The damage :

“organically reared rare breed Suffolk redpoll beef” minced beef £3.58/0.45kg  and “organically reared rare breed Tamworth pork” pork chops £4.24/0.42 kg from Muck & Magic Farming Ltd

turkey sausages with fresh cranberries £2.84/0.40kg and free range chicken thighs £3.20/0.39kg from Pastures Poultry Farm

ginger and spring onion sausages £3.86/0.39kg  from The Giggly Pig Company

2 half-loaf cakes (banana + ginger and fig) £2.50 each

Find your local markets from our list.

A lot of kids (and kids at heart) love the Halloween and go through great lengths decorating their homes and making costumes for trick or treating. We hope you’d enjoy all the festivities that goes with it, but spare a thought for the environment and heed some of the tips we’ve gathered around the net:

The daily green has posted lots of ways to green up your halloween:

• reuse costumes instead of buying new.
• trick and treat kids to organic lollipops, organic/fairtrade chocolates, money, recycled paper and pencils in loot bags.
• reverse trick and treat. This is something new to us. Global exchange encourages kids to educate adults by handing out Fairtrade chocolates with cards attached explaining what Fairtrade is. This is happening across the pond.
• have a party. celebrate at home instead of trick or treating. send electronic invites and trat kids to cupcake decorating and pumpkin carving.
• decorate with nature. instead of buying plastic decors.
• light up the night. use LEDs. non-toxic window paints. use candles made from beeswax or soy.
• turn it over to the kids. instead of buying decors from shops, have the kids make decorations. try to recycle stuff.
• try a new bag. use reusable bags to hold the loots, we sell organic, fairtade bags here at guui.
• save for next year.  pack up costumes and decors, and save for next year.

and a few more:

• make sure to not waste the pumpkins by making soups and pies out of them.
• walk the kids around instead of driving them to go trick or treating.
• teach your kids to make sure they dispose of candy wrappers properly and that using flour and eggs is a bad trick.
• learn more about your halloween candies from the treehugger.

Get your credit cards and start buying! Our website is now up and running after a temporary blip. Get the guui organic, fairtade cotton carrier bag now for your shopping!

I am all for people making an informed decision. But really, these different studies have done quite a lot to confuse us.

A quick glance at the BBC’s related news alone, gives me this headlines:
‘Organic has no health benefits’
Organic food ‘better’ for heart
Organic milk ‘higher in vitamins’

Aren’t you beginning to hate those ‘quotes’?

I buy organic. Not everything. Not all the time. I would if I could afford it. But slowly, I am replacing a few gorcery items with organic choices. And that hasn’t puta big dent in my wallet just yet.

Did I think it is better for my health? I never really thought that an organically grown apple would have more nutrients than its counterpart. But I am certain it would have less chemicals – only organic pesticides, good soil – just the way nature intended it to be.

But more than the ‘health benefits’, I believe it is better for the environment. No pesticides and chemical-ridden fertilisers seeping from the soil into our water supplies. And you must also consider that organic meat also means that the animals had led a free-range life and had not been subject to cruelty.

So does this new report changed my mind at all about buying organic? No.

Now that the credit crunch have hit us so hard that we minimised most things to basic essentials, is it possible that when we start going back to our old habits of luxury that we start thinking of the negative effects of these luxuries to the environment of our children? What I’m trying to say is, if we can afford to buy luxuries, can we choose products which have least negative effect with our environment. Or at least demand from manufacturers that they should make their products more environment-friendly.

Luxuries are not at all bad if they make our life a bit more comfortable.

However, if these things pollute the air we breathe, harm the environment when they were manufactured or disposed of, then we’re not really gaining anything and we’re not contributing to our children’s future.

With the daily luxuries that we use everyday, or used to have, or we’ll be having, can we ask ourselves some questions: Are there alternative more environment-friendly products than the one I’m considering now? Are there parts which can be sourced from organic/recycled materials that I can suggest to manufacturers? Did they come from ethically-traded sources? When I don’t want it anymore and want to dispose of it, are there environment-friendly ways to do it? From my perspective these are the basic things I need to consider when buying luxuries.

