Mother's Day 18th March: Make it a green one.
Mother's day is on the horizon once again, and although you've still got two weeks to find an appropriate present, why not prepare in advance and get her something more imaginative - and more green - than chocolates bought at the last minute? We did a bit of research, and present here a selection of eco-friendly ideas for mother's day.
If you're in a hurry and want a thoughtful gift that covers all bases, the mother's day Green Giftbox is available online via CarbonNeutral. At £12.50, It contains a selection of mini Green & Blacks chocolates, a heart-shaped key fob made from recycled leather, and one month of carbon neutral driving, in the form of 325 kilograms of carbon offset from CarbonNeutral's community project in Jamaica - based on a 1.6l petrol car driving 1000 miles)
Follow the jump for the rest of our Mother's Day green roundup...
For the real chocaholic Mum, you'd do well to acquire Divine's fairtrade chocolate gift basket. £25 from Ethical Superstore, it's bursting with treats: six 100g bars, one of each of Divine's decadent flavours, including chopped roasted hazelnuts, tangy orange and dark rich coffee. The kit is also crammed with chocolate coins and mini chocolate bars, with the basket itself originating from One Village fair trade producers in the Philippines.
If she's more of an animal lover, the Wildlife Trust are offering adoption packages that make perfect gifts. Take your pic of endangered species (the Trust suggest great crested newt, dormouse, water vole, snipe, otter and barn owl, all of which are under threat in this country).
Lush always come up trumps on these occasions, and as ever, they've got presents sorted for the Mum who needs some pampering. Their (new for 2007, so don't worry if you've gone for this option before) 'Mum!' box (£24.95) contains a Butterfly Ballistic, a bar of Honey I Washed the Kids Soap, Fair Trade Foot Lotion helping Hands, Each Peach Massage Bar and Sex Bomb Ballistic (OK, I'm surprised they chose to put that in there but who says mothers can't be sexy? Their kids, probably)
Finally, for the Mum who enjoys a tipple (and I think I know which of these options I'm going for) a bottle of fairtrade wine will make a lovely gift, and there's nothing like the power of alcohol to get people into the green-living spirit. Threshers have recently brought out a good selection, so you could leave the choice to her and pick her up a gift voucher here. Don't trust her to make an ethical choice? Ethical Superstore have a good deal on Ormer Bay (two for £10) fairtrade wines with a choice of reds and whites.
