Sustainable Living 101

Rags to Green Riches

So, you recycle, you ride your bike, you work from home? Feeling pretty environmentally conscious? You can still do more, people! Check out the work of fashion and earth conscious Marisa, from Cascadia's southern town of Los Angeles.

Looking for a new way to save money and feed her creativity, newly laid off from a high powered job, Marisa started blogging New Dress a Day. Determined to forego new clothing for a year, Marisa challenged herself to buy only used--from thrift shops, garage sales and flea markets--and remake each piece into something fabulous. The catch? She had to buy and remake a new dress every day for a year, and she had to do it all for $365 or less.

The result of her work (she's got about 115 days to go and the same to spend) can be viewed on her blog, where ingenuity, creativity and green habits are all out for display. The best part? The dresses, skirts and shirts she makes are actually gorgeous. A 1970s Chiffon robe becomes a flattering mini; a moo-moo from the 1960s becomes a cute wrap dress. Check it out and get inspired. There's a lot more we can do to cut down on the production of new merchandise, which is always hard on the environment. Sometimes, as Marisa herself found, it just takes a little inspiration from "Julie and Julia" and a bit of perseverance.

back