thegreenguy

Natural Collection site gets a makeover

Check it out. It's a big improvement on navigation and design.

Help London 'do a Modbury' and ban plastic bags

Live in London? Here's your chance to tell your council if you'd like plastic bags banned across the capital or - alternatively - heavily taxed like they are in Ireland. Click here to find out more, and here to submit your views directly. Personally, the over-consumption of plastic bags doesn't keep me awake at night in the same way as bigger carbon cutting tricks do. Still, most do use oil - some are corn starch - and I don't think anyone apart from the dude in American Beauty would consider bags swirling down our streets 'beautiful'. You can read more about Modbury, the Devon town that kicked off the bag-banning trend, here. [via Tom Taylor's ever useful Delicious links]

My recycled wedding suit: mission accomplished

I've just picked up my recycled suit from Junky Styling, and I'm chuffed to bits. As regular readers will know, I was despairing a few weeks ago at the lack of ethical blokes' suits. Now I'm feeling all warm inside at having (hopefully) kept a suit out of landfill and helping a local business that makes its clothes in the UK. You'll either love or hate the styling - I'm obviously a fan - while the cut is brilliantly measured. Being Mr Puniverse, I don't have much of a chest, so it was great to have the suit made to fit.

Being a 'green groom' over at Ethicalweddings.com

I'm doing a spot of guest blogging over at the Ethical Weddings Blog on recycled suits and other eco and fair wedding malarkey. As friends will know, I'm getting hitched next month. It's a pretty low key affair, so has a relatively small environmental impact. So far, our green touches include Priuses for transport, exhortations for people to use public transport, a ring made from recycled gold and a conflict-free diamond, plus lots of vegetarian food.

Ethical skirts make most popular list

I'm not that into skirts - unlike David B, I just can't carry them off - but was interested to see photos of ethical skirts are currently one of the top 5 most clicked-on articles on the entire Guardian site. I quite regularly knock my girl friends for buying dubiously-made fast fashion, but judging from the popularity of this small gallery, things are clearly changing. A little bit, at least. Also take a look at New Consumer's gallery of glam ethical fashion this month.

My quest for an ethical wedding suit: Mission Impossible?

I'm in the market for an ethical suit for my wedding. So far, I've tried charity shops (wrong sizes, dubious styles), a good ten minutes of Googling and looking on blogs for Fairtrade and/or organic suits (nothing for men in the UK), and - today - a trip to M&S's flagship Marble Arch store. To say the M&S experience was disappointing is an understatement. Things started badly with a senior-seeming tailor who didn't have any interest or knowledge of Fairtrade or organic suits and ended - after I'd decided a practical suit that I could wear for lots of occasions might be the most ethical thing I could get - in a farce over misinformation on sizes for my Mr Puniverse 36 inch chest. I came away empty-handed. Now, I'm at a loose end and I need your suggestions. I've just seen Green Union recommend Junky Styling, so I'll try their Brick Lane store, but that's about my only hope right now. Ethical Weddings' forum is ominously silent on the notion of 'green grooms'. Help!

10 per cent of cotton will be organic by 2015-20, says Organic Exchange

Ever wondered how much global cotton is organic? No? It's not really pub banter, is it? Well, it's less than one per cent right now, but - if the Organic Exchange's optimistic hopes are right - it could jump to 10 per cent within a decade. I've just been chatting with the Exchange's director, Rebecca Calahan Klein, and she told me that between 2015 and 2020 is a realistic time-frame. If you're thinking 'that's great, but why can't I find organic cotton on the high street right now? Why did H&M not re-order its organic range after flogging it in 3 weeks?', then keep the faith.

Get £10 off at Howies...

... by quoting code BE72MA when you spend £50 before 31st May, the leaflet with my new summer Howies catalogue informs me. A quick flick through shows up a whole lotta organic cotton, some recycled polyester shorts, recycled cotton tees and organic cotton. It's all online too [PDF].

Patagonia hits cover of Fortune's eco issue

Hemp hats off to Patagonia today - an email from its PR man tells me that the outdoor outfitter is on the front cover of Fortune mag's green issue. The company might be a bit dowdy sometimes - I'd personally prefer to clad myself in Howies for ethical outdoorsy clothes - but its eco credentials are impeccable, from its use of organic cotton to its recent fleece recycling scheme and yesterday's annoucement of Bluesign membership.

Knock 30 per cent off at Terra Plana

I know, I know, a made a big palava yesterday about not being obsessed by products. Still, thought you'd like to know you can get 30 per cent off Terra Plana's ethical shoes by quoting ECO LONDON when you buy from its Covent Garden or London Bridge shops. I'm coveting the mad solvent-free Dopie sandals, pictured. The offer runs 'til 11th May.