Space, from the human point of view, has always been filled with wonder, ever since hominids first squinted into the sky. Now the age of technology allows us to peer incredibly deeply through the stretched realm of space, and as new images are made known, new questions emerge.

Further, in the past 50 years, we have been able to not only look out into space, but we now view our own planet from space; its ever-changing environment, including the presence of humankind, and we are filled with that same wonder.

As technology makes more known to us, once again, questions emerge. Questions of time and age, of life, composition and fragility.

What goes without question however, is the often indescribable beauty that we are privileged to witness. And often that beauty, like non-representational abstract art, can be difficult to describe other than by its aesthetic formal qualities of color, balance, line and form.

Many artists such as Piet Mondrian, the brilliant Dutch painter, were known for deriving their inspiration from nature. One can only imagine what Mondrian, who took the image of a simple tree to incredible abstraction, would have done with the source of images we see here.

Lest we forget, our Planet Earth is a magnificent place. In these technological times, we are privileged to view works of nature from the unique perspective of NASA. In celebration of Earth Day, Ecology Global Network has assembled an astonishing selection of images taken from satellites and the International Space Station.

Tassili n’Ajjer National Park

Tassili n’Ajjer is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, and covers 27,800 square miles (72,000 sq. km) in southeastern Algeria in the Sahara Desert. The rocky plateau rises above the surrounding sand seas, sculpted by nature over millions of years. Humans have also modified the area, as some 15,000 rock engravings have been identified in Tassili n’Ajjer. From about 10,000 B.C. to the first few centuries A.D., successive populations also left the remains of homes and burial mounds.
Image Credit: NASA

Harrat Khaybar

Harrat Khaybar, Saudi Arabia lies in the the hyperarid western half of the Arabian peninsula.The presence of tuff cones, which are formed by eruption of lava in the presence of water together with other volcanic features indicative of water, suggest that the local climate was much wetter during some early periods of volcanic activity.
The image was taken by the Expedition 16 crew aboard the International Space Station in March 2008.
Image Credit: NASA

Alaska’s Susitna Glacier

Alaska’s Susitna Glacier revealed some of its long, grinding journey when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead on Aug. 27, 2009. This satellite image combines infrared, red and green wavelengths to form a false-color image. Vegetation is red and the glacier’s surface is marbled with dirt-free blue ice and dirt-coated brown ice. Infusions of relatively clean ice push in from tributaries in the north.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science

Thailand Flooding

Since July 2011, heavy monsoon rains in southeast Asia resulted in catastrophic flooding. In Thailand, about one third of all provinces were affected. On Oct. 23, 2011, when this image from ASTER, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer instrument on NASA’s Terra spacecraft was acquired, flood waters were approaching the capital city of Bangkok as the Ayutthaya River overflowed its banks. In this image, vegetation is displayed in red, and flooded areas are black and dark blue. Brighter blue shows sediment-laden water, and gray areas are houses, buildings and roads. The image covers an area of 35.2 by 66.3 miles (56.7 by 106.9 kilometers) and is located at 14.5 degrees north latitude, 100.5 degrees east longitude.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Stirring Up a Bloom Off Patagonia

Off the coast of Argentina, two strong ocean currents stirred up a colorful brew of floating nutrients and microscopic plant life just in time for the Southern Hemisphere’s summer solstice. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a massive phytoplankton bloom off of the Atlantic coast of Patagonia on Dec. 21, 2010. Scientists used seven separate spectral bands to highlight the differences in the plankton communities across this swath of ocean.
Image Credit: NASA

Iceland’s Grimsvotn Volcano

On May 21, 2011, Iceland’s Grimsvotn Volcano erupted, sending an ash plume 12 miles (20 km) high and closing Keflavik Airport, Iceland’s largest. Ash fell on much of Iceland, with some areas pitch black at midday on the 22nd. This natural-color satellite image, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite, shows the towering ash plume at 1:00 p.m. local time. Beneath the ash plume, clouds cover much of the scene. Lingering snow is visible beneath the clouds to the northeast (upper left). Brown ash covers a portion of the Vatnajokull Glacier near the Atlantic coast (lower right).
Image Credit: NASA, GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response Team

