Archive for July, 2008

David Cameron’s antics have been hitting the headlines again this week, but unfortunately for him perhaps, it hasn’t been due to political successes, more due to the holiday he is taking. Rather than jetting off to an exotic foreign location Mr Cameron has opted to spend some quality time in Cornwall, whilst the Prime Minister himself is taking a break in Suffolk.

With major public figures in the country choosing to holiday at home, it throws traditional UK holiday destinations back into the limelight.

This is great news not only for Cornwall, but also Blackpool, Brighton, Southwold and hundreds of other choice destinations. Punch & Judy Shows and donkeys all along the coast must be loving it! Well…perhaps not the donkeys…

Image from Flickr: via Deathwaves.

It’s also great news in terms of reducing carbon emissions, as aeroplanes have got to be one of the worst culprits for pumping out CO2. The GoSpain website tells us that a round-trip flight from Heathrow to Madrid generates carbon emissions of 330kg per person, quite a scary figure. The suggested figure by 1aflight.com is that it takes 9 trees 10 years to offset one tonne of carbon, so that equates to (…quick mathematical calculations…) almost 30 years for one tree to offset a round trip to Madrid – eek!

There are hundreds of websites on the net with advice of where you can go and what you can do in the UK, but in my opinion, if you’re going to stay put in the (let’s face it!) unpredictable British climes, you’ve got to do it properly, and that means under canvas!

According to the BBC many people around the country agree, as happy campers are flocking to Wales and other British beauty spots with their tents and not-so-reliable primus stoves. I myself (as a glutton for punishment) tend to head further North and indulge in a spot of good quality hardcore Scottish camping, come rain, shine or midges!

If you do choose to camp this summer, and wherever you choose to go, it’s best to be prepared. It’s even better to be prepared with eco-friendly equipment that keeps up the environmentally sound principals which your dedication to UK camping has established. Don’t forget essentials such as buying midge repellant, but there are also lots of other innovative items which you can invest in before a camping trip. Why not try a recycled materials sleeping bag, or give the idea which is my personal favourite a whirl – the solar heated camping showers mean you’ll never need to queue at the shower block again!

Whether you do heed these British holiday recommendations or decide to go abroad (lets be honest – the politicians will be taking more trips this year, and I’m sure those will be to the sun!), it’s always interesting to know what is generally favoured by the masses.

Our friends at Yahoo wanted to know just that, and conducted a small poll of favourite holiday destinations. The result to my mind was rather disappointing, as 78% of the votes opted for a nice long rest in bed rather than fun in the sun. However when I said small poll I wasn’t lying. Only 7 people actually voted. Hmmm…

But ultimately we can all be thankful that we are neither David Cameron nor Gordon Brown as we head off on our holidays. Imagine being required to put down your ice-cream for imprompu press-calls. I certainly wouldn’t want my holiday snaps being broadcast to the world!

Holidays are here and it is time to kick back and start loving your work-free zone. Let us do the hard work before you go and sort out the hottest ethical buys to take along to make your holiday, well, a holiday. From ethical flip-flops to the new solar powered shaver – Ethical Superstore have everything under the sun. Summer is not complete without. . .

1 Beach fun: For the ultimate in cool, slip on these flip-flops made from recycled tyres (£22). With 48 million tyres being disposed of each year in the UK, new use for old rubber is the way to go. Or try a pair of FSC certified flip-flops (£22) made with rubber tapped from sustainable forest sources.

2 Game on: Jumpstart your beach holiday with a Fairtrade certified volley ball (£11.50) or football (£19.90). Over 150 million kids are involved in child labour worldwide – these balls raise the bar being 100% child labour-free.

3 Don’t burn: Skin experts recommend at least SPF15 – which blocks out 90% of UVB rays. If you want to avoid the harmful ingredients found in synthetic sun lotions and potions, try a product that contains titanium dioxide, such as Green People’s Edelweiss lotion with tan accelerator (SPF15, £15.99) or for fairer skins ‘No Scent’ lotion (SPF22, £15.99). For the children, antioxidant-rich lavender sun lotion (SPF25, £13.50) is hard to beat.

Read the rest of Top 10 Ethical Essentials for your Summer Holiday Escape »

Well now, the second of these Armchair Activist posts is brought to you to inspire you to green up your day job or your workplace. According to an article on longer working hours in Britain on the BBC website, the average working week for Brits is approx 37 hours a week. Therefore, even if you are the most socially responsible and eco-friendly individual outside of work, those 148 hours a month spent in the office or on company business could be severely denting your green credentials.

So here are a few tips on how to claw back those ethical points and encourage your colleagues and bosses to do the same!

1. Office supplies: There is a plethora of green alternatives to your average staplers, pens, paper, pads etc on the  market these days. You can now purchase stapleless staplers, FSC certified pens, recycled paper and a great range of recycled and reused pads. So, don’t add to the deforestation plight or landfill-overflow; go for sustainable stationary today!

2. Go paperless: Another alternative to office stationary is to make your office a paper free zone. Replace that mountain of Post-It notes you’re buried under with an organised reminder system on your computer. Email instead of passing notes on, back up data on DVD’s, USB sticks and other digital media rather than printing out and filing endless reams of paper! If all else fails, at least recycle the paper you have to use.

Find out more tips here . . .

Read the rest of Armchair Activist: #2 »

Well, it’s supposedly summer time which means that the majority of people are off on their holidays sometime soon! And we all know that style and convenience can’t afford to play second fiddle to cumbersome and unsightly ‘travel gadgets’ these days. Luckily, MSN have compiled a Top 8 of 2008’s Coolest Travel Gadgets to take the stress out of choosing the right piece of kit to make your holiday run smoothly.

