I once worked in an office where nearly a dozen women shared one toilet. The horror! After this experience, I feel I can speak with some authority on how much of a pain it is to have limited access to a loo...
But imagine if you didn't have access to even one hygienic flushing toilet. That's the case for millions of people in poor areas across the globe, who suffer far more than mere inconvenience, and are constantly exposed to germs and disease. A toilet for Christmas would sound pretty attractive to these people, which is where the Oxfam Unwrapped 'Build a Bog' programme comes in.
For a one-off donation of £50 you can provide everything needed to build and maintain a toilet that will change lives in a poor community. So why not spend a penny or two and buy one on behalf of a friend or family member this Christmas?
The world's first windup media player from Trevor Bayliss is currently on special offer at the Guardian's new eco-store at £134.50 and £134.99 at Ethical Superstore from a reduced price of £169.99.
The player would make a fantastic present and will appeal not only to the environmentally aware, but to anyone who's ever suffered the disappointment of having their Ipod die on them during a long train ride. With no need for batteries, a 40-second wind is all it takes to have music wherever you go.
As well as playing MP3s, it incorporates a video player with a full colour 1.8” LCD screen, a super bright led torch, an emergency phone charger, a photo viewer, an FM radio and a voice recorder. With a minimum 1GB internal memory and also have a SD memory card slot, it's much like any other MP3 player in terms of functionality.
Wandering round the stalls at the Animal Aid Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre on Saturday, my cat lover's eye quickly lit upon the Sparkipuss stall.
Sparkipuss offers green-minded cat enthusiasts the chance to buy recycled cat fridge magnets, mousepads, cards and stationery, as well as a stylish range of organic catnip toys (the leopard print one was particularly snazzy, I thought!) and big "Monster Catnip Stash" boxes of loose organic catnip!
As well as ethical gifts, Sparkipuss also offers cat-themed jewellery and very cool cat tights, featuring a pesky feline running ladders up the back of each leg. The Christmas Gift Packs make ideal gifts for your friends to open with their cats!
Related: How to make your cat more eco-friendly
The closest I've ever come up with for a personal motto is 'you can never have too many candles'. Pathetic, really - but true.
And these candles from Green Tuplip manage to tick almost every box, being made from natural plant wax, beautifully and simply presented, and a bargain at £2.50 each (I admit that I've considered paying up to 20 if the scent is good enough!). Amazing when you consider that they are hand-made from locally-sourced essential oils including neroli, orange and clove. They'd make perfect presents!
If you enjoyed the recent series of Autumnwatch, chances are you're already missing the increasingly bizarre antics of Bill Oddie and chums as they track the nation's wildlife.
But your withdrawal symptoms needn't last long: I've found a tool that lets you follow their example and create your own wildlife-based entertainment. It's a garden nesting box - complete with camera! The 'multispecies' box, which is available from Ecotopia provides all you need to get sharp, clear footage of whatever birds and other wildlife get up to in your garden.
The box costs £139, which I think is pretty reasonable considering the many hours of fun it could provide for the amateur nature photographer...
At Shiny Towers, we're lucky enough to work just round the corner from Neal's Yard, so there are oodles of yummy scented Neal's Yard Remedies on offer. I recently had a chance to have a look around after hours and check out the Christmas gift sets. I quickly discovered that the big watchword at NYR is still "organic". The products are not yet all 100% certified, but every bottle and jar carries a percentage to tell you what the proportion of organic ingredients is. The aim, I was assured, is to use the success and expansion of the company to invest in more sourcing of organic ingredients. And, as ever, the company doesn't use controversial commercially used chemicals or fragrances, basing everything on pure essential oils.
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A great way to ensure that the products you buy are made under ethical conditions is to buy them handmade, direct from the maker. Of course, this gives them extra uniqueness and cool points too, so handmade items make especially good gifts.
With this in mind, Pledge Handmade is asking people to promise they'll only buy handmade pressies for friends this Christmas, requesting that others do the same in return. If this sounds like a great idea for you but you wouldn't have a clue about where to find fab handmade stuff, we've joined forces with Crafty Crafty and come up with a list of places to find the best handmade gifts this Christmas. Enjoy!
Maki Squarepatch
This is one of my favourite handmade sites, with its adorable recycled (or "pre-loved") accessories, every one of which is unique. They've been in touch today with news of a new Christmas range, which includes recycled tree decorations and these very smart submarine pouches, which at $12 are a bargain, and are hand-printed and made out of excess fabric from other craft projects.
Watch this space for more handmade gift suggestions!
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