Dig for Victory

Planting a tree in National Tree Week will boost your health and the health of the planet. We are continually hearing about the benefits of surrounding ourselves with greenery as they release oxygen and absorb the emissions from computers, Mobile phones and other gadgets...

I have a cactus on my desk, does that help?

From today until 7th December the UK will be celebrating National Tree Week, the UK's largest tree celebration annually launching the start of the winter tree planting season.

There are a great number of events going on around the country hosted by the tree council. They also have a wealth of information about how to buy, prepare and plant trees.

How about giving a plant as a gift this Christmas, something that gives back... Here are a few ideas:

Ready to plant: Tree to my door
This company is amazing, and has, it seems, any type of tree you want... and they deliver! Perfect...

For the cook: Chilli pocket garden
Grow this on the mantlepiece, and it produces a multitude of chillis for use in cooking - My brother-in-law had just one of these and now has 5 pots of chilli plants growing around the house! (If you want to re-plant the chilli seeds I have it on good authority that you leave them on the plant until they are dried out)


For the garden: Grow your own wine rack
when grafted to itself, willow will bind together... so graft it in this formation and after 2 years it is a strong wine rack, all in one piece! Whilst it is in the graden it is providing habitat for birds and butterflies and generally cotributing to biodiversity. Definately the most unusual and greenest gift under the tree...

Stocking filler: Grow your own mushrooms
This kit + second hand paperback = a very unique gift.
The recipient can grow a batch of yummy mushrooms (ON A BOOK!) in just a few weeks without even having to go outside. My Dad got 3 batches of his kit last year...loved it!


For the full experience: Plant a silver birch tree
Start this off py planting the seed provided into the soil in the pocket. When it has got to a certain height on your windowsill, then simply plant the compostable bag in to the garden and the tree will continue to grow. A great gift for kids to watch the progress from seed to tree.

People Tree Sample Sale

One of my favourite eco-fashion retailers, People Tree, are having a sample sale this weekend! Along with a host of other cool ethical clothing brands the sale will be held from this Thursday to Sunday just off Brick Lane in East London. Grab yourself a stylish, ethical bargin or get stuck into your Christmas shopping...better be quick though, with up to 80% off I'm guessing it'll be pretty popular!

The sale is at Dray Walk Gallery, Dray Walk, The Old Truman Brewery (Off 91 Brick Lane), London E1 6QL.

Thursday 27th November 6 pm - 9 pm
Friday 28th 10 am - 8 pm
Saturday 29th 11 am - 7 pm
Sunday 30th 11 am - 5 pm

Sprig Discover Rig Video

Thought I'd put on this cool video which shows the Sprig Discover Rig, which I mentioned in my last post, in action.



It really is a great eco toy. Powered only by the child playing with it, it lights up and plays sound, music and a narrative, telling exciting stories to the child. It's also made entirely of innovative new Sprigwood - a recycled and recyclable material - in Canada, doesn't need batteries and can keep kids entertained for hours. I just wish I was 20 years younger so I could get one for Christmas!

Eco Toys for Christmas Lists

Christmas means many things to many people, but for most kids it means loads of chocolate, food and, of course, presents! But what to buy the children at Christmas without ending up with excessive amounts of plastic, batteries and gimmicky, soon-to-be-bored of 'stuff'? Luckily, there are an increasing number of cool, interesting and sustainable eco-toys on the market that will thrill kids and minimise use of resources. Here are a few key features to look out for.



Recycled: The fantastic new range of Sprig toys at EcoCentric are made of an innovative new material called Sprigwood, made of recycled wood and reclaimed plastic. The Discover Rig harnesses the kinetic energy of the child playing with it to play music, sounds and tell a great little tale.




Organic: Using natural processes and organic fertilisers, organically grown cotton avoids the environmental destruction caused by conventional production, resulting in cleaner, kinder and greener products. And when the finished result looks as cute as this soft organic cotton bear, going organic has never been easier!

Fairtrade: Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. The Fairtrade Foundation has licensed over 3,000 Fairtrade certified products for sale through retail and catering outlets in the UK, and a few of those, are toys! I think this Fairtrade wooden train with six animals is a really beautiful toy, and since it is hand made by a fairtrade accredited workshop in India from sustainable sheesham wood using low energy practices, it is also good for the environment.