We’ve done our part!

We’ve given away Guui bags on different parts of London. Now, it’s up to those people to use it to contribute to a cleaner environment for their children. By giving it away we’re trying to make people aware of the current environment issues we now face (and could be worse when our children inherit it).

The Guui bag is not only organic, ethical or reusable, as already printed on the bag, but it’s also certified fairly traded. So this bag is not only dealing with one or two issues that we now face but also the issues of child labour or unfair trade practices happening in other countries. By including these issues with this end product we can be sure that we have clear conscience when we use it and we’re not compromising on other issues while trying to deal with what directly affect us.

The more people use bags like this the better for our environment. Others who are currently unaware will be conscious once they see more people using it. From my point this is one way of passing information.

This is not a change in lifestyle – just a different perspective. I hope to see more organic and reusable bags being used around the street.

I shop in the supermarkets for a good majority of what I eat. I have no loyalty to any to one supermarket, and truth be told, I would much rather spend a whole day in the London Borough Markets for all my food shopping needs (who wouldn’t?). But, I don’t have a car to carry a weekly shopping’s worth. Nor the arm muscles. Nor the bottomless wallet. And I try to fit in my shopping on the way home on a weekday so I can live it up during the weekends (sleep through the mornings, that is!). 

So I shop where it’s on the way home. And with no local markets and farm stalls open by the time I head for home, I make do with the convenience that the supermarkets offer.

So, if you’re like me, constrained to the goods that the supermarkets churn out, note that you can still shop responsibly within these aisles. Aside from reading the labels (you know, trying to be healthy as well), I also wanted to make sure that it doesn’t have to cost the earth to feed me. I look out for these symbols:

The Soil Association Organic Logo. But not all organic products bear this symbol. Also look out for the Organic Certification numbers in the label (UK2, UK3, UK5, UK15, etc.) which means this was produced to EC Organic Certifications standards.

The Fairtrade Logo. This is what you would normally see in the UK.

But occasionally I also see the Fair Trade Federation mark, which is the trade association promoting fair trade in North America.

The RSPCA Freedom Food Logo. Make a difference to farm animal welfare, buy your meat with this label. The Soil Association also makes sure that the organic meat you buy are also welfare-friendly, with the animals able to roam freely.

The Marine Stewardship Council logo. Seafood is healthy for you. But the stocks are running low. And with most of the seafood I have grown to love ending up in the Greenpeace’s Red list fish, I realised I have to do more.

The Rainforest Alliance Logo. 

The Forest Stewardship Council logo.

I had been on the lookout for a more environmental loo roll. I have seen these on a few online sites, and have tried to look for them in the shops. I couldn’t find any, and for the meantime, I made sure that I buy only FSC certified ones.

I decided to buy Cotton Soft online. The write ups look promising – better for the environment and for me as they are made from organic waste cotton.

They arrived in a pack of 4 rolls. in a plastic packaging with no signs saying the packaging was from recycled material. I opened one, and found out the packaging wasn’t completely sealed. There was sello tape at the bottom to keep the two ends together and another sealed fold over it. I just hoped they have been stored in a clean environment at all times, as I think it could still be easily contaminated.

The loo roll is softer than the paper ones. it doesn’t break as easily. and there is less tissue left on wet skin. Only comes in 2-ply. Though it doesn’t seem like the 2 ply stick very well together. I had a bit of a struggle on the first roll I took out as the perforations on them don’t align. But you get this even on the paper ones, so no biggie. The only thing is, I do end up using a bit more than my usual 3-ply paper rolls as this doesn’t seem to be any more absorbent.

Cost me £2.89 for a pack of 4. A bit expensive if you also add the shipping costs as you can’t just buy them along with your weekly shopping.

