It's officially shorts weather around here, and that means super fun beach vacations and relaxing by the swimming pool!

Swimsuits from the big box store tend to be bad news from a social and environmental standpoint. You can't really tell if they're made in a sweatshop, and they tend to be made from petroleum products. Any time I want to skip the big box store, my first stop is Etsy, and my searching did not disappoint! I stumbled upon these super sweet swimsuits by Miami designer Meadow that are as sassy as they are eco-friendly!

Meadow makes her Ecobikinis out of a fabric called modal or out of reclaimed materials. Unlike conventional rayon--a petroleum product--modal is made from the cellulose of beech trees. It is a rayon-like product, which means there are chemicals involved in creating it, but it's still worlds better than the sort you'd find at the department store.

Not only is the fabric greener, but when you buy handmade, you don't have to worry about sweatshop labor. You know that a handmade designer creates each piece with love in conditions that she chooses. Rather than supporting big brands and questionable labor practices, when you buy handmade you're helping a designer make a living by doing what she loves. Everybody wins!

You can find Meadow's Ecobikini line on Etsy.

A few days ago I was lucky enough to have breakfast at Leslie Kelly Shockley's desert dwelling and master garden.  Shockley is the inspired creator and upcycling designer of  Tea With Iris.  She creates children's and women's clothing along with an assortment of homegoods - from pot holders and bibs to bags and picnic blankets.

"I find fabric and then want to do something with it," says Shockley.  And she does!  A vintage 1950's linen tablecloth becomes the Phoebe, a sleeveless shift top that's perfect for coming warm weather.  Her children's line is adorable with new girls shirt dresses made from men's shirting and spring daisy dresses.  Her model and muse for the children's line is her own daughter, Elle.

Also fitting: Shockley sews all of her work on her grandmother's 1958 Singer Slant-O-Matic sewing machine. Her work is fun, fashionable and best of all upcycled, recycled and reused.  It's a stylish way to save the planet!

We're in the middle of Patagonia Advocate week! Until November 21st, Patagonia will be donating $10 to the Appalachian Mountain Club for every pair of Patagonia shoes they sell at Planet Shoes. The Appalachian Mountain Club is all about protecting the Appalachian wilderness through education and direct action. Their volunteers run workshops, classes, outreach, and maintain over 1,500 miles of trails.

They were kind enough to sponsor a giveaway here on the site last week (it's closed now) to promote Advocate Week, and they also offered me a pair of their shoes to review. I chose their super-adorable slip-ons, The Advocate. They come in a few different colors, but I couldn't resist the blue ones with green elastic. My two favorite colors represented in one shoe!

Sizing

One thing that's important if you're ordering the Advocate is being careful about sizing. They only come in full sizes, and the reviews on the site mean business when they say that these shoes run on the large side. I'm normally a 7 1/2 to an 8, so I ordered 8s and had to contact the company because they were way too big. The super kind folks at Patagonia sent out a pair in my size right away, though, and other than the sizing snafu, I am super impressed!

Comfort

I don't buy new shoes very often, so when I do get a new pair, the break in period always really annoys me. With these, there wasn't any kind of break in period at all. They fit me like a glove right out of the box and were super comfy.

They don't have and arch support, so if you're going to be on your feet for a long time, I'd opt for something more with a little bit more cushion. My first time wearing them out, I walked down to the bookstore, which is about a half a mile round trip, and they were totally fine.

Patagonia and the Environment

Since these shoes are made with synthetic leather, they don't breathe like a leather shoe. If you're planning to go without socks in these, a little bit of baking soda might be a good idea. I know, faux leather isn't the most eco-friendly material (though, to be fair, real leather is hardly ecologically sound), but they do their best to use recycled materials in these shoes. The footbed is made from 20% recycled EVA, and they use 15% recycled EVA for the insoles.

Part of what I love about Patagonia is their commitment to supporting environmental causes. They're a member of 1% for the Planet and take care to green up their materials and processes wherever they can. They also carefully track their products' impacts from design to delivery, which I think it really cool. You can read more about what Patagonia's environmental initiatives on their site.

Thanks to all of the awesome folks who entered the Patagonia and PlanetShoes.com giveaway for Patagonia Advocate Week! We used a random number to choose a winner, and the winner is......

Edgar who said:

Didn't win? Don't despair! You can pick up a pair of sweet Patagonia kicks at PlanetShoes.com, and if you do it this week, they'll donate $10 to the Appalachian Mountain Fund.

The folks at Patagonia have teamed up with PlanetShoes.com to launch Patagonia Advocate week, and they're giving away a pair of shoes to one lucky Green Upgrader reader to help spread the word!

From today until November 21st, Patagonia will be donating $10 to the Appalachian Mountain Club for every pair of Patagonia shoes they sell at Planet Shoes. The Appalachian Mountain Club is all about protecting the Appalachian wilderness through education and direct action. Their volunteers run workshops, classes, outreach, and maintain over 1,500 miles of trails.

If you enter our giveaway, I hope that you'll also consider making a donation to the Appalachian Mountain Club, in lieu of the one Patagonia would be making if you purchased a pair of shoes. The winner will receive a gift coupon, so you can choose any pair of shoes you like from the Patagonia site!

Speaking of that giveaway, I bet you'd like to know how to enter! There are a few ways that you can get your "name in the hat." Please just make sure that you leave a separate comment for each thing you do, so that we can be sure to count all of your entries!

