I would love to see this done across London. I see too many little plots of land turned dumping ground or overgrown with weeds just on the way home. And to think it takes years to get an allotment!

Read on – Dump sites used for growing veg.

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.

I think I’m going to start wearing gloves tomorrow. My hands were frozen this morning as I trekked to work.

Last week had seen the weather turned quite warm for this time of the year. But winter is fast approaching, and at home we have been resisting turning on the heat in spite of some cold spells.

We’ve come across some great blogs sharing tips on how to keep warm without turning the heat up. 

Get clicking, we’ve got the tips from the Apartment Therapy Re-Nest site  which ran 2 helpful articles – 30 Ways to Live and Stay Green in a Cold and Frozen Climate and 14 Ways To Keep Warm Without Turning the Heat On or Up. We’ve thrown in also a few of our own ideas. So here some things we’re keeping in mind,

• warm colours inside the home can make a difference
• get cosy on the feet with rugs
• get started on those winter warmer food and drinks - stews and baked goodies warms up the kitchen and the home, and of course a cup of good old tea, coffee or hot cocoa, and wrap your fingers around the mug.
• when the sun is out outside, let the sunshine in.
• use layers in your beddings. and layers on you as well - wear a hat. wear socks. put a hot water bottle under the sheets with you. or just snuggle up with someone.
• cleaning is good exercise, keeps you warm too. keep moving around.
• block drafts from doors or windows. we’re putting cling film on our drafty windows and drawing the curtains closed at night. if you can, put curtains over your doors.
• close the doors on each rooms, and heat only rooms you’re using. Better yet, make the kids do their homework and your partner to drag the laptop on the dining table whilst you cook. Warm up the family together.
• warm up some beanbags to keep hands warm. Use around the house or when you’re out and about.

I think it’s a viable business opportunity for someone with the means. And I can just imagine how great an impact it would make to the planet.

Across the pond (why do they have the great ideas out there?), a company called citizenre helps put solar energy within the reach of everyone. Installing solar panels is expensive. The company installs, operates and maintains the solar panels in your home, saving you on the equipment costs. You pay rent on the service and equipment costs and save on electricity bills.

Ok, we’re still renting. And can’t reallly begin to think about installing solar panels at the roof of our flats. But we’ll be owning our own home at some point down the line, and we’d want to make it as green as possible.

But for those of you who are living in your own home (and owns the roof) and have money to spare, get ideas on suitability from the energy saving trust site and how to get funding from the  Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

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.

Already wrapping up pressies for Christmas? I know, still a bit early. But we thought we give you this idea early as well before you start stocking up on gift wrappings and ribbons.

We thought this is really pretty. And green too!

We stole the image from Jessica Jones from her blog How about orange… (we hope she doesn’t mind!)

Have a look at her step by step guide on how to make the ribbons for the not too crafty amongst us.

eeks! Read here. Yes, we still have a long way to go. I feel a pang of guilt on my end, as I am putting more than what I wanted in my bin. 

Are you doing your bit?

I first came accross them being used for flooring. I thought they looked nice. And they’re sustainable. They grow in large volumes and are harvested every 5-6 years. Now there are clothing made from bamboo also marketed as eco -friendly.

Most of the eco-credentials of bamboo floors and bamboo clothing is because it takes only a few years for bamboo trees to grow. But a lot of people had already begun to question the process – chemicals used, the questionable labour practices, the cutting down of forests to make way for bamboo plantations, the durability of bamboo floors. Which, in the end, makes bamboo a not-so-green alternative.

We’ve brought you a collage of articles on the bamboo issue to help you make up your mind.

Bamboo flooring

source: Sustainable Floors 

Bamboo stalks are normally cut into strips and then boiled to remove sugars and any insects, followed frequently by drying in a kiln. The strips are then glued together to form a solid surface and in most cases, bamboo is available as a type of engineered flooring, i.e. the strips of bamboo are formed into 3 layers which help to provide additional stability and also compensate for the natural expansion properties of bamboo. This enables the flooring to be stable enough to be nailed down or glued down.

