Green news has been inundated of late with warnings to consumers to be aware of greenwashing. While consumers should read labels and be certain the products they buy are truly green, these warnings seem almost frantic in nature.

Greenwashing is when businesses label their products as green or eco-friendly when the products don’t actually meet these standards. It is about people being fooled into buying products that are not really good for them, or for the environment.

Consumers today should be savvy enough to navigate through advertising hype. How many people really think that sugary cereals are nutritious? Yet TV commercials and cereal box labels still want us to believe that sugary frosted cereals are “part of a nutritious breakfast.”

There are of course many more examples of advertising hype as we all well know, so shouldn’t the same hold true for eco-friendly products? …read more of The Hype About Greenwashing here

During last year’s Earth Day the business community was just coming to grasp with the economic slowdown; there was a growing understanding of climate change issues and the need for clean energy solutions and responding to that growing interest, investors over the past year had opened the money valves to record levels. Global investments in clean energy reached $155 billion for the whole of 2008.

How things have changed. Months into a deep, global economic crisis, this year’s Earth Day is being celebrated amidst an investment drought — venture capital funds, which were early supporters of the clean energy sector — have all but pulled out of the sector. Banks are also not lending, despite unprecedented government support.

One report, released earlier this month, compiled by research firm New Energy Finance, showed that global investments in the clean energy sector plummeted to $13.3 billion in the first quarter of 2009, a 44% drop from the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 53% drop from the same time last year. …read more of Clean Energy Investments Key to Economic Recovery here

Trash is a relative term. In 1995 Liz Gardener accepted the Academy Award for best costume design in a dress made entirely from 254 recycled American Express gold cards. The dress was auctioned off for charity four years later for more than $12,000.

Haute Couture has also been attracting a lot of fans in the glitterati, raising the profile of ‘Recycled Designer Duds” exponentially.

Design houses are using vintage cashmere, linen and lace and eco-fabrics such as Fortrel EcoSpun polyester fibers spun from recycled plastic bottles. The high-end fashion runway has created a ‘buzz’ with innovative concepts and fashions that are, for the most part unrealistic and out of reach for most of us.

Not to worry, these days, eco-fashionistas with an eye on the budget can find unique and affordable reincarnated clothing and accessories. You just have to know where to look. …read more of Recycled Fashion Finds here

Fair Trade fashion is eco-chic, and trendy fashion designers are forging a number of strategic partnerships that will increase visibility and distribution.

Bono, activist and U2 lead singer, introduced Edun last year, a Fair Trade fashion brand that sells high-end goods through upscale stores like Saks and Nordstrom. American Apparel is a publicly traded basics brand that is best known for tee shirts and underwear aimed at young urban buyers. Their Fair Trade clothing is made in Los Angeles and sold internationally.

Fair Indigo is a young company founded by a handful of Internet retailers that relies mostly on the Web and catalogs to sell its reasonably priced upscale casual clothing line.  Industry veteran and Chief Executive Bill Bass said that Fair Indigo was the first mainstream clothing line made in accordance with Fair Trade practices.

Mercado Global recently announced a partnership between a line of Fair Trade fashion accessories and Levi’s …read more of Fair Trade Fashion Marketplace here

Scientists have genetically modified the DNA of major agricultural crops, such as soybeans, corn, and cotton in order to resist a widely used herbicide.

Roundup is the flagship of Monsanto’s agricultural chemicals business and these new genetically modified plant strains are referred to as ”Roundup Ready.”

GMO: This is the acronym for “Genetically Modified Organism” and defines food products altered at the gene level with this technology. …read more of GMO Crops Threaten Biodiversity here