Conscious Living TV Covers Carrotmob Chicago!

Want to put your spending dollars toward greening your community? Recently, Conscious Living and hundreds of Chicagoans did just that by shopping at the gourmet food store Fox & Obel! Fox and Obel was host to the Carrotmob, an organization of individuals who create excitement around a particular business in order to increase that business’ profits for one day. Proceeds of the profits from that day go toward making the business more energy efficient.

Any Carrotmob event can be thought of as a reverse boycott: Carrotmobbers take to the streets outside their chosen business and encourage pedestrians to shop at the business. With the aid of signs, t-shirts, coupons and—in the case of the Fox & Obel event—a massive, papier-mâché carrot, Carrotmobbers make their business of choice the place to be.

Fox & Obel will allocate fifty percent of its proceeds on the day of the Carrotmob to making the store more energy efficient. The store’s priority is to replace its current lighting with LED lighting. With the event bringing in $4,300, Fox & Obel now has $2,150 it can now use toward energy efficiency.

To learn more about the Carrotmob and learn about upcoming Carrotmob events in your area, go to www.carrotmob.org. For our coverage on the event, check out the Food page of Conscious Living TV!

Visionary Mobile Eco-Chic Boutique

When fashonista entrepreneur Magda Rod opened her eco-chic Visionary Boutique on trendy Melrose in 2007, she envisioned a space where she could offer customers a taste of environmental and social consciousness without having to sacrifice quality or style. After doing just that, when the recession hit she moved her store (now located on Pico) and gave it a second life with the Visionary Mobile Boutique. Housed in this green-retrofitted 1966 Airstream trailer, it offers some of the best eco-lifestyle brands on the go, including Linda Loudermilk, Kailia Footwear and Jane Iredale cosmetics. This summer, we stopped by her new mobile pad at Malibu's eco-friendly BuFest and picked up one of her custom Ecousable water bottles and a sexy charm bracelet from her inspirational jewelry line. Keep up the great work, Magda!