Be aware, however, that manufacturing quality can vary so always check the finish and in particular, the adhesives used to glue the bamboo strips together. Some manufacturers will actually use adhesives that contain toxic urea-formaldehyde, which totally destroys its eco-friendly flooring credentials. Generally, cheaper bamboo products are more suspect. Always check with the manufacturer or supplier to see which kind of adhesive is used and that they are complying with Europe’s E1 standard. This limits formaldehyde concentrations in materials to 0.1 parts per million (ppm).

source: Hardwoord Installer

In most cases the next step is the darkening process that brings out the color of carbonized bamboo. Strips are often steamed under pressure (shown right). Natural colored bamboo keeps it’s original appearance after being boiled to eliminate sugars and insects. The carbonization process reduces the overall hardness of the bamboo; one reason why we don’t advocate the darker bamboos in high traffic areas. They will show more damage given the right amount of punishment or use.

In most cases? Yea, we know it’s a broad generalization. Unfortunately with bamboo there are no governing organizations such as what we have in the states with hardwood flooring. This is one reason we see very cheap priced bamboo being sold. Whether or not they follow practices to insure a quality product is in doubt. It’s a real wild card when appealing low priced bamboo floors look attractive.

Are bamboo floors durable?

source: Article Alley

Bamboo Flooring has become a very popular flooring material in the last few years because it is a very environmentally friendly, sustainable building material. Unfortunately, because of this popularity, a large number of fly-by-night companies have started to import and sell bamboo flooring of poor quality. These companies oversell the durability and performance characteristics of bamboo floors and under-deliver on quality product. The result can be unhappy customers.

Bamboo Flooring is relative dimensionally stable. For installations in the US, especially the western US, look for a company like Fair Pacific (http://www.fairpacific.com) that kiln dries their bamboo to 8%-10% moisture. Most companies do not do this, and the result can be splitting or cracking. In addition, nearly all bamboo flooring sold in the US is semi-gloss, and when this scratches it can be very evident, especially on darker planks. So look for a satin finish, which shows scratches much less readily. Finally hardness has to do with how a plank will stand up to things like high heels or dog claws.

Bamboo grown in the eastern regions of China is best for flooring. The species here is nearly all Moso (also known as Mao) bamboo, and is at its peak when harvested at around 6 years. As I mentioned earlier, the natural bamboo planks are pretty hard, slightly harder than maple. Carbonized planks are softer, around the same hardness as walnut flooring. This is because the carbonization process involves “cooking” the bamboo, which weakens the fibers somewhat. there are more information in the site that would help you determine a quality plank.

source: ReNest

Now we are finding that the floors are not as desirable as we thought. There are often complaints about how easily it scratches, and now there is even doubt as to whether or not the quick growing grass is in fact as super-eco as everyone once said.

source: TreeHugger

The popular carbonized darker bamboos are comparable to Black Walnut, considered a soft hardwood, and the lighter natural colours test comparable to maple. (colour is achieved not by staining but by heating, and the longer it heats the softer it gets) It is like any wood floor- it is damaged by dents, scratches and the killer of all wood floors, high heels. Jazzy aluminum oxide finish or not, it is a natural material that should not be marketed as being harder or more durable than conventional wood flooring. …but it isn’t as green as it could be.

However it is clear that bamboo is not necessarily being managed in a sustainable fashion. It is true that it naturally regenerates, but forests are being cleared to grow it and it is becoming a monoculture. Although it is claimed that fertilizers are not necessary, in fact they are being used to increase yield. Research quoted in the report: “Recently, bamboo expansion has come at the expense of natural forests, shrubs, and low-yield mixed plantations . . . It is common practice to cut down existing trees and replace them with bamboo.”