Nile River Delta at Night

The Nile River and its delta look like a brilliant, long-stemmed flower in this photograph of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, as seen from the International Space Station. The Cairo metropolitan area forms a particularly bright base of the flower. Scattered blue-grey clouds cover the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai, while much of northeastern Africa is cloud-free. The thin yellow-brown band tracing the Earth’s curvature at the top of the image is airglow.
This astronaut photograph was taken by the Expedition 25 crew on Oct. 28, 2010, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 16 mm lens.
Image Credit: NASA

Here performing the Freddie Hubbard & Abbey Lincoln classic, UP JUMPED SPRING, Susan’s voice and photos take us from quiet suburban blooms to fawns finding footing in mountain meadows to high deserts carpeted in orange poppies – all of it a testament to life’s loopy renewal.
 

 

James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron attend the world premiere of TITANIC in 3D at Royal Albert Hall in London on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012. Photo credit: David Dettmann.

Amis Cameron’s dress is made of teal-blue Hemp-Silk, dyed with Japanese Indigo garden grown in designer Jeff Garner’s home state of Tennessee.

Named “2010 Eco Men’s Designer of the Year,” Garner and his sustainable organic label Prophetik have moved into the green fashion forefront, committed to changing perceptions of glamour and luxury. In the eight years that the label has been in existence, Garner’s sustainable garments have made their way into high-end boutiques across the United States, as well as in London, Japan and Switzerland.

Amis Cameron founded the Red Carpet Green Dress design contest to challenge designers around the globe to make a red carpet-worthy, sustainable gown for Oscar night.  At this year’s ceremony, actress Missi Pyle, who played the vain starlet in Best Picture winner THE ARTIST, wore the contest winner (and made many best-dressed lists).

Red Carpet Green Dress Global Campaign Director Samata Angel praised Amis Cameron for “literally walking the walk on this important red carpet. She is a beautiful testament to the fact that high fashion can be sustainable fashion.”

The Tuesday gala screening at London’s Albert Hall celebrated the epic 1997 film’s re-release in 3D, which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s doomed maiden voyage from southern England’s Southampton in April 1912.

Suzy Amis Cameron, James Cameron and Kate Winslet attend the world premiere of TITANIC in 3D at Royal Albert Hall in London on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012. Photo credit: David Dettmann.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox

Photo credit: Mary McCartney

Sir Paul McCartney, one of the Meatless Monday movement’s most famous supporters, has launched The Meat Free Monday Cookbook (Kyle Books 2012), featuring meatless menu ideas for every Monday of the year.  Assembled in collaboration with his daughters, Stella and Mary, the colorful hard-cover book features favorite recipes from the McCartney family along with contributions from some of their famous friends, including Mario Batali, Woody Harrelson, Vivienne Westwood, Kevin Spacey and Pink.

“We applaud the McCartney family’s unwavering efforts to promote a healthier, more sustainable diet,” said Sid Lerner, who founded Meatless Monday in 2003 with Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Over the last 9 years, Meatless Monday has become a global movement, with activity in 22 countries around the world. In 2009, Paul, Stella and Mary McCartney founded the UK’s Meat-Free Monday campaign and hope to continue to spread the word through the current U.S. release of their cookbook.

Introduced to vegetarianism by his first wife, Linda, McCartney has long advocated a meatless diet.  The 69-year-old rocker has often said in interviews “the most important thing people could do for the future of the planet would be to eat vegetarian. Cattle rearing is one of the most destructive human activities on Earth, and at this point, it’s taking a bigger toll on the planet than airplanes and cars.”

In launching their cookbook, the McCartneys commented, “that while many solutions can be quite difficult to put into practice, the idea of one meat-free day per week is something that many people find do-able and something that can be achieved relatively easily.”