Win £100 voucher for ecocentric

EcoCentric are offering an early Christmas gift - a £100 voucher to spend at www.ecocentric.co.uk

All you need to do is click here and fill in the form to be in with a chance to win.

There are loads of great eco Christmas gifts to choose from, or you could treat yourself to some interiors accessories to give your home a pre-Christmas lift...

One-stop shop for eco Christmas shopping

I do a lot of my shopping on the web, mostly because there isnt a lot of eco choice out there on the high street and I try to be as ethical as I can with my gift giving and fashion sense.

For those of you who are london based and love the browsing in stores and boutiques - listen up...

From now until Christmas there is a one-stop shop for all your eco gift buying on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill. Amongst all the trendy boutiques and vintage stores you'll find number 303 - Our Eco Shop, a collaboration of eco designers, stores and lables to provide the perfect eco shopping experience.

With UK designers-makers and small green companies represented, the pop-up shop has a great selection of fair trade, ethical, organic, and eco-friendly products.

Get yourself over there tonight for the launch party, and check out the goodies before anyone else!

Enjoy!

Our Eco Shop Opening details:
18th November until 24th December
Mon - Sat 10am - 5.30pm, Sun 12pm - 5pm

The ultimate green Christmas 'how-to'

I'm one of those people who (usually) refuses to think about Christmas until the first door of the (divine chocolate) advent calendar has been well and truly opened.

But I also know there are members of my family (Kate) who finished their Christmas shopping in September.

If you are somewhere in between you may be interested in the ultimate guide to having a green Chritsmas put together by the folks down at the Guardian.

Not just their top 10, but a whole alphabet full of ideas. Here are a few of the best:

A is for artificial trees - There is a whole debate about real or plastic trees...maybe even worth it's own blog post/debate...

C is for Candles - Paraffin candles are made from petroleum residue and are no good for your health or for the environment. Candles made from soy, beeswax or natural vegetable-based wax are more eco-friendly because they biodegrade and are smoke-free.

F is for food shopping - Buy local or buy less. Produce bought locally means you will be supporting small suppliers and the local community, while minimising your carbon footprint. Shop at a local farmers' market, or try growing some of your own vegetables where possible (a little bit late this year - though I attempting to grow lettuce on my window sill).

Remeber to take your own reusable bags and buy fruit & veg loose if possible to avoid excessive plastic usage.

L is for lights - Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough CO2 to inflate 12 balloons, so turn them off when they are not needed, and use low-energy LED fairy lights - you can get great half-price colour-changing ones here

Need more ideas? Read the rest of the article here
The guardian gift guide for 2008 will be out soon, so we'll post a link when it's up. In the mean time, check out these eco gift ideas

RE:fashion award winners announced at glitzy celeb filled occasion

Last night saw the ultimate event in ethical fashion with the RE:fashion awards held at Shoreditch town hall (just round the corner from our HQ, where Elton had his 60th) where all the hot ethical designers mixed with celebs such as Daisy Lowe, Pixie Geldof and Leah Wood.

Established designers Vivienne Westwood, Zandra Rhodes & Katharine Hamnett showed their support for the awards with their outfits, created exclusively for the event, being modelled on the RE:design catwalk.

RE: Fashion Designer of the Year was awarded to From Somewhere, (right) beating off fierce competition from Safia Minney of People Tree, and Oliver's favourites Junky Styling.

Izzy Lane, who rears her own sheep for her very British collections (shown below), walked away with New RE:Designer of the Year Award.

Other awards and winners included:
Fashion retailer Adili - RE: Retailer of the Year
Pioneering jewellery label Made - RE: Africa award
From Somewhere - RE:Use Award

It was the first event of its kind, though trends would suggest there will be more to come, following the Estethica area at London fashion week for the past 5 seasons which has been growing in size and quality every time.

For the full report check out glam Sarah from Greenmystyle who was right in there with the action.

EcoCentric has just launched a new affiliate programme, offering you an excellent 10% commission – one of the best rates in the field of eco retail.

As you may know, EcoCentric is the online eco home style boutique, offering the best in eco gifts and home accessories. Including eco toys & gifts, organic cosmetics, recycled glassware and fair trade homewares, the collection has been selected by designer Oliver Heath for its style and eco credentials.

It is free to sign up. You simply choose one of our pre-designed banners for your website or blog, and earn an amazing 10% commission on each sale generated from your site.

