It's a scandal that millions of people in Africa still can't access clean drinking water. If you want to do your bit to rectify this, next time you go to the supermarket choose Thirsty Planet bottled water. For each multipack (eight bottles) sold, 50p will be donated to Pump Aid. They are a charity organisation working with local communities in Africa to create sustainable supplies of fresh, clean water. The goal of this particular campaign is to supply clean water to at least 10 million people by 2015. So far, since Thirsty Water was launched in March, they have raised £108,828 which equates to 435 pumps, serving 217,656 Africans. It's currently available to buy at Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-op and Waitrose.

Related: Support world water day with One Water | Gravity water purifier from Natural Collection

The folks at Printing.com are offering half priced recycled stuff (as they term it). The discount applies to a number of items, including: 1000 recycled leaflets from £97and 1000 recycled business cards from £64. Ok, so they also print a lot of stuff that isn’t recycled, but it’s a start.

Recycled paper no longer looks like old school crispy toilet paper, with a hefty price tag and 50% less energy is used when recycling rather than incinerating paper, over its complete life cycle. The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) through an international research project, have concluded that recycled paper helps redirect waste from landfill sites and its production is less harmful to the environment than regular paper.

If you need some leaflets, business cards, or other marketing materials for your line of work, make sure they are green.

Billed as the 'world's smallest wind generator', this toy from gonegreen might not be able to power your house but it does look great.

Blow on the rotor blades and the LEDs light up. It would make a great way to teach children about wind power - or you could just keep it for yourself...

Related:Turbulence for home wind turbines | The great ethical toy guide

Spam is annoying, but at least it only takes a click of the mouse to banish all those once-in-a-lifetime business opportunities, investment ideas and dodgy health products to the dustbin forever. Junk mail - the kind that falls onto your doormat every morning - is a different story. It takes up vast amounts of energy to produce and deliver and is usually just us annoying and useless as its electronic counterpart.

These nifty recycled labels from Ecotopia present a novel solution to the problem - stick one onto any unsolicited mail and pop it back in the post so the sender gets the message you're not interested.

If there's no return address, I suggest you just grit your teeth and throw the mail into your recycling pile.

Recycled labels, £1.99 for 50

Related:Brother, can you spare some Greendimes? | Junk Mail Gems turns trash into fashion

My attempts at DIY tend to end with mangled fingers and wonky shelves, but that doesn't stop me trying. If you're a bit more efficient, the green building store could be an invaluable resource for any weekend projects.

The website does exactly what the name suggests, listing suppliers and products for all aspects of building, indoors and out. There's also an information and advice section - and if it all gets too complicated, a list of professional environmentally-friendly architects, builders and craftspeople you can call in to do it for you.

Related posts: Review: Green Building Bible (2nd edition, natch) | Eco home building shows

At Hippyshopper we're used to pointing you in the direction of ethical and green goods, but what if you'd rather be selling than buying?

For all you budding eco-entrepreneurs, ngo.media have recently launched a new book: Your Ethical Business - How to plan, start and succeed in a company with a conscience. The book covers everything from green funding to fairtrade coffee for the staffroom, and you can buy it from all things green for £11.95

Related posts: The slow greening of business in Britain | Ethical sales and boycotts outstrip beer and fags sales

"If countries like China don't cut their carbon emissions drastically then it doesn't matter what the rest of us do."

I'm beginning to lose count of how many times I've heard that argument, or a variation of it. There is some truth to it, but that doesn't make it any less disheartening to hear it used repeatedly as an excuse for inaction across Europe.

Good news from China this week then, with the announcement that plans for the world's first carbon-neutral city have been unveiled.

Sad but true: 'hippy sex' isn't a phrase that most people would find erotic. I don't know about you, but it makes me think of '60s-style free love, all naked and long-haired in a muddy field.

Thank your deity of choice, then, for Babeland's (formerly Toys in Babeland) latest offering – the Eco-Sexy Kit. All of the products, from the soy massage candle to the Laya Spot vibrator, are made of natural products and none of the components are tested on or made from animals. So crack open a bottle of fairtrade wine, dim your low-energy lights and enjoy, 21st-century hippy style.

Human rights charity Amnesty International has announced a new service that will allow members to donate funds using a mobile phone.

The new payment system, which allows donations of up to £800, was carefully chosen by Amnesty, which has traditionally been a bit tech-shy.

What makes the washing machine here greener than other mass market washing machines?  It's front-loaded, which is more energy efficient and gentler on clothes than the top-loaded variety.  With an energy rating of A+, and washing and centrifugal efficiencies rated A, it comes out tops at Etheco's green rating system.  And at only £213.64, upgrading will ultimately pay for itself in reduced mains, hot water and clothing costs.  Etheco also helps you find green energy and service providers across the corporate spectrum.  [GT]

[Via New Consumer]

Etheco

More utilities and services

If you want to live a totally organic life, you're going to need a bit of help tracking everything down. And that's exactly what a new website called Organic Assistant aims to do.

Whether it's a hotel serving organic fare or an organic meal for your moggy you're looking for, the website will find it in its database of thousands of organically-certified products and services, via an easy browse feature that lets you locate those nearest to you.

[Via New Consumer]

Well done to the folks behind Delocator; they have come up with a great idea. You put in your postcode and the website tells you where your nearest independent coffee shop is. Say goodbye to corporate coffee! Resist globalisation!

Okay, so the site is nowhere near comprehensive yet, but you can help out with that by adding your local cafe.

[Via EcoWorrier]

Related stories: Starbucks fair trade claims | Even fairer coffee | Black Gold

The saw about the world beating a path to your door if you invent a better mousetrap was surely disproven by a lot of developments in the computer industry. Same is true in environmentalism, but Eco-Marketing is about clearing that up. Pairing corporations who have green aspirations and cash but no eco-sense with eco-mavens in a long-arms-deep-pockets situation, sectors covered range from recycling to alternative medicines, and services from research to telemarketing. [GT]

Eco-Marketing

Related stories: Saving Green by Going Green: turn your business hippy | Top concern for ethical investors is workers' rights | Monday ethical celeb: Sir Paul the garbage picker

Barnet council is consulting its residents about planning rules it's proposing that will encourage builders only to install showers and not to provide baths.

The rules would apply to house extensions and developments of less than 10 homes. Planning committees will look at whether water flows to power showers have been restricted, water meters have been fitted and a water butt installed, but ultimately the council could refuse planning permission to developments that unnecessarily include a bath.

Presumably the subjective term of 'unnecessarily' allows them to wave through things like housing developments for people of restricted mobility. As a new father, however, I might even argue that I need the bath to wash my daughter, since I doubt she would appreciate a shower at her tender age.  (Not that she enjoys baths either.)

Tameside council "is to fine its own departments £30 for every computer left on overnight in a bid to save energy." The council reckons a computer left on all day costs £37 a year to run, £27 more than it would cost if users simply switched if off at nights and at weekends.

When the council left warning stickers on PCs which had been left on overnight in a kind of trial run, the resultant change in behaviour saved £4,000 in one building in three months. Leaving aside the obvious environmental benefits, I'm sure council tax payers will be happy to see that kind of saving.