A MOMENT WITH GIADA LUBOMIRSKI

TEXT: LOGAN VERLAQUE IMAGES GIADA LUBOMIRSKI

THE FORMER STYLIST AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST ON HOW WE CAN HELP THE EARTH

Giada has been in the fashion world since acquiring her Bachelors in Textile Design and Fabric Styling. But since becoming a mother, the former stylist and gallery director has dedicated her life to being part of the environmental solution. She is currently on the board of several green and sustainable foundations, including Clean and Healthy NY, and is working on producing documentary style films to raise awareness about environmentally sound and sustainable practices. Here Giada chats with JRR about clean living and how she is handling the current pandemic mindfully.

ON HER LIFE AS A STYLIST BALANCING WITH BEING AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST

I consider myself a fashion aficionado, a true lover of fashion history, textiles, & I do believe one gets to know themselves in a deeper way, when one explores their creative expression, wether through fashion, art, photography, film and more! My background comes from textiles and fashion design as I attended SCAD & FIT for my fashion & textile education. Around 2005-06, I started to think more about sustainability and waste when I was on tour styling Lenny Kravitz and his band. Concert tours really bring “waste” of all levels to the forefront, and to be honest the waste I saw on tour really allowed me to feel something powerful regarding what was going on globally…Soon after the tour, the “switch” was really triggered for me, after watching an Environmental play at the National Black Theatre in Harlem. It was a play by two women poets Alixa and Naima from Climbing Poe Tree. After this beautiful educational play, I decided to research and get serious about changing my lifestyle and that’s how my journey started.

ON LIVING A SUSTAINABLE LIFE (AND DURING TIMES OF CRISIS)

This is one of the hardest milestones in our lives (and for humankind) and because of this, as far as food shopping, it’s made it much harder to avoid packaging waste. During times of crisis, it has definitely brought forth new challenges I hadn’t faced before. In a way, it has pushed me harder to challenge myself to figure out how to maneuver this “new normal”. I think the way to succeed a sustainable life during a crisis is to first pause, meditate, be grateful. Be present. Feel all the emotions truly and don’t be afraid to feel and express them.

Through this hard process we should all try to figure out how to support one another.The most valuable thing we can individually do is share each other’s knowledge, contacts and resources so that we can “pass on” nuggets of information that will be vital to our survival during these challenging times. Pay it Forward, has never sounded more relevant to me during these times. Let’s all pay it forward together, whilst supporting one another. Then, after getting to a place of peace, start to organize yourself and your space so it can feel productive and you can start to feel good.My biggest saving grace for my family has been the relationships I have made with local farmers.

Seeking the local farmers and small local health stores, who are still serving your community during crisis, is a great way to:

1. Support small local farm communities & businesses

2. Nourish yourself and loved ones with the best fresh, local organic produce available (which is priced fairly)

3. Reduce plastic and unnecessary packaging waste

4. It has allowed us to bond and support our community during a time of crisis

5. Ask farms about their bulk seasonal programs, most will deliver weekly or monthly seasonal bulk boxes and have created “share” programs. Though these share programs, you can get your neighbors involved and help one another save money whilst getting the best local and organic food available near you.

Lastly, I have also discovered a new way to bulk buy online which has been helpful too, such as https://www.sunorganicfarm.com/ & https://www.edenfoods.com/store/bulk.html . I am also going to try https://www.farmboxdirect.com/ and will be sharing the different farm produce boxes I try on @ecoshaker.

A crisis like this can bring about lots of waste, so being conscious of that is step one. Step two is to try and think of alternatives that are “doable” and that aren’t stressful to you. There is no sense on stressing about sustainability during a serious crisis, but I think overtime it is important to be aware of the things you can be doing to better our natural environment as a global community.

3 THINGS WE CAN DO TO AID IN ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

1. Bring your own cup or bottle to work or when you leave your home. This will reduce a huge amount of your personal daily waste per year.

2. Buy more used or vintage clothing, furniture and more (buy used gifts for holidays). I started slowly and now I don’t buy anything new anymore. It’s a process but for me now, it’s a fun challenge.

3. Reduce the amount of food take out & deliveries. Cook more. Be active. Inspire yourself by teaching yourself. I believe getting your hands in the dirt to grow your own food is life changing. Try something new that helps your environment and nature. Nature heals and is our biggest teacher.

