Viva!’s Louise Grace brings you ideas to pack your life with fun, flavour and freebies

Green Your Life issue 38, Summer 2008

Lifestyle

 Viva!’s Louise Grace brings you ideas to green your life…

I Recycle My Tantrums!

Does this sound like your little un? If so you’ll enjoy browsing through the Little Green Radicals online shop, where there is a baby and children’s fashion range for rambunctious little eco tots, by Hug. All their clothes are made using organic and fairtrade cotton and it isn’t what you might expect. They don’t do boring, beige, basics. They love colour, humour and penguins. I bought tees for my young sons and found the quality excellent – soft and durable and believe me, it needs to be!

To see the contemporary, fun styles including Stop the Wailing and I Only Eat Organic Chips in sizes ranging from zero to six years, go to www.littlegreenradicals.co.uk. T shirts are £10, baby playsuits £12. There are also bibs, pyjamas, jeans and gift sets. Or call 0845 130 1525.

Giveaway!

Help your budding eco warrior along the way. Email louise@viva.org.uk, putting Little Greens Rads in subject and state which style and size t shirt you’d like (worth £10) from www.littlegreenradicals.co.uk. The first three will be picked on 30 September 2008.

Ecoballs to You!

One of my favourite green products, you have to try Ecoballs! Not a green sex device but a fabulous alternative to washing powder. You may think me sad getting excited by a washing device but these balls are brilliant – you pop three into your washing machine and they clean your clothes without the use of harsh chemicals or polluting our water supply. The rinse cycle can be shortened saving water and electricity. They last for about 700 washes and then you refill with pellets. It’s great not having the hassle and expense of lugging heavy powders/liquids home and even greater not having to rid of all that wasteful packaging. Also one of my sons has eczema and these have helped us knock that on the head. 

They clean by increasing alkalinity (so killing bacteria) and making water molecules smaller and active, lifting dirt from the fibres. Do they work? Yes very well – they cope with my five year old sons stained clothes and that’s saying something. They don’t contain bleach so for whites I use a stain remover if need be and that works fine. They cost about £34.99 from UK manufacturers Ecozone including refills and stain remover, or you can find big offers on ethical web shops. 

Also check out Ecozone’s Dryerballs. Tumble dryers are notoriously energy gobbling devices, at least by using Dryerballs you reduce drying time by a quarter and have soft clothes naturally without chemical-laden, allergy promoting fabric softeners. They last for about two years and cost £8. Both from www.ecozone.co.uk

Giveaway

Try out these little balls of wonder for yourself (worth £34.99 per set)! Send your name and address to: Viva! Ecoball Giveaway, 8 York Court, Wilder St, Bristol BS2 8QH or email louise@viva.org.uk with Viva! Ecoballs in subject, by 30 September 2008 when three winners will be sploshed out of the wash. 

Bent on Hemp

Hemp has long been an eco crop with no pesticides being used because it is unpalatable to insects and no herbicides because it grows too quickly for other plants to compete! It also uses a fraction of the water compared with cotton.  

Its strong fibres make shoes and handbags every vegetarian and vegan can be rightly smug about – no leather, no plastics – just hardy biodegradable plant materials. Viva! tester Kiki bought the ladies hemp shoes from small Welsh company, Hempish (£40 inc p&p) and raved: “they are the most comfy trainers I’ve ever had. In fact it’s hard not to wear them because they make everything else seem restrictive. They have lasted very well too.”

They also have some stylish, roomy all-hemp shoulder bags, fantastic, if like me, you carry the world in your handbag! In the region of £29. www.hempish.com

Giveaway

Hempish are giving readers the chance to try their ultra rich, Hemp Lavender Lotion made with 22% pure hemp oil, it’s guaranteed to leave your skin silky smooth.

and they are giving readers the chance to win a 50ml jar worth £7.75 each.  Send your name and address to: Viva! Hempish Lotion Giveaway, 8 York Court, Wilder St, Bristol BS2 8QH or email louise@viva.org.uk with Hempish in subject, by 30 September 2008 when 10 winners will be

Clean Up Your Act!

