Last minute gift ideas

As the last dates for Christmas orders draws nearer (22nd Dec for Express delivery at EcoCentric) it's always good to have a few key staple gifts which don't need to be posted. Here's a couple of gift ideas which are easy and quick to buy, but always well recieved and appreciated.

Gift vouchers - Available from loads of retailers in many different amounts, they may not be very imaginative, but it does mean people can get something they really want, not just what you might think they like. EcoCentric are great for fans of eco design and have lots of stylish products that the recipient to choose from, People Tree gift vouchers are brilliant for ethical fashion and have a good range for women, men and kids and Ethical wares have lovely cruetly-free footwear and accessories for style with a conscience.

Charity Gifts - Rather than give someone something they don't want, give a person in need something they really need on their behalf. For a bargain £18 you can buy a goat with Help the Aged to give older people milk, fertilizer and maybe even more goats. Action Aid will buy books for poor school children in developing countries from just £10, and from £3 a month you can 'adopt' a polar bear with WWF. Just don't expect to be able to put it under the Christmas tree!

Downsize your Christmas carbon footprint

Following on from my tips for eco Christmas decorations, here are a few more good pointers to keep your Christmas carbon footprint from making you a first rate eco-scrooge.

The Meal: Using durable and good quality serving ware instead of disposable stuff keeps your footprint and your spending low. Better still, buying recycled glass plates and glasses means that you are actually reusing resources rather than fuelling the need to process new ones. EcoCentric sell a beautiful range of recycled glass crockery which will make any Christmas table look elegant and stylish. If you can't afford to buy new crockery, then there are often interesting vintage finds at charity shops, or the option of renting it if you're catering for unusually large numbers. If you do want to buy disposable plates and cups, then paper as the best choice as it can be composted along with the rest of the Christmas food waste.

The Wrapping: rubbish mounts up extremely fast over the Christmas period, but there are lots of things we can do to minimise the cost to the environment. Gifts can be wrapped in recycled paper, old maps, comics, newspapers or any colourful paper. Choose gifts that don't need to be wrapped, or make the wrapping part of the gift - a vintage scarf or a snazzy tea towel for example. Gift tags can be made from last years Christmas cards artfully cut out and threaded through with a piece of ribbon. Importantly, make sure to recycle all possible packaging and wrapping. We've found that kids absolutely love the new Ovetto recycling bin - it's made from recycled plastic and has three handy compartments for three types of recycling. Recycling has never been so fun and stylish!

Eco Christmas Decorating

Tis the season to be jolly, and one of my favourite ways to spread the jollyness is by putting up Christmas decorations! The right decorations really bring out the best out of a home at Christmas and add to the festive atmosphere no end. Decorations can be a drain on your finances and the environment though, which is why I've put together a few pointers to eco-style your Christmas decorations.

Fairy lights can use a ton of electricity over the course of your Christmas period. For a cheaper - and just as pretty - tree use low energy LED fairy lights, like this lovely colour changing set from EcoCentric. With the touch of a dial you can control the colour and the speed of colour change, and best of all, they're extremely long lasting - the average set can be constantly used for up to 16 years apparently. Best of all they're currently half price at just £19.49 with voucher code 3182! Shinyhippy did this great video review of them last year - check it out on YouTube.

Christmas tree decorations can also be eco-friendly. Using recycled paper to make paper angels, laterns and paper chains keeps our precious forests from the chop and looks great. I always think that home-made decorations look better somehow, and you're more likely to keep them longer if they mean something to you. Belinda Mooney has a few good ideas, as does 'Krafty Kris'.

If you don't have the time to make tree decorations then FSC certified wood ones are a good option as they'll last for years and look great. These pretty ones from WWF also mean your money goes to charity - and what's more Christmasy than that!

East London Design Show

A bit stuck for Christmas pressies for those 'difficult people'? Well this might just help you out...


Bag yourself some beautiful and unique Christmas presents this weekend at the fantastic annual East London Design Show! There will be designers from all over the world exhibiting and a number of products unveiled for the very first time. With clothing, jewellery, home accessories and kids stuff on offer there is bound to be something for everyone. And with a cafe selling delicious food and a special kids area with a 'create space' (sounds intriguing!), it makes a great day out for the whole family.

EcoCentric will be exhibiting, taking a carefully chosen range of products including our cute and phenomenonally popular Knit your own Monkey kits, our stylish Tord Boonje designed Transglass vases and our practical and attractive Bamboo chopping boards.

Other stands on my list to visit include the delightful Cocktail Tops, which makes gorgeously colourful clothes for women, the psychadelically colourful Victoria's World and the fun Creative Charlie, which engages children and adults together in creative play (and it shares my name!)



The show is open from today until Sunday. Opening times are 12 - 8pm today and 10 - 6 on Saturday and Sunday.
Admission is £4 adult and £2 concession - but you can download a 2 for 1 voucher from their website. Accompanied under 16s go free.

Happy shopping!

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.

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.

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