ON HER FAVORITE VINTAGE FINDS

I have some amazing finds. One of my favorite vintage outfits is my felt hand stitched 1950’s pin up skirt paired with a baby blue 1930’s top adorned with crushed rhinestones (some are missing which adds to the vintage charm). I got both items at different times in different places. The skirt I bought in what used to be the 25th street flea market at the corner of 6th avenue (they moved it to 25th between 5th and 6th avenue now). The last time I went (last year), the same vintage dealer that sold me the skirt in like 2002, was still there! The top I got at a flea market in Connecticut a long time ago, whilst shopping for a job.

On using second hand items, but not for everything

For my family and I, the essentials we buy “ new” are: underwear, socks, leggings, and rarely kids shoes when I can’t find them second hand or lightly used. Proper sustainable and comfortable kid shoes are so hard to find! and forget the word style ha! This is a HUGE gap in the market which I am surprised Nike, Adidas and companies like All Birds haven’t filled yet. I have done so much research in this arena, and still no company has gotten it right for the kids market. I begged all of them to get with the program though ha!

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on sustainable beauty products

This one is a hard one too and sometimes I cheat a little as this market evolves, but as I get older, I am finding my staples which are allowing me to let go of my old favorite products which are still a bit wasteful. I also made my own face wash and oil when I attended a class at the Package Free Shop. As I phase out of some of my products, I am going to be making my own face wash and oil. If you are looking to shop sustainably, Package Free Shop is a great place to start.

I am excited that more focus has been put into clean and sustainable beauty products and I am hopeful the beauty industry is going to start making big changes.

As far as favorites:

1. Yay for Earth : All in one face and body balm, by activist Stevie Van Horn. It’s odorless but so hydrating and healing. It’s an amazing life saver during winters and dry weather. It also gets rid of irritations, pimples, and excema. We also use if for cuts and bruises, so it’s great for the family. *Completely reusable packaging and lasts forever.

2. Rms Beauty (organic make up: uncover up, lip balms, blushes etc..) *organic clean beauty & recyclable packaging

3. Dr. Alkitis (face oils, masks, creams-pretty much everything skin related) *organic clean beauty & recyclable packaging

4. Pratima nyc (sandalwood soothing lotion for blemishes & irritation) *organic clean beauty & recyclable packaging

5.Tata Harper (Rejuvenating masks and oils, face & lip balm) *natural clean beauty & recyclable packaging

6.Meow Meow Tweet’s deodorant-lavendar scent 100% Organic, Reusable packaging

7. Plaine products-Shampoo & conditioner-aluminum packaging and organic ingredients

ON TRAVEL AND SUSTAINABILITY

We try to be more conscious about our travel now, so we’ve started to go to Italy once a year but stay all summer to reduce our travel footprint. Choosing to stay in one place for a longer period of time is how we’ve been able to shift to “conscious traveling”. We are also part of a carbon footprint travel program through carbonfund.com.

For our actual traveling waste, we make sure we all make our lunches or dinners prior to leaving the home for the airport. Each of us has their food travel container, reusable bottle/mug and utensil kits. We don’t generate any travel waste because we’ve figured out what works for us. We also bring home made snacks or snacks to make sure we don’t get tempted with airplane snacks (If in a hurry, we often purchase snacks in the bulk sections of the farmers markets or supermarkets). Because of the stay at home measures, we’ve been experimenting on making new snacks, baking and dehydrating foods.

If you want to travel and can do so, try to pick a versatile place, so that it is easy to travel within that one region or location. You will get more out of the trip and really be able to say “I really know this place now”.

I also highly suggest getting to know communities and not be afraid to integrate in different and new communities. Some communities are more welcoming than others but if you show you are a respectful tourist, I believe the outcome will be positive. For example, a few years ago we decided we wanted to discover Sardinia as we have friends that have been going there since the 1980s. Each summer we visited, we would get to know different communities. We also started to realize there was a lot to be done as a tourist and got active. Last year my family and I embarked on a community project and decided to join forces with the National Park di La Maddalena in Sardinia and started a little movement. Through one question to the National Park and lots of ambition, I ended up producing Italy’s first Ocean awareness week called : Basta con la plastica (translation: Enough with plastics). It was very successful and were able to engage traveling families, locals, tourists, students, local government, sailing schools, organizations and International and local volunteers for an amazing week of events which included film screening, workshops, photo & art exhibits, as well as beach clean ups. To view the short film we made, please view here.

On how HER LIFE CURRENTLY LOOKS

At this time, during this global pandemic, our life looks totally different than it did a month ago. Luckily, we have a place an hour and a half north of NYC, where we’ve been hiding out and can start growing our own food soon. Our apartment in the city flooded recently, so we can’t live there right now anyways. We are enjoying nature and trying to figure out how to navigate these uncharted waters but we feel blessed we have a second home, we are together, all healthy, and spending much needed quality time together.