Ever feel like the stuff you own ends up owning you, instead? Ben Davis, the founder of JoinLess, can empathize. As the brains behind the “world’s first open source brand,” Davis wants to create a new symbol-led movement, like the (RED) campaign, “but better,” he tells Ecouterre. Unlike other brands, which get litigious over the unauthorized use of their logos, JoinLess wants you to slap its trademark “(<)” on anything—and everything—to remind you that less is more. We sat down with the man himself to learn more about his anti-brand, what it stands for, and why it’s poised to become the peace sign for a new generation.

Read the rest of Can Buying Less Make Us Happier? Take Part in the “JoinLess” Revolution

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Over at Honestly WTF, designer Gretchen Jones shows us how to make a bold statement necklace with brass rings and neon nylon cord. (Honestly WTF)

Source4Style is launching “The Academy,” a series of 30-minute web-based seminars on sustainable design, starting with “The Apparel Industry’s Greenest Little Secrets” on February 9. (Source4Style)

A 19th century New Jersey schoolgirl’s embroidery sampler went under the hammer for $1.07 million at Sotheby’s. (Jezebel)

Planted acres of organic cotton soared by 36 percent in 2010, while harvested bales saw an uptick of nearly 24 percent, according to the Organic Trade Association’s annual report. (Organic Trade Association)

Want to further research on textile-waste recycling or the impacts of nanotechnology? Donate just $10—the price of two lattes—to the Textile Exchange and help create change. (Textile Exchange)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“Designers just need to produce the most thoughtful collections they can and let people see design first, story second. The design needs to be the invitation because it’s simply too beautiful to pass up.”

—Amy DuFault, managing editor of EcoSalon, speaking to The High Low on Thursday.

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Sweatshop isn’t your average online cow-clicker. As its name implies, the game places you on the floor of an offshore factory that cranks out merchandise for high-street retailers in the West. Your job as manager: to hire workers to assemble hats, shoes, bags, and shirts at various speeds according to their skill level (or lack thereof in the case of the child laborers you also employ), all while keeping your corporate masters happy by raking in the big profits.

Read the rest of Run Your Own Garment Sweatshop With This Online Strategy Game

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The Alexander McQueen bridal gown that Duchess Catherine wore on her wedding day has been nominated for a Design of the Year Award. (Telegraph)

After years of negotiations, Nike is finally paying factory workers in Indonesia more than $1 million in backdated overtime. (The Cut)

Vena Cava x Alabama Chanin? Sheer brilliance. (Alabama Chanin)

Nicaragua is set to harvest its first crop of organic cotton, marking a successful start to the country’s cotton reactivation project. (Yarns and Fibers Exchange)

Nudie Jeans will release 500 pairs of its raw-indigo, straight-leg “Slim Jim” jean, made of recycled denim and organic cotton, exclusively at Barneys New York. (Cool Hunting)

Help end domestic violence by contributing new or gently worn bras to Soma’s biennial bra drive, which ends February 26. (Slaves to Fashion)

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Photo by Bonnie Natko

In what is being hailed as an industry first, apparel brands, retailers, municipalities, nonprofits, and recyclers are banding together to promote the recycling of clothing and textiles. The Council for Textile Recycling has launched a new website to educate the public on the importance of responsible disposal—and not just garments that are “gently worn.” Americans generated 13.1 million pounds of textiles in 2010 alone, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, only 15 percent of which was recovered for export or reprocessing. “Our goal is to have zero post-consumer textile waste going into landfills by 2037,” says Eric Stubin, who chairs the Maryland-based organization. “We’re educating people that clothing and textiles are among the most recyclable items in their home.”

Read the rest of Council for Textile Recycling Launches Site to Discourage Landfill Waste

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If a few of the holiday gifts you received this year weren’t quite your cup of tea, why not sell them on a new site called Copious.com so you can buy what you really wanted. Like other online marketplaces, Copious lets you purchase and sell clothing, shoes, and accessories but with a social media twist. Since the website connects with Facebook (in fact, two FBers are on the board of advisors), buyers can “follow” sellers they like, discover new trends and see exactly who their items belonged to before. Think of it as eBay meets Pinterest.

