We are all encouraged to switch to more energy efficient light bulbs and, apart from the lower energy consumption, they offer an interesting benefit - new designs for lampshades.

As the low energy bulbs generate very little heat, a wider variety of heat sensitive materials can now be use for light fittings, particularly plastic which would have melted if placed close to the old stye incandescent bulbs.

Someone who has grasped this opportunity with both hands is designer Sarah Turner.

She makes beautiful light fittings from recycled plastic bottles.

The lamp shown here is from the ‘Lily’ range which are made from  either 9 or 12 two litre drinks bottles. You can buy them on their own or with a table lamp base.

The Sprite bottle's colour makes the inside sections green with the outside white, but when switched on these colours seem to reverse and make the lamp truly stunning! Also available in plain white in both sizes.

For more stunning designs, which you can now buy online, visit Sarah’s website www.sarahturner.co.uk

Sarah  has just been shortlisted for a competition over at Inhabitiat.com so, if you would like to make her day, you can vote for her here : and then simply click on the green leaf vote symbol at the top of the page.

Earth Hour this year created a great deal of publicity with landmarks such as Sydney Harbor Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum and Egypt's pyramids all standing in darkness as more than 4,000 cities in 128 countries turned off their lights.

An interesting article exploring ‘Environmentalism as a bridge’ has been published by Joseph Mayer, in Kansas, USA.   He writes: “ The desire to create a new global community focused not on political action but on environmental responsibility is uniting environmental experts, organizations and activists from the West and the Middle East.”

Read the full article at www.Kansascity.com

Soon the whole of West Bridgford will receive the Greening Campaign Challenge cards through their letter box.

One of the challenges is to walk/cycle if your journey is less than 1 mile.

I have just come across a wonderful invention to stay safe and visible on the road for walkers, cyclists, horse riders, and other road users. I hope you find it of interest too.

Anklelite
Baglite

To find out where to buy:

For those of you who don't live in West Bridgford you can still join in and do the challenges. The more the merrier.

From today I will post a Challenge per day, so watch this space!

Nokia is still at the top of the Greenpeace 2010 Green Electronic Rankings and Samsung have dropped to 7th place.  Seems they fell by loosing points because of “backtracking on its commitment to eliminate brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in new models of all products by January 2010 and PVC by end of 2010.”

The rankings are always an interesting list and well worth dipping into just to see how the large companies are dealing with their environmental responsibilities.

More details at Greenpeace.org

Choice is EVERYTHING and now you can make your own ‘accessory’ decisions and be a little eco-friendly at the same time.

'Shains' are new customisable environmentally friendly accessories and jewellery for children, teens and adults which have interchangeable letters and icons for you to say what you mean and wear it proudly!

You buy all the pieces individually (or in small packs) and then clip them onto arm bands or cuffs.

Key Features

• Made of recycled materials
• Bracelets & Cuffs are made of recycled TRE (Thermoplastic Elastomer, a rubber)
• Elements are made of recycled ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
• Packaging is made of recycled papers
• Product is recyclable when you are ready to go and get new ones.
• Shainsware gives back a percentage of net profits to environmental organizations.

Everything Shains produces is certified lead free.

Have a look at the various elements on www.ticktocktrading.com

[Via Hippyshopper]

If you are looking for unusual T shirts produced by a company with ethical standards then try I Dress Myself.

An independent screen printing business established in 2006, they hand print limited edition shirts (posters and bags) from the heart of Nottingham and ship world-wide.

Designed by a small selection of artists (many local to the city), and printed on organic cotton, using water based inks, I Dress Myself have found an interesting sector of the market for themselves. They have clear ethical principals, print using ecologically sound materials, bank ethically and produce some stunning, and unique designs.

I just received Peter Conway’s Dead Rabbit T shirt as a gift from an inspired member of my family. A limited edition of 200, the quality is impressive, the design hilarious and I know that I now belong to a very exclusive ‘club’ of 200 people around the world who have something special which supports ethical standards and inspiring artists. Great present!

With the festive season just over the horizon this might be the place to source some unique quality gifts online. They package their products in recycled materials and have an easy to use website where you can view their entire collection. More details at www.idressmyself.co.uk
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Make 2010 count by making little energy saving measures that could knock up to £300 a year off your fuel bills. It really doesn’t take long to make a difference. There’s always something you can do, however little time you have. If you want to get the full details why not visit the Energy Saving Website

They are fun to receive, sometimes stressful to send (who did I forget) and easy to recycle.

If you have a heap of Christmas cards at home, or in the office, don’t bin them, take advantage of the Woodland Trust recycling scheme until January 31st 2008.

You can drop them off at WHSmith stores, TESCO supermarkets, TK Maxx stores or M&S and by doing that you will help them reach their target of recycling 100 million cards. The money that the Woodland Trust raises from the recycling will allow them to plant 24,000 trees in the UK.

So, turn your card back into a tree, de-clutter your house and make yourself feel good about all that paper which came through your letterbox in December.

More details can be found at: www.woodland-trust.org.uk

A New Year, a new start and possibly time for a good tidy up and deep cleaning session!
If you would like to have some green cleaning tips have a look at this website

Bicarbonate of Soda, Baking Soda, Bicarb, whatever you want to call it, this is a great versatile addition to your household.

It can neutralise acid, scrub shiny materials without scratching, deodorise, and extinguish grease fires. It can be used as a deodoriser in the refrigerator, on smelly carpets, on upholstery and on vinyl. It can help deodorise drains. It can clean and polish aluminium, chrome, jewellery, plastic, porcelain, silver, stainless steel and tin. It can soften fabrics and remove certain stains and also soften hard water.

For more ideas of the many uses of Bicarbonate of Soda go to our Eco Info pages.

Please note that this is not food grade Bicarbonate of Soda as it isn't packaged in a Food Standard environment.

Our Bicarbonate Of Soda now comes packaged in degradable polythene bags.

Also available in 500g & 1kg Pack

Not exactly close to home but the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree has gone all ‘Eco’.

A main attraction of the Centre in New York, the tree normally consumes a vast amount of energy due to all those tiny lights. This year the tree will be illuminated with 30,000 LED lights which use much less energy and are expected to reduce the consumption from a previous 3,510 kilowatt hours per day to around 1,300.

That saving, it seems, is the equivalent to the amount of electricity used by a small house in a month!

[ Via Engadget.com ]

With Christmas just around the corner, the discerning foodie will already be planning from where to source the best festive produce. This year they need look no further than Localfoodshop, where more than 200 producers have nearly 4000 products to choose from. Have a look at https://www.bigbarn.co.uk/ and let yourself be dazzled by the amount of local producers at your fingertips.