J and I celebrated Earth Day at “The Brave and Beautiful Edge of Sustainable Design” event co-hosted by Domino  Editor-in-Chief Deborah Needleman. Last month, the magazine featured their second annual roundup of eco-friendly products for a greener home. The cocktail hour was held at ABC Carpet & Home, a longtime proponent of low-impact furniture, fabrics and green design — and of doing good, generally.

Cocktails, passed hors d’oeuvres, mini-facials and shopping: 5% of the evening’s purchases went toward Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement.

Beaded animals from Monkeybiz, a non-profit, income-generating art and health project, which combines tradition and empowerment for women from the poorest townships of Cape Town, South Africa. Monkeybiz supplies the raw materials, and the women involved in the project – currently about 450, many infected with HIV – create the artwork and are paid for each piece they produce. Proceeds go to the artists’ families, and to support health and wellness services in their communities. Check out the documentary Bigger than Barbie for more information about the project.

Upon leaving, we each were handed products from Pangea Organics and ABC Home’s organic home care line inside oversized organic cotton totes — sure to come in handy now that Whole Foods has eliminated the use of disposable plastic bags as of Earth Day 2008.  The movement against plastic bags – arguably more symbolic than impactful – is gaining ground. San Francisco already bans their use, and the state of California enacted a law in July that requires large stores to take back plastic bags for recycling. Earlier this year, New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a similar bill requiring stores over 5,000 square feet, or with over five branches in the city, to set up recycling programs for the estimated 1 billion plastic bags  they distribute to consumers annually.

The Empire State Building goes green for Earth Day: