How to Live an ECOLifestyle | Business with Purpose Podcast EP 284: Marci Zaroff
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My guests this week is Marci Zaroff, who coined and trademarked the term “ECOfashion” in 1995. She is an ECOlifestyle entrepreneur and educator who believes that millennials are driving the rapidly growing movement for sustainable and ethical fashion.Ā
Marci has been instrumental in driving authenticity, environmental leadership and social justice worldwide for nearly three decades. With a degree from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley, Marci co-founded a thriving health and environmental educational center in 1990 with an organic cafĆ©, AVEDA concept salon, and national magazine.Ā
Now known as The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, it is the largest professional health coach certification program in the world.
4:53 ā Marci 101
- She began a path to conscious products when it was still new.Ā
- When you start to understand how food is energy and how agriculture affects people and products.Ā
- She started thinking, āWhat about fashion?ā
7:53 ā Appealing to people aesthetically
- First and foremost, appeal to people aesthetically. In food, it has to taste good. In beauty, it has to smell good and work. In fashion, it has to look good and be quality. Ā
- Once you get that what you put in your body matters, you start to realize that oh, I have a relationship with the actual ingredients that go into me?
18:16 ā Ecofashion
- When people hear āecofashionā they have a very specific image in their heads.Ā
- Marci calls it the crunchy, frumpy, boxy, beige and boring viewpoint.Ā
- People often ask her, āCan you smoke it after you wear it?ā
27:11 ā Marciās book
- Marciās book is ECOrenaissance: A Lifestyle Guide for Cocreating a Stylish, Sexy, and Sustainable World
- Donāt go home and throw everything away. Itās about slowly integrating this mindset of oh, I can be part of the solution versus part of the problem just by making different choices?
34:14 ā This is too expensive. This is too hard.
- What is her response to people who say, āThis is too expensive. This is too hardā? It was the same argument when organic and natural food came out. People called it āwhole paycheck.ā Itās a supply and demand thing, not because itās organic.
42:26 ā Prince Charles
- She worked with Prince Charles in the early 2000s to help connect the consumer with organic agriculture. People donāt realize how passionate he is about organic agriculture.Ā
45:43 ā Get to know you
- Her guilty pleasure? Steam, massages and chocolate
- Favorite ethical fashion brand? Stella McCartney and many others
FEATURED QUOTES
First and foremost, appeal to people aesthetically. In food, it has to taste good. In beauty, it has to smell good and work. In fashion, it has to look good and be quality. Ā
Once you get that what you put in your body matters, you start to realize that oh, I have a relationship with the actual ingredients that go into me?
Donāt go home and throw everything away. Itās about slowly integrating this mindset of oh, I can be part of the solution versus part of the problem just by making different choices?
I donāt think people realize how passionate Prince Charles is about organic agriculture.
ABOUT MARCI ZAROFF:
Since coining the term āECOfashion” in 1995,Ā MarciĀ ZaroffĀ has spent several decades driving positive change through business. She has been planting seeds of consciousness globally; as a serial ecopreneur, (Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Under the Canopy, Good Catch Foods, and Beyond Brands) keynote speaker, mentor, innovator and advisor. The seeds have now taken root, withĀ ECOfashionĀ Corp, herĀ GreenHouseĀ of brands that includesĀ YES ANDācontemporary, GOTS-certified sustainable apparel;Ā Farm to HomeāGOTS-certified bed and bath available on QVC;Ā Seed to StyleāGOTS-certified, size inclusive apparel, available on QVC; andĀ MetaWearāa B2B turnkey sustainable fashion manufacturing solution that is the engine behind all her brands.Ā Marciās leadership in transforming the industry from withinā building innovative and transparent supply chains, spearheading sustainable fashion retail launches, and serving on an array of non-profit boards, has solidified her position as an organic authority and expert trailblazer. In fact,Ā MarciĀ was a key driver in defining the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) as well as the worldās first Fair Trade textile certification with Fair Trade, USA. She shares her expertise in a regular column in Womenās Wear Daily, āThe Outside View.āĀ MarciĀ is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and is the author of āECOrenaissance: a Lifestyle Guide for Cocreating a Stylish, Sexy & Sustainable World.”
CONNECT:
- https://marcizaroff.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/marci-zaroff-b5990a3
- https://www.amazon.com/ECOrenaissance-Lifestyle-Cocreating-Stylish-Sustainable/dp/1501123564Ā
Thank you to our partner of the show!
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