The book offers readers seasonal comfort foods created by some of the top celebrities in the Meatless Monday movement.  Recipes — such as Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes, Basil and Mushroom Tart, Pilau Rice with Cashews and Watermelon Granita, as well as spring soups, summer salads, autumn bakes and winter stews — are all delicious evidence that meatless does not mean tasteless. Here, excerpted from the cookbook, is the former Beatle’s favorite salad.

Super Vegetable Salad by Paul McCartney

Serves 4

28 cherry tomatoes
3 florets of broccoli
12 green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 lettuce — I like Romaine
3 scallions, finely chopped
2/3 cup cornmeal
a handful of chopped herbs of your choice
9 ounces tofu, cut into slices
olive oil for frying

Dressing

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
1 teaspoon maple syrup (if you like a bit of sweetness)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and roast the cherry tomatoes for 10 minutes.

Cover the bottom of a pan with cold water and place a steamer above it. Put the broccoli, green beans, and carrots in the steamer, turn the heat on quite high, and steam for about 15 minutes, occasionally prodding the carrots with a fork to see if they are done. Some people like them slightly crunchy, others prefer them a little softer.  While the vegetables are steaming, make a salad with the leaves and  scallions.

Combine the cornmeal and herbs in a bowl. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Dip the tofu in the cornmeal mixture, then fry until golden.

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing, but only pour over at the last minute.

Assemble your meal by first putting the salad on the plate, then the warm vegetables, and finally the tofu. Pour over the dressing then add a little seasoning sauce or a sauce of your choice.

Interested in Meatless Mondays? Visit www.MeatlessMonday.com

Top Ten Animated EcoFilms

EcoValues for the Kids vs Controversy for the Pundits

Since its recent U.S. opening, THE LORAX has topped the box office, taking in over $160 million so far — entertaining throngs of parents and kids, while infuriating conservative pundits on TV, radio and print. Based on one of Dr. Seuss’ lesser-known books, the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) is a small woodland creature with a large yellow mustache who speaks on behalf of the trees — warning a greedy manufacturer named the Once-ler of the disastrous effect his intended clear-felling will have on natural habitats.

The movie’s ecological theme – according to Fox News and a number of other conservative opinion makers – is just another blatant example of Hollywood-types pushing their liberal agenda on those least likely to see the subversive message through the cartoon trees: the children! That’s right: even a few minutes with THE LORAX are bound to convert the little ones into unabashed tree-huggers.

As you’ll see from the movies on the following list, it’s not the first time that an animated film story told from an environmentalist point of view has been accused of sprouting green propaganda. So, if by some chance, you are one of the millions of ticket-buyers who enjoyed THE LORAX because of — or even despite – its Green-ish hue, here are nine other animated films to rent that could continue to teach your children a few eco-friendly lessons — while entertaining them – and you – at the same time.

Bambi (1942)

Carping about a perceived dissident undertone in animated children’s films isn’t a new thing. Not by a long shot. In fact, the first animated nature-themed film to get grief dates back seven decades. And it came from one of the industry’s most famous conservatives…Walt Disney.

When Bambi was first released, it was slammed in some quarters because of its loveable-animals-versus-coldhearted-humans storyline. Hunters were particularly incensed, calling it “an insult to American sportsmen.” Even those who admired its artistic virtuosity complained about the film’s darkness, with one leading critic labeling it a “thoroughly unpleasant” experience. He had a point. Bambi is one of the most famously heart-wrenching movies ever made. Children and parents alike still crumple when Bambi’s father tells him “your mother can’t be with you anymore,” after she is killed by a hunter. If that weren’t bad enough, Bambi himself is shot while saving his sweetheart from vicious hunting dogs. And let’s not even talk about the horrendous forest fire ignited by “Man.

Happily for nature lovers, Bambi’s message of forest conservation comes across as loud and clear today as it did 70 years ago.

Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Disapproval of eco-themes isn’t limited to Righties. The New York Times described the star-studded Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest as “an uncertain blend of sanctimonious principles and Saturday-morning cartoon aesthetics.” And it’s true that the film’s animated fairies preach incessantly on conservation, pollution and even junk food. But mostly the fairies fear for the survival of their home in the rain forest – which is scheduled for annihilation by humans – creatures they had long believed to be mythical. Look for a logging device called The Leveler and the malevolent Hexxus who gets his power from drinking pollution. Featuring the voices of Robin Williams, Cheech and Chong, Tim Curry, and Christian Slater.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Hayao Miyazaki’s dreamlike animated epic set in medieval Japan spins the timeless tale of humankind’s progress as played out against nature’s delicate balance, as a mining community disrupts the sanctity of the local forest divinities. Masterfully told in beautiful tableaus, this is one for the time capsule (if the time capsule isn’t buried anywhere close to a toxic waste dump).

Chicken Run (2000)

Not since Charlotte’s Web and Babe, have vegetarians had such appealing heroes to root for as Rocky the Rooster and Ginger the Chicken of Chicken Run. Locked away in a British poultry farm in the 1950s, the couple yearns for its freedom. The film follows them as they make a daring escape from a prison-style farm in this Claymation confection from Aardman Animations studios, the creators of Wallace and Gromit.

Over the Hedge (2005)

Greed, rampant consumerism and progress at any cost rear their ugly heads again when a group of forest friends awake from hibernation to find that a suburban housing development has almost obliterated their forest home. The critters are hilarious and resourceful, even if they do have a politically-incorrect penchant for junk food. But what can you expect, when your leader is a raccoon?  Featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte and Avril Lavigne.

Happy Feet 1 & 2 (2006 & 2009)

The catchy songs and shimmering underwater sequences help to soften this film’s hard-hitting message about the danger of commercial over-fishing and pollution to the Antarctic and its animal inhabitants. The sequel, HF2 went even further according to its critics, with references to collectivism, international bailouts, feminism, same-sex marriage, vegetarianism, the United Nations and even Occupy Wall Street (even though the later didn’t exist until after the movie was completed). “Well played, lefties,” Kyle Smith of the New York Post wrote, “This is Kiddie Karl Marx.”

Wall-e (2008)

In WALL-E the garbage-covered earth of the future has been rendered uninhabitable because of man’s destructive habits and raging consumerism. Its landscape is barren and inert with the exception of an adorable trash-collecting robot named WALL-E. To WALL-E’s surprise, a very human-like emotion overtakes him when he encounters his soul mate, the robot EVE – whom he pursues through space to prove his love. After a series of harrowing adventures in the disastrously devolved human world, WALL-E and EVE seal their love with a kiss and provide the earth with a second chance.

Cars2 (2011)

In yet another animated film to draw the ire of Fox News, the prodigious talents at Pixar contemplated the negative impacts of Big Oil, while sending its lovable and loquacious cars to race in the World Grand Prix International. Lightning McQueen and Mater from the first Cars are back along with a former oil tycoon named Miles Axelrod who has become a green power activist with a bio-fuel called Allinol.

The film’s director John Lasseter didn’t bother to deny the film’s obvious eco-message. “Why isn’t alternative fuel more successful?” he said. “It makes so much sense: Electricity, solar, ethanol. There’s all this stuff you could be doing. And so I thought, well, that could be really cool in that you could have big oil versus alternative fuel. That’s when we kind of crafted the bad guy’s story.”

The Muppet Movie (2011)

In the most recent cinematic offering from the furry facecloths, the Muppets stop an evil oil tycoon – with the unsubtle name of Tex Richman – from flattening their beloved theater to drill for oil.

“Yes, it’s a Muppet movie — farcical and silly,” wrote Iris Somberg of the conservative watchdog group Newsbusters. “But how sadly predictable that the villain is the perennial bogeyman of liberal environmentalists, and how sadly telling that the writers politicized a children’s movie. Again.”

