Chris speaks with Marci Zaroff, author and eco-conscious innovator in the fashion and textile industries, about how we can easily start to make consumer decisions that align our actions more in balance with nature.
Marci Zaroff is an internationally recognized ECOlifestyle visionary, authority, innovator and educator and has been instrumental in driving authenticity, environmental leadership & social justice worldwide for nearly three decades. Learn more at marcizaroff.com
Show Notes
Beyond Brands (Opening) – Marci shares her background and what led her to the path she leads today. She shares some of the wisdom that she received from her mentor, Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher, around how to effectively deliver a deeper message of change and possibility to a mainstream audience through her businesses. Chris and Marci look the importance of bringing our awareness to our practices as a consumer.
“What I learned from my mentor is that we have to appeal to a people at a very visceral level to then activate that light inside, to bring them down the rabbit hole and then start to educate them as you peel the layers back.” – Marci Zaroff
ECOrenaissance (11:00) – One of the reasons that many of us do not take the full plunge into shifting our habits in the direction we know is best is that doing so is a very daunting proposal. Marci talks about her recent book, ECOrenaissance: A Lifestyle Guide for Cocreating a Stylish, Sexy, and Sustainable World, which offers guidance on ways that we can live in harmony with nature and the marketplace, without sacrificing what we enjoy.
“When I used to say the word eco-fashion to people they used to look at me like I was crazy – that those worlds could never co-exist. I always said that I not only do I want to see the alternative become the norm, but I also want to see the concept of no compromise come into effect; this idea that you can be stylish and sustainable, you can eat great tasting food that is also healthy, you can put on beauty products that can be functional and smell wonderful and are also made from the earth. We can live in harmony with our environment, not against it. We can appreciate the symbiotic relationship that we have with our Earth and with each other. We can vote with our dollars and make smarter decisions about the companies and lifestyle decisions we are making.” – Marci Zaroff
Listen to Melanie Moser’s conversation with eco-friendly fashion designer Jaclyn Hodes about bringing awareness and into our work and habits as a consumer on Ep.12 of the Shakti Hour Podcast
Happy Belly, Happy Planet (26:00) – Marci offers insight into specific ways that we can shift our habits and perspective around our eating habits so that we can eat delicious and nutritious food that will not break the bank or cause harm. She addresses the stigmas and myths around alternative approaches to bringing our diet into alignment with what is best for ourselves and the environment.
“This is where the demand is and with scale and accessibility prices have gone down dramatically. You have to recognize that the added value you are getting with organic can still come at a great price.” – Marci Zaroff
Raising Our Own Awareness (37:00) – Chris and Marci discuss the kinds of information that are critical to consumers that we are just not getting. They talk about the ways we can educate ourselves about what we are buying and the unseen consequences of that purchase.
