bemoreeco

Organise the perfect green Christmas this year and save money with our guide; reduce your carbon footprint and have a more eco friendly and sustainable holiday season.

 

1. Serve local, healthy and seasonal December foods at your events and xmas parties.  Choose vegetables that are in season and do not have to be flown in from abroad.  Broccoli, cabbage and onions can all be grown without the aid of harsh chemicals so you can spend your organic pounds elsewhere. Buy loose vegetables rather than packaged from a farmers market or try a vegetable box from Abel & Cole which are packed with the season’s best foodstuffs. Choose an organic Turkey or Goose. If you are a vegetarian or vegan go for a substitute from www.Ecotopia.co.uk or www.ethicalsuperstore.com Check out www.freerangereview.com to find local food to you! Click here for all foods that are in season. (located at the end of this post)

 

2. Decorating your house can be one of the most enjoyable parts of Xmas. Go for ethically made and traded decorations. Natural Collection, Big Green Smile, Nigel’s Eco Store and Vita Etica  all have a great range. Kids really enjoy making their own green decorations out of old scraps of material and leftovers. Try popcorn garlands – which are really fun and cheap to make and scour a woodland floor for fallen pinecones and twigs that are great for decorations!

 

3. E-mail party invites and Christmas cards rather than post them. There are loads of free Xmas themed party invite e-cards around or alternatively make your own out of scrap and recycled products. If you really want to send cards, choose charity ones or check out these really funky recycled ones. After the big day, make sure your Christmas cards don’t go to waste – take them to a Woodland Trust recycling point.

 

4. Christmas heating and lighting bills can be huge! Save cash and protect the environment by using energy saving devices such as standby busters and radiator boosters. Don’t forget to turn off the tree lights or better still try these solar powered ones.

 

5. Use recycled paper, gift bags or even colorful cloth to wrap the Christmas presents and instead of tape, use colorful ribbon to tie up the gifts.

 

6. Make a green statement this xmas! Send a message to the manufacturers of consumer goods by shopping for & buying only natural, non toxic, eco friendly, organic presents this year. Shop through www.moreeco.com for the largest selection of green retailers on one site and earn rewards and offset carbon at the same time.

 

7. Which makes a better tree? Artificial or a real one? Simply real ones are as they are great for the environment and can be replanted after use. If replanting isn’t an option, most local councils run Christmas tree recycling schemes. Contact yours or go to http://www.letsrecycle.com. If you need to use an artificial one avoid those made in China or Tawian which have transport costs associated with them. They also can be made with nasty chemicals, metals and plastics which can emit into our homes. Adorn with fair trade and ethical traded decorations or again make your own.

     

8. How do we give children what they desire but without poisoning our planet? Take electronic toys for instance. There are 900 million batteries used each year in the UK alone and many are in toys. But only 2% of batteries are currently recycled - the rest end up in landfill sites and are poisoning our planet! So what do you do? Choose an eco toy. Green and eco-friendly toys shouldn’t cost the earth so choose from a great selection here that don’t require batteries. Alternatively go for rechargeable batteries which will save you pounds throughout the year.

 

9. Recycle your unwanted presents. Unfortunately everyone receives at least one unwanted gift at Christmas. Many recycle their unwanted presents to charities. Local hospitals and hospices are often very pleased to receive unwanted smellies to give to patients. Or you could try Nigels Eco Store’s regifting forum  or www.freecycle.org and swap them for other people’s unwanted gifts.

 

10. Don’t go overboard especially in the current climate and remember -  reduce, reuse and recycle.

December Food In Season

VEGETABLES:

Artichoke

(Jerusalem), Brussels sprouts, Broccoli (purple sprouting), Beetroot, Cabbage(red), Celeriac, Celery, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chicory, Chard, Celeriac, Cardoons, Cabbages, Endive, Garlic, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lamb’s, Lettuce, Leeks, Onions, Parsnips, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Rocket, Shallots, Spinach, Swede, Turnips, Watercress

FRUIT & NUTS: Apples, Chestnuts, Pears, Pomegranate, Quince, Rhubarb

MEAT, POULTRY & GAME: Goose, Grouse, Hare, Mallard, Partridge, Pheasant, Rabbit, Snipe, Squirrel (grey), Turkey, Venison, Woodcock

FISH: Bream (black), Herring, Mussels, Oysters (native), Scallops, Turbot

CHEESE: Stilton, Wensleydale

List courtesy of www.naturalmatters.net

A lot of people nowadays are questioning the quality of the food that they buy at the supermarket.

