rachel swan design

A few months ago, I traded my Led Zeppelin T-shirts, hippie skirts, and rope sandals for Gap jeans, wrap dresses and ballerina flats. I quit working at Good Earth Natural Foods and thus ending my endless bashing on "Corporate America", non-organic produce, and our sick, materialistic, broken society. I was passionate for change and frustrated in our lethargic, ignorant culture--I felt overwhelmed by the hatred, greed and screaming carelessness that people had for each other and the world as a whole. And I couldn't see a way out.

Shortly after quiting my job, I gave birth to my daughter, Sela, and all of my passion and focus went to figuring out how to be a mom and making it through another day. It was a haze of intense emotion and sleep deprivation, I was literally unable to think of anything else. When the fog lifted and I was (finally) able to shower, eat and SLEEP, I found that the world had changed. Suddenly the word GREEN appeared on everything from laundry detergent to hardwood floors. Organic bedding, carbon footprints, biodegradable diapers, Omnivore's Dilemma, and "eco-friendly" were not only mainstream, but fashionable. My yoga classes were full. An out-of-work politician won the Nobel Peace Prize for documenting a commonly joked about theory, global warming. 'Locavore' was added to the Oxford American Dictionary and was chosen as Word of the Year in 2007.

At first I was thrilled with the change, I felt that we were truly taking responsibility for our choices and learning how to make positive changes to make the world a healthier, happier place. Now, every time I see or hear the word green, I cringe. Even with the mom haircut and an interior design blog, I can recognize that eco-friendly is merely economy-friendly, a way to make a buck, and has very little to do with educating, elevating, and empowering our society. Which, in short, means a trend that will burn itself out before we make any lasting changes.

However, there are many people who are making great strides in bringing peace, teaching compassion for each other and the environment, and standing up and demanding more. So, here at Rachel Swan Design (ha), I would like to highlight the efforts of these people because these are issues that I am truly interested in learning more about and because I believe that we can make a difference in ourselves, our families, and our communities. So, I would like to introduce to you, Hippie Friday.



I love food. And I love books. And NPR(this is HIPPIE Friday, after all). Michael Pollen's book comes down to seven basic words, " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." He stresses how important it is to eat FOOD, which is getting increasingly harder as we demand cheaper food from farther away. Seriously, try buying apple sauce without high fructose corn syrup. Close to impossible. You can listen to the interview here and buy the book here.

Peace out.