Wrap Christmas Presents With No Paper or Tape

If you haven’t yet got around to wrapping your presents, an interesting idea was sent to us, using the Japanese art of Furoshiki to wrap presents in fabric. Helps if you have two presents of the same size to give to get the coolest look.

See more details at Recycle Now.

Green Store News: December

Yep, it’s December already, how fast the year goes eh? Anyway here’s another Green Store News update for you.

Christmas already?
The Eco-Design Fair is in its fifth year and is a great place to do your Christmas shopping. On sale are gadgets, home accessories, fashion, footwear, jewellery, sculpture, books, technology, toys and many more alternative lifestyle products.

I’m particularly looking forward to trying out the edible shoe polish! Details of place and dates are below:
Saturday 13th December – 12pm til 7pm. Sunday 14th December – 11am til 7pm.
The Boiler House
The Old Truman Brewery, 152 Brick Lane
London E1 6RU
Entry: £2. Conc: £1

Kids, kids, kids
Kids love getting presents (who doesn’t?), and Nigel’s Eco Store is doing its best to make it easy to get them something eco-friendly. There’s the lovely Penguin Torch pictured, which is powered by winding up or even shaking.

There’s also the intriguingly-named Mr Robot Head and the Solar Powered Toy Aircraft Kit which I have a feeling is for adults really.

 
 

What’s a Wottle?
It’s the new, designer eco water bottle, that’s what a Wottle is. Available at Ethical Superstore the Wottle is designed by er designer Orla Kiely and BRITA, the water filter company. Made from 100% recycled materials, that’s about all you can say about it really until we can test and review it. Oh, it’s £7.99.

Green Store News: Update

A quick Green Store News update for you following on from November’s article here. One of Life Goggles’ friends, Big Green Smile sent us a couple of updates just in time for Christmas.

Lokta paper
Most online stores offer a gift wrapping service but Big Green Smile now use Lokta paper to wrap its products. Lokta paper is made from the bark of the Lokta (or Daphne papyracea) plant, which grows in the Himalayas and is abundant in supply. You can also get a gift card made from 75% elephant dung and 25% recycled paper.

Delivery offsetting
Again, while not revolutionary but new and most welcome to Big Green Smile, is the option to carbon offset your delivery. While offsetting is often used as greenwash, in this case I think it’s great. You can’t avoid delivery with online shopping so having the option to help others abroad and offset your carbon emissions is a good idea. Click here to find out more about this scheme and the sort of people that are helped by this sort of offsetting.

Green Store News: November

Another Green Store News update for you.

Doctor Shave
One of Life Goggles’ favourite shops has started selling shaving gel from one of Life Goggles’ favourite brands. Male Organics now stocks Dr Bronner Shaving Gel. It comes in three ‘flavours’ – spearmint and peppermint, tea tree, and lemongrass and lime. They cost £6.99 for a 7oz tube.

Save 10% at Big Green Smile
Head over to Big Green Smile and enter discount code: 10NOV16 for 10% off on your early Christmas shopping. Get in quick though, the code expires on 16 November.

A beautiful union
GreenUnion has launched its online Eco-Chic Boutique – an collection of green gifts.

The company says it is passionate about promoting gorgeous and ethically made British products with high value in terms of skill, content, design and beauty. GreenUnion’s founder Rosie Ames says: “GreenUnion has become an extremely popular and trusted shopping source for those seeking eco-inspiration and guidance. Now we can offer them even more choice from our Eco-Chic Boutique, especially bespoke or exclusive items that are difficult to find elsewhere.”

And it has a tents and tipis section – woo-hoo.

Stuff from rubbish
Eco Emporia is a new UK company selling eco-friendly handmade gifts from discarded objects. Jewellery, bags, accessories, homeware, artware, stationery etc are all made from what would have ended up in landfill. Vinyl records are turned into hand-painted fruit bowls; decommissioned fire hoses become a hot fashion accessory and worn out circuit boards are won again as cufflinks.

Founder, Anna Burns, said: “Eco Emporia is different because we only sell recycled crafts. Everything is lovingly handmade by skilled craftspeople and beautifully gift wrapped using reclaimed and recycled materials. Many of our items are one of a kind pieces you won’t find anywhere else.”

UPDATE: We just got a 10% off code at >Nigel’s Eco Store. Just enter ECONOV at the checkout, it’s valid until the 15th November.