GreenFinder Blog

Pure Design, the designer eco and ethical online boutique is proud to announce their newest range of unique and sustainably made Surfer-Chic jewellery. Designed and made by independent British designer the Beach Shack Project.

Based in Brighton, the Beach Shack Project draw their inspiration directly from the seashore and make use of a myriad of sea jewels harvested from the shoreline for their necklaces, bangles and earrings. Pure Design bring independent design labels like the Beach Shack into the fore, helping eco savvy shoppers discover unique products and accessories, and to inject a little sustainability into their lives.

Elaine, founder of Pure Design says “I love the handmade appeal of these bangles and necklaces, AND that they offer excellent and ethical quality, and are professionally made”….”the colours are gorgeous and will suit so many styles, boho, vintage…..at the beach or a BBQ. Close your eyes and you can feel the sand between your toes!”.

What is Sea Glass?

The sea glass is glass waste that has been highly polished over time by sand and sea. Hannah, founder of the Beach Shack Project, says that she regularly comes across Victorian sea pottery and glass – which just goes to show the age of many of the materials being washed ashore. Whilst sea glass occurs in many colours, as it is not man-made, supply is dependant on what can be reclaimed from the sea. The most commonly occurring shades of Emerald, Aqua and Auburn have been used in this range to ensure availability meets much anticipated demand.
The Beach Shack Project supports ‘Surfers Against Sewage’; (SAS) is a UK-based non profit-making organisation campaigning for clean, safe recreational waters, free from sewage effluents, toxic chemicals, marine litter and nuclear waste.

Visit Pure Design to meet more of the talented designers we represent and browse our collection of ethical and eco friendly accessories, gifts and home ware.

Related Links

Green Gifts

Green Interiors

No Comments »

My Dad got a bit over excited with his new allotment this year and planted far too may bean and courgette plants. With U.K allotment waiting lists in their thousands who can  blame him really! As a result  of his over exuberance we now have a courgette mountain on our hands aswell as a years supply of  runner beans piling up…

So after you’ve passed on your excess home grown fruit and veg to friends and family why not check out some of these ways to preserve your veg for the coming months.

Freezing

Some vegetables can be frozen without any preparation, whilst others require blanching (cooking breifly in boiling water) first.  For courgettes – choose young ones, cut into 1 inch pieces, and blanch. For beans (runner and french)  select young ones, cut ends off and blanch. With spinach  – select young leaves, blanch and press out excess moisture before freezing. Potatoes – interestingly, are best frozen in cooked form. Try to choose even sized new potatoes

Bottling

Bottling fruit and veg is a great way to preserve them for the autumn and winter months when they are no longer in season. Ensure that all your bottles are sterilized and that you use only the finest of specimens. Berries, cherries, apples, pears and plums can be bottled along with tomatoes. Here is a recipe for cherry tomatoes and basil.

Ingredients

1 kg of cherry tomatoes

5 cloves of garlic

fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

Method

Peel the garlic and wash the tomatoes. With a cocktail stick prick the skins of the tomatoes. Fill the jar with tomatoes and add the basil, garlic and salt and sugar between the layers. Next line an oven tray with cardboard and place the bottle on it. Make sure the lid is on top but not sealed.  Heat the oven to 120 c/250 f  and leave bottle to sterilize for 45 mins. Seal and then leave to cool. More bottling info here.

Baking

You can always bake your veggies into cakes and bread and freeze them too. Have a look at this delicious recipe for a Courgette Loaf Cake or this one for courgette muffins. You can also make vegetable soups and freeze these too.

Related Links

Green Gardening Products

Green Gardening Tips On A Shoe String

No Comments »

Have you heard of the Bardsey Apple, Trwyn Mochyn, Pigeon’s Beak, Rhyl Beauty, Cox Cymraeg, or the Nant Gwrtheyrn Apple?

These are just some of the apple varieties that are unique to Wales, and that have now been planted in Wales’s first Welsh Apple Orchard.

GreenWood Forest Park, which has a great interest in all things to do with trees, has planted a unique orchard of 15 apple varieties that originated in Wales. Some have fascinating stories, like Afal Deimant, crates of which were washed ashore after a shipwreck in Cardigan Bay in the 19th Century. Others, such as the Bardsey Apple, are only represented by one tree growing on the side of one of the houses on Bardsey Island, off the tip of the Llŷn Peninsula.

These varieties have been collected and propagated by the master of apple grafting, Ian Sturrock, whose nursery just outside Bangor is full of fascinating fruit trees of all sorts.

The trees at GreenWood are maidens – i.e. they have made just one year’s growth since grafting, so it will be several years before they fruit – but in years to come they will hopefully provide a wonderful crop of genuine Welsh apples. GreenWood’s Marketing and HR Director Andrea Bristow said: “I am looking forward to seeing the orchard in bloom next spring and many springs thereafter – and of course to tasting the many different apples!”

Related Links

Eco Days Out

Gardening

No Comments »

Despite a poor weather forecast the sun shone at the 2nd Portsmouth Green Fair last weekend. Held at the town’s Victoria Park and Guild Hall there were over 100 stands promoting all aspects of green living.

Attractions included a cycle powered music stage, steam boat willy (a pedal powered hovercraft) and a green motor show. Our friends from the Little Green Gift Shop and The Sustainability Centre were also in attendance along with numerous other stallholders representing all sectors of green industry.

A big well done to the organisers who managed to put on such a huge variety of eco-entertainment and ensured a good turn out on the day. Lets hope there is a Portsmouth Green fair in 2011 so we can visit again!

