Just five years ago on Earth Day, it was hard to find more than a handful of green companies in the Triangle making fashion or beauty products.
A few short years later, the market is peppered with clever earth-friendly startups offering new products and services.
As Earth Day 2009 approaches on April 22, you can buy a faux leather handbag without harmful chemicals made in Apex. There are luxurious handmade soaps made almost entirely of natural products in Wake Forest. And some of the country's only organic thread and ribbon is being made in a studio in Raleigh.
Among the most visible entrepreneurs are Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko, who continue to grow their jeans business, Raleigh Denim, by using locally produced raw materials. These days, you can find their men's jeans at Barneys in New York.
There's also Jamie Powell, who takes vintage clothes and remakes them into new fashion through her Revamp clothing line in Durham. Blaire Kessler of Raleigh took her experience after surviving breast cancer and turned it into a business selling lotions and hair care products that don't have the chemicals that some suspect contribute to some cancers.
But the Lytvinenkos and Powell aren't the only ones making a difference locally in fashion and beauty. Here are a few others who have green on their minds.
Long before Raleigh Denim and Revamp, Shari Keller quietly was building her Mehera Shaw clothing company.
Keller was one of the first designers on the Triangle green fashion scene a decade ago, designing and making clothes from organic and natural cottons from India. She sells them at her Carr Mill Mall store, Mehera Shaw.
Her latest step toward being socially responsible was to incorporate Mehera Shaw in India, so she's able to make sure that she's paying all employees fairly for their work, and that all the cotton fabrics they're using for the clothes are organic.
Among the biggest benefits for her new employees: health care. "We are able to offer our employees more than we could through another supplier," she says.
Back at home, though, she's fighting the same issue many organic designers are. Shoppers might be more aware of the green movement than ever, but usually they're more focused on organic food than organic clothing. Keller has found that the shoppers would rather know that the people who make their clothes are paid fairly and don't work in sweatshops.
She's happy to oblige, offering a collection of feminine pieces that she knows came from the best sources.
Shaw's spring collection is heavy in full skirts, tunic tops and dresses, many made from handblocked printed fabrics, often dyed with environmentally friendly vegetable dyes.
"The tunic dresses have been flying out of the door," she says. "There are a lot of fun, flirty styles in bright colors."
Redhanded Bags
If you're looking for a handbag that's as committed as you are to the environment and socially responsible practices, you don't have to look further than Apex-based Redhanded Bags.
The company, which started in the fall, tries to cover all the bases when it comes to making an earth-friendly bag.
The faux leather exteriors are made from non-PVC materials of polyurethane, cotton and cellulose, so they're able to biodegrade faster.
The bag linings are made from organic materials -- either cotton, hemp, bamboo or other types of recycled material.
All other hardware, from snaps and magnetic clasps to handles and thread, come from manufacturers that treat workers fairly, most of which are in the U.S., Canada or the European Union region.
"We're determined not to support sweatshop labor," says Aaron Turney, who runs the company with his wife, designer Tracy Russomano.
"These are good lessons to teach our children."
The bags are available at stores such as at Nativa in Apex and Revolver Consignment Boutique and Beleza in Raleigh.
White Pear soap
Wake Forest's White Pear soap company likely could have done quite well simply making its lush-smelling soaps, lotions and scrubs. But owner Claudia Acosta is a firm believer in doing her part for the environment.
From her Wake Forest home, this Los Angeles transplant makes a new line of bath and body products that are handcrafted, naturally biodegradable and have never been tested on animals.
But Acosta doesn't stop there.
Her company buys used furniture for the office whenever possible and uses a paperless ordering system. Most of the out-of-office business is conducted in a hybrid car. And all office paper, ink cartridges, batteries, light bulbs, packing and shipping materials and newspapers are recycled.
"We're a small company and yet, if everyone contributed a little bit to the environment, we can make it a better place," Acosta says.
Acosta, who moved to the area in 2007, first started making soaps as a hobby. The soaps she had been using were too dry for her skin, she says. After doing more research, she realized what went into some soaps and decided to try making her own. Soon friends and family wanted to try them.
Now she sells her White Pear soaps at several Triangle stores, including The Cotton Company in Wake Forest, the Shops of Baileywick in North Raleigh and Twig in Chapel Hill.
Hairdos green beauty
Jill Burkhart knew before she opened her Hairdos salon at 222 Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh that she wanted to give customers a different experience when it came to pretty nails.
Her mission: a green pedicure.
And it was easier than one might think. Take away the spa jets -- which she says help promote bacteria in pedicure bowls if not sanitized properly -- and you've got the makings of a bacteria-free pedicure.
Burkhart uses a simple sink bowl to soak feet. After each customer's pedicure, the bowl is sanitized with vinegar and water, not harmful chemicals.
"We'd been hearing so much about people getting infections on their toes," she says. "This is a way to help prevent that."
She's also careful about the products she exposes her customers to. They're exfoliated with natural scrubs and moisturizers, including sea salts and olive oil.
They don't clip cuticles either, she says. Instead, they buff them, another step to keep away infections.
She uses OPI nail polishes, which many in the beauty industry say are safer than some other brands of polishes. In 2006, the maker of OPI, after pushing from some consumer groups, agreed to take dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and toluene out of its polishes, according to the company's Web site.
An added perk of the Hairdos pedicure: Each manicurist is trained in reflexology, so they know those special pressure points on the foot to hit for added soothing.
The pedicure costs $43.
Fiberactive Organics
Julie Mullin's company is one serious hodgepodge. Need a quilt? They'll make it. Need 200 cloth napkins? Done. Aprons? They'll knock 'em out. Linings for your handbags? Take your pick.
But what unifies this company off Beryl Road in Raleigh is its focus on being earth-friendly by using organic cottons, hand-dying fabrics and paying fair wages to immigrants who are employees.
Mullin started the company making quilts in 1993. But her health started to fail because of increasing respiratory problems, something her doctor blamed on carcinogenic chemicals in conventional fabrics. So she switched to organic fabrics.
Then tendinitis set in, causing her to lose the use of her right hand and her ability to sew her quilts.
A short time later, however, her church sponsored several Vietnamese refugees to the U.S. She eventually hired one of the refugees' wives to be her right hand.
Now she has a team of wives helping her expand the business by making organic fabric products from tote bags to thread.
"We do what we call domestic fair trade," Mullin says.
She's committed to helping the Vietnamese workers earn a solid living. So if that means holding off on a more sophisticated sewing machine to have the seamstresses sew something by hand, Mullin will do it.
"I don't invest in the big fancy machines," she says. "If some of the women can do it by hand, I just have them do it. It keeps them employed."
This summer, Mullin is looking to expand with a line of sleepwear. She's also planning to hire N.C. State University students to help her manage and expand.
You can find the company's aprons and tote bags at Whole Foods in Raleigh. Other housewares by Fiberactive are available at Whole Foods in Cary, the N.C. Crafts Gallery in Carrboro and The Nature of Art in Holly Springs.