Miss Piggy had no comment.

Taylor is interested in our relationship to our environment and his works provide unique and thoughtful expressions of our shifting life experience. In using life-sized human forms in these watery natural environments, we see first hand how humans interact with and affect their habitat, and we can experience how those self-same humans can in fact have a positive effect on their surroundings.

“Art can uniquely give instruction on how we may thoughtfully approach solutions necessary to repair the damage that human negligence seems to wreak on our natural environment”

Perhaps Taylor’s most notable installation is that which is found in the azure waters of the Caribbean Sea, off the Mexican coast of Cancun and Isla de Mujeres. Known as the Museo Subacuåtico de Arte, or MUSA, it comprises hundreds of life-sized works at a depth of several meters, easily allowing it to be viewed from above or to be accessed by snorkelers and scuba divers. Created using fiberglass rebar, sand and marine grade cement, the sculptures seemingly come to life in the undulating waters, as they become actual living reefs. As such they help to replenish the natural habitat that has become degraded as coral reefs disappear at an alarming rate.

In an interview with writer Kimberly Kradel, Jason de Caires Taylor states: “The very real and pressing concern with the degeneration of the world’s reef systems is a principal motivation behind my work and, through the use of these submerged human figures, I aim to illustrate how we are all facing serious questions concerning our environment and our impact on the natural world.”

Here, we pay tribute to this most gifted artist and his reflective, beautiful work, which yet again demonstrates how art can uniquely give instruction on how we may thoughtfully approach solutions necessary to repair the damage that human negligence seems to wreak on our natural environment.

Jason deClaires Taylor’s website

Magnificent Anemone - Fiji

Giant Clam - Fiji

Soft Branching Coral - Fiji

Magnificent Anemone - Fiji

Anemone - Philippines

Coral - Philippines

Crinoid - Philippines

Starfish - Philippines

Burrowing Clam - Philippines

Soft Branching Coral - Philippines

Anemone - Philippines

Bubble Tip Anemone - Philippines

Cory Strassburger, Director, 3-D Animator, Photographer, Visual Effects Artist and Supervisor is a two-time Emmy Winner. His Visual Effects can be seen in “Minority Report”, “Smallville”, “Startrek” and “X-Files” among many others. Broadcast Graphic clients include ESPN, DirectTV, ABC, NBC, Discovery Channel, Food Network and Nike.

Species ID by Christopher Bartlett, ecology.com’s Water Science Adviser

Photography by Lynn Houston

Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth(1798)

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:–
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

Spring Rain  by Matsuo Basho (c. 1680)

Spring rain
leaking through the roof
dripping from the wasps’ nest.

Spring Air

Spring air
woven moon
and plum scent.

Spring in da Bronx (Anonymous)

Der spring is sprung
Der grass is riz
I wonder where dem boidies is?
Der little boids is on der wing,
Ain’t dat absoid?
Der little wings is on de boid!

Sonnet 98 by William Shakespeare

From you have I been absent in the spring
When proud-pied April, dress’d in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing,
That heavy Saturn laugh’d and leap’d with him.
Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Could make me any summer’s story tell,
Or from their proud lap pluck them where they grew:
Nor did I wonder at the lily’s white,
Nor praise the deep vermilion in the rose;
They were but sweet, but figures of delight,
Drawn after you, you pattern of all those.
Yet seem’d it winter still, and you away,
As with your shadow I with these did play.

“As an environmentalist it is important to me that my interventions in nature are subtle and leave no lasting traces. I hope that this work accentuates the beauty and uniqueness of the natural environment, and thus inspires awe and appreciation for our precious natural world.”

Sonja Hinrichsen

These wonderful, monumental Snow Drawings are etched into a canvas of pristine snow, one snow-shoed step at a time, by environmental artist Sonja Hinrichsen.