But the question is, would I buy again? I would. Though I know, I would probably be back to using FSC certified ones whenever i forget to replenish my stock. I buy the idea that cotton loo rolls are better for the environment as it would mean less trees being cut down to add to the ever growing demand for paper products. So maybe, whilst I am still unable to give up on such modern conveniences such as the loo roll – I might as well try and be more responsible where I buy them from.

So if you are out looking for a functional carrier bag (ours come with short and long handles and has the room for your shopping), why not do a bit more? Go for one made out of Fairtrade, organic cotton. Not only do you reuse, saving thousands of plastics going into the landfill, you also buy into ethical trading and organic farming.

Get the guui bag here.

You’ve had the best intentions. You’re out to save the earth. And then…you forgot your shopping bag. Or you realise your coffee flask is still sitting in the sink and you’re running out the door.

It does take a while. It’s like forming a habit. Well, it IS forming a habit.

I remember I took to using reusable bags a couple of years ago. And every other trip to the grocery, I’d forget. This is still happening to me last year. Now I don’t forget them on shopping days but keep forgetting to keep a reusable bag in my bag for those impromptu shopping sprees.

Now that I got my flask, I start to forget again. There are days that it’s still in my bag waiting to go into the sink just when I’m already runnning late.

Most of the time, I’d forgo a coffee rather than get a disposable cup. But other times, well, I just got to have a coffee.

And remember that out of the way coffee shop with fairtrade coffee and organic milk? I was in a hurry once, and in need of caffeine and ran to the nearest one to the platform.

But this is no new year’s resolution. It’s much more than that. It’s a resolve to make my difference. I can be forgetful, and I can waver when pushed. But my intentions are there. I just need to keep working at it. Wish me luck.

Ever since I moved to London, I have made a habit of getting breakfast on the go.

Aside from quickly realising the hole this is creating in my pocket, I did notice I am certainly not alone with this habit. The little tray table on the train is often littered with paper cups from various coffee shops. And so I assigned myself the task of putting them in the bins if I happen to beat the cleaners to the train.

For a little while, I was quite smugly thinking about how considerate I am. But thinking again, I am using a disposable paper cup - most likely ending up in the landfill, drinking coffee whose source I can only trace back to the shop.

So should I take my cup home and recycle? Not quite. This carboard is usually lined with wax and will not be recyclable.

Not all is lost though. Some coffee shops have taken the initiative to make their cups from recycled contents. Introduced sleeves if their coffee becomes too hot to handle instead of giving you another paper cup, to reduce what gets thrown away (but those sleeves, you can keep and use again!). Some wax are replaced with biodegradable material. I’m not sure if this means they can be recycled though. It just meant they can go in the compost bin. And some shops offer discounts if you bring your own mug (a little saving can go a long way). Fairtrade coffee is quite all the rage these days and many retailers will at least give you the choice.

So I got myself a flask. And asked my coffee shop to fill it up. But it wasn’t quite the happily ever after I had hoped. One coffee shop I had frequented (for the love of their pastries), always gives me the funny look. Other customers behind me would give me the same funny, but sometimes annoyed look as it takes a few seconds more for the staff to fumble with my flask than filling up the usual paper cup.

Also there are the ethical and organic issues to contend with. So I had gone a little out of my way from my platform into this shop tucked away in the corner that sells all fairtrade coffee and organic milk. The girl took my flask and did not bat an eyelash (but still stole a funny look as I count my change, maybe I should just get used to it). It is less busy, so I had no trouble from customers scrambling to get their caffeine fix (at least not everyday).

So there, the path to being green is not exactly well paved. Not even in this country where everybody seemed to have seen everything. I do wonder what people think when they give me that funny look. Is it a quick glance to see if I look like a new age chick complete with unwashed hair and flowing vintage clothes? Or do they think I have some sort of allergy to paper cups (everybody’s allergic to something nowadays aren’t they)? Or maybe they’re thinking… “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”.