If you thought slavery was a thing of the past, you're sadly mistaken; even today, millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to work through the threat or use of violence, they are bought and sold like objects, work for long hours often for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their employers.

To draw attention to their plight, Anti-Slavery, a charity dedicated to eradicating slavery worldwide, is putting on an event at comedy venue Jongleurs in Camden on the 11th March. The lineup for this 'lock out' night is about the most varied I've ever seen, with appearences from Jason Donovan, the Congo Faith Healers and singer-songwriter Sam Heard. A motley bunch that's guaranteed to entertain! Tickets are £20

On Tuesday Shiny Towers (home of Hippyshopper and oodles of other fabulous blogs) was awash with clothes (well, more than usual!) as we had our first ever clothes swap.

Mad props go to Tech Digest's Kat for bringing in a suitcase full of cast offs. We spent a lunchtime trying on jeans, tops dresses but no undies thanks! It was strange seeing your colleagues try on that top from Primark you never wore and there was one pretty dress from Topshop everyone tried on that didn't seem to fit anyone what ever size they were.

Selfridges' Oxford street store will play host to ‘The World of Stella’ this February, showcasing eco-fashionista Stella McCartney’s complete clothing and beauty lines throughout the department store.

You’ll be able to browse through her Care organic beauty collection, the Stella McCartney line of clothes, shoes and accessories, the Adidas by Stella McCartney sportswear line, the luggage collection with Le Sportsac and the much anticipated Stella McCartney lingerie collection and denim collection in collaboration with Notify.

[Via Catwalk Queen]

There's plenty going on in the green calendar this weekend, and for a bit of a European flavour, I've looked a bit further afield than the UK for this week's roundup. With the new, high-speed carbon neutral Eurostar service running from St Pancras, getting to the continental Christmas fairs has never been easier or more environmentally friendly. I just spent a weekend in Brussels checking out the winter wonderland that is the Plaisirs D'Hiver Christmas market, where you can see me slurping one of many glasses of delicious Gluhwein, and there's still time to fit in a trip before C-Day! Read on for more info.

Carbon neutral train-it to Brussels

You can now get to the Plaisirs D'Hiver Christmas market by Eurostar in approximately 2 hours from London St Pancras. Last week, my partner and I managed to book return tickets just a day in advance, so this is much more of a realistic last minute shopping prospect than it used to be! I was very impressed with the on-board catering this time around, which has switched from mostly uninviting, dry sandwiches with debatable veggie-option to offering a reasonable selection of organic and fairtrade teas, snacks and food. The napkins and even the bog-roll are all made from recycled paper, and as we reported from the grand opening of St. Pancras, Eurostar is doing all it can to make journeys carbon neutral at no extra cost to passengers.

The fledgling world of green gadgetry is to get its own event next year: the Greener Gadgets Conference due to take place in New York on 1st February 2008.

The global IT industry, itself responsible for around 2% of C02 emissions worldwide, has been told to clean up its act recently, and the launch of this event suggests that the geeks are taking heed. As well as showcasing the best in innovative, energy saving design and manufacture, the conference will be inviting some of the biggest names in technology to talk about what they're doing to make their companies greener.

[Via Engadget]

If you'd like some really great bargains on up-to-the-minute green and ethical clothing, I can heartily recommend a trip to the Fashion Made Fair sample sale at London's Old Truman Brewery this weekend.

I went along to an earlier sale in the Spring, and was delighted to come back with some fabulous cut-price items from my favourite brands, including People Tree and Terra Plana. At every Fashion Made Fair event I've been to so far there have been racks upon racks of stylish, sustainable fashion, a relaxed and fun atmosphere and surprises at every turn, and with reductions up to 80%, this one promises to be no different. There is also the opportunity for one lucky person to win an eco outfit worth over £215.So why not combine a trip to Spitalfields Market with a visit to the sample sale this weekend, and get your wardrobe acquainted with some of the hottest eco chic around.

Want to get down to some sweet planet-lovin' this weekend? You've come to the right place. Here's our weekly roundup of green things to do this weekend.

Leicester
This one sounds like fantastic fun if you enjoy making things and want some unique and environmentally friendly decorations this Christmas. Leicester's Eco House is running an 'Organic Christmas decoration-making' workshop on 9th December from 2pm - 4pm. Why not pop along and make your own ornaments from natural materials found in the EcoHouse's beautiful organic garden? The event is free, and it's suitable for adults and children from age 5. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Central London
For the slightly more hardcore eco-worrier, Saturday's focal point may well be the National Climate March through Central London. Organised by the Campaign against Climate Change, it's part of a global day of action with demonstrations and events taking place in more than 50 countries, designed to coincide with the UN Climate Talks in Bali. Assemble at 12 Noon in Millbank for the main march; details for the rest of the day's activities are here.

