The show is part of the V&A’s Conscious Style day, an event to explore the growing popularity of ethical fashion, with swishing, styling workshops, talks and the fashion show, all taking place in the V&A’s new Sackler Centre for education.

The fashion show will feature high street and one-off pieces by labels such as Noir, Del Forte, People Tree, Stuart & Brown, Amana and Wildlifeworks.

All events are free. No prior booking is required; some events will be ticketed on the day as numbers may be limited. Tickets for the fashion show available from 1pm. For the full programme visit Conscious Style at www.vam.ac.uk/events.

>>> Please read the full article here

>>> For more information on green events click here

KATHARINE E HAMNETT
Katharine Hamnett is a true ethical clothing innovator, and a tireless campaigner for the use of organic cotton. After visiting Mali with Oxfam in 2003, the designer saw first hand the devastating effects of the conventional cotton industry, and immediately vowed to help drive the demand for the organic alternative. Her iconic slogan tees are the produced to the highest environmentally friendly standards and are the height of eco-chic.

HOWIES
For Howies, taking an ethical philosophy isn’t just about using organic cotton (although they do this as well!); it’s about making products that will last. This is why the brand’s selection of organic basics are some of the best out there, and are a good place to start if you want to make your wardrobe more eco-friendly.

EDUN
Founded by Bono and wife Ali Hewson in spring 2005, EDUN is far from being a celebrity fashion label. Created to encourage Fairtrade practise, the label fosters sustainable employment schemes in developing countries around the world. The fact that the clothes are some of the most stylish in the eco-market is merely a bonus.

CIEL
When Sarah Ratty established eco-fashion label Ciel she wanted to create clothing that would offer an ethical and environmental choice to fashion conscious women. She certainly succeeded, and her covetable collection garners as much attention for its beautiful cuts and colours as it does its’ impeccable eco credentials.

BEYOND SKIN
Proving an ideal example of how far the ethical fashion industry has come in the past few years, Beyond Skin’s designs are as stylish as they are ethically sound. Handmade in a family run factory in England, the company has a cruelty free philosophy, in terms of not only animals, but humans and the environment as well.

ANNIE GREENABELLE
Available at Equa, one of our favourite eco-boutiques, Annie Greenabelle is one of those labels that instantly debunk notions that ethical fashion can’t be both green and stylish. Combining organically grown and recycled fabrics, her party dresses are a must for green goddesses.

AMANA
Amana was one of our favourite discoveries at last season’s London Fashion Week Estethica exhibition, an area dedicated to the best eco-clothing labels out there. Marrying beautiful design with ethical production, the entire collection is created by a fair trade co-operative of women artisans in Morocco. On top of this, organic silks and cottons alongside hemp mix fabrics ensure that the collection has minimal negative environmental impact.

>>> For more information on each of these designers and to see Marie Claire’s top tens click here

The article discusses the notion of ‘rediscovering the idea of buying British to support our economy and see how great small British brands can be’ – a concept MoreEco supports whole heartedly. So if you fancy taking a look at the article please click here and let us know what you think!

Thanks
The MoreEco Team

>>> See the article here

>>> Check out Natural Empathy’s page here

Tell us about your business?

Based in Cornwall in a heart-breakingly beautiful part of the Lizard Peninsula, we hand make all our products in our workshop overlooking St. Anthony’s and ‘beyond’ to St Mawes and Falmouth.
We call ourselves ‘Beyond’ organic as we go further than just being organic and take a holistic, biodynamic, ethical approach to our production techniques.

In our workshops we have used Organic paints, so that no chemicals seep into the atmosphere.  We recycle (almost a full-time job sometimes!), source locally as much as possible, use products that are Fair Trade and community based and have a low carbon footprint.

We are certified organic with BDAA, (The Biodynamic Agricultural Association) giving us both UK6 and European 2092/91 certification.  They take a more holistic and biodynamic approach to natural farming and production.  They are also a worldwide organisation and highly respected.

“Motivated by Rudolf Steiner’s Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture and Goethe’s Conception of Nature, Biodynamic farmers view their farms as individually unique living organisms.”

We have many favourite charities, but currently the Cornish Shelter Box scheme is our local hero.  They do wonderful work worldwide and are one of the few Aid Agencies that were allowed into Burma right from the beginning

What makes the company a great place to work?
We all share the same passions – organic, natural, green, recycling and a philosophy that work should be fun.  Individuals do the work that they enjoy most (and you are good at what you enjoy!). We also value our freedom and our families and friends, and so operate a flexi-time system.  We believe in honest exchanges of ideas and lots of giggles!

Who do you most admire in the green industry?

They are so many people out there doing incredible work – but I think as one of the first ‘green warriors’ Anita Roddick deserves special mention.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

All of it!  Doing the work I love in an industry I love – with the confidence of offering people an excellent, natural alternative to products containing chemicals.  Networking with other like-minded people. I find people in the ‘green’ industry are usually so friendly and helpful.

If you could change one thing in the green retail industry what would it be?
I don’t like the ‘green-washing’ that goes on in some of the larger companies – people who are not genuinely committed to the green movement but are just trying to jump on the band-wagon.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry today?
Simply do what you are good at – do it from the heart and do it honestly.

What is your vision for an ‘eco Britain’? 
All the obvious things I suppose – no GM crops anywhere – no testing of cosmetic products on animals – no battery farms – no chemicals used on the land – more awareness of biodynamics as well as organics. Humanity is currently alienated from Nature – think of the Demeter myth and that is in essence what Biodynamics is about. Britain should be world leaders in the current ecological crises. As a small island with a history of agriculture and fishing we are ideally placed to show the world that the answers lie in Nature’s abundance that has always been around us – we just need the courage to act and the ability to recognise that Nature has always been superior to the chemicals and genetic engineering of mankind.  One of the biggest things we need to do is stop relying on a few favourite crops to sustain us, and to start again growing a diversity of crops grown by our ancestors.

