Home & Garden
As a kid, one of my favourite ways to wind up my Dad was throwing his ornamental pine cones on to our open fire in the winter. Not to be mean: I just couldn't resist it. I loved the way the (carefully collected and long-cherished) giant cones lit up so quickly and burnt with a brilliant blue flame, created by the salt in the sea air they'd absorbed as they grew.
So I was filled with childish, pyro glee when I found that you could now buy pine cones specially made and prepared for burning, along with other naturally fire-attracting and fragrant forms such as bay leaves, dried lemons and chillis. Designed to be used on barbeques and bonfires, natural herb barbeque lighters are a charming alternative to chemically laden fire-lighters and are scented with herbs and thyme oil. These are a damn site better for the environment and smell delicious too. Hand-made in Dorset, they're £14.50 for a pack of 12 at the Green Rewards Shop.
Related: How to have a more eco-friendly barbeque | Help butterflies as you barbeque with UK charcoal | Veggie and vegan barbeque ideas
Outdoors & games
Ting, the small London label behind those funky bags, belts and wallets made from upcycled materials, has really shown what its designers can do with this full-sized hammock made from car seatbelts.
The belts in the 'ting sling' are woven together and available in a choice of bright shades including hot pink, orange, camel, turquoise, chocolate or black. You'll have to contact the makers to find out how to get your hands on one, but what an awesome alternative to the traditional hammock!
Outdoors & games
Bicycle baskets are a must-have for the modern day eco-worrier, and are even better when they're designed to detach and double up as shopping bags like this pretty pannier by designer Marie Louise Gustafsson.
The inspiration for the basket's unusual design comes from Gustafsson's Swedish grandmother's crocheted tablecloths. True granny chic!
Outdoors & games
How does the idea of staying in a cozy, pre-erected, eco-friendly tent for this summer's festivals grab you? As someone who loves music but has a phobia of mud, it's certainly sounding like the way forward to me, so I checked out Tangerine Fields' site to find out the deal with their festival accommodation.
I was pleasantly surprised at the prices, which start at around £47 per person for a tent-only deal. A step up are the special packages, which include such luxuries as a seperate area within the main festival campsite, with toilets and hot showers exclusively for Tangerine Fields customers -- these start at around £70 per person, so for a modest £30 extra you can lord it over all the poor old sods in the normal tents, having to queue for the chemical bogs.
Related: The Myhab -- Mudproof fallout shelter for festivals | Millet's Celia Birtwell tent | Environmentally friendly camping and festival gear
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Outdoors & games
If you're chosing to spend your holiday in the UK you're already off to a good start in the green stakes, and if you choose accommodation with sound eco credentials, you'll lesser the impact of your trip even further.
The Green Tourism site is a great first port of call if you're looking for an eco friendly B&B or hotel in the UK, and has a handy online list of establishments that have been approved by the scheme. And this weekend, I had the chance to visit one hotel that's doing its bit for the environment, Three Acres Country House, which is set in the beautiful, remote surroundings of Exmoor National Park.
Related: Eco-tourism: Organic places to stay
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Outdoors & games
Nothing is more evocative of summer than the smell of sizzling barbeque food (even if you happen to be veggie). But how green is this form of outdoor cooking? The answer is it can be either decidedly ungreen, or not bad at all depending on which methods and fuel types you choose...
Lucy Sigel has given some good tips in this article on how to reduce the impact of your barbeque; the main point being that you should avoid the modern sort that pump out vast quantities of gas or electricity and ensure you use sustainable charcoal. A traditional, charcoal-burning model is the greener choice, and I love the fact that she mentions the best barbeque she ever had was cooked on a customised wheelbarrow.
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Green gadgets
You can always trust Firebox to come up with groovy gadgets to capture the imagination, and its range of solar powered toys is growing all the time.
Just in time for summer are these funky, Chinese-style LED lanterns, which soak up the sun during the day and give off a gorgeous glow as night descends. Each lantern is equppied with a dusk sensor so you need do nothing more than hang them in an eyecatching position and wait for the evening to begin. Each pack contains three red lanterns and three white ones. But here's the clever bit: the white lanterns contain colour changing LEDS that gently cycle through a kaleidoscope of entrancing colours. Trippy! £29.95 at Firebox
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