I've got to admit defeat at some point soon and come to terms with the fact that I will never be able to keep tabs on every single recycled or 'eco' bag that comes into existence. So I am more than glad to defer to the expertise of the aptly-named 'Recycled Cindy' on this matter, who runs the blog My Recycled Bags.

In the blog, she regularly features her own recycled bag creations along with step-by-step instructions on how to make them. She takes all sorts of raw materials to make the bags, including old denim jeans, crocheted polythene and even video tape ribbon (pictured). Ever wanted to know how to crochet a granny square out of old bags? Cindy will show you how. As well as the familiar tote-style shoppers, you'll find patterns for bags of all sorts here: clutch bags, lunch sacks, make-up bags and just loads more really inventive recycling ideas.

If that all sounds a bit too crafty for you, you can also buy Cindy's products here.

That's right; it's not vampires or zombies that will be giving us nightmares in future movie features, but plants. A run of environmental themed films are currently in the offing, including The Happening, in which the earth's fauna gets so cross with humans' shoddy treatment of it that flowers and trees go on the rampage.

OK, that's a simplistic interpretation, but according to the synopsis, the film, which features a global environmental crisis "will portray the earth's plants unleashing airborne neurotoxins that cause people to commit violent suicide." I guess that's one solution to climate change we haven't thought about...

The release date for The Happening is set for June 13, 2008 (deliberately scheduled to fall on Friday 13th). Don't have nightmares! [Via Ecorazzi]

A new book, which aims to set the record straight on what's green and what's not when it comes to everyday life choices, hits our shelves today. But unlike most guides to greeness, this one recognises that there are often grey areas between eco-sainthood and eco-ignorance -- and that most of us fit somewhere between the two.

When I first picked up this book, my response was 'oh no, not another guide that's going to fudge the issue even further' -- fearing that people will soon simply throw up their hands in defeat at the news that yet more green 'rules' would have to be unlearned -- but soon found that the book is far more helpful than that. Yes, there are sections that will tell you a bath is not necessarily less green than a shower, and that organic tomatoes are in some senses less 'green' than their conventionally-grown counterparts. But in doing so it simply explains the science behind the advice we've all had rammed down our throats for years in a way that helps us interpret it sensibly and in ways that suit our priorities.

We've got a copy of Shades of Green to give away to a hippyshopper reader. To enter, simply send us an email with the subject header 'Shades of Green', with your full name and postal address in the body.

Brilliantly funny cult comedian Mark Watson, whose efforts to be 'less crap' at green living have been the focus of his recent tour, is to bring out a book to accompany the highly successful stand-up run.

Having already harnessed the power of Facebook and MySpace, Watson is now moving into print to bring together his experiences of going from apathetic novice to fully-fledged eco-warrior. The past year has seen him pimping plant pots, bussing across Australia, staging a 24-hour green comedy show and being trained by Al Gore as a climate change campaigner. His initial aim was to halve his carbon footprint in a year but, he claims, 'the whole thing got rather out of hand'!

The book, to be published by Hodder & Stoughton will be out in June 2008.

I'm not sure how effective this global warming 'warning' from artist Jason Elliot is likely to be - Yorkshire as a tropical paradise looks pretty pleasant to me! But we all know that the reality wouldn't look much like 'Parrots on New Road' (above) or any of the other arresting pictures in this range of 'visions of the future'. However, Jason's attitude is refreshing:

“I wanted to draw attention to the fact that Climate Change is happening, but to get the message across in a more light-hearted way than we are used to. It’s an extremely serious issue, particularly in areas like ours that can be prone to flooding, but it’s good to engage people in a way that doesn’t make them feel they are being preached to”

If you'd like to see more, Jason’s work is being exhibited at The Alternative Technology Centre in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire until the end of January 2008. Prints are available to buy as part of a limited edition of fifty. [Via Eco Street]

Some supermarkets would have us believe that they are the great community meeting points, of our time, with everyone chatting, laughing and joking. And riding around the aisles on kids' scooters...but is it ever really like that?

This cheeky Friends of the Earth vid spoofs another one of those ads, advising us all to 'shop local first'. It's one of the many entries to their One Minute With Feeling competition on YouTube, and you can watch more entries here.

If you want to get into the local shopping habit, Wedge Card is holding a local shopping challenge next week in London.

Not all griff-graff has to be an eyesore: Edina Tokodi's work is clean, green, alive and made of moss!

The eco-minded artist brings the greenery of the countryside to the city with her installations, many of which you can see at Inhabitat. "City dwellers often have no relationship with animals or greenery", says Tokodi: "As a public artist I feel a sense of duty to draw attention to deficiencies in our everyday life."

