Aveda Greens New York Fashion Week

Natural products company Aveda is innovating waste recovery with its recycled cap program.

Photo: Aveda

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Natural hair and skincare leader Aveda has announced the latest iteration of its successful "Green Backstage" program, targeting New York Fashion Week.

For the third year in a row, Aveda is working with show participants to help them green up their fashion week presence. This year Rodarte, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Preen and Alexander Wang have committed to taking the following four steps:

1. Replace bottled water with New York City tap water, eliminating up to 400 plastic water bottles backstage per show. Aveda will provide reusable liter-sized non-toxic aluminum Sigg bottles.
2. Eliminate use of fur in shows and in all retail products.
3. Serve organic, locally sourced food to models, stylists, makeup artists and production staff backstage. Food provided by City Bakery for Aveda.
4. Print all programs and show invitations on post-consumer recycled paper.

Aveda will also encourage the use of emission-free pedicabs for guests of fashion week.

The upcoming Spring 2009 fashion shows also mark Aveda's 30th Anniversary and the kickoff of the Aveda Caps Recycling Program, aimed at taking a bite out of ocean plastic pollution. That program began in six New York area primary schools, and is designed to remake waste into 100% recycled plastic caps for Aveda products, a first for the U.S. beauty industry.

The caps of plastic bottles are rarely accepted by recyclers, so they end up in landfills or run off into waterways, eventually finding their way into the oceans (or in the stomachs of wildlife). As of this writing, school kids have collected more than 55,000 pounds of plastic caps for Aveda.

During fashion week, models, stylists and designers can help the effort by saying no to bottled water, and by bringing their plastic caps to Aveda stores and participating salons.

Consumers can follow through by also taking their caps to Aveda locations. The company says they accept rigid plastic caps from soda and juice beverages, shampoo and laundry detergent, and flip-top caps. If you can bend or break the lid with your bare hands it won't work.

Aveda's Caps Recycling Program will be kicked off in style by a soiree at the Greenwich Hotel in NYC on September 4th. No bottled water will be allowed.

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