If you dont have a blog or website, then you can just put a text link on the bottom of your email or on your facebook (or similar) page and the same principle applies - just start spreading the word and earning a little extra for your Christmas.

Now is the time to sign up to take advantage of the high traffic coming up to Christmas.

Read here for more information. Click here to join.

Green Gods - but where's Oliver?

On their blog this week the Daisy Green girls announced their Top 10 green gods ("The men making ethics sexy")! I thought their choices were pretty interesting - although some of the top ten may well rightly deserve their place, the 'God' factor did seem to be a bit more 'Hollywood' than 'green'. It's great that celebrities can use their media draw to publicise environmental destruction and ways we can be more eco-friendly, but we should also celebrate the hard-working heroes on our doorsteps.

So I would like to nominate Oliver Heath as the 11th Green God. He's played a crucial part in bringing sustainable design into the mainstream through his TV work, has acted as a media spokesperson for both the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the Energy Saving Trust, and has written for the Observer and Friends of the Earth, Earth Matters magazine. By putting environmental thought into his design and architecture work he has helped emerging eco-friendly businesses, and even co-founded one of his own - EcoCentric!

An inspiration to us all, and in my opinion, well deserving of a place on the list.

Who would you nominate?

Happy birthday Smart Car!

Smart car is now 10 years old (born at the same time as Divine! - see below) and to celebrate they have launched a designer version.

Hermès on Thursday unveiled the tiny Smart car it designed, available in 10 colors including gold, indigo and the luxury house’s signature orange. Each is fitted with Hermès leather-covered steering wheels and gear levers, with colors including fuchsia and lime, along with the brand’s original canvas toile H.

The cars, starting at 38,000 euros, went on sale last week - just think about all the savings on petrol!

A divine experience

This year Divine will be 10 years old and they are celebrating with a free exhibition telling their unique story, at the OXO tower gallery, starting tomorrow and running until Sunday.

In 1998 a new chocolate company was launched to try and prove the chocolate industry doesn’t have to be this way. A cooperative of cocoa farmers in Ghana decided to take matters into their own hands and set up their own chocolate business in the UK…….

The exhibition is an opportunity to see a collection of striking images by leading photojournalists giving an insight into the lives of Kuapa Kokoo farmers, and follow the enterprising journey that took Divine from being “a great idea – that could never happen” to an award-winning example of a more equitable trading relationship with smallholder farmers in Africa.

Divine has since partnered with Comic relief, launching the dubble bar, raising the issue of Fairtrade with young people.

If you haven't tried Divine chocolate then I thoroughly recommend it - the most delicious chocolate! My favourites are the dark chocolate, and the new champagne truffles...mmm!

Details:
The 'Decade of Divine' exhibition is at the.gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank, London, SE1 9PH. Gallery open to public 6th-9th November 2008. Opening times 11.00am-6.00pm. Admission Free
Immerse yourself in a delicious world of chocolate and find out how Divine is building a brand for the 21st century.

Credit Crunch Eco Chic

In these somewhat trying economic times thrift is fast becoming an essential way of life for many of us. It might not sound much like fun, but in an article in the Sunday Times Style magazine this week, entitled 'Credit Crunch Chic: How to save pots of money', India Knight showed that, far from being a bore, thrift can awaken your creativity and give you a great sense of personal satisfaction.

Making your own has always been a staple of a thrifty lifestyle. Giving someone a present that you have crafted from your own hands speaks volumes about how much you value them, and the objects created have a personal originality which money simply cannot buy. This might all seem a bit daunting, but if you need a little helping hand to start crafting, Ecocentric have some great kits, like the 'stitch you own donkey' and the 'make your own owl bag'.

The article also talked about 'doing your bit'. By cutting down on needless consumption you can reduce your emissions and help the environment, even in just a small way. Energy saving lightbulbs are a great way to lower your carbon footprint and achieve big savings in your energy bills. Shopping locally or online is also recommended - keep it local to reduce transportation costs, and shop online to curb thoughtless impulse buys.

Above all, thrift is about living a lifestyle which is more at one with yourself and the world. It's about appreciating what you have now, not lusting after something you want in the future. By focussing on the smaller things around us and the quality of the interaction we have with those close by we can hopefully all gain a deeper satisfaction from life and ultimately be happier and more fulfilled.