It’s no secret that the environment has become a major topic of discussion in the last decade or so. While it’s always been a societal concern, being ‘environmentally-friendly’ and ‘buying green’ is, shall we say, hugely in vogue. But no matter the trendiness of this topic, us nutshells do care for the earth and are very aware of our ecological footprints. My family composts just about any piece of food that leaves our home, and buying plastic grocery bags is considered a crime. Meghan calls herself the ‘light nazi’, enraged when lights or tvs are left on (I sense a forthcoming Pet Peeve of the Week) and Kate, the new owner of an adorable car, struts to work via sidewalk. Meanwhile, you’ll most often find Catherine biking to her destination (one of her famous stories is of her treacherous bike rides to work a few summers ago, needless to say there was a large hill involved and we’ve yet to hear the end of it).
I’d have to say though, our newly-appointed Queen Bee of friendly environmentalism is Jess, who works in Green Marketing and Communications for the Minto Group. In what I’m told is the simplest wording, Jess and her teammates support all the homebuilder’s groups in finding opportunities to create products and services that contribute to a healthier planet and reduce their environmental footprint. I’m sure she’ll tell us more about that soon, but in what we like to call a nutshell, she has recently dedicated her career to the environment, and we are so proud of her for that.
We apologize Agave. No hard feelings?
Obviously we aren’t perfect and there’s always room for improvement when it comes to this important topic. Some might say that we don’t respect the blue agave plant; which is the base ingredient in tequila. Not sure there’s any way around that though.
On a more fashionable note, I spent this past Sunday exploring my very own city, and happened upon the Biosphere’s Outfits from a New Era Exhibit. To my surprise, this was a project where 16 artists each designed one outfit made entirely from mass consumption products. Putting items like batteries, books and cables on display like that made me realize the magnitude of mass consumption in a way I’d never imagined. Here are just some of the looks I found the most powerful:
"Haute Couture 2.0" : 36 computer mice, 1.2 computer keyboard, 120 cables
"Bullet Dress" : 2,000 shotgun shells, fabric
"Scanty Attire" : 1 poutine container, 2 coffee cups, 2 tv packages, 1 street vacuum bag
"Charlestea" : 75 cans, 1,114 stainless steel rings / "Hairdress" : 208 locks of hair, 1 hairstyle cape, 1 pair of used boots
"Light Flow" : 2,500 light bulbs, 66m of stripped copper wire from speakers, tulle / "Caustic Swimsuit" : 1,200 batteries
If you didn’t already believe it, this exhibit certainly proves that fashion can make us think outside the box in more ways than one. We’d love to hear how you make environmentally-friendly choices each and every day, so please tweet us or comment below, and don’t forget to reduce, reuse and recycle…in a nutshell.
Click for more information on the Montreal Biosphere and Outfits from a New Era.
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