Bamboo Flooring Lacks Credible Certification, For Now Dr Bowyer points out that there is nothing comparable to FSC Certification, ensuring that the forest has been harvested in a sustainable fashion. (We note that FSC looked at this last year but have not seen any certifed bamboo yet)

There is no Fair Trade certification, ensuring that the workers have appropriate working conditions and wages. Considering that it grows like a weed and is being manufactured by rural Chinese workers, and yet sells at prices comparable to local hardwoods, someone is making huge margins on its current trendiness. We think it should be the workers.

Bamboo Clothing

source: Organic Clothing Blog

The processing of bamboo plants into textile fibers is relatively harmless because caustic soda is the “main chemical used.” Caustic soda, aka sodium hydroxide – NaOH, is one of the ingredients used to reduce bamboo plants to pulpy goo in a process known as hydrolysis alkalization. Caustic soda is a harsh alkaline chemical that must be handled carefully, especially at high levels and under the high temperature and pressure needed for hydrolysis alkalization. As the old saying goes “The poison is in the size of the dose.”

Another toxic chemical in the processing of bamboo rayon is carbon disulfide which has been linked to serious health problems. Breathing low levels of carbon disulfide can cause tiredness, headache and nerve damage. Carbon disulfide has been shown to cause neural disorders in workers at rayon manufacturers.

source: LA Times

Aside from the small amount of mechanically processed bamboo clothing (which feels like linen) on the market , most bamboo clothes are made through chemical processing. This processing makes the bamboo cloth feel like soft cotton — but also requires some un-eco chemical use. As Lee points out at Organic Clothing, most bamboo fiber is “chemically manufactured by “cooking” the bamboo leaves and woody shoots in strong chemical solvents such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH – also known as caustic soda or lye) and carbon disulfide in a process also known as hydrolysis alkalization combined with multi-phase bleaching.” Both of those chemicals are linked to health problems for the workers creating the stuff.

To address both environmental and health concerns about this chemical use, many factories that produce bamboo clothing get certifications regarding both their practices and their products. For example, many factories get the ISO 14001 certification, which shows the factory has put in place some environmental guidelines to green its practices (For an informative closer look at the benefits and limits of ISO 14001 certification, read “Costs, Benefits, and Motivations for ISO 14001 Adoption in China” [PDF]).

Many bamboo products also get the Oeko Tex Standard 100 certification (right), which shows that there are no harmful chemicals in the finished fiber (even if chemicals were used in the processing of that fiber).

Soon, if the scheme pushes through, every household will get a slop bucket (kitchen caddy) where food scraps go. And you’ll be slapped with a £80-£500 fine if you fail to recycle. Environment secretary Hilary Benn suggested this plan over the summer.

Biodegradable waste will be used for energy or processed for biofuel instead of going into the landfill.

Not sure how this is going to be enforced. Would they check my waste bin to see if Ihave dumped food scraps in there? Or am I going to be judged by my empty slop bucket? If it’s empty, it could either be I’m not recycling (so, yes slap me a fine) or I made an effort not to have food waste or I compost my own waste (no, I don’t deserve a fine).

Your thoughts?

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!

The ‘Feast on the Bridge‘ event yesterday in Southwark Bridge allows visitors a chance to tate food from the UK’s leading sustainable producers (much of them you can find in the London Borough Market). People were churning butter, treading grapes, and a lot (like us) were just enjoying the atmosphere whilst downing some organic ale.

What impressed me was that, they have people going around scraping food from paper plates. Hopefully, they all go into composting!

I don’t own a bike. Actually, as shameful as it sounds, I can’t really properly ride a bike. I struggle cycling in the comforts of the local park.

I don’t work in the city. And I travel 1.5 hours each way by walking, tube and train to get to work. Probably more eco than driving there. But I do wish at some point I can work closer to home and just walk (or cycle).

So, if you do have a choice, consider cycling.

