Browsing: green living

I love the summer holidays. It offers a little time to relax and unwind. It allows a little more time to spend with the kids. How we love those long blissful days of chilling out and engaging in fun activities. At least that’s the theory.

National Trust Pond Dipping Kit

Sometimes the actual experience is a little different. Not enough time to squeeze everything in and yet the kids seem bored before the day has even started. Everyone wants to do something different. And no one wants to do anything that doesn’t cost a fortune. It hardly feels like the “joys of family life” that I signed up for.

So once Harry Potter has been watched and the actual two weeks away has been taken – then what? Some days we will reach for the trusty National Trust membership card and take a trip to North East England jewels like Gibside or the Souter Lighthouse but I am hoping that this year the words “National Trust” will come to mean more than a quick dash round a stately home followed by spending a small fortune in the cafe and gift shop!

The new National Trust range we have just listed may well prove an entertaining distraction on some of the days those which look like a blank canvas -rather than those that look similar to the train timetable at Clapham Junction!

Each National Trust kit comes in a sturdy box with all you need to begin engaging with the particular aspect of outdoors that it focuses on. My personal favourite is the National Trust Bug Hunting Kit which offers everything from the specimen pots through to your very own pooter for collecting the bugs. I think it was reading Gerald Durrell’s “My family and other animals” that inspired me to get down on my hands and knees to study the little creatures that live all around us. The wonder of a centipede as the wave of movement ripples down its body. The amazing colour of the butterfly or dragonfly as it gets carried on the wind from leaf to leaf. The amazing world of ants all working together. So for the price of afternoon tea for the family we can set out on a bug hunting, pond dipping, bark rubbing, flower pressing or rock pool splashing adventure.

We’d love to know what ethical adventures your planning this summer – let us know by commenting to this post below.

Read the rest of 5 Things I Won’t Forget To Do in 2011 »

"Brian, are you sure this is the way to Joe and Mary's?"

The Cost of Being Lost

All of us around the globe at one time or another felt that uneasy feeling of not knowing exactly where we are or how to get to where we need to be.  This uneasy feeling has a name, that is hard for many of us to vocalise.  It’s called lost, and in reality it can cost us more than just our pride.  There’s time, fuel, energy, stress, relationships and even the environment to consider too.  Just imagine if everyone drove exactly where they needed to be using an optimised route, without unplanned detours, how much fuel could we collectively save?  It’s an exciting thought.

Raving about Saving

These are just some of the reasons why we are thrilled to introduce our range of Garmin Nüvi Satellite Navigation systems, all equipped with ecoRoute, fuel saving software on board.  It’s not just fuel you could save using one of these, but all the things that seem to disappear when you’re lost; energy, calmness, relationships, the environment…

Around the office, we’ve come up with our top five ways you can save with our Garmin Nüvi Sat Nav range, we think you’ll agree it’s well worth a read.

Read the rest of Save All The Way With EcoRoute »

Applying Plan Do Review (ask any Primary age child for an explanation) to Christmas, I am now at the review stage. I planned with much thought, did with much effort and come to review without an ounce of either thought or effort left in my body. Such is the joy of January.

So how did I do with my ethical gifts? The jewellery elicited the most positive responses; the reactions to the stationery were more restrained. The champagne gift set was the greatest hit; the candles received the worst comment – “Not more bloody candles.” (Joint presents are always likely to please one partner more than the other.) I even managed to get away with a little regifiting, although my conscience is getting harder to ignore each time that I do it.

As for waste, our success was marked by the fact that there was still space in the bin on collection day. There has already been a trip to the recycling centre, the cards have been cut up for tags next year and the gift bags folded and stowed away for re-use. Result.

Read the rest of Planned, Did – Now For The Review! »

a strangely pleasurable experience?

So what’s in a name? Plenty, if all the time and money spent on market research and advertising is anything to go by. Manufacturers invest heavily in promoting brand loyalty. But what is it exactly ? According to leading experts, brand loyalty implies that consumers bind themselves to a product as a result of a deep-seated commitment. (Bloemer and Kasper 1.).

A deep-seated commitment?  Sounds serious.
Well, yes. For have you not heard it said…“Coffee just isn’t coffee unless it’s …” “No-one makes jaffa cakes like …” “Easter wouldn’t be Easter without …” “I wouldn’t use anything else on my face but …”?

It’s a commitment that is not just about authenticity of taste, but about a product that becomes the norm, a standard against which all others are measured and found wanting.

Let’s take tomato ketchup as an example.

Read the rest of What’s in a name? »

The wetter the better?

I recently challenged myself to ‘Go One Better’  – to conduct an examination of my lifestyle and identify simple improvements which I could make, and more importantly stick to, which will make a difference.  I began with a commitment to eliminate at least one regular car journey and replace it by cycling.  Given the title of this post you could be forgiven for thinking that I’m going to attempt a cheerful defence of pedalling in the rain, not so.
With all going well with the cycling it was time to turn my attention to other things.  Once you start to think about ‘going one better ‘the problem is not so much what to tackle, but where to start.  I decided to start by examining my daily routine, working from morning onwards.
To say I’m not a morning person doesn’t even come close.  According to my family I don’t wake up – I defrost.  Putting myself in the microwave isn’t an option (though it’s a tempting proposition for family I suspect) so I tend to thaw out in the shower.  I’d always resented the hammering on the bathroom door and pleas for speed, evidence of their tendency toward exaggeration.  ‘You always take forever’ being conclusive proof of their impatience, as I was never in longer than a couple of minutes.
I’m probably not alone in the belief that showering is guilt free

Read the rest of Going One Wetter! »

I am not about to confess a hitherto secret compulsion to wash obsessively. My obsession is firmly contained within my head and has yet to materialise into much productive output.

It all began when I looked at the label in my son’s new light grey sixth form trousers to discover that they were Dry Clean Only. I was so incensed that I overcame my inhibitions to ask about it openly at the Sixth Form Information Evening.

Read the rest of An Obsession With Washing »

Something that came to my attention about a month ago (and which I have successfully managed to block out since) has resurfaced thanks to our friends over at TreeHugger. The aptly named Shit Box is supposed to be the answer to all of your festival toilet troubles.

The creator, who also founded the footwear retailer Office, is Richard Wharton who has since set up the Brown Corporation to manufacturer his little brown brain child. It is a portable, flatpack, lightweight cardboard toilet designed for outdoor use when you need it most. It’s designed to be reused with the use of degradable poop bags – 10 of which come with the Shit Box.

So next time your kids are desperate for the loo in the car, or you’re at a festival and are dreading the long drop – just think – you could be sitting comfortably on a cardboard box, in the comfort of your own tent, emptying your bowels in style!

Seriously though, it’s quite impressive and its eco-friendly credentials aren’t bad either. Made with 70% recycled cardboard, with all of the components degradable, this novel idea might just prove to be popular, not least with eco-conscious festival goers.

We already have self contained solar showers, biodegradable tent pegs, and floatable dinner sets! 

So why not add a Shit Box into the mix?

Have a look at other innovative uses for the humble cardboard box over at Ethical Superstore.

I wonder what’s next . . .
 

(Image via LittleJackShit)