Responsible Apparel Companies in the Age of Fast Fashion

Avoid supporting "green washing" by choosing products from certified B corporations. 

Certified B corporation have been independently verified by B Lab to meet standards for social and environmental accountability.

In the luxury fashion industry, there are a few standouts: Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, AllBirds, Chloe, Good American, Aera, Prota Fiori, Veja.

Certified B status is still rare among fashion companies. Currently, the percentage of eco- conscious fashion companies boasting official B-Corp status is less than 1%.  

B-Corp status isn't limited to luxury brands. Eco-conscious choices for the average American include: Unspun, MATE the Label, Toad&Co, Cottoncitizen and more. A list of green apparel companies for the average consumer can be found on Zanniee. 

Sources:

10 Certified B Corp Fashion Labels Charting an Ethical Luxury Future   

B Corp certification in the age of fast fashion: Using hierarchical clustering and correspondence factor analysis to highlight social entrepreneurial advancement in the fashion industry - ScienceDirect

25 B Corp Certified Brands You Should Know About - Green Is The New Black

200+ Ethical & Sustainable American Fashion Brands | Ultimate List - Zanniee

The Book of Cold Cases by SImone St. James

Having been kidnapped as a child, Shea develops an obsession with crime stories. Though she works as a medical receptionist, her true passion is blogging about true crime. Thus, she recognizes Beth Greer, who almost has celebrity status, when she comes in for an appointment. 

Like The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James gives The Book of Cold Cases a dual timeline, deftly interweaving the recent past--the 1960s and the 1970s with the present.

St. James' characters, however, are more complex in The Book of Cold Cases. Beth Greer appears to be the quintessential femme fatale. But there is more at play. A lot more. 

St James returns repeatedly to the moment when Beth is arrested. The young Beth is red-haired, extremely wealthy, and wearing a form-fitting trench coat. A witness claims the suspect was red-haired and wore a trench coat. 

Flash forward to the present. The sixty-some woman who stands before Shea is the "Lady Killer" who was indicted but never charged for two murders. She is the recluse who lives frozen in time, the moment the murders were committed. 

Though it's dangerous to consort with a serial killer, Shea knows she has to interview the woman for her cold case blog. Reclusive and secretive, Beth Greer has famously eschewed interviews, but Shea is determined. 

As in all of St James' novels, readers can detect a supernatural subtext. 

Films that explore similar concepts, paranormal events and podcasting, are Ia Tuason's Undertone (2025). 

By adding a  supernatural element to her mysteries, St. James gives readers an additional layer to an already riveting mystery. 

Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher

 

Hemlock & Silver is both a wonderful romantasy and dark adaptation of Snow White. 

Rationally minded Anja does not believe in magic. Having witnessed her cousin die of poisoning, she has devoted her life to scientifically studying its curative and deleterious effects. 

When the King's daughter becomes ill, he turns to Anja, because he believes she may know how to cure his ailing child. Reluctantly, Anja goes to Witherleaf to determine if she is being poisoned.  

Since there may be a poisoner among them so she is assigned two bodyguards. Anja quickly becomes enamored with one of them. She is convinced, however, that Javier, finds her repulsive. 

Anja is not the stereotypical heroine. Many call her "plain," and she is only interested in wearing brown and black clothing.

The "mirror-geld" is an extraordinary literary device. Though Anja initially fears them, they prove enormously helpful. The mirror geld are distortions and disembodied reflections that band together.

The heroine of this romance, fantasy, detective story uses her intelligence to solve the case, to win her suitor, and to defeat the dark queen. 

Someone Else's Husband by Kimberly McCreight

 

Dive into July's Katie Couric's Book Club pick, which is also a perfect summer read. 

Wealthy couple, Richard and Gretchen, face a legal battle when Richard is accused of murdering his travel companion, Frankie, an artist with a dark secret. 

Richard, a financier, has humble origins. His upward career trajectory is largely due to his wife's family and their connections. Gretchen, in the meantime, gave up law school to become a full-time mother.

The novel explores how a single incident can shatter the ostentatiously perfect life. More than just a murder story, the novel investigates the base instincts that underlie a couple's perfect facade.

More than one mystery swirls around this rich couple. Gretchen wonder if Richard had a flirtation or an affair with Frankie. She wonders if her whole marriage has been a lie. 

