Modern Spirits, makers of the TRU Organic line of spirits we wrote about last fall, has introduced Fruit Lab, a collection of artisanal, 100% organic liqueurs designed to facilitate making all-organic cocktails at home and in bars. The collection - which includes Citry (orange), Crism (hibiscus) and Theia (jasmine) - complements the growing number of organic vodkas, rums, gins and tequilas on the market.

"With Fruit Lab, we set out to bring the garden to the glass with whole, organic ingredients and complete hand processing for uncompromising quality," says Melkon Khosrovian, co-founder of Modern Spirits. Named after the company's Los Angeles production facility, "The Fruit Lab," where all TRU organic spirits are crafted, Fruit Lab Liqueurs are now available for $29 per 750ml bottle.

Citry combines the familiar aromas and flavors of fresh Valencia and naval oranges with the scent of Bergamot and sour orange. Crism is a powerful balance of the sweet-sour nature of hibiscus flowers with floral aromas and tangy berry flavors. Theia is described as "like a night garden infused with flowering jasmine" and makes a great champagne cocktail.

Similar to how TRU Organic Spirits plants a tree for every bottle sold, Fruit Lab will donate a percentage of proceeds to The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit needy populations and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water.

We've been seeing more and more wine companies considering plastic wine bottles as a greener alternative to glass. The bottles are lighter and 100 percent recyclable. One Australian producer, Wolf Blass creates a line called "Green Label" that uses these lighter bottles. But a new study which was commissioned by the plastic bottle manufacturer Portavin shows that while the bottles might be better for the environment they are not so good for wine over the long haul. While wine stored in plastic or glass taste similar at first, after eight to 12 months the taste changes. The PET bottles let air in, oxidizing the wine. The cheaper, lighter bottles should be used for more inexpensive wine which will be consumed quickly.

Billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick made another big donation recently. The Los Angeles couple who are behind Pom Wonderful, Fiji Water, Teleflora and other brands have donated $20 million to the California Institute of Technology for the Resnick Sustainability Institute. The new center, which will focus on using science and engineering developments for new energy technologies, has a total budget of $90 million. The Gordon and Betty Moore Matching Program contributed another $10 million to launching the project.

In a press release announcing the gift the Resnicks stated that they are "passionately committed to finding alternative and sustainable energy solutions." Stewart Resnick is a member of the Board of Trustees for the school. Last year the Resnicks made a $55 million pledge to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

[via Los Angeles Business Journal]

Looking for a fun and free Father's Day event in the Los Angeles area? On June 21 the 2009 Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance will take place in Beverly Hills featuring more than 100 exotic cars on display lining Rodeo Drive north of Wilshire Boulevard. "In addition to our traditional and classic collector cars featured at the Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance, this year we are also proud to showcase a unique selection of alternative energy vehicles, micro and electric cars, and solar vehicles, amongst others," notes Bruce Meyer, co-chair of the Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance. "From the display of luxurious, cutting-edge automobiles to the world-renowned fashion boutiques, Rodeo Drive offers something for everyone to enjoy on Father's Day."

Lux Life Apparel recently launched an organic clothing site, Lux Green Living. (I know luxe is spelled with an "e," but this is how they spell it.) The site is just getting going, and for its first line is featuring Toggery by Kate D'Arcy, a simple, casual line with reasonable prices that the site calls "a fun, contemporary line that appeals to every body shape and is offered in all organic and sustainable luxurious fabrics." I saw only one item that cost more than $100. I randomly clicked on about 10 items, and all were made with bamboo or cotton, and some had Spandex. If you're looking for some light, breezy summer basics that are eco-friendly, this could be a place to start. See the gallery for a few items that caught my eye (too bad they don't come in petite sizes).

The CODE-X high-tech hybrid powerboat is one of the more avant-garde motoryacht designs we've come across. If it goes into production with anything like these killer looks and the performance promised, the Swiss company stands to make a mint. The CODE-X is billed as "Formula 1 performance meets solar power." It features a flexible solar hybrid propulsion system enabling both quiet, environmentally friendly cruising in ports and coastal areas as well as high speed racing on open waters courtesy of a pair of Ilmor Marine 710 hp V10 Formula 1 engines.

A touchscreen on the dash lets you switch in whole or part to a bank of photovoltaic modules supplying electric motors and/or lithium batteries. With the gas engines going the CODE-X can do 90 knots while on full solar power it can only hit 9, but is practically silent. The boat also features a GPS-controlled Virtual Anchor system to keep it stationary regardless of the wind speed or water current, as well as a Kevlar/carbon shell with phototropic-shaded screens and windows.

[via JamesList]

Billionaire Carlos Slim has been busy lately. The billionaire who holds the third spot in the Forbes billionaire list, has a fortune of around $35 billion. As part of a commemoration of World Environmental Day, Slim has donated $50 million to start an environmental project in Mexico with the World Wildlife Fund. The donation is part of the creation of a $100 million fund dedicated to Mexico's environment. The new project will focus on six regions in Mexico including the jungles in Chiapas, reefs in Baja California and the nesting ground for monarch butterflies in Michoacan. The World Wildlife Fund will raise the other half of the funds needed from foundations and donors. Slim has also said that he will donate more as the goals of the project are met. The plan will include ways of stimulating the economy in environmentally sensitive areas so that locals don't have to harm the environment to make a living. Mexico is estimated to be losing around 593,000 acres of land a year to logging. Slim made the announcement in Cozumel, Mexico with Carter Roberts, the the President of World Wildlife Foundation and Omar Vidal Director of Wildlife Mexico.

The Visioniare condominium complex in Manhattan's Battery Park City has received LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), marking it the only LEED Platinum condominium on the east coast. The complex offers energy savings of more than 40 percent and has a high-efficiency air filtration system that conditions, filters and supplies fresh air to each home. A water treatment system recycles water and provides make-up water for the HVAC system cooling tower. The 35-story curved-glass tower has 247 units with a rooftop garden, solar panels and a central heating and cooling system powered by natural gas. Units cost from $825,000 to $2,950,000.

Luxury conglomerate PPR, which is behind Gucci, Balenciega and Bottega Veneta among others, is the backer of a new movie about the planet. "Home" is a new documentary that will debut in 127 countries on June 5, World Environmental Day. The film was directed by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand (Earth from Above) and produced by award-winning director Luc Besson (Taken, Subway, The Big Blue, Nikita, The Fifth Element), with the support of François-Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR. The film's purpose is to help change the way people see the planet and their impact on it. It was shot in high definition in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days and the first-time ever all aerial filming style highlights the Earth's wonders as well as its wounds. Home is narrated in English by Glenn Close and in Spanish by Salma Hayek.

PPR's support of Home has enabled this film to be free of distribution rights and it will be shown on TV, in open-air theaters, on the Internet in partnership with Youtube and Google, in theaters worldwide at a reduced rate and on DVD. In the United States, it will be broadcast on June 5th at 9:00 pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel and will be shown at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and in New York City at Central Park At Cedar Hill. You can also catch it on YouTube. It well sell for $19.98 on DVD and fifteen percent of the studio's profits will go to Conservation International.

Guests visiting Bank of America's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina will soon have a more luxurious place to stay. As USA Today's Hotel CheckIn reports, the nation's largest bank is opening up a new Ritz-Carlton hotel across the street from its corporate headquarters.

The 18-story building will have a 12,000 square-foot penthouse wellness center, a street-side BLT Steak restaurant and 147 rooms including a 2,900 square-foot Presidential Suite. It will be the first LEED-designed new hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina and is being built for LEED Gold Certification making it the first green hotel under the Ritz-Carlton umbrella. The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte at Bank of America Center is scheduled for completion in October 2009.

What's really rare is a place that provides true luxury outside this conventional mold -- a feat which I think is only accomplished by having a person of impeccable taste paying attention to every last detail of a guest experience. And to my mind, the exemplar is Hacienda San Lucas, in Copán Ruinas, Honduras.

Hacienda San Lucas is an eco-lodge has just eight rooms, and no, it doesn't have the latest bells and whistles. There's no flat screen TV, no whirlpool tub, no "in room console" where you can open and close your shades while lying on your bed. There's not even a telephone in the room -- which, come to think of it, is a luxury of its own kind. But owner Flavia Cueva is a person of impeccable taste, and she has rigorously thought through every single detail. The result is a total retreat that's simply and sensually luxurious.

When you arrive through the tropical lush greenery, you'll smell strong scent of burning wood, hear the pat pat pat of fresh tortillas being made, and see commanding valley views: in places, directly into the town's Mayan ruins, with the the wavy-topped mountains as a backdrop. The main building was Cueva's centuries-old family home, some nine years ago, she added guest rooms at a remove from the main building. The rooms feature pitched wide wooden planked ceilings, white plaster walls, adorned with local tapestries and art work and smooth stone floors. At night the entire property is lit by countless candles, in the rooms, along the walkways, and in the dining area.

In a quiet spot, there's Gaia, a dedicated yoga pavilion and meditation space with views into the Mayan ruins. Arrange yoga classes during your stay with excellent local teacher (and ex-pat Canadian) Leah Glatz, who frequently works with Aum Rak, a local Mayan shaman. Or attend an organized retreat: on August 8th-16th, Global Soul Adventures is running one of its acclaimed yoga retreats at San Lucas.

Volkswagen is not a marque one usually associates with luxury, and so we admit to being somewhat skeptical about the new 2010 Touareg V6 TDI and not all that enthusiastic at first when the chance came to test it out. MotorTrend changed our mind with its recent comparison of diesel and hybrid luxury SUVs - amazingly, their pros all concurred that it outclassed more expensive models like the Mercedes ML320 BlueTEC, BMW X5 and Lexus RX 450h. Plus it's one of the most fuel efficient and cleanest SUVs in the world.

We had a chance to experience it firsthand on a recent jaunt to Washington, DC and Annapolis, Maryland. The Touareg handled all situations with poise and equanimity, from navigating the city streets to an amazing dinner at Wolfgang Puck's The Source, to finding the right marina in Eastport through the bay's backroads for some sailing (the touchscreen GPS was a big help there). We could easily have kept on going, as the comfy interior with its wood and leather resembles in MotorTrend's words "a den in a ritzy Alaska fishing lodge" - or for our purposes make that the upstairs bar at the Annapolis Yacht Club.

Don't think that "diesel" means noisy and slow like those old Mercedes wagons of your youth. The Touareg TDI is powered by a hushed 3.0L, turbocharged six cylinder engine that produces 225 horsepower and an impressive 407 lbs-ft. of torque. Tourque, we learned en route, is more important than horsepower in diesel engines. The TDI's torque gives it performance equal to the gas-powered Touareg V8 that's rated at 350 hp and 324 lb-ft of torque, to give you an idea. And whereas the latter has an EPA mileage rating of 13/18 mpg city/hwy, the TDI gets 17 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway.

KOR ONE believes that being healthy and living a sustainable lifestyle is something that should be celebrated and displayed, not hidden or kept quiet in an aluminum water bottle. KOR ONE water vessels have a transparent design specially created to showcase the liquid inside, as well as a screwless lid design that is not only more convenient to use (no time-consuming twisting involved) but also more comfortable thanks to no threads and an ergonomic opening that's just the right size.

Plus, each bottle is color coordinated to support a specific earth-friendly cause. Sales of the Blue bottle supports Algalita Marine Research, the Green supports The Wetlands Initiative, Orange the Container Recycling Institute, and Pink sales go to Blue Planet Run. $29.95

Want to get yourself an environmentally friendly new ride? Soon you'll have more choices – and more luxurious choices – than a Toyota Prius, but you may find the experience vastly different. Upstart American automakers Tesla and Fisker are both in the process of bringing their battery-powered luxury sedans and convertibles to market, but with entirely different strategies. Fisker, creator of the hybrid Karma sedan and Karma Sunset convertible, is authorizing existing luxury car dealerships across the United States to sell and service its vehicles, allowing them to get into more markets more quickly while tapping in to local expertise. Tesla, on the other hand, so far is only selling its Roadster at its own retail locations in California. But by the time the Model S (pictured above with the Roadster) hits the market, the plan is to open more factory-owned retail locations, which the company likens to Apple stores, in major metropolitan centers from coast to coast. Which will work out better for the rival green automakers? Only time will tell, but we'll have to head down to the local dealerships ourselves to see in person.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort – and its sister property, the Beach Resort – are making it easy to hide from the world for a few days this summer. And, I can tell you from experience, the twin Ritz properties are great places to hide. With the Spa Escape Package, you can be treated as you deserve (or, in my case, better), for a mere $259 a night ($299 at the Beach Resort).

The spa at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort services both Naples, FL properties. As part o this program, a stay at either hotel will get you a $200 spa credit, which includes both services and retail. You'll also pick up a $50 gift card for the properties' on-site stores.

The Ritz-Carlton Spa integrates organic and eco-friendly options to mitigate environmental impact without degrading the quality of the treatments provided. The Eco-Luxe Facial and Eco-Luxe Cocoon are conducted in the Eco-Room, which features soft materials made from organic cotton and bamboo and washed in a separate machine with fragrance-free and sulfate-free cleansers. The floor and chair are made from bamboo, and the massage table was crafted entirely from sustainable materials.

With domestic flights cheaper than ever (except when I'm flying, it seems), getting to Naples won't be painful, and JetBlue has countless flights into the area. And, the perks that come with the Spa Escape Package basically make the room free. I hit this spa last summer and might just make it an annual experience.