CRISSA NELSON | editor-in-chief
JENNA SCHUETTE | arts & culture editor

From food to fashion, trends have become eco-friendly.

On a hot summer day, or any time of the year in Southern California, up to a thousand people everyday are willing to wait in a line that consistently stretches out the door and around the corner for a swirl of Tahitian Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate, or Peachy Nectarine mixed with fresh raspberries at 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt.

But now when you order your tres small Strawberry Cheesecake yogurt with fresh strawberries and almonds, you will not receive a Styrofoam cup and plastic spoon to discard in the overflowing trash. Instead, a biodegradable and bio compositable sugar cane based Bagasse cup will hold your yogurt as you eat it with a cornstarch and potato-based spoon.

“Lots of people appreciate it,” Creative Director for 21 Choices Erin Moya said. “Some were upset with the price increase, but for the most part, people are excited.”

The catchy phrase, “going green,” has taken root as a movement that has begun to educate people on the importance of taking better care of this earth in light of recent climate change discussion.

Whether they care about greening the environment or greening the pocketbook, companies are searching for the greener grass in environmental trendiness. From buying groceries to shopping for a T-shirt, being environmentally friendly is easy as keeping up with trends.

Seattle and San Francisco are frontrunners in the environmental innovation. Seattle-based coffee company Tully’s is the first major coffee retailer to offer a fully renewable and compostable cup of Joe. While it may seem that the paper hot cups most companies offer “to-go” would be recyclable, they actually are lined with a petrochemical plastic to prevent leaking. Unlike these conventional cups, Tully’s innovative ecotainer made by International Paper, is lined with a bio-plastic made from corn.

“Our ecotainer hot cup is designed to maximize use of renewable materials, to reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions required to make the product, and to offer an alternative to land-filling packaging waste,” Vice President and General Manager for International Paper’s Foodservice Business Austin Lance said. “Tully’s is among the leaders in achieving the full environmental benefit that this product was designed to deliver.”

But Tully’s is not the only food service to go green. Most grocery stores now offer reusable cloth bag alternatives to plastic and some even offer rewards for reuse. Trader Joe’s awards one lucky go-greener with one week’s worth of food in a drawing of raffle tickets offered to those who bring cloth bags for their groceries. And on Jan. 22, Whole Foods Market announced it would end the use of all disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts in all 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The goal is to be “plastic-bag free” by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.

“Together with our shoppers, our gift to the planet this earth Day will be reducing our environmental impact as we estimate we will keep 100 million new plastic grocery bags out of our environment between Earth Day and the end of this year alone,” Co-President for Whole Foods Market A.C. Gallo said.

Over the next three months, Whole Foods Market will reduce plastic grocery bag inventories and increase selections of reusable bags for purchase. The company sells different types of reusable bags, which have become as trendy as they are tactful.

The trend has also extended beyond the edible. Clothing stores such as H&M and Target are selling cloth “grocery” bags and T-shirt designs that promote a “Go Green” message. “Save the planet,” “Hug a tree” and “Recycle” are now fashion statements.

These brands are stepping beyond activism and offering products that are environmentally conscientious. H&M’s cotton line, introduced last March, has done so well that the company has decided to expand the collection of organic clothing.

“Our organic cotton collection is also high fashion, as customers are becoming increasingly aware of both fashion and the environment,” H&M’s Head of Design Margareta van den Bosch said. “We are proud to offer clothes made from organic cotton in nearly every H&M department.”

Target has also extended their environmental responsibility from fashion statements to recycled packaging. The Target Corporation has hired specialists to develop packing materials for their brand that are recyclable, biodegradable and manufactured using renewable energy. Their goal is that most of their products will be packaged in 90% recycled content by Spring.

And now, at many stores, Target gift cards are produced with biodegradable plastic. Such plastic is made from plant materials instead of petroleum-based materials. Target also boasts eco-friendly products including energy-saving lighting, organic cotton clothes, recycled stationary and recycled dishware.

So whether you’re a trend watcher or a tree hugger, going green has never been easier.