These ancestors had knowledge of local soil conditions and climate – this would be a first major step to averting hunger and famine.  We need to have the humility to start thinking simply again – thinking locally.  Free Trade should actually mean that those who produce should be able to trade their products freely with others in their local community. The World Trade Organisation prevents Free Trade while calling it Free Trade. People are being forced too buy from globally powerful organisations that are capable of straight jacketing local competitors.

What is your number one Eco Christmas Idea? Tell your friends that instead of giving you a present you would rather they gave that amount to their (or your) favorite charity.

What is the most important piece of information you have ever been told?

I can’t answer this one – I have learnt so much – but still have so much to learn! 

If you were prime minister for the day, what one thing would you do?
Ha ha!  A day would not be long enough – I would re-vamp our Educational system so that our children learnt skills for life.  I would totally re-organise our archaic legal system so that ‘Law’ became ‘Justice’.  I would do away with about three quarters of our current unnecessary legislation and let people and businesses be responsible for themselves.  

Please could you also tell me your top five gifts for Christmas 

This is True!!

Even small parks in the heart of our cities can protect us from strokes and heart disease, perhaps by cutting stress or boosting exercise.

Their study, in The Lancet, matched data about hundreds of thousands of deaths to green spaces in local areas.

Councils should introduce more greenery to improve wellbeing, they said. Across the country, there are “health inequalities” related to income and social deprivation, which generally reflect differences in lifestyle, diet, and, to some extent, access to medical care.

This means that in general, people living in poorer areas are more likely to be unhealthy, and die earlier. However, the researchers found that living near parks, woodland or other open spaces helped reduce these inequalities, regardless of social class.

When the records of more than 366,000 people who died between 2001 and 2005 were analysed, it revealed that even tiny green spaces in the areas in which they lived made a big difference to their risk of fatal diseases.

Although the effect was greatest for those living surrounded by the most greenery, with the “health gap” roughly halved compared with those with the fewest green spaces around them, there was still a noticeable difference.

Stress buster

The change was particularly clear in areas such as heart disease and stroke, supporting the idea that the presence of green spaces encourages people to be more active.

However, the researchers, Dr Richard Mitchell from Glasgow University, and Dr Frank Popham, from the University of St Andrews, said that other studies had suggested that contact with green spaces also helped reduce blood pressure and stress levels, perhaps even promoting faster healing after surgery.

They wrote: “The implications of this study are clear – environments that promote good health might be crucial in the fight to reduce health inequalities.”

They called for planning authorities to consider making more green spaces available to improve the health and wellbeing of their residents.

In an accompanying article in The Lancet, Dr Terry Hartig, from the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University in Sweden, wrote: “This study offers valuable evidence that green space does more than ‘pretty up’ the neighbourhood – it appears to have real effects on health inequality, of a kind that politicians and health authorities should take seriously.”

David Tibbatts, from GreenSpace, a charity which promotes parks in urban areas, said that they were threatened by “decades of decline” in some areas.

“The study confirms what we have been saying for many years – parks are important for health and everyone should have access to high quality, beautiful and vibrant green spaces. “Unfortunately, despite the benefits green spaces bring to communities, our research has shown a decline in park services that has spread across more than 30 years.

“Despite increase recognition of their role in areas such as improved health, far too many parks teams find their revenue budgets are still under continuous threat.”

Professor Barbara Maher from the Lancaster Environment Centre said her research had shown that roadside trees improve health by protecting people from pollution.

“Urban and roadside trees may be an under-used resource both in terms of acting as natural ‘pollution monitors’ and actively screening people, especially, children and the already ill, from the damaging health effects of particle pollution,” she said.

Article source www.bbc.co.uk/news.

When doing the weekly shop I all ways look at the the ingredients to see what is being added to the food we eat. After a period of time you naturally move over to buying Organic foods instead. I feel that this is the same for skincare products. At present many people buy products with out considering what is in them. We should all take a look.

Information provide by Smartplanet  details what ingredients we should avoid. For example a bottle of shampoo might not seem particularly offensive on its own. But in the UK, 93 per cent of women use at least 20 different products every day, according to the Soil Association. Each of those products might contain ingredients that are relatively harmless, but their cumulative effect — also called ‘the chemical cocktail effect’ — is believed by some to be harmful, provoking a variety of illnesses from eczema to cancers, autism and dyslexia.

Susan Curtis at Neal’s Yard Remedies recommends buying natural and organic products to avoid toxic ingredients. It’s worth noting, however, that labels such as ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ are not legally enforced on beauty products.

Susan also advises taking a close look at the ingredients listing. A pocket book guide is one way to help navigate the lists, but don’t automatically despair if ingredients sound synthetic. “There are some chemical names that will occur even in natural and organic products,” says Susan. “For example, a shampoo will have a detergent and a moisturiser, cetearyl alcohol or stearic acid, which are common plant-based emulsifiers.”

Here are Susan’s ingredients to avoid:

1. Formaldehyde,
A known carcinogen
2. Dimethicones
Also anything that ends ‘-methicone’ 
3. Parabens
Preservatives known to be hormone destructors
4. Aluminium and antiperspirants
They can be absorbed by the body and can cause health problems
5. Talc
A mineral that’s easily absorbed in the body and has been linked to ovarian and prostate cancer

It’s worth remembering the first items on an ingredients list will comprise the bulk of the product, so if they have names that you don’t recognise, look them up on a database such as Skin Deep.

To read the full article at Smartplanet <click here>