Read the rest of Copious: A New Marketplace That Lets You Sell, Buy Preloved Goods

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Model-entrepreneur-writer-designer Summer Rayne Oakes just added another pair of hyphenates to her ever-expanding job title: actress and producer. Watch “eXtinction,” part stirring paean to the natural world, part environmental PSA, directed by cinematographer Clayton Haskell and featuring the time-lapse photography of Tom Lowe. (Daily Motion)

How do you de-stink vintage and secondhand clothing? Grist’s intrepid Umbra Fisk has the answer—and some advice. (Grist)

The 10th Annual WWD Beauty Inc. Awards lauded Pantene for promoting “eco-awareness” after it rolled out a new recyclable plastic sourced from Brazilian sugarcane. (WWD)

Never mind the $25 million fine by the Federal Trade Commission for “deceptive advertising”; Reebok intends to relaunch its line of EasyTone products in future seasons. (The Cut)

Is Livia Firth ready to step out of her famous husband’s shadow to become a positive role model in her own right? (Guardian)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“Nobody wants their clothes to be made unethically. In a few years, sustainability will be a large global force.”

—Afia founder and designer Meghan Sebold, speaking to an audience at Princeton University on Monday.

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Is the planet going to hell in a handbasket? Worse, says legendary designer Dame Vivienne Westwood. “We’re all going into the gas chamber, and what I’m saying is that it’s not a bathroom,” she tells the Guardian. “We’re going to be killed. The human race faces mass extinction.” (Fashionista)

After facing the possibility of shuttering, knitwear label LiaMolly is set to open a small knitting factory in New Orleans. (Nola.com)

India is struggling with textile water pollution, according to a new study, which reveals that only 22 percent of apparel companies have policies to manage wastewater discharge. (AirDye)

The Danish Fashion Institute, Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical, and BSR want consumers to be NICE by engaging them on the sustainable consumption of fashion. (NICE)

To celebrate the arrival of two giant pandas—Tian Tian (“sweet” in Mandarin Chinese) and Yang Guang (“sunshine”)—to the Edinburgh Zoo, apparel brand Rapanui has created a line of bamboo tees that will contribute to the animals’ upkeep. (Hippyshopper)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“There is zero waste. My core philosophy is, ‘Wear it to death.’”

—NYC designer Yeohlee Teng, in the Dec. 5, 2011 issue of WWD.

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EDUN, the ethical fashion brand founded by Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, has touched down in Asia with a special launch at Isetan in Tokyo. (EDUN)

Social enterprise United by Blue is more than just talk: It’s already removed 82,527 pounds of trash from the ocean through company-organized cleanups. (TreeHugger)

Japan’s Pola Orbis Holdings has agreed to purchase 100 percent of Jurlique, a natural skincare company based in Australia, for the tune of nearly $300 million. (WWD)

A former Janet Jackson fan was so outraged by his idol’s decision to use animal fur in her clothing line that he’s auctioning off 25 years worth of her memorabilia to benefit the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (Ecorazzi)

Target has signed a development-and-supply agreement with Naturally Advanced Technologies to use Crailer, a type of flax, in its home textiles (Ecotextile News)

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Make that guilty splurge count for something by shopping at Community Collection, a new online marketplace that pairs fashion and accessory labels with do-gooding nonprofits of their choice. The retailer may be in its salad days, having launched in October, but it’s already attracted a bold-faced cast that includes Diane von Furstenberg (for Girls Inc.), Helmut Lang (Flying Kites), Clare Vivier (Surfrider Foundation), Inhabit (World Wildlife Fund), and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (Heal the Bay). For every product you purchase, 20 percent of the sale goes to the designer’s partner charity. You’ll also receive an email that measures your impact, demonstrating the tangible effect of your largesse.

