It's Friday, which means beer day, and after spotting a post on the Guardian about how enviromentally friendly whisky is, it seemed only apt to consider how ethical another beverage is, namely Perry.

Now I must admit, coming from Hereford, I have a vested interest in all things cidery, but what many people don't know about proper perry is that it's created solely by the pressing of pears. At this time of year, the roads around Hereford are jammed with lorries filled with fruit and, unlike beer, no yeast or sugar, or in fact anything else is added to the mix. Squish perry pears, let them ferment and you have perry - period. Now if you consider that, the opportunities for a truly environmentally friendly and ethically sustainable product are in place.

In my search for organic perry, however, only the one producer crops up. Dunkertons is a Herefordshire company, and a wonderful antidote to the massive Bulmers factory just down the road (which, as well as making Bulmers Original cider and Strongbow, also, peculiarly owns arch enemy Magners).

If you want something saucy to spice up your browsing time, but aren't keen on looking at the flesh of flesh-eaters, then VegPorn.com should be your first port of call! An adult site made by veggies and vegans, and with a strict policy of only using veggie and vegan models, the site strives for the arguably oxymoronic title of a morally sound porn site. The site's creators also insist on a policy of using all shapes and sizes of model, so you can rest assured that no human cruelty - in the unpleasant form of body facism - is involved in the making of the site, either. In an amusing, Nigella-esque sexing-up of the culinary arts, there's even a section where you can see models cooking delicious vegan meals!

When you've got yourself adequately hot under the collar - or even if you're just more interested in the veggie/vegan flesh of your beloved than of strangers on a website - then it's probably time to follow the 'Store' link and visit The Sensual Vegan where you can choose from a range of vegan lubes, condoms, massage oils and sex toys.

Related: Vegan condoms

We've been chuckling away all week over super-geeky web comic XKCD here at Shiny Towers, and today's offering is all about things environmental. So why not fire up the old Tefal Quick-cup, enjoy a cup of fairtrade coffee, and have a browse through the other cartoons?

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.

Here's another impressive, shining example of how trash can be turned into trinket with the appliance of a creative mind. I'm not sure I've quite got what it takes to put together a banana box chandelier this weekend, but it's certainly making me think a lot more inventively about what I might do with all those old juice cartons piling up in the recycle bin!

The 'Chiquita Chandelier' is the work of Dutch designer Anneke Jakobs, whose site is well worth a browse. [Via Craftzine]

Talk about cutting edge! this exciting little 'hybrid' is just one of many bicycle/lawnmower combos that the guys over at Treehugger managed to dig up; every one of them powered solely by the groover peddling away on the saddle.

There's a serious side to this, as petrol-motored lawnmowers are actually some of the most polluting vehicles of their size.

Somehow, I don't think it's the sort of mean-machine that will really help the green movement's image, but I'm sure there are plenty of gardeners who'd appreciate it, and it looks like great exercise too! [Via Treehugger]

One of the criticism leveled at those who choose to spend their time knitting, crocheting or sewing pretty little 'motifs' on to fabric is that it's a bit, well, pointless. I happen to find it very therapeutic and calming, but if that's too self indulgent for you, you can't argue with these projects, which are all in a very good cause. Crafting for Charity is taking off in a big way at the moment, and Crafty Crafty recently posted a roundup of some of the most inventive creative projects that are currently helping charities. I've reproduced it here, just in time for the weekend...

1. Innocent's The Big Knit

The Big Knit is a great idea for keeping older people warm in winter, devised and run each year by Innocent Smoothies. Hundreds of volunteers send in miniature bobble-hats (in all kinds of inventive styles!) to fit on the tops of smoothie bottles. Then each time one of the hat-wearing smoothies is sold during the run-up to the festive season, Innocent donate a very generous 50p to Age Concern.

Innocent are currently seeking more knitters to take part in the project, and reach their ambitious 400,000 hat target (last year, they received £230,000 hats). So if you can knit, this really is a worthwhile and fun project to get involved with. If you want design inspiration, there's a flickr group here showing some of the designs already submitted.

Follow the jump for more projects

Ever since Anya Hindmarch launched her fabled 'not a plastic bag' bag into the eager hands of a baying mob, there's been a flurry of creative activity involved in copying her much coveted masterpiece, and it's resulted in some really interesting work!

