One of my favourite thing about my blog is that I have this massive opportunity to make a difference. I use my blog to spread the word and make people aware of ethical and green issues. I find that the best way is to do this by introducing other options, that are positive choices for people and planet. We don’t have to accept and buy the goods big labels and glossy adverts are trying to sell us. Money is a vote which you can use every time you go shopping. By using your spending power wisely you can help to create a better, healthier and greener world.
With that in mind, the idea to create a new monthly review series called “My Ethical And Green Picks Of The Month” was born. The posts are to introduce all the small shops and indie brands which produce and sells ethically produced, eco-friendly, organic, natural, cruelty – free and fairly traded goods, that are alternatives to everyday items such as fast fashion, processed food, cosmetics and cleaners containing toxins and harmful chemicals. My aim is to inspire you to choose positive buying by choosing ethical and green picks. To reverse reducing the power of local communities, to stop overconsumption, abusing animals and wasting our natural resources.
Here are my ethical and green picks for June 2020.
Sustainable kitchen products
Smidge makes a range of sustainable, zero waste and eco-friendly kitchen and home ware products. I have received their new chopping board range, that is made from natural materials but is dishwasher safe at the same time. I don’t think there’s any other like this available at the moment elsewhere. The chopping boards have been recycled from sustainably sourced salvaged paper. There are three different sizes available.
What I really liked about them is, they are not only dishwasher safe, but easy to wipe clean too, and inherently antibacterial, what’s more, the boards are kinder to my knives, and by this I mean they don’t blunt my knives so quickly like other chopping boards do.
Self Cleaning UV Water Bottle
WakeCup has a fantastic new product, that is the only water bottle you’ll ever need.
- Materials: Stainless steel double walled
- UV technology lid, with USB charger
- Air-tight screw top lid
- Dimensions: 240mm x 70mm
- Capacity: 550ml
- Suitable for hot or cold drinks
Barley non-dairy drinks
Bright Barley’s new range of alternative-milk drinks that use the ancient super grain barley, are stuffed full of health and sustainability credentials – not least organic, vegan, UK farmed, fibre rich barley – and come in three crowd-pleaser flavours: Chocolate, Coffee and Salted Caramel.
My boy loves non-dairy chocolate drinks – this was no different, big thumbs up form picky Bobcat. I enjoyed the coffee flavour and the salted caramel too, I also used the salted caramel barley drink in my coffee – and it’s amazing! It’s like a coffee with oat milk and lovely salted caramel syrup!
Packaging free frozen food
This is a trailblazing, packaging-free initiative that frozen food specialists, Field Fare, launched two years ago; encouraging their 370+ stockists to offer their customers the option to fill their own reusable containers with any of the 150 lines that Field Fare supply in a Scoop & Serve format. The range includes fruit, veg (mixed and single), bakery, fish, pastry and patisserie goods – all sold loose or individually, in precise, waste-reducing amounts, and scooped either into Field Fare’s degradable simple bags, or, where offered by the stockist, into BYO tubs and bags. It is brilliantly simple and has resulted in a growing number of zero-waste shops starting to stock Field Fare’s lines.
I was lucky enough to test Field Fare’s frozen pastry range and all I can tell it’s delicious!
Plastic free gifts
For Father’s Day, we received a lovely set of Yealands Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2019 and Cartwright & Butler classic fudge from Moonpig.com – as you know it’s an online gift store and they have lots of unique gifts, that is not the average tat you can normally buy for these occasions. But stylish, tasteful and often. plastic free gifts, that are available for any occasions. From good wines and other drinks to elegant bonbons and even beautiful plants – there’s a lot to choose from.
Healthy, sustainable chocolate
Ohso has a new, portion-controlled daily dose of chocolate that delivers over one billion live bacteria to the gut to keep it healthy. Each bar includes high quality dark Belgian chocolate and is microencapsulated with probiotics. Ohso chocolate is also proven to deliver live bacteria to the gut 3 times more effectively when compared to dairy products. The Ohso chocolate range includes four delectable flavours that are made using the finest quality, and sustainably sourced ingredients:
- Ohso Dark (54% cocoa)
- Ohso Orange (54% cocoa)
- Ohso Dark (70% cocoa) no added sugar
- Ohso Raspberry (70% cocoa) no added sugar
Ohso is suitable for vegetarians and is also gluten-free, nut safe and free from added dairy.
What can I add? Oh yes… they are insanely delicious in my view!
Ethical and sustainable t-shirts
The Flora & Fauna-cation collection from The Artisan Fakery explores the relationship between man and the natural world. The elegant, yet bold and unflinching designs are statement pieces that have much more to say than the usual slogan T’s.
All of their 100% organic cotton T-shirts are supplied by leaders in ethical fashion and all garments are GOTS certified organic, PETA certified vegan and Fairwear accredited. The suppliers ensure their factories are monitored daily to ensure good conditions for workers. All of the T-shirts and packaging are printed in the UK using vegan dyes and sustainable processes. The packaging is 100% biodegradable and their supplier was the first company in the UK to exclusively use 100% solvent-free water-based inks for paper and garment printing.
Reusable bamboo coffee cups
Reusable coffee cups are now one of the must haves when you’re trying to cut down on your plastic usage. These eCoffee bamboo fibre cups in 8oz/12oz/14oz sizes with a silicone sleeve and non drip lid are available in the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Shop – amongst other lovely items for little and big nature lovers.
- Fully dishwasher safe
- Made with natural bamboo fibre
- Naturally sterile: no flavour-taint
- Resealable ‘no-drip’ lid
- Reusable over and over
Vegan wine
I have received this lovely bottle (also plastic free, obviously) of Le Charme Sauvignon Blanc by Christine Cabri, IGP Pays du Gers from House of Townend. The Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, fresh white with flavours of cut grass, lime and gooseberry.
We enjoyed this wine very much – for the price it’s an outstanding quality.
Luxury Soy Candles
I’ve received this gorgeous peony scented candle and it’s a dream – from The Greatwood Candle Company.
All their candles are hand poured and the scents have all been inspired by the coast, countryside and history in East Sussex. They use Soy wax in the candles as it is cleaner burning – no nasty toxins, carcinogens or pollutants, which means it’s less likely to trigger allergies. Soy candles also burn cooler than paraffin candles, which means you can enjoy your soy candle for generally 30-50% longer.
The fragrances are a mixture of essential oils and fragrance oils. All the essential oils are sourced from a UK supplier whose ethics are their No.1 priority, they are 100% pure and not tested on animals.
What are your thoughts on my ethical and green picks for June 2020?
