Cyclists who break down are now able to call out a recovery lorry in much the same way as car drivers use the AA.

The Cycle Rescue service is included for free with a new type of cycle insurance launched this week by ilovemybike.co.uk in time for National Bike Week (13-20 June).

Director at ilovemybike.co.uk, Andrew Davis said: “Motorists get all manner of extras thrown in for free when they buy insurance – the service for cyclists should not be any different.”

A poll conducted on behalf of ilovemybike.co.uk ahead of Bike Week found that over 4 million British motorists would be prepared to cycle more to cut their motoring costs.

5 reasons to cycle:

1. Bicycles can be very cheap to buy, they don’t need an MOT or fuel and can be parked almost anywhere for free.

2. Cycling is a low-impact activity, which means it doesn’t put a strain on your joints. It’s cheaper than the gym, too.

3. 75% of all personal journeys are less than 5 miles long – that’s half an hour on a bike.

4. Cycling helps to reduce noise and air pollution as well as traffic congestion

5. It makes you feel young

There only a few days to go before WRAP’s Recycle Week is under way. It  will be running from June 22nd to 28th and has the theme ‘let’s waste less’.

In support of Recycle Week the teams at BemoreEco and MoreEco will be blogging their recycling exploits each day.  Visit the recycling page to see what is happening.However to give you a little taster of what we are planning to do we have chosen to carry out the following tasks/pledges;

• Look out for Gadgets / products which help with you with your recycling tasks and pledges.
• Raise awareness of public recycling bins and types off
• Recycle my food by using left overs for lunch each day.

You can now go to the Recycle Now website to make your pledge.

Also as bonus if you sign up to MoreEco during Recycling week we will give you an extra 100 joining points. Use offer code ‘recyclenow’.

Commuter cyclists with no washing facilities at their place of work are coming up with increasingly imaginative ways of getting clean after their morning ride, the most extreme of which being a shower they build themselves, according to the Environmental Transport Association.

The DIY shower uses items that are readily available on the high street, costs around £50, and once assembled transforms a standard loo into a fully-functioning hot water shower. Once finished with, the shower can be packed away in less than a minute.

Photographs and further details on how the shower is built are posted at www.ilovemybike.co.uk

Director at ilovemybike.co.uk, Andrew Davis said: “The lack of workplace showers is one reason why more people don’t commute by bike – employers should spend Bike Week thinking about what they can do to help.”

No shower at work – how do cyclists manage?

Baby wipes: Many cyclists shower before they set off for work and
then when they arrive, wipe themselves down with disposable baby wipes.

Ride slower: Cyclists in continental Europe tend to ride their bikes
slower when they commute to work – it doesn’t add much to the journey
time and you don’t sweat

Use a local gym: The easiest way to get access to a shower if there are
no washing facilities at your place of work is to join the local gym

Keep a supply of shirts at work: This doesn’t solve the problem of
getting clean, but bringing five clean and ironed shirts to work on a
Monday ensures the commuter cyclist looks smart

A poll conducted on behalf of ilovemybike.co.uk for Bike Week found that over 4 million British motorists would be prepared to cycle
more to cut their motoring costs.

Regifting [noun] – the act of giving an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something that one previously received as a gift.

Expecting a teapot shaped like a caravan from hairy chinned Auntie Elsie this Christmas? Beat both the credit crunch and do something for the planet this festive season by regifting it with Nigel’s Eco Store.

“It happens every year that someone gives you a gift you have no use for but you know would be perfect for someone else,” says Nigel from Nigel’s Eco Store. “Instead of letting all that stuff go to waste, why not pass it on to people who will really appreciate it?”

Regifting is very simple. Just log on to the forums and post details of your unwanted gift, or of an item you are trying to get hold of, and get swapping with other regifters.

Nigel says, “People might think regifting makes you cheap, but I think it shows you have top green values. A study by the WWF revealed that in the last three decades, we have consumed a third of the world’s natural resources, so we need to be more thoughtful about the way we use everything – regifting is simply a sub-category of ‘reusing and recycling’!”

Try regifting our for yourself at nigel’s forum.

Christmas gift ideas

Can’t find what you need on the regifting forums? Try Nigel’s Eco Store top five Christmas gift ideas:

For him: Cardboad iPod boom box docking station (£19.99)
Get yourself some eighties retro chic, and excellent tunes while you are at it, with the cardboard iPod boom box docking station. Flatpacked and easy to assemble, it has four surprisingly crisp and powerful speakers. It is designed for iPods (excluding Touch and iPhone) but will work with other MP3 players as well. Perfect for parties, rain-free picnics, desktops, bedrooms, the beach – you name it. Great to take on holiday or traveling.

For her: Pocket herb garden (£4.99)
You might not be able to manage a family sustaining crop of veg in your window box, but you can make a mighty good start by growing your own herbs. Forget limp, plastic-wrapped bunches of basil from the supermarket, and give the gift of flavour with these excellent organic pocket herb gardens. Even the most un-green fingered can manage to cut the pouch open and water the Soil Association approved compost until a beautiful herb garden appears. Choose from basil, oregano, coriander, chives, mint and mustard and cress.