+ Community Collection

[Via Daily Candy]

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You’ve heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but did you remember to shop small on Small Business Saturday? (Small Business Saturday)

Actress and EcoTools spokeswoman Alicia Silverstone celebrated the spring launch of her cosmetics accessories collection on Thursday. (WWD)

A special kind of umbrella, derived from the husks of coconuts, could protect against ultraviolet rays better than cotton and polyester can. (Fibre2Fashion)

SustainU, which produces garments made from 100 percent recycled materials, has opened its first retail store in the United States. (Ecotextile News)

Victory! Chinese sportswear brand Li-Ning and European retailer C&A have pledged to eliminate all toxic chemicals from their supply chain by 2020. (Greenpeace)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“Being a small business, you’re offering a different a point of view that hasn’t been offered everywhere else. Having a so-called small business allows us to move quickly and respond to clients and what they need, rather than by trends. When things get too homogenized, everything [becomes] very corporate. You can find the same store in every major capital in the world.”

—Maria Cornejo, designer of Zero + Maria Cornejo, speaking to Style.com

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Don’t know what to do with Gran’s old fur coat? Donate it to Buffalo Exchange’s “Coats for Cubs” program, which turns used furs into bedding for orphaned and injured wildlife. (Buffalo Exchange)

Just because we’re in a recession doesn’t mean people stop wanting to look their best. Secondhand designer fashion is allegedly a booming $12.5 billion dollar annual industry. (Business Insider)

It’s true that they don’t make things like they used to, but if your stuff is falling apart at the seams, you have only Walmart to blame. (Grist)

What’s a “fibershed”? Textile artist Rebecca Burgess describes the hidden narrative between our bodies and the living environment. (Fashion Projects)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“I have always believed that as human beings, we are all born designers.”

—Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, writing in Ecosalon.

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Fashion as a democracy? With MUUSE, a new online marketplace that features the world’s leading design schools, you could launch the career of fashion’s next big thing simply by voting for the pieces you’d like to see enter production. The Copenhagen-based atelier believes in putting fashion in the hands of the people, without retailers, forecasters, or celebrity influencers running interference. Foremost on its site is a “concept lab” that houses sketches of designs in development. When a item garners enough interest in terms of votes, MUUSE makes a sample available for purchase in limited editions of 20. The concept isn’t for anyone who requires instant gratification, however. Because every item is made to order in a small studio in Vesterbro, be prepared to wait six to eight weeks before your few-of-a-kind garment finds its way to your doorstep.

Read the rest of MUUSE: An Online Marketplace That Lets You Shop From the World’s Top Fashion Schools

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Singer and animal-rights advocate Leona Lewis is on the hunt for an ethical, cruelty-free stage outfit for a “major upcoming performance.” (Talenthouse)

The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges tapped the London College of Fashion for its second Green Gown Award in the social responsibility category, thanks to its work rehabilitating female prison inmates. (London College of Fashion)

In a new book about legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, some rules to live by on style that lasts a lifetime. (EcoSalon)

Just 100 miles of New York City, the women-owned Hudson Valley Sheep & Wool Company plies its trade with a little help from its 100-strong herd of sheep. (Inhabitat)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“Greenwashing. Enough with the false advertising.”

—Environmental campaigner Suzy Amis Cameron speaking to The Atlantic on the sustainability trend she wishes would go away.

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Australia is famous for its sunshine and beaches, but it’s also home to a bustling clothing, and footwear industry. But just because something is “Australian-made” doesn’t mean the person who stitched it is getting a fair go. That’s the message behind “Meet Your Maker,” a new campaign by Ethical Clothing Australia to educate shoppers about the importance of fair wages and healthy work environments. “So many incredible things happening in clothing and footwear here in Australia,” Simon McRae, national manager for the joint business-union initiative, tells Ecouterre. “[Yet] most people look at you blankly when you tell them that we have 50,000 people working in Australia, generating over $3 billion a year. We need to support them and get the message out there.”