We love this initiative to get more cyclists out on the road, Cycle Fridays  are guided rides following given routes. If you’re a novice, it’s a chance to group together and find there’s safety in numbers.

Most people who can cycle are deterred by the fact that cycling on the roads is not that safe. And if you haven’t tried cycling in rush hour before, it’s easy to be intimidated by the incessant honking of annoyed and impatient drivers. And the mad rush of pedestrians who can’t see you.

So, this is a chance to improve your skills and gain more confidence on the roads. Marshals are on hand to check your bikes and answer your queries.

The London cycling campaign runs these guided rides.

And do you know you can get free cycle training from your local council? Find out more here
and request for a cycle training here.

To help you get on your bike, the government is also offering tax-free bikes for work, if you can get your employer to back you up.

The payment facility in our site is temporarily down. Please bear with us as we sort this one out.

So where were you last bank holiday Monday? Living in London and never been to the carnival, we decided to give it a go if only to soak up the atmosphere (and remind ourselves not to stay too late lest we get caught up in the violence that the carnival is infamous for).

I’m not going to talk about what fun we had or what antics people get up to. Let’s just say these are scenes you would not see every day in the streets. And definitely not in broad daylight.

But going through the streets off the parade route, the ones lined with food stalls and the intoxicating smell of jerk chicken in the air, you see the mountains of rubbish – plastic bottles, plastic cups, aluminum cans, bottles, styrofoam containers, half eaten chicken, lots of rice, leaflets.

And i thought a lot of them can be recycled. shops should have been banned from using styrofoams. and we really should make an effort in finishing our meals. and there are plenty of bins about, there really is no excuse why you should leave your beer bottles where you’ve finished them. (a lot of us were scared in cutting our feet from the countless broken bottles in the streets)

It’s ok to have fun. Believe me, I am all for it. And the carnival is a much welcome respite for a lot of us. But I can’t help thinking how much we are costing the environment with our ’sense of fun’. Really, we can have that much fun whilst knowing how to throw our trash in the proper recycling bin right?

[Image swiped from 474 votes to win]

We were at the Museum of London over the weekend and were browsing at the shops. I’ve always loved those die cast toys – the London bus, the post box, the telephone box. Things I’d hoard if I were a tourist.

But doesn’t you heart sink a bit when you look a bit more closely and see the words ‘Made in China’ at the bottom?

It just makes it less special. That here I am in a museum that’s supposed to uphold things British, is selling wares that doesn’t support the local economy.

But maybe they don’t make them here anymore?

I would hate to generalize. And I am not against globalisation. But I like the products I buy to last – clothes, appliances, furniture. And I don’t want to worry about safety when I buy them here, in the UK. But these news did scare me.

A number of people shun ‘Made in China’ products as a protest against their policies. My opinion is based on my personal observation – on things I buy for myself. Clothes bought on the cheap don’t last. A few washes, maybe at most one season, and they’re making their way towards the waste site. I have a few gadgets as well that doesn’t really stand well against normal usage.

No I am not blaming China. As this blog has educated me, it seems the blame is still on us the consumers who clamour for cheap goods and the retailers, keen to supply us with what we ‘need’.

And it isn’t just China that worries me as a manufacturer. Though I know it’s one of the first things we’ll point out as eveything we use seems to be coming from there. Primark’s ‘Made in India’ could mean your clothes were made by companies employing child labour. (Note that Primark have dropped the firm as soon as they found out and have been pushing their ethical stance since.)

I do have a point - don’t let the price dictate what you buy. Aim to find out more about the retailers you support. Cheap, most often, means some shortcut was taken. You will pay – on the good’s quality, on the good’s safety, or worse, it could mean another person’s welfare was compromised. If you buy fakes, you could even be funding drug lords and terrorists.

Buy because you love it, need it, will last until you’ve given it away and will get your money’s worth on the product. Spare a thought as to where and how it was manufactured.