For other green fairs this summer visit our eco events page.

Related Links

Environmental Days Out

No Comments »

Things are getting personal at online organic beauty boutique, Lucy Rose!

The award-winning natural beauty website is now offering a range of personal care products, which have been through the usual fastidious vetting process, to guarantee genuinely natural products, which are not in the slightest bit tinted with chemicals, animal testing or unethical production.

Organyc is a range of organic natural cotton tampons and sanitary towels, certified by the Soil Association, which feel fresh, safe and clean, and have absolutely no negative effects on the environment.  The natural cotton fibres feel instantly more comfortable as they are skin-friendly, breathable and pH neutral.  Better still, they are 100% biodegradable.

Another product in their range is  Simply Gentle’s 100% organic cotton wool and cotton buds.  Certified by the Soil Association, you can choose from cotton balls, pads or pleats, safe in the knowledge that this pure cotton is completely natural, is 100% biodegradable and will not harm the environment or the people in it.

For more details of these products and others, visit Lucy Rose where postage and packing is free on every UK order.  The extensive selection of organic beauty and skin care, has been meticulously hand-picked to provide top to toe beauty treatments for people who genuinely care about what they put on their skin.

Related Links

Natural Health

Natural Toiletries and Cosmetics

No Comments »

Tactile Interiors the webstore which specialises in U.K sustainable design has added a new product to their range. The new Lotus Lampshades from UK designer Vanessa Battaglia are made from one sheet of natural felt, use no wires or support, except itself.

The inspiration behind the design comes from Japanese origami flowers and uses the same elegant language translated into fabric. As in Origami, the object is made from one single sheet of fabric, folded and tucked with no glue or fastenings.

Easy to assemble the shade comes folded flat with installation instructions.

To view the Tactile Interiors range please visit the website.

Related Links

Green Household Products

Green Home Improvements

No Comments »

Passionate recyclers Richard (53), Rachelle (37) and Verona (9) Strauss from the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire are celebrating the success of their pioneering recycling scheme to dispose of crisp packets environmentally.

They set up a recycling point in their local Tesco store to accept crisp wrappers which currently go to landfill.

After three months the Strauss family collected more than 12,000 crisp packets, weighing over 21kgs.

“This is a fantastic result which will make a difference to the lives of families in the Philippines. The crisp packets are sent to the Philippines where they are sanitised and woven into handbags and pencil cases. Once these crisp bags are made into products, the profits will keep 12 children out of poverty for a year and enable them to get an education. Alternatively we could build eight 2 roomed and four 1 roomed houses to replace the shanties these families are living in.” Said Rachelle

Last year, Rachelle and her family sent just one dustbin full of waste to landfill. Everything else was reused, composted or recycled.

“We would love to see other stores setting up collection points for recycling crisp packets. If we can divert empty crisp packets to the Philippines we can turn the lives around of children. Children as young as four search through mounds of putrid garbage in the blistering heat for items to sell to a recycling agent for as little as £1 for a 10 hour working day” said Richard.

Their progress can be followed at  My Zero Waste where 100,000 readers per month pick up advise, tips and support for reducing their own waste.

Crisp packets were also used by rock band Recoup for the CD sleeve for their single ‘Remind You.’ You can read more about their recycling efforts here.

Related Links

Recycled Gifts

Recycled Bags

No Comments »

No Comments »

It may not be the most sustainable event in the world, but you can still add a green tint to your World Cup celebrations this June.

Eco Barbecue It

Have a veggie barbecue – enjoy veggie burgers and bangers and try grilling vegetables on skewers. Use locally produced charcoal made from traditional methods and avoid disposable barbecues and throw away plastic cutlery. Both Ecosac and Comp-bio supply biodegradable tableware.

Green Flags

For the celebrations, make your own flags and bunting from left over fabrics or scraps. If you haven’t got time to make your own visit ‘Eco Bunting’  who make bunting from recycled material.

TV Share

Get together with a group of friends to watch the game on TV, just don’t drive there!

Finally, several charities have launched special World cup virtual gifts and appeals. Greenpeace Africa are providing a solar viewing area in the village of Jericho in the North West of South Africa for villagers who may not otherwise be able to watch the World Cup. When the tournament is over, the panels will be used to power a local school. You can also sponsor a South African child with Action Aid.

Related Links

Ecoutlet’s Bucket Barbecue

Football Team Goes Carbon-Neutral

2 Comments »

With several successful events under their belt, the Vintage,Craft & Produce Fayre is joining forces with Zoe’s Garden Party on Saturday 24th July in The Pump Room Gardens, Leamington Spa for a summer extravaganza.

The Vintage, Craft & Produce Fayre highlights the handcrafted, recycled, home produced and vintage collections of local people.
Promising a specially selected range of diverse stalls selling a variety of unique items – cake stands, felt cushions, hand-crafted silver jewellery, patchwork quilts, vintage miscellanea, chutney and much, much more – the Vintage, Craft & Produce Fayre is delighted to be part of Zoe’s Garden Party and helping to raise funds for the hospice.

Zoe’s Place is a baby hospice, offering very special care to babies and infants with life-limiting illnesses. They are aiming to raise £750,000 to build our new baby hospice in Coventry. So come along to our Garden Party and help to achieve this target…

For more information please visit our website www.vintagerevisited.co.uk

Related Links

Green Events

Midlands Green Pages

2 Comments »