In a society here sex sells and women are still marginalized, one organization is taking the high road. Released around the same time as the 2006 SF Green Festival, the 2007 Ecobabes calendar featured 12 Bay Area women who live sustainable-inspired lives. Funds raised from the calendar's sale are used to support the Climate Protection Campaign, an organization which "inspires and educates people of all ages to make changes in their personal and professional lives that help create a more sustainable world."
Some of the first questions that sprung to my mind were about the type of pictures included, as well as just how the calenders were printed. Thankfully, many of those basic elements are explained on the organizations website:
why a calendar?
Calendars are annual. There is the idea with calendars that each month is something different, yet similar. All these women are unique and yet all of them care about the earth and life on it. They are all trying in different ways to have a positive impact. Calendars are a showcase. This calendar shows 12 individual women and a 70+ group. Our overall goal is to make climate protection visible, talked about, and attractive. And make everyone want to become an ecobabe!
why our designers?
Because they're great, we love them, and they're right accross the hall from the Climate Protection Campaign office in Graton. Have you seen some of the stuff they've done? Check out their site (and the site doesn't even do them justice): hello-sf.com
where did we find our models?
Many of our models have been interns in the Climate Protection Campaign Office. Some we met through other environmental paths. We had more women than months so we organized a group shot for all self-declared ecobabes. 73 women showed up!
where are the shoot locations?
Most of the shoot locations are in Sonoma County, where the Climate Protection Campaign's offices are. We tried to minimize travel. We realize it's a very California calendar because there's no snow and it never really looks cold. (We didn't time the photo shoots with the cold right; it does get cold here--relatively.)
why did we chose this printer?
We looked around long and hard for printers. Because of the unique size of the calendar, it was hard to find a reasonable bid in the country. We seriously considered having it printed in China because printing there is so much cheaper, but we didn't. We found a wonderful local printer that worked with us and sponsored us. Being none of us have ever made a calendar we had lots of questions. They were patient, helpful, and worked with us to reduce waste. ChromaGraphics: www.chromaprints.com
what about the paper?
This was an issue. We wanted to create a beautiful inspiring unique calendar and Hello Creative did just that. Unfortunately, most printers didn't seem to be able to handle the many different aspects of calendar production that came with this size. We decided to go with it anyway.
With that decision we worked with the printer to make it a size that would allow us to use a smaller sheet of stock paper, thus reducing our paper waste by 12%. And, luckily enough New Leaf Paper came through with a new product of theirs, 100% post-consumer paper. By printing with New Leaf paper we were able to save 57 full grown trees, 18,483 gallons of water, 2,669 lbs of solid waste going to landfill, and our favorite 5,184 lbs of green house gases. We want to thank Kim Hoffman and the crew at New Leaf for supporting the ecobabes calendar and doing what they do best, reducing the use of virgin trees. New Leaf Paper: www.newleafpaper.com
what about the inks?
Vegetable based.
why did you even shrink wrap one?This was a big issue with us. We talked about it over and over again. We decided to go both ways. We shrunk wrapped the calendars that go to stores so they won't be damaged while in the store. And we're giving online and in-person purchasers the choice of wrapped or not, depending on their situation.
why aren't you selling it near me?
We'd love to sell it near you! Tell your local calendar seller you want to be able to buy one locally. We've tried to get into various bookstores. Some are receptive, some aren't because they don't want to risk having them just sit on the shelf.
what about t-shirts?
We are trying to find time to design and order them. We plan to use organic cotton and would love a feminine shirt to put our logo on, but haven't found anything besides the organic cotton t-shirts at American Apparel (which are nice, but not that cute). Know of any cool organic cotton shirts?
Each month in the calendar features a woman and details about her green lifestyle. Also, info about the month's sponsor is included, all of which happen to be local companies. Though nudity is not featured, the question of using sexuality to save the planet arises. When it comes to raising funds for a worthwhile organization, along with giving the planet the attention it deserves, does the inclusion of human sensuality really bother that many people?
