Happy New Year from The Natural Works Company!

Our winter sale is now on and we’re holding VAT at 17.5%!

Have the Christmas and New Year celebrations left you feeling worn out and in need of some TLC?  Make 2011 the year to be kinder to your body and the environment the natural way.

This January we have some great ideas to help you detox and get your New Year off to a flying start.  Products to help revitalise your skin and hair and leave you ready to face the world! 

Create the perfect home-spa experience:

• Use Labyrinth Mud Suds Detox Bar to draw out toxins and improve a sluggish circulation
• Apply an invigorating body scrub to reveal brighter, smoother skin
• Smooth on a John Masters Organics face mask to deeply cleanse and re-balance your skin

Visit www.naturalworkscompany.co.uk to see our full range of natural and organic products.

The Natural Works Company is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

We are still in the midst of yet another harsh cold winter. This is now the third consecutive winter with large snowfall, plummeting temperatures and regular frost and ice.

Everyone was talking about the impact on bird numbers after last year’s hard winter, when a freezing spell of weather between January and February resulted in the fifth coldest winter in 100 years. The RSPB stated that the wren in particular struggled with breeding couples down 11 per cent. That’s a loss of 700,000 pairs! With snow covering the ground where the wren likes to forage, food was difficult to find for one of our smallest garden visitors.

Which brings us back to this winter, when snow started falling as early as November and with at least 2 ½ months of potential baltic weather to come, what will the records show once the snow has finally finished falling and spring eventually arrives? How many more birds will suffer a drop in numbers?

Unlike other animals, birds don’t hibernate. Some birds migrate away from the cold weather, whilst others from even colder climates migrate to the UK. Birds need to continue to feed to ensure that their energy levels remain strong. They will shortly need to re-double their efforts once they start to enter the breeding season where nests have to be built and young broods need to be looked after and fed.

Thankfully the awareness of the British public has been alerted to these issues and nowadays all sorts of bird feeders and seed mixes are available to buy at garden centres or online. People are also happy to encourage insects and other natural foods into their garden with plants and wild areas set aside to encourage wildlife. Birds are excellent pest controllers in the garden, devouring aphids, vine weevils, mosquitoes, midges and gnats. You don’t have to spend lots of money on bird food either. Birds will happily eat household scraps of food, you would normally re-cycle or throw away. Its great to encourage birds into your garden! You never know, if you put up a nest box in your garden, they may even nest and lay eggs to provide a great spring show for you.

With so many different subjects about caring for birds during winter, we have put together a few links that should be of interest below -

Bird Links

 RSPB Advice – Feeding Household Scraps
 RSPB Advice – Building a Bird Table
 Ten Simple Steps to Help Birds In Your Garden
 The Dangers of Fat Balls! 
 How To Build A Bird Table

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

 Take part in the RSPB’s annual birdwatch event and help them keep track of bird populations in the UK. Watch your local garden or local park for an hour and record the highest number of each species seen at one time. The RSPB are particularly keen to find out the impact of last year’s harsh winter on bird populations and whether there is a trend occuring year on year.

 Take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
 Identify Birds in Your Garden

Buy Bird Feeders

 Buy a Birdie Bistro Bird Feeder

Animal Days Out is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Photography for the spring catalogue is now complete and our design team is busy preparing the catalogue ready for release in early spring 2011. For this round of photography we used two locations Allerford House near Minehead, Somerset and Chaffeymoor Grange in Bourton, Dorset. Our trusted photographer Simon de Glanville was on hand to take some beautiful shots of both new and existing Myakka furniture and accessories.

There are some great new additions to the Mallani range and Thakat range which were photographed over the five days as well as pieces from our two new ranges; Chandra – a brand new range of Sheesham furniture with graceful curves; and Kali – a classic collection of furniture crafted from FSC certified Mango wood.

This week’s photography was a real challenge with a lot more pieces to photograph than we have ever had to do before.  Each photo takes a lot of time to set up and prop, but the greatest challenge was  to give the images a Spring feel in the depths of Winter whilst being surrounded by snow!  With no leaves in the trees and a grey sky we had to be quick whenever the sun shone!

If you’re not already on our mailing list and would like to receive a copy of our latest catalogue, just click here to sign up!

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Happy New Year to all our Myakka customers!

As you’ll know, on the 4^th January the VAT rate will increase from 17.5% to 20%, however as part of Myakka’s commitment to maintain affordable pricing and offer exceptional value for money, we have chosen to absorb this increase and will be holding our prices at the 2010 levels for the time being. 

And with our amazing Winter Sale currently in full swing, there really is no better time to shop at Myakka!   

We’ve got some really great offers on a wide range of solid wood furniture including best selling beds, coffee tables, bookcases and sideboards, along with fantastic deals on our wide selection of soft furnishings and home accessories.

Remember, the Myakka Winter Sale ends on Sunday 23^rd January so don’t delay!

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The first and only guesthouse in Aswan on the Westbank. It is in a perfect location near the Nile river, the desert and Nubian villages. Two floors, eight double rooms, a roof garden with restaurant. Peaceful atmosphere, friendly and hospitable staff. ‘Wonderful breakfast’. ‘The food is excellent’. Relax on the roof terrace. Enjoy the marvellous view and the best food of two cultures. A private chef serves healthy meals. Our chef-cook has vast experience on 5 star cruise boats. He cooks special food you won’t find anywhere else in Aswan. It is just five minutes walk from the guesthouse to the ferry and then ten minutes by ferry takes you to the Eastbank / Aswan centre. Transfers from airport (Aswan and Luxor) and Aswan railway station. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/2770.htm

Organic Holidays is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Looking to start the year with a new look for your home? Why not take advantage of the Bambienti eco furniture sale.

London-based eco furniture company, Bambienti are offering up to 20% off on their hand-crafted Bamboo furniture collection including the contemporary Mado and Konten Square Coffee Tables, space saving Garment Rails with Shelving, the unique Cantina Armchair and Stylish Konten lounge chair plus many other items.

Please take a look and hopefully you will agree that going green doesn’t mean compromising on style. 

So what is it about Bamboo that is so green?

Bamboo releases more oxygen than the equivalent strands of trees, as much as 35% in some instances, and therefore provides a natural resistance for a planet with increasing CO2 emissions.

Impressively, it is capable of removing up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide from the air per hectare. It also grows incredibly quickly, sometimes as much as a metre a day.

Bamboo is naturally sustainable as well because it’s actually a woody grass with a unique rhizome so requires no replanting after harvesting, whereas a conventional tree is cut down and gone forever.

Plus, to put your fears for the wildlife at rest, none of the Bamboo Bambienti use is used for food by the panda bear.

It’s also important to be aware of how the products you buy are made. We all know that mass manufactured products rely upon carbon intensive processes, and are produced in large factories where labourers are, more often than not, marginalized.

Bambienti’s designs, on the other hand, are all handmade by a selected network of small and medium sized, cottage industry style workshops, all of which have met Bambienti’s founder Charles.  

Bambienti always aim to ensure that their staffs’ wages are above average for the area, promoting a positive and more comfortable lifestyle for their worker’s families, while ensuring that working conditions are clean, comfortable, and safe.

So hopefully now its that little bit easier for you to make your home greener. Go for a sustainable material like Bamboo and you’ll be doing your bit for the environment, supporting workers but without compromising on style. Every little counts when it comes to helping the world go green.

Bambienti is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more