Posts Tagged ‘sustainable living’

Back to school is now fast approaching and we’ve got everything you need to make the next year’s packed lunches as sustainable as possible. From insulated lunch bags to reusable stainless steel containers, and reusable food wraps to stainless steel drinks bottles – all designed to avoid using all those prepacked foods available and instead send the kids in with homemade sandwiches or delicious leftovers.

If you are looking for recipe inspiration then take a peek at Kids Konserve’s Back to School recipe board on Pinterest www.pinterest.com/kidskonserve/back-to-school-recipes/ – lots of yummy ideas!

Taking lunch into work is definitely something that more and more people are starting to do. It is a great way of saving money, reducing packaging waste and also using up leftovers. However very few ‘lunch kit’ products are designed for adults or have any sort of style about them.  That is why we were so pleased to find the U-Konserve range of high quality, practical products with a definite fashion edge. My favourite piece is the Saffron Insulated Lunch Tote with its adjustable strap and chunky zip – guaranteed to make any leftovers look a little more glamorous! Also available in Slate grey.

We’ve just started receiving fruit and vegetable deliveries from a local branch of Riverford Organic after seeing them at the village fete. Much of the produce is grown locally and the selection changes each week so delivery day is quite exciting (is that sad?!).  It’s also great for the kids to see carrots and potatoes with mud on! But my favourite part of it is the lack of packaging that we now receive. Most things come in open boxes that we return at the end of the week – such an improvement over all the plastic packaging you get from the supermarket. Visit www.riverford.co.uk for details of your local branch.

It’s rare to get an unsolicited email that actually puts a smile on your face but when I was contacted by tapwater.org recently I genuinely thought ‘What a great idea’! They have basically put together a ‘tap water map’ highlighting cafés, pubs and shops that will let you refill your reusable water bottle for free.  There are currently 1020 refilling stations around the UK with more being added all the time. There is even one in the very rural Wiltshire village we live in!

Visit tapwater.org to see your nearest refilling station and there is also a free iphone app so you can check your nearest station when you are out and about.  They do sell reusable water bottles on the site but I’m afraid they are not quite as stylish as our beautiful EarthLust bottles!

I must admit I’m counting down the days until the children go back to school – it has been a long 6 weeks of juggling everything! Uniform is ordered, school shoes need doing this week (gulp!) but one thing I have sorted is lunch boxes. That has been made easier by the fact that we have some great products designed to reduce all that horrible packaging that tends to come with school packed lunches. First a stylish EarthLust water (or squash) bottle so they don’t need expensive juice cartons. Then a selection of our funky Keep Leaf baggies – ideal for keeping sandwiches and snacks fresh without using plastic bags. And finally a cool bambu spork – half fork and half spoon so perfect for whatever happens to be in the lunch box that day.  So a practical (and stylish) lunch kit that just needs a wash at the end of the day and doesn’t end up in the bin. Now I just need to make sure it is all named and comes back home every night!

I’ve read a lot of blogs, articles etc in which people come up with (mostly) great suggestions on how we can all do our little bit to live in a more sustainable way.  However one I read recently really made an impression on me…

“I wish for the return of people that can fix appliances and tech items like computers, TV’s, microwaves, etc. so we can stop throwing them out just to buy new ones. It is extremely hard to find anyone with the knowledge and skills to fix even a toaster now, and it contributes to our whole ‘throw it away and buy more’ mentality.”

I’m sure there are a few ads in local parish magazines for Mr (or Mrs!) Fix-Its but I agree they are really hard to find.  And because of that it can seem easier to go out and buy new.  Wouldn’t it be great if there was a central ‘database’ of local people who could offer these services – making it simplier and quicker for us to do the right thing (which is of course what we all want).

If you know of a website that does this do let me know and i’ll mention it on the blog…

You may have noticed the 1% for the Planet logo on the Green Tulip website.  It’s a charity that I signed up to soon after launching Green Tulip having heard about it from one of my suppliers.

1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses that understand the necessity of protecting the natural environment and we all pledge 1% of our sales to charities that promote the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.

What I like about the alliance is that we can choose which charities we support so are able to select those that fit with our own personal priorities or are working in our local area.  I’m just finalising details of which charities I am supporting for this year and will post details of each one in the next few weeks…