• Comment on the original post, letting us know which Patagonia shoes you like the best.
• Like us on Facebook, and let us know with a comment on the original post.
• Follow us on Twitter, tweet about the giveaway, and let us know with a comment on the original post.

That's it! We'll announce the winner on Monday, November 14th, so hurry and enter while there's still time.

The folks at Patagonia have teamed up with PlanetShoes.com to launch Patagonia Advocate week, and they're giving away a pair of shoes to one lucky Green Upgrader reader to help spread the word!

Patagonia Advocate Week

From today until November 21st, Patagonia will be donating $10 to the Appalachian Mountain Club for every pair of Patagonia shoes they sell at Planet Shoes. The Appalachian Mountain Club is all about protecting the Appalachian wilderness through education and direct action. Their volunteers run workshops, classes, outreach, and maintain over 1,500 miles of trails.

“Many people, including our Associates, have benefited from the recreational and educational programs and on-going conservation activities of the Appalachian Mountain Club,” said Phil Meynard, President of Planet, Inc. “We’re very happy to have the opportunity to support their efforts and sincerely appreciate the generosity of Patagonia.”

Started in 2010, the Patagonia Advocate Weeks program allows retail partners to support the 1% For The Planet non-profit organization of their choosing.

The Giveaway

If you enter our giveaway, I hope that you'll also consider making a donation to the Appalachian Mountain Club, in lieu of the one Patagonia would be making if you purchased a pair of shoes. The winner will receive a gift code to use on Patagonia's site, so you can choose whatever pair of shoes from the site that you like!

Speaking of that giveaway, I bet you'd like to know how to enter! There are a few ways that you can get your "name in the hat." Please just make sure that you leave a separate comment for each thing you do, so that we can be sure to count all of your entries!

• Comment here, letting us know which Patagonia shoes you like the best.
• Like us on Facebook, and let us know with a comment here.
• Follow us on Twitter, and let us know with a comment here.

That's it! We'll announce the winner on Monday, November 14th, so hurry and enter while there's still time.

New clothing comes with a hefty carbon footprint. From producing and dyeing the fibers and shipping the fabric to factories to making the clothes and getting them to stores, clothes often travel all over the world before they make it into your closet. One of the easiest ways to skirt this issue is to buy used clothes whenever you can, but scouring thrift stores isn't everyone's favorite way to spend a Saturday.

Selbey is a  new online service that's trying to make is easier for folks to buy and sell used clothes, and their CEO, Nila Salinas, was kind enough to answer a few questions from us about Selbey and what they're trying to do. It's still in beta testing right now, but the awesome folks at Selbey are also offering up invites to Green Upgrader readers! We've got a link to the invite page at the end of the interview.

gUP: What inspired you to launch Selbey?
Salinas: Everyone on our team, grew up thirfting. In my poor college years, I traded clothes at stores like Crossroads Trading and Plato's Closet to make a quick buck. I quickly become frustrated with the resale clothing model. I'd drag bags full of clothing to these stores and wait for a while as they pillaged through my apparel. I would be amazed to be handed back more than half of what I brought and offered a meager $50 for over $500 worth of apparel. I realized that re-sale stores weren't the answer. As a physical store, they have to consider their overhead costs, if something wasn't in season or was out of their target buyer's sizes or taste (which varies by community/neighborhood), it didn't sell. But that DIDN'T mean it wasn't still a really awesome piece of clothing. So then I thought to spend a few more minutes of my day selling my clothing online.

Surprisingly, there is still not a large online marketplace just for buying and selling clothing that allows users to be paid the moment their item sells. Currently the main options are eBay and Etsy. When you really get down to it, neither site is really perfect for clothing. When you think of eBay, the last thing  used clothing and their fees are astronomical compared to other sites. We love Etsy, but unfortunately they can't really fill this need either. Etsy does allow its users to selling used clothing as long as its over 20 years old. Understandably, Etsy needs to protect the handmade clothing market it has fostered and can't allow a 6-month old item from H&M to be sold in the same marketplace as a handmade T-shirt made by an artist. Even as someone who loves vintage, only about 30% of what I own is over 20 years old. We wanted one marketplace where we could sell our new, used, and vintage clothes.

gUP: What makes Selbey different?
Salinas: Just like a thriftstore, at Selbey, we don't discriminate when it comes to your clothing. New and used vintage, modified, handmade and thrifted apparel are all welcome. As the seller, it's up to you to deem what's worthy to post on the site. And with fees lower than Etsy, it's a better bargain. At the end of the day, we're really focused on keeping the old, new. And encouraging people to resell rather than throw away. It's a much greener model. And on top of that, we really want to open the site up for people of all shapes and sizes to be able to find something that fits them wonderfully, to build a community around the resale experience. They're lofty goals, but we're pretty sure with some hard work and knocking on enough people's doors we're bound to shake things up.

gUP: When are you officially launching?
Salinas: Selbey is in beta testing. We're letting in small groups of people to take in their feedback. We will officially open to the public at large in early to mid fall. If you would like, you can use this link to allow your readers into the beta test. The beta testing version is fully functional and users are already buying/selling. Folks can sign up to receive an email letting them know when the site is officially open to everyone.

Image via Selbey, used with permission.