We have exciting NEWS for you. We have just launched our brand new online ordering service to make it even easier for you to get your materials Eco-Printed.

Rest assured we still offer a bespoke and personal service so feel free to contact us for any information you may need – we are more than happy to help. For large lithographic runs please contact us directly for the latest prices – we aim to keep things as cost effective and up-to-date as possible for you.

So, for all your post cards, greetings cards, business cards, stationery and flyers please visit our new website ecoprintuk.com

Thank you and all the very best.,

The Eco Print Team

Eco Print is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This Christmas, anyone worrying about what to buy for a child should consider another option. Charity Bank, the not for profit savings bank, offers an account for those under the age of 16. The Small Steps account provides an ethical alternative to traditional savings accounts, making it a thoughtful gift that helps charities at the same time.

Charity Bank’s Small Steps account can be opened by any adult on behalf of a young saver. Funds will be kept safe until the child reaches the age of 16, with a nominated adult being responsible for operating the account until then.  Money in the account will earn 2% gross interest per annum which is added quarterly, so the saver can watch their gift grow.

Until the saver is ready to claim the money, it will be invested in charitable organisations, so the child knows that their gift has been used for good. The minimum deposit to open an account is just £10, making it available to any budget.

Malcolm Hayday, Chief Executive of Charity Bank, said: “The Small Steps savings account gives people a great alternative to giving cash at Christmas. The money belongs to the child, but supports charities while it earns interest. It helps young people appreciate the amazing work that charities do in so many walks of life and is a fantastic way to support charity this Christmas, without any added cost to the depositor, or the saver.”

Charity Bank also offers a range of savings accounts that allow adults to earn interest on their deposits while providing charitable organisations with much needed financial support at no extra cost. To open an account with Charity Bank visit www.charitybank.org, call 01732 774040 or email enquiries@charitybank.org .

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About Charity Bank

Charity Bank is the only regulated bank in the UK that is also a registered charity. It lends to charities, social enterprises and community organisations, including those that would find it difficult to secure funding from traditional banking sector. It invests its depositors’ money in loans to support charities and enterprises that benefit society and publishes details of every loan it makes.

Charity Bank is committed to transparency and community involvement. It provides hands-on support to the business and charities it lends to, as well as encouraging its own staff to volunteer within the community. Charity Bank’s innovative approach to banking and its mission to benefit society have enabled it to lend over £160m to charities and social enterprises, touching the lives of 3.5 million people in communities across the UK.

For more information on Charity Bank’s work, visit www.charitybank.org

About Charity Bank’s Small Steps Account

The Small Steps Account is open to children and young savers aged under 16 years.  At 16, he or she can then decide to continue to save with us, or to use the money in other ways

Interest Rates (gross)

Interest is calculated daily and added to your account quarterly in March, June, September and December.  Interest rates are fixed for the full term of the deposit.  Early repayments are not permitted.

Do children have to pay tax? Visit the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website for full details.

Charity Bank – Ethical Bank is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Here is a simple test we have performed to show how well charcoal inhibits mould growth by regulating moisture.

Day 1

Small pieces of home baked bread without any preservatives are covered with glass – one with a piece of bamboo charcoal (approx. 2g) on the left, and the other without.

Day 7

After 7 days mould is clearly visible on the right and the glass is cloudier with moisture.

The glass on the left is much clearer as the charcoal has absorbed the excess moisture. Only a small amount of white mould appears on the bread.

Day 8

The mould now covers most of the bread on the right and the glass is quite cloudy.

On the left, the bread has some white mould but is nowhere near as the one on the right.

Day 8 without glass

The image without glass: quite amazing!

The Charcoal People is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Habitat Aid’s “Meadow Anywhere” seed packets, sold through Hillier’s Garden Centres, have now raised £8,000 for Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Habitat Aid Ltd. is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Eco Print as a ‘one -stop -shop’

Print and everything else.

Eco Print are a 100% environmentally friendly alternative to traditional printing methods using recycled paper and card. Our new energy efficient digital printer needs less heat in the process and at the end of its use will be broken down and recycled. Our litho printer uses a plate-making process that is totally chemical free and uses vegetable based inks.  

A recent addition to our service is the provision of banners made from biodegradable material – there is no loss of quality it is just when discarded the banner will start to degrade in weeks as opposed to years. We are proud to offset carbon generated in the postage of our printing and we use a telephone provider that carbon offsets and has a good environmental policy in place.

As an environmentally friendly print company you would expect this kind of thing, so what makes us stand out from the crowd?

Well, we have a full Graphic Design service available – our head designer boasts 30 plus years of experience and offers high end work ranging from stationery design to logo design, full branding and corporate I.D. We are also happy to develop your existing artwork and provide simpler designs to suit differing budgets.

 Eco Print is sister company to Addison Design  and both are based next to each other – this allows us to provide the full design service as mentioned above but also Website Design and Build.

 Many of our regular clients benefit from our ‘one-stop-shop’ for all their branding, print and design needs. Our experience means that Eco Pint can build, maintain and protect your brand giving consistency to your marketing materials.

 For more information please contact us:

 marketing@ecoprintuk.com

 01722 340350

Eco Print is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Last weekend I made it to the Design Museum to catch the ‘Brit Insurance Design awards 2011’ It was an inspiring exhibition on many levels, not least because of my perspective as a designer. I very quickly noticed a popular theme in the nominated work, which was that there were many designs that had some form of ethical purpose.

