Aveda partnered with New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to kick off its "Tap Water on the Go" stations as part of its Aveda CatWalks for Water campaign. A prelude to Aveda's Earth Month Clean Water Initiative, the campaign was an effort to inspire action and awareness regarding clean water issues at New York Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2010.

 
Supporting the event, John Patrick of ORGANIC by John Patrick and Project Runway's Christian Siriano - Aveda's design partners this season - joined Aveda and DEP to encourage the fashion community to do their part for the environment. Vernon Davis, professional football player from the San Francisco 49ers, also showed his support by refilling his limited edition EarthLust water bottle, a product created by the Aveda campaign.


(Photo above from left to right) John Patrick, NYC Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Caswell Holloway, Christian Siriano and Antoinette Beenders gather outside of the Aveda Experience Center on Fifth Avenue on Feb. 11, 2010 to kick off Aveda CatWalks for Water with "Tap Water on the Go."

**********

(Photo below from left to right) John Patrick, Antoinette Beenders and Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers displaying their limited edition EarthLust water bottles.
 
 The event kicked off at the "Tap Water on the Go" station in front of the Aveda Experience Center on Fifth Avenue and 19th Street, uniting New Yorkers in eliminating waste caused by plastic water bottles. New Yorkers were encouraged to support the environmental cause by refilling their own reusable water bottles with NYC tap water at one of the six "Tap Water on the Go" stations around the city.

Vice President Global Creative Director for Aveda Antoinette Beenders, shared the company's environmental mission and ‘greening' of the backstage at New York Fashion Week for the past six seasons.

This season, Aveda reduced the environmental impact of their shows by replacing bottled water backstage with NYC tap water; eliminating the use of fur in shows and all retail iterations; serving organic or locally-sourced food to models, stylists, makeup artists and production staff backstage; and printing all show invitations and programs on paper that was at least 20 percent post-consumer recycled.

Since the beginning of Aveda's green backstage program at Spring/Summer 2008 Fashion Week, the company's efforts have eliminated the use of approximately 6,500 plastic water bottles. This season's shows brought the total to more than 7,900.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.