Jasmin Malik Chua

A 12-year veteran of the publishing industry, Jasmin joins Ecouterre as managing editor after a stint at TreeHugger, where she wrote about sustainable fashion and beauty. She has an M.S. in biomedical journalism from New York University and a B.S. in animal biology from the National University of Singapore. In addition to stories published in online and print publications like Alive, Plenty, The Huffington Post, and Sprig, Jasmin has been quoted as a green expert by such publications as The New York Times, BBC Radio, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and People. Jasmin was previously a copy editor for Computer Shopper and PRINT. (She still reads style guides for fun.)

Follow Jasmin on Twitter @jasminchua.

Turn Used Plastic Bags Into a Pair of Upcycled Rain Boots

What better footwear to go with the DIY IKEA raincoat we featured last week than these upcycled rain boots? (They even come in the same shade of ultramarine—sartorial kismet!) Conceived by Waste for Life by Louie Rigano, a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design, the sturdy and surprisingly chic galoshes are fabricated from plastic bags collected by cartoneros, or impoverished Argentineans who make their living collecting trash in Buenos Aires.

A Tween Fashion Prodigy, “Green” Fur, Gabrielle Anwar’s Wombles

Photo by Andy Holzman/Lapresse

At the ripe old age of 10, Cecilia Cassini might be the youngest fashion designer in America…and perhaps the world. Many of her pieces are even made with repurposed fabrics plundered from the closets of her mother and older sister. Let’s just hope she asked them first. (TreeHugger)

Made-By is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a line of limited-edition line of tees from …

Amisha Ghadiali, Associate Director of the Ethical Fashion Forum

Lady Gaga Turns Recycled Soda Cans, Phones into Haute Hair Accessories

If Lady Gaga has a passion for trashion, she’s managed to keep it on the down-low…until now, that is. The flamboyant chanteuse has “leaked” stills from her mucho anticipated “Telephone” video, which premieres Thursday and features the pipes of musical BFF Beyoncé. Tucked into her famous platinum-blonde locks: empty soda cans and the dismembered remains of a rotary …

NYC EVENT: Eco Chic—Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion

Eco Chic—Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion opens at Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America, May 5, 2010, and showcases Swedish fashion designers who take an environmentally-friendly and ethical approach to their work, without sacrificing style. On view through August 21, this exhibition illuminates high-fashion alternatives to much of today’s environmentally harmful clothing.

Proving that “going green” is more than a feel-good …

Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld Unsure About Global Warming, Prepares for Ice Age

Photo by Wallpaper

A political statement about climate change was the last thing on Karl Lagerfeld’s mind when he trotted Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2010 collection in front of a giant, 265-ton glacier in Paris on Tuesday. (He counts the Ice Hotel in Sweden, not drowning polar bears, as his inspiration.) But can an iceberg be just an iceberg in these post-COP15 times? “Have you felt any warming this winter?” Lagerfeld asked reporters after the show. “Maybe that’s all nonsense, who knows.” Et tu, Karl?

AussieBum Monkeys Around With World’s First Undies Made From Bananas

G’day mate, is that a banana you’ve got down undah or are you just happy to see us? Cor blimey, maybe we should save our quips for the boys from Oz, specifically blokes who have traded their tightie-whities for AussieBum’s new range of eco-friendly briefs and boxers. (It just so happens that they’re made from that most well-endowed of tropical fruits.) Can we get a crikey?

Who Wore Green on the 2010 Academy Awards Red Carpet?

Photo by Richard Harbaugh/A.M.P.A.S.

As Hollywood’s biggest night unfolded, the only thing more anticipated than the parade of glittering gowns at the Kodak Theatre were the winners themselves. (And even that is debatable.) Here are three Oscar attendees who chose to wear their politics on their sleeves by going green on the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards.

Eco-Footwear Goes Mainstream With Launch of Naya Shoes

Call a bandwagon a bandwagon if you must, but Naya isn’t just a fresh-off-the-presses line of eco-friendly wedges, heels, and flats. It’s also a ringing endorsement that the sustainability movement is doing something right. The first company-owned brand launched by the billion-dollar Brown Shoe Co. in 10 years, Naya joins established sibling brands like Dr. Scholls, Buster Brown, and Via Spiga, as well as the Famous Footwear chain of stores.

Faux-Leather “Project Runway” Outfit Made From…Trash Bags!

