DAYSPA Magazine Staff

Sustainable Sincerity

Our upcoming Green Scene ("Mayan Marvel," September 2010) contains helpful tips on how to detect greenwashing when perusing "organic" product labels. That's when companies try to unjustifiably tout a product's environmental virtues.

As John Vater, co-ower of Spa Adriana in Huntington, New York, warns, "The big print giveth and the small print taketh away."

Here's some information about avoiding this pitfall:

Read labels with a discriminating eye.
John and his wife, co-owner Adriana Vater, caution spa professionals against taking a product label at face value. "If the packaging claims it doesn't contain something, you should ask yourself what's there to do that ingredient's job," Adriana says. "Every component of a product has a purpose, and sometimes a so-called 'green' ingredient is just as offensive as the original."
Educate yourself.
The Vaters say it's important to develop an understanding of how product ingredients work. "With today's Internet access, you can quickly look up the chemical composition of any item," John says.

It's not always easy going green. How do you ensure that your spa's environmental initiatives result in real, positive change? Send your ideas to Katie O'Reilly, associate editor, at koreilly@creativeage.com.

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Ben Bregman, web art director

Ben Bregman started in the graphic design industry in 1994. He worked in the print design and production side at Creative Age from 1996 to 2000. Ben has developed and manged the websites at Creative Age since 2002, by working on all areas of web design and production, including scripting and usability. bbregman@creativeage.com

Ryan Boydstun, webmaster, designer
Ryan has been designing, developing, and integrating websites and web technologies since 1995. Although sharp efficiency, strong attention to detail and client-driven design sense propel him in his professional life, he also spends much of his free time following purely artistic pursuits such as oil and digital painting, fingerstyle guitar, composing and jewelry making.

Danielle Caseñas, art director

After dabbling in various broadcast communications jobs, Danielle decided to focus on her Graphic Art minor. Her first magazine design job lead her to Creative Age in 2000 as art director of Beauty Store Business. She jumped on the opportunity to art-direct DAYSPA in 2002, but continues to lend her unique design skills to the other Creative Age magazines.

Ben Bregman, web art director

Danielle Caseñas, art director

Madlen Martinez, production manager

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