BRIEFLY IN BUSINESS

Ring in the holidays with ‘green’ wreaths

Worn-out bicycle tires, dental floss holders, plastic water bottles, political pins and old guitar strings are just a few of the materials used in holiday wreaths made from recycled content on display at Laguna Green. The exhibit will be on view from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday as part of the Recycled Wreath Contest sponsored by Waste Management.

Jessica Destefano, organizer of the exhibit, was inspired by how much fun it is to make something out of recycled items instead of buying new.

“I hope everyone can stop in and see these wreaths,” Destefano said. “They are so clever and creative, and so much more interesting and fun than a bought conventional wreath. Consumerism is on the verge of becoming more destructive than the atomic bomb, and we need to find ways to make ‘going green’ fun.”

Waste Management is sponsoring the exhibit, offering prizes of $100 for first place and $50 each for second and third.

The hope is that the Recycled Wreath Contest will inspire others to create their own truly green wreaths this holiday season.

“The wreaths are incredibly creative and surprisingly beautiful and totally support the mission of our store. We are proud to be able to host this exhibit,” said Pam Sterling, owner of Laguna Green.

Laguna Green, an exclusively green kitchen and bath showroom, opened last month at 1025 S. Coast Hwy.

Wyland designs on Crazy Shirts line

Crazy Shirts, the Hawaii-based apparel company, is partnering with marine life artist Wyland to create an exclusive line of apparel inspired by the artist’s works. The line debuts in December with five designs available at select retail locations and at crazyshirts.com.

To launch the new line, Wyland will be conducting an in-store signing from 6:30 to 7:30 tonight at Crazy Shirts.

“There’s something for everybody in this new line,” Wyland says. “The global effort to protect the planet is on the minds and hearts of everyone, and this is a cool, wearable way to for people say, ‘This is important to me.’”

A portion of the proceeds from all Wyland-design T-shirts will benefit the Wyland Foundation’s clean-water initiative.

The first 100 customers to purchase Wyland T-shirts at the store signing will receive a free, limited-edition poster. Guests can also enter to win a framed Wyland lithograph valued at more than $795. See store for details.

For more information, visit www.crazyshirts.com

Powell named in ‘Top 100’ wealth attorneys

Mark E. Powell of Laguna Beach, a partner with Albrecht & Barney in Irvine, has been named among the nation’s top estate planning attorneys by Worth Magazine.

The magazine’s Top 100 Attorneys is scheduled to run in the magazine’s December 2008/January 2009 issue.

“A good estate attorney doesn’t quote the Internal Revenue Code to a typical client,” Powell said. “For me, the primary goal is designing a plan that will allow others to do what the client would have done for his beneficiaries “” help them become responsible and provide them with opportunities to be productive.”

Powell is an adjunct professor of law at Chapman University Law School and has written in a variety of media, including the California State Bar’s Trust and Estates Quarterly, and, most recently, Trusts & Estates magazine and the American Bar Assn.’s Probate and Property magazine.

He chairs the Planned Giving Committee of the Orange County Division of the American Heart Assn. (Western States Affiliates) and the Endowment Committee at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Beach.