions using packets of Stevia that you find at your health food store. 

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Body And Soil The Maui Way

Just in case you need an "excuse" to go to Hawaii. Conference is: January 14-16th.

Since 2001 our educational events (visit History of MA‘A) have informed and inspired!

Our Mission: To promote life nurturing practices for Body & Soil through education and outreach.

We have been holding educational/experiential conferences since 2001 on Body and Soil health and have actively been involved in supporting our small organic and transitioning conventional family farmers in their practice to honor their body’s well being and the soils vitality as a living organism while producing nutrient rich food for the community.

 

January 2011 Body & Soil Conference informationwww.mauigrown.com

Our conferences have been on an Organic farm outdoors under a big top tent. Our next event in January 14,15,16, 2011 is up at Kumulani Organic Vegetable Farm in Olinda.The presenters at our conferences are leaders in the field of eco-logical land and holistic body care. The outdoor ambiance carries over into their presentations. Our experts do a great job of weaving their presentations as a magical story of connecting the dots of how nature works to support us and our well being.

Organic Health FoodAlong with the main conference area, there is an organic food tent, supplying “ono local grinds” throughout the day. Conference attendees will be fed a diverse local meal at lunch like no other experienced at a conference.  Attendees will have many opportunities to network with one another, cruise our extensive trade show, while feasting on nutrient dense local organic foods.
It is the intention of Ma‘a to hold these experiential events and bring together folks who value what it means to grow and eat nutrient dense foods, while fostering biological diversity in their gardens and farms.

We welcome the creative minds and spirits, of all who wish to share their gifts of knowledge and experience. What makes up the spirit of Ma’a is acknowledging the relationship of the body to the soil, in our being well.

If your not already on our mailing list register your e-mail todayhttp://www.mauialohaaina.org/articles-by-email/ to receive updates regarding this years event and other news from Ma‘a.


A 501c3 organization.

 

 

Ma’a recently held a five day agricultural design conference for Maui County. Forty Two individuals from across the agricultural sector convened to design an agricultural system that invigorates the local economy through regenerative agriculture for a variety of reasons including: Food Security, Economic Opportunity,  Leveraging Interest in Alternative Approaches, Health,Soil & Skills Depletion,.

 

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18 December, 2010

Paris Announces Autolib' Car Service On Demand



Modeling itself after the successful Autolib' service already in practice in Lyon, France, Paris announced earlier this week that by March 2012, at the latest, their Autolib' service will be fully in play.

AutoLib', the electric car rental program, is modelled after the wildly popular Velib' program, whereby citizens, tourists and visitors alike can pick up a bicycle at numerous points around the city, use it for a half an hour, half a day or longer, and then drop it off at another station when they're finished with it. The pick-up and drop-off stations, which function as one and the same, are nearly as numerous as Metro stations. 
The program is designed for short-term use for both the bicycle and Auto usage. They're available 24/7. And it is ridiculously cheap. To use an Autolib' car in Lyon prices start at 2,10 Euro for basic car models from Citroen, Peugeot, Toyota. You first purchase a membership for a minimum of one year and on top of that you pay a deposit to cover any possible damages. But you can even take a car between the hours of 11pm and 7 am for free. 
On this program, Paris is worlds ahead of, for example, Santa Monica, a city in California, the nation's greenest state, that prides itself on its green transportation policies.
On December 16th the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted in favor of California's nation leading Cap-and-Trade program under AB 32. 
And I'm so proud of this team here because it's one thing when the legislators get together and say AB 32  and here's the bill  and they give you these documents that are 1,000 pages long and all this stuff. And then the governor goes out and talks about it and I sign it and we have bill signing ceremonies and all of those things that we had. But then someone has to follow through and make it become a reality  and the people you see in front of you here are the people that make this become a reality. I know today, even though we are 10 years away from 2020 but I know today that we will have a reduction of 25 percent of greenhouse gases by the year 2020, only because I have such an excellent team here.
I am thinking that California may just need to take some pages from Paris's playbook on public transportation policy. Especially in cities such as San Francisco, Santa Monica, Pasadena and other such coastal cities that are already readily adaptable to something like the Autolib' and the Velib'.

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07 December, 2010

Green or Grey Fashion?

