1 Less Car have extended their reduction on all of their multi-coloured High Viz Jackets, with sizes from tiny tots to adults, down to less than half price until the end of December.

So if you’re needing an ethical Xmas present for that cyclist who has everything, now’s the time to snap one up!

Jackets come in 5 colours –red, green yellow, pink or orange, and range from sizes to fit 3-4 year old tots carried on the back of a bike, right up to extra large. And they’re not made in a sweatshop.

To have a look, find us at www.1lesscar.org.uk or on our page at Ethical Junction.

For orders before 3.00pm , we post them the same day 1^st class.  And we can get them to you for Xmas if ordered up to Monday 21st December.

1 Less Car is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

GreenFinder are pleased to announce that they’re hosting Leamington’s third annual Green Christmas Fair on Saturday 12th December from 11 till 3.

With local eco, organic and fair trade stalls selling Christmas gifts there will also be environmental groups and social enterprises promoting the sustainable projects currently going on in the Leamington and Warwick area.

You can also expect a swishing party (clothes swap), refreshments, Dr Bike, children’s recycled craft activities and of course Green Santa will be putting in an appearance too.

For more information about the event please click here

GreenFinder is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Handmade Christmas cards beautifully created from fine linen designed with Christmas festivity motif made from burned and dyed bamboo strips.  H 6.25″ W 3.5″ (16 x 9 cm).

Set of 6 cards £7.50

Set of 6 decors – £1.60 & £2 each

Click images to see the Christmas cards and decorations. 

Christmas decorations beautifully handcrafted from dyed and burned bamboo and plywood strips designed with Christmas festivity motif. Best as hanging decors in windows and for Christmas trees.

Size varies approx 3.5″ to 5″ (9 x 13 cm)

And, don’t forget to check out our beautiful fair trade homeware, and gorgeous jewellery and accessories for that special Christmas gift. Handmade, natural, eye-catching and different.

Free delivery until Christmas, UK only, and £3.95 discount for orders over £100.

amba nature is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

New research from environmental advice and campaign group A Greener Festival shows that music festivals have kept up their environmental efforts, despite slower tickets sales at some events and the economic recession.

The research, compiled by Rob Faull at Buckinghamshire New University, analysed the environmental assessments made at 37 festivals in 2009 compared with 32 festivals in 2008 as part of the ‘Greener Festival’ awards scheme,

The results shows that an additional 7% of festivals now have environmental policies meaning that 97% of festivals implement green good practice. The research also showed that 94% of festivals now promote lift sharing and 97% promote public transport in a move to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  In addition 7% more festivals (71% in total) now used at least some sustainable power (usually wind, solar or sustainable bio-fuels). But there was mixed news on recycling, and whilst 94% of festivals have plans to place to prioritise recycling, there was a marked drop (24%) in recycling plastics and glass, something the Award organisers put down to a drop on the global demand for recycled metal and plastic caused by the recession which meant some festivals struggled to offload waste metal and plastic.

There was also a big jump in the number of festivals who now promote environmental awareness on site or on their websites, jumping 17% to 94% in total. Ben Challis, one of A Greener Festival co-founders said “overall we are delighted with our Awards scheme in 2009: we had 5 more festivals applying (37, up from 32 in 2008) and we judged 13 festivals to be ‘outstanding (up from 6 in 2008). We were really encouraged by the number of festivals who are engaging with music fans and promoting sustainable lifestyles and implementing environmental good practice. The biggest area of concern remains audience travel and we are delighted that almost all of the participating festivals now promote lift share and public transport as a matter of course, with many working with new partners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from audience travel. The other good news is that we are extending the Awards. The scheme currently covers The UK, Europe, Australia and the USA and we now plan to roll out the Awards scheme into India and South East Asia”.

Photo by Nick Cordes at the Glastonbury Festival

A Greener Festival Ltd is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The microboom in the CIC community passed another important milestone this week when Mardis Gras Arts Workshop CIC became the 500^th member to join the CIC Association, which incorporated 3 months ago as a representative body for CICs in the UK.

It’s mission, ‘to plant a flag in the ground around which the CIC community can build the infrastructure needed’, is now well underway and they’re confident that 2010 will see CICs break through the 5000 company barrier.

CIC protagonist John Mulkerrin said: ”We have had a phenomenal growth spurt in a relatively short time, and it shows no sign of easing off. CICs and partner groups up and down the country are starting to connect through the network, its early days but green shoots are popping up everywhere’.

500^th member Maria Katherina Joseph, of Mardi Gras Arts Workshop CIC, converted to a CIC after receiving advice on how to grow sustainably from her business mentor. ‘Im hoping to find out more about tendering for local authority contracts, Im new to this so joining together with others is a great way to learn and share’.

On average one hundred and twenty-five organisations a month are now incorporating as CICs, making it the fastest growing part of social enterprise.

For more information or to Join the CIC Association visit: http://www.cicassociation.org.uk/

A gap has been filled in the keen2learn portfolio with award winning educational games concerning personal, social and health education (PSHE). Users have been ”shocked” at the effectiveness of the games that cover a vital subject area in the National Curriculum.

“The keen2learn product team have been scouring the market but finding teaching resources in the form of educational games proved difficult until we came across Egar” said Alistair Owens managing director at keen2learn, he added “These award winning PSHE games Choice discussion cards are ideal for teachers, youth counsellors and parents”

Although Egar was started just a year ago it encompasses 25 years experience of the founder, Sue Scott-Horne, in teaching PSHE to schools and youth counselling groups. This experience was used to develop a expanding range of PSHE discussion cards. These present the subject area as educational games to entice children to open up and talk about key areas and develop their understanding. The games come with instructional cards for the teacher, youth leader or parent.

The products adopted by keen2learn include Health, covering topics such as addictions, alcohol, bereavement, hygiene Personal development and Crime prevention

The 50 card sets cover everything from hoodies to love, anger to hygiene. Each set contains seven large instruction cards and a smaller set of answers cards with different words on them related to the subject under discussion. For example “addiction”, one card might be “alcohol”, another “drugs” and another “consequence”. These cards aren’t simply a discussion tool but can actually help change young people’s mindsets and attitudes through the learning thread that runs throughout. This in turn gives young people the chance to make better informed choices about the decisions in their lives. They also tie in with Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) as well as the governments “Every Child Matters” programme for a national framework to support the “joining up” of children’s services in education, culture, health, social care, and justice; ….

The range, launched last year, has already won several awards and received avid praise from users who have been “shocked” at the remarkable progress made in children’s understanding of these sometimes difficult areas. “Keen2learn believes these breakthrough games set a fun and interesting way to help many children understand the complex issues in society” said Alistair Owens.

Keen 2 Learn is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more