From camera tripods to motorized luggage cases; there really is something for everyone. Two products in particular caught my eye, though. Yes, Ethical Superstore stocks 2 of the 8 products featured; the Indigo LED Wind Up Lantern, and the Powermonkey eXplorer Portable Solar Charger (pictured) grace both the Cool List and the pages of your favourite one stop ethical shop!

Not only does that mean that Ethical Superstore makes it easier for you to shop by ethics, but also maintains a sense of style, of cool, and of sophistication. Check out the range of travel gadgets available that didn’t quite make the Top 8 this time around . . . . There’s always next year!

Given the huge amount of interest generated by our post of the 22nd July concerning the Ethical Spanking Paddle, we figured that interest in ‘paddling’ was high…

Wikipedia, that source of all knowledge, helps out with a definition of the ‘paddle’ as a good starting point:

“usually a wooden instrument with a long, flat face and narrow neck, so called because it is roughly shaped like the homonymous piece of sports equipment, but existing in more varied sizes and dimensions, (length, width and thickness)”

This much we had however already established.

You can find out more information and tips about ethical paddling after the jump…

Read the rest of Ethical Paddling…Continued… »

This might make you smile.

facesinplaces.blogspot.com

This is my favourite site of the week (so far).

Well, there’s a title to grab your attention!

A quick whip around the office for ideas of alternative uses for this handy device brought forth various suggestions, from a primitive rafting paddle or a table tennis bat, to a cheese board!

However, this genuinely is sold as a Spanking Paddle, much to our entertainment!

You may be wondering where we found such an item, but whilst immersing ourselves in researching ethical products for ethicalsuperstore.com we stumble across many ‘interesting’ products which grab our attention. This is undoubtedly the most amusing items we’ve discovered this week – we weren’t searching specifically – honest!

So Why oh Why is this considered ethical we hear you cry?!?

Primarily it is because it was handcrafted as part of a fair trade project in India using sustainable wood, making this piece of ‘equipment’ the ultimate in eco-friendly spanking technology.

So what are you waiting for?!? The producers of these sustainable spanking paddles, Coco de Mer (NB don’t click on this link at work!) wax lyrical about the endorphins released from a good spanking, but perhaps the less said here and now about the potential associated euphoric highs the better…

I think the most important lesson to be learnt here is that whatever your hobbies, and whatever your persuasions, you can do whatever on earth it is that you do in an eco-friendly manner! And the moral of this story is that your sex life certainly should not be excluded from this. Buying fair trade condoms is a good starting point, but whether you stop there is up to you!

                                                                        Photo via Sky News
You can’t help but have noticed that the Tall Ships Festival has been wowing spectators at Liverpool Docks the past week. The 60 vessels are now set to embark on the first leg of a five week race, taking in Northern Ireland, Norway and Holland along the way. The superb picture above got me thinking about the ships in conjunction with more modern uses for wind power. The wind has been powering ships for as long as the sun has warmed the sea, and the first recorded use of a rudimentary windmill was in the 1st Century AD when it was used to power an organ!

Nowadays, with Climate Change being high on political agendas as well as in peoples’ personal consciousness, wind power is seen as a green, eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear power. It uses no fuel, produces no carbon emissions and according to the BBC Weather Centre, the UK’s position in the world makes it a great place to utilise wind power. According to the British Wind Energy Association there is now legislation meaning that by 2010, 10% of the UK’s renewable energy must come from wind power, so keep your eyes peeled for a turbine near you.

It’s not just wind turbines, though, that can cut emissions and give us greener power, there is now a vast array of devices that harness the power of wind to power a range of devices and applications. Ethical Superstore has some fantastically innovative wind-powered chargers which can be used to power your mobile phone, mp3 player and camera among other things. Then there was the wind powered chargers available at Glastonbury this year, and recently, a new wind turbine design has not only won a sustainability award, but has been called the “affordable personal wind turbine suited to the urban environment”! Perfect for family homes and small shops!

So, next time you’re out shopping and your hair is blown all over the place, or you’re at the coast and the wind blows your fish and chips away, just think of all the ways in which you could be harnessing that power and making the most out of a green, clean, free energy source that we are all lucky to have access to just about every day!

The above equation isn’t one which will resonate with most folk. However, the people at Prix Pictet (a major new global prize in photography that focuses on sustainability) have created such a link.

The award is set up in collaboration between the Swiss bank, Pictet, and the Financial Times. According to Treehugger the remit was to produce “works that are of outstanding artistic merit that also communicate messages of urgent global significance”. There has been a world-wide nominations panel of over 40 leading experts in the visual arts, from six continents drawing up a shortlist of photographers and their work which has been announced this month.

Have a look at the Prix Pictet 2008 shortlist for yourself and you’ll find topics including water conservation, natural disasters, and refugees being exhibited.

Send in any photos you may have taken or seen that you feel evoke or represent sustainability, and we could get our very own mini gallery going!

  Photo via Prix Pictet

Bamboo can be made into all manner of things these days. You can buy bamboo jewellery and bags, and clothing made from bamboo is becoming less of a phenomenon and more of an accepted production technique with ethical clothing manufacturers. Check back to our article from last June on bamboo bikes for a truly innovative use of the material.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that bamboo bridges were the kind of construction you’d be more likely to come across in deepest Asia, however, in a bid to avoid conventionality, an eighth bridge has been built across the River Tyne in Newcastle over the last fortnight. Measuring 100 meters in length and with two 25 meter towers at either end, it is a formidable structure. Although it’s only a temporary installation, this latest enormous work of public sculpture in the North East has raised almost as many eyebrows as the Angel of the North did.

Find out more about the bridge after the jump…

Read the rest of The Bamboo Bridge »