 

Organic food can be expensive, but you can eat organically without spending a fortune. Lily Barclay at BBCGreen has done some research to find out more.

In recent months, rising food prices and an economic slowdown have led many people to question the cost of their shopping basket. With organic products typically more expensive than their non-organic counterparts, could these be among the first to go? 

There is still a huge interest in eating fresh, natural produce and you don’t always have to spend big either. If price is your main motivation, there are plenty of opportunities for budget organic shopping. There are 4 areas you shouls focus on. They are;

Vegetable Boxes - Ordering an organic vegetable box can be convenient and cost effective. It means you’ll get fresh, home-grown products delivered directly to your doorstep.  It is worth shopping around to find an option that suits your household’s needs and your wallet. Organic vegetable boxes can vary from around £7 to £25 depending on size and variety. One of the main financial benefits is that, by eating locally, you cut out the rising fuel costs that have made imported products more expensive.  UK organic box scheme Riverford, for example, recently claimed that its boxes are 22 per cent cheaper than organic fruit and vegetables bought online from Tesco, Waitrose, and Sainsbury’s.

Supermarket Sweep - Not all organic varieties cost the same, and shopping around can definitely pay off. Nearly all mainstream supermarkets now carry an in-house organic brand, which can be cheaper than specialist labels. We took a virtual tour of Tesco to make a price comparison of our own.

Savvy Shopping - Avoiding pre-packaged supermarket food, such as salads and ready meals, will save you money, which you can invest in good quality raw produce. Many of us are guilty of buying two for one ready-made food, half of which quietly perishes at the back of the fridge. Taking the time to choose and prepare loose fruit and vegetables will save you cash that you can spend on an organic alternative.

Meaty matters - When it comes to money and organic meat, thinking quality rather than quantity is often the key. The recommended adult portion size for meat is 3oz (about the size of a deck of cards). Rounding up your meal with cheap grains, such as couscous, rice or quinoa is a good way to save a few pounds. Premium cuts, such as chicken breasts, don’t necessarily give the best taste. Organic chicken legs and thighs can often be a cheaper and tastier alternative. Replacing meat altogether with other sources of protein such as organic beans is another great money saver.

Waste not, want not - Simply thinking ahead by planning your meals and shopping list in advance could make a huge difference to your weekly shopping budget. Every year, UK households waste 6.7 million tonnes of food – that’s £420 a year for the average UK household. Being inventive with leftovers by turning dishes such as pasta and rice into salads, and freezing stews, curries and lasagnes gets the most out of your organic produce. Juicers and blenders are also a good investment buy for turning overripe fruit into smoothies and juices.

For full BBCGreen article <click here>

 

These days there are so many products out there which say they are good for you and help you make, look and feel younger, but what is actually in them. Therefore the question you ask are; Which toxic ingredients should you avoid? Should you buy Organic and Natural products instead?

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>

 

Last week Newcastle University released the results of their study of 25 farms which confirmed that organic milk (milk produced from cows fed on grass rather than grain) is healthier than non-organic milk. Reported in The Telegraph (Via Treehugger), organic milk contains 67% more antioxidants and vitamins than regular milk.

Organic milk also contained 39% more Omega-3 (good stuff), 60% more conjugated linoeic acid  (good stuff) and 32% less Omega-6 (bad stuff). However it’s unlikely this study will have major ramifications in the purchasing habits of most consumers. Organic milk is more expensive than regular milk and there is not enough to go round. It costs more for farmers to produce and in these days where food produced per land area is a sacred metric, few will choose to focus on organic milk.