Chairs made from milk bottles (left), sustainable wood tables designed by Terence Conran and hammocks made from rejected seatbelts -- these are some of the weird and wonderful green furniture pieces I've picked for the Guardian today. I'd be interested to hear what eco furniture you recommend, too. Just hit the comments below.
Saw your own breath this morning? Yep, it's nippy out, which is why I headed over to B&Q last weekend to pile up on insulation bric-a-brac for the house. The Heater Wars have already begun at Chez Vaughan, with my wife and I alternately turning it on and off, so I've decided to try and trap as much heat as possible. I'll extrapolate on the radiator foil, thermostatic valves, foam stuff and other such scintillating hot products soon, but for now I want to talk loft insulation. Specifically, the eight bags I bought of B&Q's new cheapo green option, Eco Wool.
Do we need another Freecycle? That's the question I kept asking myself tonight at the glitzy, Bloomberg-hosted, B-list celeb-spotted preview launch of MySkip.com (pictured left). The basic idea is sound enough. It's a listings site for stuff that would end up in landfill, and the pros over Freecycle are that it's slicker, has photo uploading, you can send entries via mobile phone and it also caters for the commercial and construction sectors in addition to individuals (or does Freecycle do that already?). However, the presentation at tonight's 'preview launch' - the proper site ain't live 'til autumn - was bad, bordering on farcical.
Continue reading "MySkip.com: OK idea, presentation leaves Vanessa Feltz bored" »
A press release just landed in my inbox lauding Dell's new Zero Carbon Initiative. It's brilliant to see Dell putting climate change at the top of its agenda and its plan has good stuff - building 'the greenest PC', asking its suppliers to report their CO2 output and more. The company also has a great recycling record, with free worldwide schemes in place already. Now for the rant. I've got to knock the company's emphasis on carbon offsetting, which Friends of the Earth dismisses as a smokescreen and is pretty much the verdict I've come round to (I've changed my tune on that). Dell's Plant a Tree scheme, which just went live in the UK, is particularly lame. Why? Because the onus is on the punter - you and me - to pay for the offsetting. Besides, how far will £1 for a notebook and £3 for a desktop actually go on tree-planting? Yes, it's better than nowt, but it's also a distraction from energy efficiency improvements and serious carbon-cutting. It's cheap PR, not serious change.
If you fancy reading an intro to green gadgets - they're not an oxymoron, honest - I wrote a piece about them at the weekend for new Digital Life section of the Daily Telegraph. As well as some eco tech history,there's a spot about the WEEE law that finally arrived in the UK this year. It means electronics companies need to have companies lined up by March to collect your old gadgets - and actually offer you a recycling service starting July 1st. There's more gov info here. In the Telegraph piece, I've also listed some of my favourite eco gizmos, including DIY Kyoto's Wattson, photographed here by Toby Summerskill.
Having just moved house, I've been enjoying such mundane eco pleasures as switching to a green electricity tariff, swapping out IKEA halogens for LED ones and getting a water meter installed. It's been a riot. Adding to the fun, our new Can-o-Worms womery turned up at the weekend. As well as being very popular with our cat Boo - see pic, top right - and made from 100 per cent recycled plastic, the thing that struck me is how superior it is to Blackwall's one.
Continue reading "The inevitable first-hand wormery post: Blackwall v Wiggly Wigglers" »
I'm moving home in January - ah, how my Scotland-based friends at New Consumer laughed at the joke that is the English housing system - and am jammy enough to be buying a house. Which, as well as a cat, means a huge eco project. My plan is to make it as green as Donnacadh McCarthy's virtually zero carbon home and Penney Poyzer's incredibly trendy Nottingham eco home. To that end, I've started re-reading a list of green suppliers that I wrote about for Inside Out magazine earlier this year; hopefully it'll be of some use to you too. Click through for the list. [photo from Green Roof]
Now you've got litres of wine swag from Threshers - you did take advantage of its 40 per cent offer, didn't you? - you'll need somewhere to store the plonk. I've seen few better designs than this rack by Jennifer Barratt, which is made from old bottles melted down at 820 degrees over oval kiln moulds. The frosted effect comes from sand-blasting. Price is on application from Jen, whose email is jenbarratt *at* hotmail.com. Incidentally, this is a bit of belated blogging following my visit to the Eco Design Fair - expect more finds later this week as I dig through my notes.
Here's a fresh case of 'why didn't I think of that?': satchels made from old Royal Mail courier sacks. Edged with jute - which, like bamboo, grows fast - these hip recycled bags are selling for £27 a pop over at brand new ecotailer, Love Eco. The promising site also stocks stupendously cute chicken-shaped doorstops made from vintage fabric, Fairtrade and organic cotton pants, plus a few green-minded cushions, towels and toys I've seen before. Go take a look for yourself: there's a good helping of Christmas gift fodder on there.
Worn Again's always made rockin' recycled trainers, but these ones made from old firemens' uniforms have a double hit: they're planet- and people-friendly. Dubbed the Bigger Shoe, the trainer's a limited run of 400 pairs to celebrate the Big Issue turning 15, and Worn Again's donating £6 to the magazine's homelessness foundation for each pair sold. These beauties are selling for £65 online and at Terra Plana's two London shops.
