With their simple and iconic designs, Veja fairtrade sneakers are proving to be a hit the world over, and the brand is now branching out of its native France with a new store to open tomorrow in London's Brick Lane.
Veja's collection has grown rapidly since its launch in 2003, with many new and interesting colour combinations, materials and styles. But the company has remained true to its ethics, sourcing organic cotton from Brazil and wild rubber from the Amazon. You'll find the new store at The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane.
Related: Veja fairtrade trainers now available in UK | Junior fairtrade footsteps from Veja
There are a lot of alarming stories in the news just now about the dangers lurking in the plastics we've been using for years as drinking vessels, packaging, babies' bottles and so on. While these hazards are being looked into, I'd certainly prefer to avoid BPA and other nasties found in plastics, and let's not forget that the petroleum used to make these are bad for the environment, too. All good reasons to switch to a safer, less toxic form of plastic such as Ecogen, now available at Big Green Smile, which is biodegradable and comes from renewable sources.
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If you haven't got enough shopping totes already (and I have to admit, they do have a habit of wandering, or splitting when you cram in that one extra large jar of Marmite) here's one with an interesting story behind it.
The bags are brought to you by the Chimp-loving UN Messenger of Peace and staunch eco campaigner, Dr. Jane Goodall. She's teamed up with GANT, to draw attention to the plight of forests in Tanzania, where she began her research on primates. To do your bit, buy just one of the bags at £8 each, and the Jane Goodall Institute will plant twenty-five trees, which really does help the jungle grow! Available to order online at GANT.
Seed paper was a very trendy way fo people to scream "I'm green!" a year or two ago, and makes for a fun gimmick that is a bit better for the planet than normal paper if you can be bothered to plant it (so far my attempts have been unsuccessful, but do send me your pics if you've managed to turn a seed-paper business card or envelope into a blooming garden).
And now, The Pretenders have jumped on the bandwagon with a limited-edition seed paper sleeve for their latest album.
Related: Leonardo Di Caprio's 11th Hour released with eco-friendly packaging
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As a hippyshopper reader, the odds are you'll have a favourite green business or two that you return to time and again. It could be an online store, a cafe or restaurant or even a pub that takes its ethical responsibilities seriously. And you may have found yourself wishing you could tell more people how great it is. Now, a new idea from our American friends lets you do this while having fun and making friends: it's called carrotmobbing.
Read on to find out how you can get involved...
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It's been a while since I've experienced the joys of runways, models and 'fashion canapes', but last week saw me dust off my fashion hat and head down to London's trendy Truman Brewery to check out the spring/summer '09 collection from Junky Styling. Junky have been making recycling cool since 1997 and since they first repurposed a suit, founders Kerry Seager and Annika Saunders have gone from strength to strength, using almost entirely pre-worn fabrics for their stylish designs.
Follow the jump to find out about their latest collection.
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He may have been en route to deliver news about the creation of the biggest 'mega bank' the UK has ever seen, but judging by all of this morning's papers, Sir Victor Blank, chairman of Lloyds TSB, did not rock up in the sort of luxury vehicle you'd normally expect a big-wig to cruise around in: instead, he arrived in true eco style in a jolly red G-Wiz. So far so good - but was the gesture as green as it looked?
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