An intense and perhaps disturbing infograph. Which state are you from, and do you find the stamp of shame to be accurate?

Loving the way the world is progressing and making living well easier for a vagabond like me! Move over expensive car rental companies and make way for the people! Similar to the home rental site, Airbnb.com, GetAround.com connects people who have an extra car to rent with those looking to rent a car for a fair rate. There’s an eco-bonus too: Each shared car takes 10 cars off the road and reduces personal carbon emissions by over 40%. This is definitely a must on my list!

For all the ways the Internet helps us to cut back on our carbon footprint (GoToMeeting.com anyone…) and reduce our paper trail, it is actually an energy guzzler.

Web companies are a major culprit in energy consumption, which go unnoticed as we check out Facebook wall and Google whatever our hearts’ desire, not to mention running a company website or blog. The best thing we can do is become aware of this extreme use, and cut our carbon emissions as well as switch to more energy efficient gadgets. Here are four basic tips to green your website:

1. Use Energy Star rated gadgets.

2. Switch to a green energy web host like Solar Energy Host.

3. Offset your website with CoCO2.

4. Install Online Leaf for Word Press- a blog plug-in that cuts back on energy use on your site.

(via Dork Adore)

I wish I would have known about this one before Christmas… It is the perfect gift for the person who has everything! 

Life Calendars is a series of different calendars which highlight an aspect of life. 

‘How was your day?’ is the first of the series. The 365 days are represented by an emoticon that you draw in that shows how the day has gone (very good, good, okay, bad, geeky, pensive, etc.). Given to the right person, I can see these emoticon calendars becoming keepsake pieces of art. 

(via Daily Candy)

Last week in NYC, I attended a chic and sweet launch party at the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo. The event was for The Find, a  top tier shopping search engine. I have to admit, I didn’t actually know what The Find was, and that was all the more reason for me to go! I was eager to get the low down and see how I could incorporate it into my eco-focused lifestyle.

(Me with Jeninne Jacob to my right in the plaid!)

Sometimes you just have a good feeling about things, and this was one of those times. With Macs set up around the room, an enthusiastic PR woman took me through The Find. She showed me the patented search technology that finds every product from every store, both online and within my surrounding area. No more Google searches returning results across all mediums when you are really just looking to find out where you can buy that new shirt from your favorite designer. Oh, and The Find will show you where you can get it for the best price, displaying coupons and sale notices all within one screen. Awesome.

So, how does this help the eco-fashionista? That is what I asked, and was elated when my Find liaison guided her cursor down to the bottom of the screen and clicked on ‘The Find Green’. Now, every product that I would be searching within The Find, met one or more eco-friendly criteria. Brilliant!

(Me with The Find founder Siva Kumar)

It dawned on me that this is an exceptional new tool for searching the ‘green’ world and making educated shopping decisions. I spoke with The Find founder, Siva Kumer and he confirmed my revelation. “We worked with Good Guide and used their ratings for brands- specifically asking each store if they are eco, organic, sustainable, fair trade, holistic and so on to create our categorization and search results. It is a better way to reach a bigger category of eco.”

I was super impressed, and the best part is that The Find just launched their mobile app, so now you can search when you are on the go and locate eco-friendly products, clothing, shoes and accessories when you are out about town. This one gets the green thumbs up from me.

Upcycled iPad covers are so genius! It is the perfect way to use what would be waste fabrics and create a useful and unique case. And how about the art element? If you have a one of a kind cover, you stand for something original and it embodies you too. I am loving these from Comemai.

Every single sleeve is hand-made and unique. 

We developed these iPad sleeves with famous Italian designer Luisa Cevese. 

Using waste instead of producing it – we do like this thought. Scraps of unusable 

yet precious textiles, newspapers, magazines and magnetic tapes have been 

used to create the design.

Hm, if you are still on the lookout for that perfect holiday gift this option is a good one!

Shellcase for touch and iPhone. Top loading, wood framed display. 100% screen access and full in case use. Also features connector and camera openings. Crafted from select US hardwoods and Bamboo, each case has its own unique character.

Um, awesome.

(via nimli.com)

This locally sewn (in the USA), eco-friendly iPad sleeve has two front pockets to hold various accessories. It is water- and stain-resistant high performance fabric (made from recycled bottles), lightweight, foam-padded and fully lined in hardy ripstop nylon.

It was only a matter of time before the eco-option for a snazzy ipad sleeve came out. This one gets my nod of approval!

(via magnifeco) 

“The iPad is going to be the ultimate handbag accessory for any style conscious woman and it’s this audience who love shopping,” says Shannon Edwards, director of ShopStyle. “ShopStyle  is focused on “revolutionizing the way women shop online.”

Anything that helps make shopping more organized is worth my time and attention, and the ShopStyle App does just that. It is smart- switching languages based on the country you are in. Allows you to create a favorites section, edit it and share it with your style council before making a purchase. And, it lets you filter your searches by price, style, category, brands, keyword, etc. 

The best part is, the iPad fits in your handbag so you can browse the app whenever you have a free minute and stay on top of trends, sales and of course style.

With the advent of mobile gaming apps like FourSquare, location-based marketing and social media plug-ins for fashion brands and retailers are taking off. I, for one, like the trend and feel that a few brands out there are being very proactive in this space.

Ready. Set. PLAY!

Jimmy Choo and Marc Jacobs were ahead of the curve when they started offering discounts for customers who gained ‘Mayor’ status at their stores, or created realtime treasure hunts in which the customer who ‘found’ a pair of shoes on their app was rewarded with a real pair of Jimmy Choos.

Pepsi partnered with FourSquare to transform Gatorade from one of the largest sports brands in the world into one of the largest participatory brands through their Gatorade Mission Control initiative. In this way you make the act of purchasing interactive and can generate immensely insightful data. I think their is huge potential for department stores to take this concept and integrate it into their stores- offering checkin options for various areas, rewarding customers for purchases in one section with a discount or giveaway in another.

All About the Barcodes.

As more and more consumers adopt smart phones, barcode scanning features come into play. Wet Seal launched an app in which, once in the store, shoppers can ‘scan’ the hangtags with their iPhones and the application will generate different looks based on the piece of clothing scanned. Awesome. 

In the eco-fashion space, what about an barcode app that allows you to scan an article of clothing and then trace it’s production, as well as be presented with a visual key as to what makes it ‘eco’ (ie: vegan, vegetable dyed, organic cotton, etc).

And, what if you could ‘review’ a product after scanning it? Perhaps add your personal take on how to style it, or state what the fabric feels like…

What About the Future?

“Mobile is definitely the ‘must’ marketing platform for Millennials, where they’re consuming content literally 24/7, instantly and constantly,” states Teen Vogue vice president and publisher Sabine Feldmann. With 75 million members aged 14-29 in the US alone, Millennials are the largest consumer group. 

One thing is certain, don’t create an app just to create an app- Milliennials see right through it. Create something of value. Really ask the questions, “What is missing? What would I want to use?” And, keep rolling out the upgrades. When you launch an app have a timeline for when you want to release the next bit that will make it even more useful or cool. Just like the newest smart phone or Apple gadget garners a certain amount of lustful respect, having the latest upgrade will too.