Some are simple knock-offs, looking to cash in on the eagerness of fashionistas to hand over money for one, others are sarcastic piss-takes while others still take the idea into really quite inventive territory. Here's a quick sample...

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has today set up a virtual island on Second Life, designed to allow residents to live in harmony with its friendly wild animal population.

"Conservation Island" includes Mr Tangee, an orangutan with an ice-cream van (exactly how wild is that supposed to be?), and guide pandas who show people around the wind-powered town.

"WWF set up the island as a way to help people learn about conservation issues and the need to live sustainably. We want to be able to show people that WWF has solutions to the real environmental issues affecting their 'first life'," said WWF's David Cole.

I hope it doesn't happen, but the first thing that sprang to mind was someone enacting a virtual "Blue Peter Garden" vandalism. At least it's easier to reconstruct a virtual world.

What products should a green never buy? It can be confusing to keep track, so if you're baffled by the array of 'eco' products appearing on the shelves at the moment, it's a good idea to have some ground rules in the back of your mind so you can make informed decisions.

Lighter footstep have come up with a handy list of the fundamental principles that underlie ethical shopping: The Dirty Dozen. So keep this in your mind and you can't go far wrong. Some are obvious: don't by over-packaged goods, and make sure it's always the energy saving, CFL-type lightbulbs that go into your trolley. But others may not have crossed your mind - there are certain types of plastic (all of which are labeled if you know where to check) that we should really be cutting down on.

This short cartoon, based on sci-fi hit The Matrix exposes the shocking reality of factory farming and the lies we tell ourselves about where our food comes from. In the film, we meet Moo-pheus who tells us about the horrors of intensive farming, such as animal cruelty, the propogation of antibiotic resistant germs, pollution and destroyed communities. But it's not all doom and gloom; at the end, he guides us to the main body of the site, which has some useful info on what you can do to escape the 'Meatrix' and get involved with the fight against factory farming.

I'm not quite sure what the publishers of this timeline were trying to say, but make of it what you will. On the one hand, it smacks of the rather defeatist, self-debasing 'humans are evil' school of thought that give the green movement a bad name, but it's quite interesting to see how the earth would look if the human race were to make a sudden exit now, and it also offers some hope that our actions now could have a positive effect on generations to come.

However, skim to the end and you'll see there are some man-made problems that are likely to be with us for the duration. We've certainly left out mark.

Lemons are our friends, and so are the people at Eco Street, so we thought we'd share their top tips on how the humble lemon can help you live an eco-friendly life. From cooking to cleaning to fighting off a cold, lemons really can do a lot for a small fruit. Read on for 10 eco-friendly things that you can do with lemons, then hot-foot it to your local farmers market to stock up!

1. Grow a lemon tree - the most eco-friendly thing to do with lemons is grow them so that you have your own carbon neutral supply. These can be grown in the UK, believe it or not.

2. Highlight your hair - much better for you and the environment than commercial bleaches. Mix the juice of one lemon with one teaspoon of salt and apply to your hair with a comb. Get out into the sun for a couple of hours. Do some vegetable gardening, tend your lemon tree, go for a walk, you get the picture. Don't do this too often, it will dry your hair out.

More lemony tips after the jump

We've featured the global warming mug from Firebox before, but it takes on a horrible new poignancy now that half of Britain already seems to be underwater. This animation shows what happens when you pour hot water into the mug, mimicking the possible effects of climate change. A great way to make skeptics wake up and smell the coffee. And if that doesn't work, why not point them towards a rather more accurate animated map courtesy of the Guardian website, where you can watch a simple video on why the weather has been so bad and why the floods have happened.

But it seems we may now be in for a pleasant surprise, as there's less rain forecast for the UK over the next few days than I've seen in weeks...have a great weekend, folks!

This video from Good magazine is the latest YouTube style public information film about the environmental cost of of e-waste or 'high tech trash' caused by the built-in obsolescence of today's gadgets. If you feel you don't need to be told any of this, then it's worth watching if only for the very catchy backing track...went down a storm at Shiny Towers, so why not play it and get your office bopping.