Sit In Series by Karin Sawetz, publisher Fashionoffice
(log series through March and April 2013, Vienna)

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Day 6 - Day 7 - Day 8 - Day 9 - Day 10 - Day 11 - Day 12 - Day 13

Today, it's the eleventh day of my English course. Each issue of the 'Sit In Series' presents events, exhibitions and ideas which are strongly connected with Vienna and the culture of this city. Even in the case of 'Day Ten', which was about learning and the kids' literature award named after Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, the 'Sit In Series' episode introduced into the world of thinking and culture in Vienna. Not only that every Viennese child knew Astrid Lindgren's 'Pippi Longstocking' in the 60s/70s (some girls became almost 'incarnations' of this character), the first female author who received in 2003 the award was Vienna-based Christine Nöstlinger whose work accompanied a whole generation while growing up.

Learning is a lifetime experience. Sometimes, this lifetime experience is supported by initiatives of fashion and beauty labels like Aveda's Earth Month campaign with focus on clean water. The protection of water and hair dressing salon products? Can this fit together? Isn't the hair salon the place where water is used in an extensive amount? Or is the amount of water for cleaning hair - for hygienic reasons, not the main problem? Let's look closer at Aveda's ideas for our world.

"Clean water can change lives" is Aveda's motto of this year's Earth Month (April) charity campaign which gathers money from various sources (products, salon marathon hair cutting, concert...) for clean water projects in regions with under-developed infrastructure. Vienna, by the way, has publicly accessible water which tastes Evian alike - no joke - 'elegant' water (from the Austrian Alps) delivered by the public providers for each household. You can drink it daily under the shower! But unfortunately not every region of our world has such splendid luck and long-lasting tradition in the regulation of water resources and its distribution to citizens. (Recently in early March, the regulation, distribution was one of the topics of a public opinion poll in my city. The Viennese claimed their water resources and voted with more than 87% (results) against the privatization of their infrastructure.)

Aveda administers the label's earth campaign in cooperation with organizations which are specialized in social projects. Since 1999, Aveda becomes active each year in April and slips into the role of the 'money collector'; until yet, the label acquired more than 26 million US-dollars for environmental initiatives. In 2013, the hair products label expects to gain 5 million US-dollars in 30 days! The money (from German language Europe) will be donated to Viva Con Agua for infrastructure projects of Welthungerhilfe (video about the latest collaborative project in India). Side effect of the charity is growing awareness for the natural resources of our planet, even in regions where people have no problems with water - such as in Vienna.

Aveda's charity is worldwide; to give an impression of the label's money and awareness strategy, I will mention only two from a series of events which happen in April 2013 in German language Europe.

fig.: On 7 April in Hamburg, the 'Light the Way Candle' by Aveda with artwork by celebrities (such as on this page by German TV-presenter Kerstin Linnartz) will be available at the auction during the Earth Month Charity Concert with flapper girl singer Alice Francis as main act (video below). The purchase of the concert tickets will be donated to Viva Con Agua/Welthungerhilfe.

On 14 April 2013, people will meet in Munich for a 6 kilometres walk. The length of the walk is symbolic and makes aware of the distances people in countries with under-developed infrastructure have to go for clean water.

Video: Alice Francis' new album 'St. James Ballroom' was released in September 2012 via Universal Music Classics & Jazz. Alice Francis is inspired by female personalities like Anais Nin, Dorothy Parker, or Josephine Baker. "If there was one age in the past century when social rise and fall not only sounded good but looked fantastic, that time was the Roaring Twenties. A time when women asserted themselves and finally claimed their rightful place in society. No wonder Alice Francis identifies with them and sees Josephine Baker as one of her artistic role models," is the style of fashion addict (she has an own fashion blog) Alice Francis described on alice-francis.de.

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