That noise you hear? That’s the sound of our jaws crashing to the floor at the sight of the winning look from last night’s Project Runway. Who would have thought that this sizzling curve-hugging number was made entirely from—wait for it—garbage bags! The work of one Jay Nicolas Sario, the pleather-like ensemble drew its own share of praise from the peanut gallery. “We’ve seen many garbage bags on Project Runway, but never quite like this,” gushed Heidi Klum. Jay, you made it work. And how! Click below the fold for a video clip.

Energy-Producing Fibers, H&M’s Organic Skincare, Eco-Fashion Innovations

Photo by jemsweb

U.C. Berkeley researchers have developed energy-harvesting nanofibers that could be woven into clothing and used to power small electronics with a shake of your bon-bon. (GreenerDesign)

Is H&M trying to save face, literally? The beleaguered fast-fashion giant has just announced the launch of a line of certified-organic skincare products. (FocusOnStyle)

Get your vegan shoe on with this roundup of cruelty-free kicks, including some fetching foot adornments from Olsenhaus. …

Tesco Launches Recycled Clothing Line With From Somewhere

Could picking up sustainable clothing be as easy as cruising the dairy aisle? Maybe if Tesco has something to do with it. The British grocery-and-retail giant has tapped designers Orsola de Castro and Filippo Ricci of From Somewhere to develop a limited line of recycled clothing for its Florence & Fred label.

Gun Reclamation Project Upcycles Gun Parts Into Pacifist Eco-Jewelry

The Gun Reclamation Project takes its philosophy of beating swords into plowshares seriously. The collection of baubles by B-Side Jewelry pillages firearms for parts (triggers, firing pins, recoil lugs) and recasts them as symbols of nonviolence. Launching tonight at a fundraising event for the New York City Gun Buy-Back Program, the …

What Will the Fashion Industry Look Like in 2025?

Predicting the future, like spotting trends, is a tricky proposition, but that hasn’t stopped people—including us—from attempting to squint beyond the veil. The latest sartorial crystal-ball slingers, Levi Strauss & Co. and the U.K. nonprofit Forum for the Future, have jointly released a report painting four possible scenarios of what the trillion-dollar global apparel, accessories, and luxury goods market will look like in 2025. You don’t have to wade through reams of dull statistics to get the gist of Fashion Futures’ call to action for the industry, however. A quartet of digestible animated videos make envisioning these futures a cinch, from a world where slow fashion reigns supreme to one where production is localized to the point of xenophobia.

Prophetik’s Civil War-Inspired Fall ‘10 Line Storms London Fashion Week

Adie & George: Local, Eco-Knitwear by Mr. Larkin, Permacouture Institute

Adie and George never had the pleasure of each other’s acquaintance but that hasn’t stopped their granddaughters from playing retroactive matchmaker. Casey Larkin (Mr. Larkin) and Sasha Duerr (Permacouture Institute) bandied around several names for their collaborative knitwear collection before landing on the monikers of their biological forebears—perfectly apropos when you consider the heritage nature of the 100 percent West Coast line.

Summer Rayne Oakes, Eco-Model/Author/Social Entrepreneur

Inspired by Nature, Dandi Maestre’s Jewelry Embraces Its Wild Beauty

If there’s one thing that designer Dandi Maestre knows, it’s that you can’t tame nature, so why bother? The former graphic designer plunders Gaia’s backyard for treasures-in-the-rough and crafts them into oversized sartorial statements: shed antlers become an avant-garde necklace, reclaimed driftwood transforms into a chunky cuff, and dyed exotic nuts are carved into psychedelic rings.

Olsenhaus Makes Eco-Chic Vegan Shoes From Recycled TVs (No Foolin’!)

With the transition to all-digital broadcasts, the planet isn’t exactly hurting for obsolete TV sets. Which is why vegan footwear purveyor Olsenhaus is making a switch of its own—by cladding Its entire Fall/Winter 2010 collection of pumps, wedges, stiletto booties, and knee-highs in an innovative polyester microfiber made from trashed television screens.

Suno’s Upcycled Clothing Celebrates Kenyan Artistry, Social Responsibility

Subtle. Understated. Restrained. These are not words in Suno’s vernacular. The New York-based label, founded in 2008 by designer/screenwriter Max Osterweis, is a riot of color and print. The daringly original pieces lend themselves well to the storied provenance of their fabrics: Vintage “kangas,” or large, sarong-like pieces of printed cotton traditionally worn by coastal East African women, almost all of which bear Swahili aphorisms about social or sexual politics.