The kind of considerations ranged from products that are created primarily to be an ethical alternative, designs that simply served their purpose in a thoughtful way, through to designs that had their ethical credentials seemingly as an afterthought (though importantly they were still mentioned). My favourites included the winner: Plumen 001 (a beautiful lightbulb intending to make energy efficient lighting more desirable) and the Branca chair (a nature inspired chair made with minimal waste).

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epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

November 2010’s Will Aid campaign was incredibly successful and has already surpassed the 2009 total of £1.25 million.  To date, almost £1.5 million (including Gift Aid) has been received and donations will continue to pour in for many weeks yet.

More than 1,000 solicitors all over the UK, from firms large and small, participated in the scheme. Between them they wrote Wills for more than 18,000 people, forgoing their usual fee in exchange for donations to Will Aid.

The Will Aid charities will share the donation income between them and will also benefit from lasting gifts left in Wills written under the scheme. Many other charities will also benefit as Will-makers were free to leave a gift in their Will to any charity.

Iain McAndrew, Head of Legacies at Save the Children and Chair of Will Aid, said:

“Last November’s campaign was the most successful to date and we are delighted that so many people were able to have their Will written by a professional solicitor and that such a huge sum of money was raised for the Will Aid charities. On behalf of the participating charities, I would like to publicly thank all the solicitors and Will-makers for being such enthusiastic supporters of Will Aid. It is a real achievement to have raised this enormous sum in just a few weeks. The participating charities are really grateful for the life saving work this makes possible.”

The campaign will run again in November 2011. For more information, please visit http://www.willaid.org.uk

Will Aid is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Spring is springing in deepest Somerset, although we’ve been working so hard it is rather passing us by. Over the last week we’ve been busy processing plug plant orders from our offer for Butterfly Conservation. The dogs need walking more and I keep putting off writing a book outline I MUST do. I did manage to get my act together enough to write a piece for the FT last weekend, which is always super exposure. I have also finally added some lovely lavenders on the website from Downderry Nursery.

Ethical Retailer awards

We have entered the Observer ethical retailer awards – go on – vote for us as an online retailer!

Ponds

We’ve finalized a day for this year’s wildlife pond creation day – 12th May. The course will again be tutored by pond guru Hugh Roberts, and we have a fab site in Redlynch, southeast Somerset, to develop. I’ve also posted a video of Matthew “Landscape Man” Wilson working on a project with our coir rolls and native marginal plants, which gives a helpful idea as to what we offer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW7pA0FHV7U

Meadowtastic

It’s the time of year to be thinking of wildflower meadows – plugs and seed. Our wildflower and grass seed mix, launched with Hilliers last month and featuring at Chelsea, is going really well. We’ve had extensive media coverage and interest from other retail partners.

Searching around for information on the web I was impressed by the quality of the discussion threads on Ethical Junction so I decided to join.

I run a small architects practice based on my sustainable and ethical principles which operates mainly in Cornwall and the south west. (My wider contacts do persuade me sometimes to venture east to the rest of the country for certain projects). Do look at my website to see some examples of my work. www.robhomewood.com

I have been involved in energy conservation and sustainability for many years. In the early days it was very hard work persuading commercial and domestic clients to take any notice. I was also part of a government funded regional energy group which organised seminars for professionals to train and encourage their awareness but at times that also seemed like flogging a dead horse. I decided that maybe what I needed was more credibility so I took another degree in renewable energy about 20 years ago but to be honest I don’t know that it made much difference! Always keen on diverse skills I have also taken time out from my practice to undertake university research projects which were enjoyable and productive, but very disruptive to my practice’s programme!

Currently my practice portfolio has more domestic clients for whom I provide sustainable and energy efficient housing or extensions, although many clients still can’t see the benefit of obtaining a code of sustainable homes certificate. Larger projects e.g. affordable housing fares slightly better as the housing associations seem more geared up but commercial clients are still resistant to the benefits, often looking at short term issues only. Overall though the general shift in public awareness and option has facilitated more constructive discussions at least and there are encouraging highlights………

At the other end of the scale I have also taken on some part time teaching in sustainable construction where at least the students are keen and knowledgeable. What I need now is a magic formula to teach them how to persuade clients to put their money where their principles are!

Meanwhile I carry on encouraging my clients to build sustainably and if you have a building or site which may turn into a project, do contact me even if you are not in the south west – I may be able to help you. Remember too that the earlier I get involved the better I can apply my skills and this has huge implications for the creativity, the smooth running and the economics of the project.

Rob Homewood Architect is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Feelgoodhandbags is delighted to premiere Eco-luxury handbags and accessories from the REVEAL NEW ECO-DESIGNER COLLECTION 

http://www.feelgoodhandbags.co.uk/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.browse&category_id=59

We have a collection of Reveal’s eco-luxury bags.

Reveal create naturally beautiful handbags and accessories which are made with the most innovative recycled and sustainable materials available. Reveal are a socially responsible company designing beautiful products with the environment and animal welfare in mind. Their quote: “Finally, you don’t have to choose between fashion and a better planet – being socially responsible, like fashion, is fun and attainable”.

Discover recycled fashion at its best. This 100% recycled polyester tote is made from melted down plastic bottles which are spun into yarn. This versatile and roomy everyday tote is made for the active woman on-the-go. Stylish quilted design makes it perfect to wear on a lunch date with a friend, day out shopping or a trip to the gym. These fashionable yet Eco-friendly totes from Reveal are sassy and chic. These Eco-friendly totes are sure to give you that extra bit of oomph you always wanted. With environmental consciousness being the order of the day, what could be better than these elegant Eco-friendly totes.

Other recycled bags such as English Retreads and Doy Bags

http//:www.feelgoodhandbags.co.uk

Feel Good Handbags is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more