The artist works alone, or with small groups of local volunteers, to create these ephemeral works in fields, meadows, and pastures, or on frozen lakes and rivers. Beginning in the winter of 2009 during an artist residency in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Hinrichsen has incised her delightful Snow Drawings into the frozen landscapes of Northern New Mexico, the Sierra Nevada, New York’s Hudson Valley and Northwestern Colorado. Each natural landscape inspires a unique interplay of topography and voluminous drawings.

The fleeting works in snow vanish in hours or days by nature’s intervention with a new snowfall, wind’s drifting or sun’s melting. The artist relies on rapid documentation on the ground and from the air for archives of large-scale, panoramic digital prints, and video (see below).

Snow Drawings

Rabbit Ears Pass, Colorado – 2012

Chatham, New York – 2011

Hayden, Colorado – 2011

 

“Lately my works have often included interventions or rituals that I perform in the environment. These are documented photographically and on video, which then becomes integrated in media installations. The traces left in the environment are non-permanent and any evidence will be erased by nature. While I like to unfold my work in large immersive experiences using digital media, I am not interested in creating lasting art pieces, as I believe that our world is over-saturated with man-made products.”

Sonja Hinrichsen

Videos by Cedar Beauregard

Sonja Hinrichsen’s website

Backstage at the Oscars: producer, director and cast of “THE ARTIST”. Missi Pyle in her winning sustainable gown is on the far right. Golden collar winner Uggie stands in the forefront.

Red Carpet Green Dress

Actress Missi Pyle, who plays the vain starlet in this year’s best-picture Oscar winner, The Artist, entered the 84^th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday wearing a stunning and sustainable gown designed by Valentina Delfino, chosen winner of another glittering contest – Red Carpet Green Dress.

Missi Pyle at the Oscars, wearing the Red Carpet Green Dress winner designed by Valentina Delfino.

Delfino – born in Venezuela and based in Miami – was among hundreds of designers from around the world who submitted a sustainable dress design for the competition, now in its third year.

The Red Carpet Green Dress contest, says founder Suzy Cameron Amis, gives aspiring or established designers a chance “to make a beautiful and sustainable gown that will be seen on the single most anticipated red carpet” on Oscar night.

Pyle’s winning gown contains silk peace chiffon, lined with recycled polyester and a sustainable zipper located on the left side seam. The silk chiffon is dyed with a natural mineral dye, which is both environmentally friendly and OSHA approved.

Peace Silk (or Cruelty-Free Silk) is the non-violent silk created through the process that permits the full life cycle of the silkworm pupae. The silkworm is able to emerge naturally and only then, are the cocoons unwound. In the traditional silk process, heat or steam kills the worm prematurely, in order to keep the pupa from breaking through the cocoon.

Interviewed on the Oscar red carpet, Pyle, statuesque in Delfino’s pale turquoise creation, told E–TV,”…as artists, I believe it is our job to show the world that we not only care about creating incredible art, but that we are mindful of the fact that, in doing so, we can make something beautiful that is also sustainable.”

Environmental advocate and wife of director James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron came up with the dress competition in 2009, after attending worldwide premieres of her husband’s film, Avatar. While each red carpet demanded yet another designer gown, she came to realize the environmental footprint fashion can have on our planet.

(L to R) This year’s winning designer, Valentina Delfino with Suzy Amis Cameron, and last year’s winning designer and Global Campaign Director, Samata Angel

Red Carpet Green Dress benefits MUSE School CA and Global MUSE – a non-profit founded by Cameron and her sister Rebecca Amis to provide

resources to their partner schools around the world. Their initiatives include assistance for basic school operations, curriculum development, and nutritious lunches for every student.

Zem Joaquin, Founder & CEO of Ecofabulous.com, has supported Red Carpet Green Dress and assisted in the selection of the winning garment. Cradle to Cradle and the Natural Resources Defense Council have worked in partnership with Red Carpet Green Dress to ensure the final design is sustainably created.