Read the rest of Ethical Clothing Australia Launches “Meet Your Maker” Campaign to Highlight Workers’ Rights

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The Berkeley Hotel in London is hosting Prêt-à-Portea, a fashion high tea inspired by the Fall/Winter 2012 runway favorites like Stella McCartney’s spot dress, Miu Miu’s glitter pumps, Lanvin’s capes, and Burberry’s trench coat. (British Vogue)

Designer Vivienne Westwood has partnered with Lee Jeans to publish a photography book based on their “100 Days of Active Resistance” online installation last year. (My Fashion Life]

“Make it, don’t buy it” is the new mantra for fashion bloggers on a budget, and blogs like HonestlyWTF and P.S. I Made This are leading the charge for a new resurgence in DIY. (Today.com)

Congratulations to Costello Tagliapietra’s Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra for making honest men out of each other. The grooms’ bought matching bands at Tiffany’s—”our first and only piece of jewelry.” (Daily Front Row)

“Made in Britain” labels are thriving even as China, India, Bangladesh, and other offshore-manufacturing hot spots are becoming less attractive to retailers because of increased labor and freight costs. (Fibre2Fashion)

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Experience Study NY’s Fall/Winter 2011 collection in a gorgeous video directed by Alexandra Roxo, styled by Bahar Shahpar, with music by Sonia Manalili. (The Square Project)

Burt’s Bees is looking to corner the natural-skincare market with the launch of Güd, a new collection of body, hair and hand products due in stores next January. (WWD)

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has announced the winners of its 2011 Good Business Awards for Fashion: George at Asda for its work on traceability, Beyond Skin for producing ethical footwear at achievable prices, and Rapanui for using QR codes to provide interactive information about fiber origins. (RSPCA)

Our new favorite Fuck Yeah Tumblr, courtesy of A Continuous Lean: Fuck Yeah Made in U.S.A.

Earthtec has teamed up with Project Runway Season 7 winner Seth Aaron to launch a collection of apparel made from recycled plastics, organic cotton, and wool. The “‘Seth Aaron Inspired by Earthtec” line, unveiled at Portland Fashion Week earlier this month, will be available next fall. (Press Release)

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Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion co-stars Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino reunite for Entertainment Weekly’s cast reunions issue in custom-made Post-It dresses, now up for auction to benefit P.S. Arts. (EW)

Bring your castoff denim to any American Eagle Outfitters store through October 18 and it’ll be recycled into UltraTouch denim insulation for communities in need. Plus, everyone who drops off their used threads will receive a 20 percent discount on their entire purchase that day. (American Eagle Outfitters)

Macy’s is the first major retailer to roll out True Fit’s fit-personalization technology, which takes the guesswork out of sizing by showing customers how well the clothes and shoes they view online will fit them in real life. (Fibre2Fashion)

More than just shoes? Nike is setting up a venture-capital offshoot called the Sustainable Business and Innovation Lab to support startups focused on alternative energies and more-efficient manufacturing. (Businessweek)

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Read the rest of How Many Slaves Work for You? New Online Tool Measures Your Impact

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Photo by Jane M. Sawyer

Grade your closet with a free, online calculator that measures the textile footprint of your entire household. Developed by Colour Connections, a fiber consultancy in the United Kingdom, the calculator captures data about your garment consumption in a year, including number of items purchased (categorized by material and type), how they’re laundered, and whether they’re recycled or trashed at the end of their useful lives. Numbers crunched, the calculator spits out an overall EDU score—that’s “Environmental Damage Units”—that tallies your use of water, energy, non-renewable resources, and carbon emissions. Still, the grading nomenclature could use some work: high-roller types are branded “fashionably overweight,” while mindful consumers with the lowest EDU scores are “fashionably unfashionable.” (Really?) Fun fact: Forgoing one tumble-dry cycle per week saves 170 EDUs, or enough to make 50 pairs of underpants.