Instead of spending every night next week strolling around the shops or drinking yourself silly, why not indulge in a little time to get to grips with some serious issues? Don't' worry, it needn't be done in a serious manner. The Punk Science team at the Dana Centre are holding a Climate Change talk on 11th Dec, starting at 7pm. You can look forward to 60 minutes of bad jokes, strange demos and stand up-science humour, and a down to earth take on just what we can do to prevent climate change. They cover a range of topics from poo power to wind farms, hydrogen cars to nuclear energy. Most entertainingly, you can discover how in typical Brit style, global warming will actually make us colder. And if you're still not convinced.. the Dana centres as a shop and a bar... so you can still get your presents and whisky in. Score.

Related: It's green Christmas Fair season: upcoming events roundup I Hippyshopper out and about at howies' Carnaby Street shop launch
.

howies (yes, the lower-case h is intentional!) has branched out from its online roots to open an exciting new store in London's Carnaby Street. You can't move for eco-friendly features in the shop, which also contains a library and has running water on tap for thirsty shoppers. Catwalk Queen's Isabelle and I popped down on opening night to check out the vibe!

If, like me, you're tired of having turkey and all-butter mince pies advertised to you everywhere you look, then you might want to pop along to Animal Aid's Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre on Sunday. There will more than 80 stalls there, from a range of organisations including Viva!, PETA, Plamil Foods and the Vegan Society.

I really enjoyed last year's event, chomping my way through such delights as vegan fudge, vegan trifle (positively orgasmic, for the record!) and, of course, vegan turkey. I also picked up a lovely selection of Christmas cards from different animal charities. It was definitely a very good antidote to the meat-obsessed mainstream Yuletide marketing we're all subjected to.

The fayre runs from 10am to 5pm in Kensington Town Hall.

Related: Green things to do this weekend: tree planting days, Fair Trade fair and more.

There are plenty of entries in the green calendar this weekend, and as you might expect, green Christmas fairs are cropping up everywhere. I've included a few of these from around the UK, plus a tree-planting day for more out-doorsy types.

Central London
Head into town for some ethical shopping and MP-spotting at the Fair Trade Fair, taking place in Parliament Square. The UK's 'oldest fair Christmas event' has loads of participants on board, and runs from 12-5pm on 1st and 2nd of December at
Westminster Central Hall, Parliament Square, London SW1.

Swansea
The Swansea Christmas Green Fayre takes place on Sunday 2nd December, at the National Waterfront Museum. This will be a good one for foodies, as the green fayre's stalls will be joined by Waterfront's monthly Local Produce Market, but there's more than just mouth watering organic treats on offer here: you'll find craft stalls, tools for self-sufficient living, Oxfam charity stalls and ceramics. The event promises to be 'bigger and greener than ever', and judging by the success of last year's event, I'm sure it'll will be. You can see some pictures here.

London borough of Hackney residents are being challenged to 'shop local' next week, in a push by Wedge Card founders Diana and John Bird to get people supporting their local traders. The news comes as the local loyalty scheme celebrates its first anniversary and 500th business sign-up in the borough.

Of course, it probably won't be too hard a task for those East London groovers (which include denizens of Hoxton, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington) with their so-hip-it-hurts boutiques and their organic delis to forego a trek across town to Tescos, but some of the testimonials from local residents could inspire other areas to adopt the Wedge scheme and embrace the local community a bit more.

If you're in or around London, you could pop in to the Eco Design Fair in Regent's Park Road near Camden. It starts on Friday 23rd and finishes on Saturday 24th November, with just loads of green and ethical designers exhibiting. You'll find plenty of potential gifts here, including home stuff, art, clothes and accessories.

In Leicester, on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th, 11am to 4:30pm the EcoHouse is holding a Christmas Market selling eco friendly gifts, ideal for your environment-conscious friends and family. From recycled handbags to solar powered toys there will be something for every budget, and there'll be plenty of yummy organic food to try.

We're now a few short weeks away from Clothes Show Live, and I'm very much looking forward to checking out the fabulous ethical threads we've been promised in the new Fashion Conscience zone.

Supported by New Consumer and the Fairtrade Foundation, the zone will be the biggest ethical presence the show has ever seen. There'll be stands from Ascension, Tonic, Amira, Goodone, Amana and Enamore - all showcasing future eco-fashion trends. There'll also be a huge vintage fashion fair.

Clothes Show Live takes place between 7th and 12th December at Birmingham NEC.

howies is probably one of the most ethical brands out there so when I heard about their store launch I wasn't surprised to find that they've gone to admirable lengths to live up to their reputation. The measures include the introduction of e-receipts to save on paper and drinking water in the shop to save on plastic bottles.

The store is officially launching on the 28th November and you can bet we'll be there investigating the action. See after the jump for more images, and info on what the howies guys have done to green up their shop! [Via Catwalk Queen]