For children: The Paperpod aeroplane (£17.99)
Remember last year’s favourite for eco kids, the recycled cardboard rocket (£29.99 – http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/Rocket.html)? This year the chaps at Paperpod are back, and this time with a carbon-free cardboard aeroplane. Forget the third runway at Heathrow, all your children need do is jump in this corrugated flying machine and take to the skies. Made from plain card, it is the perfect blank canvas for creating your own eco-friendly airline, and the only limits are your imagination.

For everyone: Solar Powered Rope Light (£22.49)
Fairy lights have come a long way since your dad pulled a tangled coil of wire from the airing cupboard and sat swearing at it as he tested each bulb. These solar powered rope lights are designed to work outdoors in the blustery British weather, but also work perfectly well indoors. They come with either 40 red or yellow lights, and when fully charged will twinkle for three days without the need for more sunlight. Want them on your tree? Just put the solar charger by the window.

For yourself: Grolsch goblets (£11.99 for 2)
After a hard days shopping and regifting, treat yourself to a glass of your favourite wine from these super eco-friendly glasses. Made from the iconic 450ml swing top Grolsch beer bottle, the base is cut away and bonded to the neck making an upside down beer bottle wine glass. These glasses require only 10 per cent of the energy needed to recycle glass in the traditional way.

All items listed are available online at www.nigelsecostore.com and by phone on 0800 288 8970.

New logo unveiled for high viz cycle jackets, and now even tiny tots can be seen on their bikes!

1 Less Car -who joined Ethical Junction this month – have just launched their new clearer and bolder STENCIL design on their range of unusual and exciting High Viz jackets for cyclists. They come in a wide choice of colours -red, orange, yellow, pink and green -a refreshing change from the usual bog standard high viz usually available.

Described by London Cycling Campaign’s magazine London Cyclist -as “ethical High Viz at its best” 1 less cycle jackets -with their bold, pro-cycling message, are made in a not-for-profit workers’ co-operative factory, not a sweatshop, and use water-based inks in a printing co-operative. The factory is in the UK, so they’re not shipped across the world before they get to us. And 50p from every sale goes to our local Bike Recycling Project, who rescue and repair old bikes.

As the nights “draw in”, why not get yourselves safe and bright when you’re cycling -and don’t forget we now do cute little jackets for kids as young as three, sitting on the back of your bike!

KittySoaps was launched as an online shop in 2008, providing ethical, organic skin and body care with a holistic twist! Owner, Cat MacGillivray, describes how the company came about.

“From a very young age, you could find me in my Grandmother’s garden harvesting plants and flowers (especially the roses, to her horror!) to make perfumes, and helping to make traditional healing remedies – I think her renowned raspberry vinegar started the idea of KittySoaps all those years ago. As I grew up, I interlaced studying alternative therapies/ traditions (Aromatherapy, Crystal Healing, Herbal Medicine, Reiki & Yoga) with studying for my Biotechnology degree and then, throughout my scientific career.

Over the last five years I have spent time to marry my love of science, herbal medicine and alternative therapies to create a beautiful, therapeutically active skin/ body care range without compromising my eco-friendly ethos. The key to my products lies in the advanced formulations, which combine innovative science with age-old herbal wisdom. The result is organic, chemical-free skin/ body care to pamper and feed your skin while your mind, body and spirit benefits from the plant essences and heavenly aromatherapy blends.

Unlike any organic/ natural skin care company, all my products are enhanced with Reiki energy: an ancient form of healing that uses an energy that is all around us. Reiki is an accepted alternative therapy that is used to balance, heal and harmonise both mind and body. Through my experience as a Reiki Master teacher, I have found that it also has a profound effect on the natural ingredients used to make my products, acting to raise their innate skin-loving and therapeutic properties providing you with revolutionary, holistic care.

As the KittySoaps range is designed for complete wellbeing, the online shop also provides holistic and healing gifts, herbal remedies and treatments to give you back some of that elusive ‘me’ time that we all deserve! All products are kept affordable and only contain 100% active ingredients with no water content to dilute them, compared to the majority of commercial products and sadly, many natural and organic skin care companies. KittySoaps products are highly concentrated so a little goes a long way!”

Cat is currently offering all new customers 10% off their first order and provides competitive trade discounts. See her website at www.kittysoaps.co.uk for more details.

A suggestion by the government that councils should increase the cost of parking in town centres has been welcomed by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), which points out that most British motorists are currently undercharged for parking their cars.

John Healey, the local government minister, has drawn criticism this week by suggesting that local councils should raise parking rates in their own car parks in order to reduce congestion.

Director at the Environmental Transport Association, Andrew Davis said: "Our own research revealed that in most cases parking is subsidised – the land used for the car parks would be worth more if it was used for something else such as office space. In other words, cars pay less than desks! Local businesses often object to parking charges, but the car park that is constantly full because it is too cheap is not bringing custom to local shops."

The ETA believes that when they are part of a well-thought-through transport policy, parking charges can have a positive environmental benefit by encouraging people to walk and cycle more.