Issue 39 of The Idler is out and is promised to be the ‘punkest issue yet’! The Idler, founded by Tom Hodgkinson, author of ‘How to be Idle’ and ‘How to be Free’ is essential reading for anyone aspiring to free themselves from the rut of nine-to-five work and live a simpler life.

This issue is the ‘Lie Back and Protest’ issue, featuring a history of protesters and argues that being idle is the best way to protest in today’s world.

At last, Spirit of Nature, one of the best online collections of organic, fair trade and ethical clothes, toiletries, gifts and more, has started a dedicated line of certified organic maternity wear. And what’s more, it’s lovely, flattering, classic stuff and good value for money too.

The clothes start from £17.95 and include a lovely wrap-over breastfeeding top. And while you’re buying your maternity gear, you can stock up on their range of baby toiletries.

Many of us want to live healthier lives now, and hopefully many of us want to help save the planet from human activity. By eating organic food we are having the most healthy option for ourselves. Unfortunately this can be a problem for the planet, as much of our organic produce comes from abroad.

I find it sad that it's mainly women's cancer charities and events that make headlines. As cancer affects 1 in 3 women you can see why, but did you know that in the UK one man dies every hour from prostate cancer? There is still a taboo surrounding the subject of testicular, prostate and male breast cancer which is why June is Everyman cancer awareness month.

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Maybe I just lead a sheltered life, but I hadn't heard of Guerilla Gardening until last week. For those of you who are also in the dark let me explain...there are groups of people who get together in the middle of the night with their gardening gloves on, clearing up urban sites that have been neglected by local councils, and planting flowers and shrubs to make them look beautiful.

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Turn the hot air which accumulates in your loft into hot water with the Activair air source heat pump. The unit is installed your loft and sucks in normally wasted hot air and uses it to heat your home’s water. Capable of supplying all of a family’s hot water needs it only takes about half a day to install. Trianco, the company who make the pump say it can be up to five times as efficient as a gas or oil boiler.

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I just thought I’d give a bit of cred to the One water co. whose boss, Duncan Goose, was voted the winner in the Campaigner category at the first ever ITV Greatest Living Britons 2007 ceremony last week. TV viewers of the ceremony also voted the Queen as the Great Living Briton, which I think is quite charming, to use a royal phrase. Duncan Goose on the other hand is the king of campaigns, literally giving up his day job to start Global Ethics, which culminated in One water.

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With the killer-bins story refusing to die, Gareth Kane asks whose rubbish is it anyway?

I'm feeling slightly shaky as I write this as I've just had to dip into the alternative universe inhabited by Express Newspapers to do some background research. I knew I was on unfamiliar ground when I found the search engine page used "Princess Diana" as an example of how to search using two words. However I wasn't after decade-old conspiracies about the demise of the People's Princess, but the story behind the headline "The Great Dustbin Gravy Train" that I spotted in the Newsagent's yesterday.

The gist of the exposé is that Jennie Price, the outgoing head of the Government's Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), earned quite a bit of cash last year (£200k) and, as WRAP deals with rubbish, all this fortnightly collection nonsense (with added bubonic plague) must be her fault. WRAP have obviously seen this one coming as they issued a statement back in March saying that, while they provide information on good practice to local councils, they're not forcing anyone to do anything. If you read the comments left by Express readers at the bottom of Sunday's article you'll see that any such plea for reason will fall on deaf ears.

Apologies if Scots don’t really say this, but they really seem to be amazingly in touch with their environment. The five star Rufflets Country House in St Andrews will be certified carbon neutral from the 1st of June. It’s apparently the first official carbon neutral hotel in Scotland. What’s fantastic about their carbon offsetting scheme is that the luxury hotel will invest in the reforestation of the Carrifran Valley in the Scottish Borders. I’m still a tad bemused why offsetting normally entails wind turbines in India when healing the same environment we are damaging seems to make more sense. The reforestation will offset 3000 tonnes a year in carbon emissions, and even though this is a small dent in the hotel’s yearly carbon footprint, they’ve got the right idea. However, what is more innovative about this hotel is that they will harvest rainwater for use in all their loos, as well as for onsite laundry and irrigation for the surrounding garden.

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A fairtrade frenzy to raise one million euros in just 90 days is the personal challenge of Julian Jones. Owner of Caffe Society, a fairtrade shop on the Isle of Wight, he plans to donate half the money to charities supporting people in the developing world and spend the rest on a new eco-friendly store on the Island. Mr Jones has been promised 50,000 euros through companies sponsoring advertising space on his website, www.millioneurosin90days.com, where he keeps a live countdown clock and progress report. Alas! There are only 40 days and six hours to go.

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The Bamboo Yoga Collection will be available in Mothercare this month, for pregnant women and mums. It is one of the ranges from Natural Colour Cotton, which uses a mixture of organically grown and naturally pigmented cotton, along with bamboo, leaving no environmental footprint.

Bamboo is a fast growing grass and an environmentally stable fibre. The material allows the skin to breath and the garments look stylish as well as being exceedingly comfortable.

The designs have been tested by the Natural Childbirth Trust (NCT) and £1 from each sale will be given to the NCT charity to help train breast feeding counsellors.

[via New Consumer]

Did anyone watch the Channel 4 Dispatches programme last night about fortnightly rubbish collections? I was already opposed to the idea and that just completely confirmed my suspicions. Dispatches set out to investigate whether the nation’s grievances about fortnightly collections are justified. Their aim was to discover whether a reduction in service is essential to increase recycling rates, as the government claims, or if it is likely to cause health concerns.

I have to confess, I haven’t watched the whole thing yet because I went to bed, but it was enough to put me off fortnightly collections for life. One woman living in Oxford had kept a photographic record of bin bags strewn across the streets, spewing forth rubbish. It was especially bad in housing where the residents did not have front gardens because bags were spilling out everywhere.

For whatever reasons you don't fancy plying your body with alcohol - think pregnancy, religious, 'my body is a temple' types and so on - but fancy a nice drink otherwise, try the range at The Alcohol Free Shop. From alcohol free beer like Becks or Pils to wine with red, white, rose and organic varieties all on offer or even non-alcoholic spirits and mixers.

Everything else they stock, chocolates, deodorants and medicines, are also all alcohol free too.

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As we are all being told how hot this summer is going to be, I am sure lots of us will take advantage of the fine weather and take at least one break away this year. With all the lovely places to see in our own country, weekends away are always a good option. The list of vegan and eco-friendly destinations grows steadily longer, so we can all jump on a train to somewhere beautiful. Which brings me nicely on to the Aubrey Tavel A Go-Go kit.

Natura Organics have been extolling the virtues of their shampoos and conditioner which use only natural plant ingredients and vitamins that give you a great chemical-free lather using sugar and plant-based surfactants. Ingredients are certified organic by Ecocert, are GM and paraben free and they are not only vegie but vegan friendly too as they don't contain beeswax or lanolin. Pick from products that includes Daily Use Shampoo with wheat protein, Calendula and vitamin E or Nourishing Shampo with Jojoba, vitamin E and Aloe Vera.

If that wasn't enough, they strive to be environmentally friendly too by producing 40% of the electricity needed to make the products from solar panels. Prices from £4.95 at health food stores or online at Natura Organics.

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