If you're planning on a rural adventure this Easter weekend, the Soil Association have teamed up with some of Britain's organic farms to run fun events that will give you an insight into where our food comes from as well as making for a great day out.
There'll be farm walks and tours, the promise of "ample opportunities to see gambolling lambs in the fields" - and even the chance to learn about lambing firsthand. If that all sounds a bit messy to you city types, fear not: Green and Blacks have also got involved, and are running Easter Egg hunts at several of the farms. Follow the jump for a list of participating farms, with activity details...
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It may sound like an entry in a list of unfortunately named foreign products, but Munchskins Bum Bum Balm will in fact work wonders for little ones with nappy rash and parents who don't want to rub obscure chemicals into their babies' most sensitive parts.
Now available in the UK, the Canadian-made balm is completely natural, made from pure, organic and cruelty-free ingredients such as unbleached beeswax, organic Calendula infused Sunflower Oil and Vitamin E. £6.49 at Global Kids
[Via Ecofabulous]
'Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon', Winne the Pooh once wisely said, so it's nice to see his sentiment is a little bit more true now we can buy balloons that are not only fairly traded, but 100% biodegradable and made from rubber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Much as we love them, most balloons are a menace to the environment, being essentially a disposable product that doesn't stay in one place for long: they either end up in landfill, or float off into the environment at large where they can do damage to wildlife.These large, extra-strong balloons -- the first to be ethically and environmentally sound -- are made in India and great quality, which is perhaps surprising when they are designed to decompose in an ecologically sound way. Now that sounds worth celebrating to me! [Via Little Green Blog]
Pack of 25 for £2.30 at Fair Deal Trading
I can't decide what makes me love these toys the most: that they're gorgeous, the prices, the fair trade principles, the eco-friendliness or the fact that this is not mass-marketed plastic TV-branded crap. These beautiful wooden toys are made with sustainably sourced materials - primarily chemical-free rubberwood and non-toxic water-based paints - in factories that are located close to communities so that craftsmen can "maintain quality relationships with their own children while they make toys for others".
ImagiPLAY also claims to visit every factory to ensure there is a safe, clean, respectful working environment, no child labour and only a local workforce paid a fair, living wage. The mark-up on the products isn't huge, however. The Noah's Ark or Day at the Zoo playsets, to give two examples of many, are $99 and only $26.99 respectively, the latter being budget-friendly for many even if the exchange rate isn't working in your favour. Imaginative, long-lasting, sustainable, ethically-produced toys; can you get much better than that?
As anyone who's ever been a child will know, headlice (or 'nits') are a fact of life that will never go away, probably.
You'll also remember just how vile and pungent that ointment used to treat the problem was. I know I hated it -- which is why I've decided to share with you a remedy you can make yourself for treating headlice. So if you have children and don't want to subject them to those chemical fumes next time the nit nurse comes a-calling, I'm told that this home made cure from Little Green Blog really does work. Here's what you'll need:
Home headlice treatment:
10 mls of neem oil
90 mls of sesame oil
20 drops each of rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus, lemon, bergamot and geranium essential oils.
Follow the jump for instructions on how to use.
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Popular US babywear range Happy Green Bee is buzzing over to Britain with a fun collection of organic clothing and accessories for infants and toddlers.
The range features fun, practical and brightly coloured toddlers clothes that have gone down a storm in the USA. They are comfortable, stylish and as fun to buy as they are to wear and can be mixed and matched in endless combinations. The brightly-coloured clothing is non gender specific, and there are some really cute accessories to check out, too. Available exclusively at Green Mums.
You'd be forgiven for thinking I was a teensy bit obsessed with Alpacas this week, but when they get involved in such unbearably cute scrapes as this and this can you honestly blame me?
On a more serious note, the wooly critters are green on a number of levels, so buying clothes made from their yarn is pretty much a win-win: in parts of Peru, for example, the animals are a crucial part of the community. In the freezing andes, they provide a constant source of highly nutritious milk, and their wool can be sold by families struggling to make ends meet. And the wool itself is very eco-friendly and hypo-allergenic for sensitive skins. These adorable baby bunny hats are made from 100% alpaca wool and are available here with 20% off original price
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