I'm a big fan of Green party candidate Sian Berry, since she's the brains behind the brilliant Alliance Against Urban 4x4s. But that's for another time. For now, I'm going to talk about her forthcoming book: 50 Ways to be a greener shopper.

From saying no to plastic bags, to learning your logos, the book guides you through the maze of ethical shopping with simple and memorable tips. It explores the choices we can make, not just in consumables, but also in our food purchases, gifts to friends and family, in restaurants, and beauty services.

50 Ways to be a Greener Shopper costs just £4.99 and is available to pre-order now. Already out in the series are 50 Ways to make your House and Garden Greener and 50 Ways to Save Water and Energy. All great little guides with all the basics for those with busy lives.

Yesterday, Treehugger alerted us to the newest ethical social network, Razoo. These are online havens specifically for those who wish to do good in the world, be it through encouraging greener lives, raising awareness and money for charity or simply "promote social good".

This last quote came from the mission statement of Razoo. This is a network devoted to making a difference by starting discussions about everything from sustainability and water to AIDS and homlessness, through human rights and education. And that's just a fraction of the topics. By promoting discussion and swapping tips and ideas, the entrepreneurs behind Razoo hope to inspire ideas that just might save the world (or, rather, us). And it's certainly not the only sight with lofty ideals. Just take a look at the many different ways in which social networks are encouraging us to fight the good environmental fight...

If you didn't catch Black Gold during its cinema run, it's now available to buy on DVD, with extras including interviews and reports on progress made following the release of the film.

Juxtaposing consumers willing to pay £3 for elaborate coffee drinks, against the plight of farmers who are barely paid enough to not be called slaves, Black Gold draws attention to the fat profit margins of corporations like Starbucks and how little it would take to remedy the situation. Fair trade beans are readily available for about £4 per kilo, which, speaking from experience, is enough to easily make a month's breakfast lattes in a home coffee machine.

To coincide with the DVD launch, the independent team of filmmakers behind Black Gold have re-vamped their website.

Heads up, shopaholics: if you're looking for another online store boasting green credentials, Smartly Green opened its doors this week with oodles of respected and well known names on board. You'll find all kinds of objects of desire here, from clothes and accessories to mobile phones and toys.

Now, seeing as almost every high street store I can think of seems to be represented here (including a smattering from Arcadia and Tesco) I can't comment on how ethical site is.

As if the recent voting scandal wasn't enough to shake ITV to its foundations, disaster has now struck producers of its celeb humiliation series I'm a celebrity, get me out of here, amid reports of environmental contamination on location in Australia.

Under what are being described as 'mysterious circumstances', the 'jungle' site (located in balmy New South Wales) has become contaminated with a toxic insecticide. The Department of Environment and Climate Change officials have advised people to stay away from the water, and banned fishing and swimming. Quite a blow for the makers of the series which see Z-listers regularly undergoing the horror of immersing their hair extensions in the jungle's pools and swamps.

I have to admit that this is one environmental disaster I feel ambivalent about.....

Nothing is real until it's been immortalised in Sim City (or the Simpsons) and climate change has now had a namecheck in both. I think we can call that progress!

More specifically, Sim City Societies, the latest edition of the world-domination game that's been a hit since 1989, has made energy saving and carbon reduction an important goal for players, allowing them to build their own windfarms and make other renewable energy choices to reduce Sim City's carbon footprint.

The game does not force players to power their cities any specific way, but allows them to make choices, each of which come with advantages and disadvantages.

I liked this book from moment I read the name of its first chapter: "Oh no, not another bloody polar bear". The approach that author George Marshall has chosen to take is not to lecture, blind with science or scaremonger; it's aimed at tackling the very real problems of disbelief, boredom and apathy that overcome many people when they hear the phrase 'climate change'.

In Carbon Detox, which is available to by from 30th October, you'll find this attitude prevails throughout the book. Whilst others offer endless tips on making small changes and patting yourself on the back for your efforts, this one admits that making minor changes, like recycling plastic bags, can sometimes be an excuse for doing nothing. It encourages you to look at your personality, work out what changes you are best equipped to make, and apply these on a daily basis.

Professor Chris Ripley, new director of the Science Museum, has revealed plans for a £6 million exhibit showing people exactly how global warming has already affected the planet, and what implications it could hold for the future. Ripley is at pains to stress that the purpose of the exhibition is not to promote a particular course of action, but to allow people to "come to their own conclusions" about which policies should be put in place in response to global warming.

The exhibition is not due to open until 2009, but, in the meantime, a small trial run exhibition opens next week in the Science museum's Wellcome wing, focussing in particular on the role of biofuels in cutting levels of carbon emission.