+ Household Textile Environmental Impact Calculator

+ Colour Connections

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Snag singer Debbie Harry’s vintage threads at 1stDibs—a portion of the proceeds benefits Riverkeeper’s environment-saving work. (EcoSalon)

Luxury fashion houses don’t come under the same ethical scrutiny as their high-street brethren, but they still need to “wake up” to their environmental responsibilities, says Simon Birch of Ethical Consumer, which gave low marks to so-called conscious companies like Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood in its latest clothing report. (The Guardian)

You can credit the absence of fur in O Magazine to an “aha!” moment Oprah Winfrey experienced 20 years ago. Looking at a sable coat in her closet, the media mogul was struck by a visceral sense of how many animals had been bred specifically to be killed. She gave them all away and hasn’t looked back since. (Pinnacle)

What price sparkle, asks Observer journalist and author Lucy Siegle. “While there seems to be a surfeit of ‘eco-buttons,’ I’ve still to find an eco-sequin,” she writes. “They are relentlessly plastic.” (The Observer)

How many matching lumberjack ensembles do Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra have in their closet? StyleLikeU spelunks its depths. (Racked)

QUOTABLE QUOTE

A lot of times, people who wear fur might already have an openness to hearing another point of view, but if you go at them in a way that’s confrontational, they will shut down.”

—Actress and vegan activist Alicia Silverstone on why she tries to express her distaste for fur without judgement or condemnation.

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Fashioning Change isn’t your typical online marketplace. Hailing from San Diego, the self-professed “green shopping intervention” helps consumers recreate name-brand looks using sustainable and ethical brands. By matching styles and price points, Fashioning Change goes beyond retail, becoming a “consumer-driven tool that will drive bottom-up systemic change in the fashion industry,” according to co-founders Adriana Herrera and Kevin Ball. The “Wear This, Not That” app even does the research for you, making it easy to style a more sustainable wardrobe. And, if you’re the sort of person who likes to dig deep, the site includes fact sheets that delve into the backgrounds of each label, so you know precisely what you’re buying into.

Read the rest of Fashioning Change: An Online Tool That Helps You “Wear This, Not That”

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Patagonia always had a reputation for making durable, low-impact outdoor apparel, but the California label is taking its sustainable ethos one step further with the launch of Common Threads, an initiative that seeks to help consumers, well, consume less. Together with online-auction website eBay, Patagonia created a virtual swap meet on Wednesday for buying and selling used Patagonia gear—an unexpected retail model that’s a first for a major brand. The underlying message, one that underscores one of eBay’s core commandments, is clear: The greenest product is the one that already exists.

Read the rest of Patagonia Launches eBay Storefront to Buy, Sell Pre-Owned Gear

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After Greenpeace made an example of Adidas in its “Detox” campaign, the sportswear giant committed itself to a goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by 2020. (Press release)

Marks & Spencer is rolling out the second phase of its “Better Cotton” project in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India, to deliver an extra 21,000 tons of sustainable cotton and support the livelihoods of 20,000 farmers and their families over the next three-and-a-half years. (Press release)

Singapore’s Workforce Development Agency is earmarking $6.8 million for the expansion of the textile and fashion industry, with a focus on greener processes. (Channel News Asia)

Faux fur is upping the stakes against the genuine article—for real. (Los Angeles Times)

Swedish high-street retailer H&M has joined the Fair Wage Network, an initiative that works to unite brands, garment producers, non-governmental organizations, and labor unions to to promote fair compensation worldwide.

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Designer Amy Matto makes a wry comment on overseas outsourcing with a Garment District-made tee that reads “Made in the U.S.A” in Chinese. (Amy Matto)

Uniqlo, which launched a Fleece Recycling Campaign in Japan in 2001, will introduce its All-Product Recycling Initiative at stores in the US, UK and France in September. (Fibre2Fashion)

If you’re an aspiring fashion designer with a yen for sustainability, tackle higher education at one of these leading green schools. (EcoSalon)

Does luxury go hand in hand with sustainability? The Guardian’s Sustainable Business Blog investigates.(Guardian)

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