After Frankie is found dead, police investigate the texts she received--some were from Richard and some from an unknown person who was stalking Frankie.  Police examine videotape and interview Richard who makes questionable statements. 

McCreight includes police interviews and other primary sources making readers feel like detectives on the case.   

 McCreight's debut novel was Reconstructing Amelia, has won numerous awards. Her breakout novel has been optioned for TV by HBO.

Kimberly McCreight – New York Times bestselling author

The "We Must Act Now" letter

Top economists signed this digital letter, We Must Act Now

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, Reid Hoffman, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and top economics sign digital letter warning the public about AI. 

The signers ask for "guardrails" to be placed on transformative AI technology. They recognize that AI could bring risks and "large-scale job displacement."  

The statement was posted on the Stanford Digital Economy Lab website. 

Read the letter Eric Schmidt, Reid Hoffman, and top economists signed warning about AI's threat to jobs

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted AI will replace fifty percent of entry level white color jobs in the next five years. 

National University estimates that 300 million jobs could be lost due to AI, with at least 50 million of them being entry level jobs. 

While this is particularly troublesome for young job seekers looking for their first job, it is also troublesome for companies who will not be able to recruit talent 

Nature's Echo by Thomas Crowther

An inspiring new environmental book, Nature’s Echo, by Thomas Crowther will be hitting the shelves soon.

Some may remember Thomas Crowther’s name because it has been associated with the Trillion Tree Campaign. In this book, Nature’s Echo, he sets the record straight. His study and subsequent article in Nature never advocated simply planting new trees.

Growing trees in a plantation, without fostering and establishing an ecosystem, can lead to devastating results. He points to the 2017 Pedrogao Grande Fire, one of the worst fires in Portugal’s history, as an example.

The Pedrogao Grande fire raged in the region because of the cash crop of Eucalyptus trees, which burn faster and more easily than other trees. Once the trees were lit, they blazed faster and faster, a feedback loop that burned nearly 45,000 hectares of land.

Crowther fearlessly writes about the misinterpreted study and how it led to some corporations to start “greenwashing” by planting trees in an ill-advised way. Many scientists disavowed him after the Nature article. In the melee, Crowther’s exhortation of restoring and protecting existing forest land was lost. In addition, his message supporting indigenous communities who practice restorative farming techniques was not heard.

Nature’s Echo gives Crowther the chance to correct the record, but it offers readers even more — it offers hope. Crowther bravely shares that, after a diving accident, he had a pontine stroke. One of the consequences of the stroke was severe depression. Wrestling with depression helped him understand those who despair over climate change.

Despair, however, leads to inaction, the exact opposite of what humans collectively need to do to avert climate change. What is needed, he argues, is joyous involvement. Joyous involvement will create positive feedback loops. In other words, people who engage in climate solutions positively and enthusiastically will spread that enthusiasm to others.

What will turn the tide are healthy land practices, innovative farming like shade-grown coffee, fair trade, debt-for-nature swaps, and other programs that promote equality. Crowther believes that inequality and poverty lead to the misuse of nature and deforestation.

Equally important are regenerative innovations. Advances in battery technology are making it possible to store solar power. Batteries can now store enough energy to power microgrids e.g. Sonnen’s community batteries, Tesla’s Powerwall, and Enphase’s Microgrid.

Crowther mentions many more innovative solutions that could change the trajectory of climate change. Electric cars reached a tipping point in 2023. Electric trains, ships and aircraft will curb even more greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere. Green building materials, mycelium-based insulation, and bioplastics will add to the positive momentum.

He argues that changing the current climate crisis will not be easy, but it can be done. Even though CO2 emissions exceed 44 billion tons each year, we cannot be “passive witnesses to planetary collapse.” We must act positively and joyously because conservation efforts will fail if they are burdensome. Lasting positive changes, Crowther emphatically states, will not come from guilt, denial, or shame.

Be sure to follow this blog for more reviews. Enter your email in the follow.it in the top side of the right column. 

Happy 250th birthday, America

 America means so many different things to different people. Apple pie, hamburgers, hot dogs, baseball, Joe DiMaggio, Rin Tin Tin, Annie Oakley, Daniel Boone, Harriet Tubman, GIs, are all symbolic of some version of America.   

At this point in history, when everything is so divided, it's nice to put aside our differences and enjoy the fact that we are all here--in this grand tapestry called America.