So you’ve cut the nasty chemicals out of your diet – it’s time to ditch the toxic waste dump under the sink! Earth Friendly Products, have an impressive variety of affordable, 100 per cent natural, non-toxic cleaning products for all around the home. Made with renewable plant based ingredients, the formulas are biodegradable, use natural perfumes and are not tested on animals. I got low down and dirty with the Orange Mate Multi Surface cleaner (£3.75) – the zingy scent makes it a joy to use and within no time my surfaces were sparkling! View the range at www.earthfriendlyproducts.co.uk

Discount Offer!

New Viva!Life customers to the Earth Friendly website www.earthfriendlyproducts.co.uk can try the four best selling products for £4.50 inc p+p.  Includes free sample worth £1.50. Click on the Viva Reader banner. While stocks last!

Such a Dish

Using a dishwasher? Then you’ll have noticed how hard it is to buy environmentally friendly, vegan cleaning tabs. Search no more as Simply Dishwash by Aquados fits the plate slot. Choose from Active or Citrus (£4.99 for 30 washes). They work every bit as well as more polluting brands. Buy online (delivery is free) from www.simplywashing.com or from Morrisons, Coop or Sainsburys.

Discount Offer!

For a 10% discount on first online orders for Viva!Life readers.  Visit www.simplywashing.com and order products using discount code viva1 by 30 September, 2008.

Smell the Coffee

Ethical Addictions have seven premium gourmet fair trade coffees which are a delight. Viva!’s coffee connoisseur Tony tested Machare Kilimanjaro (£9.50 500g), sourced from Tanzania’s bourbon plants cultivated at altitude, in rich volcanic soil and fed by clear glacial water. “It is bursting with flavour, strong but velvety smooth. Drink with a fine brandy and life is perfect!”

The Machare Farm lies 4,500 feet up on the slopes of snow-capped Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain and is owned by the local village cooperatives. More from www.ethicaladdictions.co.uk

Giveaway + Discount Offer!

For a chance to win a special selection gift pack of Ethical Addictions coffee and Divine chocolates (add your own brandy!) Send your name and address to: Viva! Ethical Addictions Giveaway, 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH or email louise@viva.org.uk with “Viva! Ethical Addictions” in subject by September 30, 2008

If that’s not all Ethical Addictions are also offering a 10% discount on first orders.  Visit www.eacoffee.co.uk with promo code VIVAMAG at checkout.

A Staple-less Diet

Never run out of staples again! This new Ecostapler does what it says on the packet – clips together up to three pages (any more causes a jam – I tried!). It looks cool and cleverly cuts a tag of paper that loops back on itself through a punched hole. The stapler also makes recycling easy as there is no need to hurt your fingers to remove staples! “If everyone in UK offices saved one staple a day that would be 72 tonnes of metal saved a year”. Wasteonline. £4.75 (plus £1 p&p) from Viva! www.viva.org.uk/shop or call 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm).

Hit the Rucksack

One of the top selling and most useful green goodies from Viva! is its groovy Rucksack (40x33x20cm). It is spacious and exceptionally high quality – weather resistant made from seven recycled plastic bottles no less. It has two separate compartments on the outside and a mobile pocket inside. The shoulder straps are amply padded and have grippy bits underneath to stop slippage. I can vouch that it’s very comfy to wear. £22 plus £5.50 p&p from Viva! www.viva.org.uk/shop or call 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm).

Fine Wines

Wine and beer are usually clarified with fining agents that are derived from animals. Products such as gelatine (crushed bones etc) and isinglass (from fish swim bladders) are widely used to remove proteins and yeasts in suspension in the wine before it is bottled. Some are clarified using battery egg albumen or casein (milk protein). If you’re looking for an amazing selection of high quality vegan and organic wines and beers, I’m going to make you happy! Call Viva! on 0117 944 1000 (Mon-Fri) and ask for their Wine Club catalogue or go to www.viva.org.uk/shop and visit the wine club. There are about 350 wines and beers from around the world (many from the UK and EU). The web shop is easy to use and the variety is excellent. Go on treat yourself!