Israeli Eco-Wear

Israel brought sustainable fashion to this year's New York Fashion Week with two runway shows from the ultra-stylish and ultra-eco-friendly Israeli design label EcoGir, in a prominent midtown Manhattan location last month.

The ECOGIR® collection offers three lines of suits: ECOGIR® Organic, ECOGIR® Recycled and ECOGIR® Washable.

Inspired by sustainability challenge, EcoGIR® Organic blends tradition and craftsmanship with the hottest design trends. Made with renewable sources, the jacket fabric and the body lining of EcoGIR® jackets are made from 100% organic cotton, the inner materials include bamboo and even the buttons are dried seeds of the Tagua palm tree, ecologically harvested from the rainforest.

ECOGIR® Recycled garments are made from 100% recyclable material originally created from discarded PET bottles. Using  Post Consumer Material saves more energy compared to manufacturing of virgin fiber, helps divert waste from landfills, and reduces amounts solid waste. It is estimated that nearly 30 recycled plastic bottles are used to build up an EcoGir® Recycled suit. The development of this suit was to aim at a product that maximizes product quality while reducing carbon footprint. This will impact the environment significantly, as it also reduces the CO2 emissions.

EcoGIR® Washable is an eco-friendly washable collection made from 55% Post Consumer Waste. It aims for accessibility and affordability for sustainable products to consumers who may not have thought about buying "green" in the past. The world's first machine-washable suit helps reduce the use of harmful chemicals common in the dry-cleaning process.

EcoGIR suits are the first in the world to carry a carbon footprint label. It lets consumers know how much greenhouse gas was created during the manufacturing and shipping process.

Source: Israel21c

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Here Comes the Sun

Israeli solar power company BrightSource Energy is in the news this week after receiving an unexpected endorsement from US President, Barack Obama.

In his weekly radio address, Obama told listeners that this October, BrightSource will break ground on a "revolutionary new type of solar power plant".

"It's going to put about a thousand people to work building a state-of-the-art facility. And when it's complete, it will turn sunlight into the energy that will power up to 140,000 homes - the largest such plant in the world. Not in China. Not in India. But in California," he said.

"With projects like this one, and others across this country, we are staking our claim to continued leadership in the new global economy. And we're putting Americans to work producing clean, home-grown American energy that will help lower our reliance on foreign oil and protect our planet for future generations," he continued.