Cathy Amouroux is a 22 year old fashion designer and stylist living in Paris. She is a guest blogger for Greening Beauty. More at: at: www.cathyamouroux.fr
[Editor's Note: Use a web-based translator, such as Chrome, to read the article in English]
by: Cathy Amouroux
Mon cœur balance. Il est dur d’assouvir ses envies créatives tout en se demandant en permanence si notre démarche est responsable ou non.
Je me suis déjà intéressée à la mode équitable en travaillant avec Cruselita, jeune marque de bijoux et d’accessoires engagée dans la protection de notre environnement et des conditions de travail de ses fabricants. Cette démarche limite les possibilités créatives à cause du choix plus restreint des matières. Mais la beauté de l’enjeu compense largement cette réduction des moyens: les produits obtenus ont une richesse particulière que les produits classiques n’ont pas.
D’un autre côté je suis, je l’avoue, friande de la « grey fashion ». Lorsque je préparais ma dernière collection, je suis littéralement tombée sous le charme des fournisseurs Schoeller Textiles et American Supply. Loin des classiques sergés de coton, on trouve chez eux des matières exceptionnelles, des tissages et maillages hors du commun, et des couleurs absolument introuvables ailleurs. Je trouve que l’utilisation d’une de ces matières se suffit à elle même pour donner un cachet particulier à toute création.
Malheureusement, il y a de quoi se sentir coupable quand on achète de tels matériaux, car leur mode de fabrication est souvent polluant !
J’ai alors voulu me pencher sur la question suivante : peut-on trouver des textiles funs ET écologiques ?
Récemment encore, pour moi éco textiles évoquaient souvent monotonie et fadeur. Blanc, beige, kaki, marron…à des kilomètres de mon univers.
Je me suis alors dit que non, c’est impossible, les prouesses technologiques ne peuvent pas s’arrêter là. J’ai donc décidé de mener ma propre petite enquête auprès de mes deux favoris cités plus haut.
Après avoir pris rendez-vous avec Schoeller textiles, j’ai été chaleureusement reçue par Mme Emmanuelle Vallée-Beauvais, représentante du fournisseur en France.
Cette dernière m’a fait découvrir la gamme proposée par la société sœur de Schoeller appelée Bluesign, qui garantit le meilleur rapport entre technicité et respect de l’environnement. Et à ma grande surprise, je suis repartie avec une bonne dizaine d’échantillons incroyables sous le bras. En voici un aperçu:
PICTURES
Légende photo 1 : De la couleur et des surfaces surprenantes.
 Quant à mon deuxième favori American Supply, après quelques prises d’informations, j’ai découvert que la marque s’engage de plus en plus dans le respect de notre planète en consignant ses créations dans une charte de responsabilité environnementale.
Le fournisseur utilise en effet des plastiques végétaux recyclés ou recyclables, des colles végétales, ou encore des matériaux composites à base de déchets industriels détournés.
American Supply a également montré récemment son engagement en offrant sa créativité à la dernière campagne de publicité EcoFolio, l’éco-organisme des papiers qui organise, finance et accompagne la collecte, le tri et le recyclage des papiers.
Enquête conclue avec succès: le beau et l’extraordinaire peuvent aller dans le sens du respect et d’un engagement responsable.
Cathy Amouroux is a 22 year old fashion designer and stylist living in Paris. She has already worked alongside such fashion greats as: Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Maxime Simoens and also Ostwald Helgason in London. At the same time, she has been working on creating her own designs and imprinting her own aesthetics on her fashion collections. You can see more from Cathy at: www.cathyamouroux.fr

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01 December, 2010

Interview With Honoré des Prés Founder Christian David

Interview with Christian David, founder of Honoré des Prés natural perfumes from France and Greening Beauty Editor, Paige Donner.
GB: 1. What was your background before launching your natural perfume line?
I worked 9 years ago for DIOR in the cosmetics creation department.  At that time I worked with Hedi Slimane to launch Dior Homme Dermo System. Just before launching Honoré des Prés, I worked with Mr. and Mme. d' Ornano for Sisley and while there discovered their natural and luxury beauty.
GB: 2. Please describe the tradition - metier - of perfume making in France. Is it something you are born into?
Yes, I remember all the launches 25 years ago ... like Angel,  J'adore Dior ... at this time we had to wait many years for a real novelty from the most beautiful houses of perfumes and it was always an event ... We have had a lot of opportunity to preserve all the tradition and the metier of Perfume in France especially in Grasse. I work with Robertet , one of the most beautiful Perfume House in Grasse with such exceptional and natural ingredients ... the transformation of all these beautiful and exquisite flowers is a real dream and secret ..
GB: 3. What inspired you to launch a natural perfume line?
To put this secret in the bottle, to explain to the whole world that it's at this time possible to smell a real flower in your perfume and not just a compilation of chemicals ....
And of course, more than an inspiration but the unique possibility to launch such a special line of perfumes was the day when I met Olivia Giacobetti ... one of the world's top Noses.  For me definitely the best and the first, ... without her, this magical story would never begin...
GB: 4. Describe the moment when you conceived of packaging your perfumes in a coffee cup?
You know, sometimes the story is written ... this day, in New York after a Coffee  & Cupcake at Magnolia bakery in the West Village, the artistic Director of Honoré des Prés, Ms. Dominique,  looked over at me .... and showed me my Coffee Cup in my hand and, like a song in the street, smiled and said, "It will be the packaging for the NY Collection."
I promise you that this night, when I took my flight from JFK to paris with this Paper Cup in my hand, I was so happy and excited because I knew now that this paper cup would be a part of the future. Six months later, we launched the collection at colette paris with a big Carrots Party !!!!
GB: 5. how do you see the state of the natural beauty market in France? the U.S.?
Definitely the Future, the Trend .... and the only solution to have new perfumes that don't look to the others .... We know that so many houses are working on it ....
GB: 6. What does perfume represent to a woman, in your view?
For me , there are two possibilities .... the sensuality  or the intimacy ....the perfume has to be very feminine and sensual to increase the personality of women but it can be very light and intimate to propose a new way of pureness and philosophy .... these 2 opposites are for Honoré des Prés House the sensual Vamp à NY and the purity of Nu Green from the first collection. That is one of my favorites!
GB: 7. It's courageous to launch a company - of any kind - in this economy. What gave you the motivation?
It's like a dream. I absolutely don't have the feeling  like I launched a company. I just know that we write the story of Honoré des Prés and everything that happens is like a new page of the book.  The perfume world is so magical !!! and the natural one will be emotional !
For more INFO or to purchase these natural perfumes, please click HERE.

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