thegreenguy

Do you suffer supermarket guilt?

That's the question I'm asking today over on SmartPlanet. Who else feels green and ethical guilt when shopping at supermarkets? And do you know anyone who manages to get all their food without going to a  supermarket? Let me know...

Top 10 organic, Fairtrade and vegan chocolates

I've got a piece over on the Guardian today on the top ten ethical chocolates in the UK - i.e. the best-tasting ones with the most scrupulous commitments to Fairtrade, organic standards and the environment. Obviously, any such list is going to be subjective, so let me know what your favourite ethical chocs are in the comments. One chocolatier that narrowly missed out on the list was Chocaid, which donates money to Save the Children. Update: Seventypercent.com has a very interesting response to my article  here. If you ever eat chocolate, it's worth reading.

Why Monbiot's wrong about ethical shopping

Yesterday's Guardian featured a rant by George Monbiot on green and Fairtrade consumerism. Headlined 'Ethical shopping is just another way of showing how rich you are', the odds were on me disagreeing with him (I edit Newconsumer.com, which George contributes to). I think he's wrong on three crucial points. The first is the opening plank of his argument, which is to knock Sheherazade Goldsmith's new green lifestyle book, A Slice of Organic Life, for not even mentioning politics. That's a bit disingenuous.

A Slice of Organic Life is a lifestyle book, while George's own book Heat (reviewed here) is a politics-cum-science book. As George knows, books have to be marketed, which is why Organic Life has no politics, and Heat has no 'lifestyle'. Sheherazade would look a bit silly knocking Heat for not featuring enough glossy lifestyle photos or uplifting lifestyle prose, no? The second point I have to take George's article to task on is the notion that "Green consumerism is another form of atomisation - a substitute for collective action."

Big names deliver verdicts on organic air freight debate

An interesting Soil Association press release hit my inbox this week with a list of contrasting opinions on banning air freighted organic food. It features the likes of Abel & Cole, Planet Organic and campaigners at Airport Watch. Some love the idea, some hate it. Click through to read a copy and paste from the release. Right now, the Association's considering everything from a general and selective ban to a labelling scheme and business as usual.

Soil Association to set London 2012 gold medal goals

I've just got back from a pretty dry Triodos-arranged event about the greening of the London 2012 Olympics. It was torpedoed because this very morning the Olympic Delivery Authority chap decided he wouldn't attend. However, Peter Melchett of Soil Assoication fame let out one interesting news tit-bit: the Association folk are working on an imminent report about what targets 2012 needs to hit to be considered 'sustainable'. The focus'll be on food and whether it's local, seasonal, organic, unprocessed. Sustain and NEF are helping out.

Organic Levis go on sale offline... but are nowhere to be found online

Following in the footsteps of Howies, Hug, Loomstate and more, Levi's has finally got with the programme to debut its organic cotton denims. Although the eco jeans went on sale one week ago in 20 Levi's stores across the UK, I can't find the things online for the life of me. None of Levi's official stockists have them, and you're a better surfer than me if you can find their product page extolling their benefits on Levi's Euro website. All of which makes me want to exhort you to seek out the alternatives. A shame, since Levi's jeans - based on the women's 570s and men's 506s (pictured) - do look cool and green. As well as the organic cotton, the button's made from coconut shell and the finish from potato starch, mimosa flower and Marseille soap. You can buy a pair for £80; I've posted a list of stockists on the 'continued story'.

Reviewed: Sheppy's organic cider & instant Cocodirect

Two very different 'ethical' drinks for you this week. First, Cocodirect, the new instant Fairtrade hot choc from the excellent CafeDirect. My tasting notes say 'good by water and sachet standards' (I'm a commited milk and cocoa man) and 'not too sweet like Cadburys and Galaxy, but also enough chocolate to prevent it becoming a malty, Horlicksy drink. Dissolved easy enough too.' Unfortunately, you can't buy this quality instant version in shops yet - it's just for caterers. The cocoa version - which you can buy - is here. Second up, Sheppy's medium organic cider, which is gorgeously rich - I'm not going to pretend I can describe it better than that - and also comes with the Soil Association's stamp of approval. You can buy it online.

Organic olive oil - the solution to Middle East peace?

I know, I know, it's a facetious headline, but this olive oil made by Arabs, Jews, Bedouins and Druze in northern Israel is clearly a step in the right direction. As well as the cool bridge-building aspect, the oil - dubbed PeaceOil - should taste good since it's harvested from organic Suria olives. It doesn't yet have organic certification (such as a Soil Associaton badge) but it plans to get certified in 2007. You can get yours for £10 a bottle via a crazy retro-tech known as a phone: the number's 0207 435 6500. These shops also stock it. Update: you can invest in PeaceOil's business for £25 at Good Gifts.

10 rising stars of the organic world

Fresh back from the Organic Food Festival yesterday, I've just realised how many upcoming organic food, beauty and clothing brands there are. Forget your Green & Blacks, Yeo Valleys and Howies for one minute - much as I love all three - here are ten new(ish) faces that you should watch out for.

Today's ethical picks: Organic Food Festival tomorrow, recycling your Dell,

Soil Association Organic Food Festival (pictured) - starts tomorrow in Bristol, and I'm headed down to gorge myself on its food and drink delights. I'll have more for you next week on what upcoming organic foodie brands to check out.
Dell's promising free PC recycling - of any Dell computer, printer or gadget. There are no details on how to do it yet, so more details soon hopefully...
Organic tee makers launch... organic pantry! - the husband and wife team who brought the world its brilliantly bold Glo4Life organic cotton t-shirts has opened an organic food shop. It's in wee Ammanford, in Carmarthenshire.