Appearing
this month on the shelves in WH Smith and Borders nationwide, new eco-living
directory BOOK OF GREEN is the most comprehensive guide for everybody to
genuinely and easily green their lifestyles.

With
the general public currently becoming more receptive to living a more
eco-friendly life, this completely free guide points the consumer in the right
direction – it includes hundreds of approved ethical providers in a wide range
of sectors including business services, health and beauty, home and garden,
green energy, travel, parenting and food & drink.  All the companies
in the directory are in some way mostly or completely environmentally friendly,
sustainable, fair trade, organic,  ethical and socially responsible.

Book
of Green is intended to show everybody how to easily reduce their carbon
footprint, live a healthy lifestyle and make  a personal positive 
impact on the environment by integrating truly ethical products and services
into their daily home and family lives.

With
an initial print run of 30,000, the guide comes in a handy A5 format and is
printed in vegetable inks on 100% recycled paper.  An online flip magazine
version is also available at www.bookofgreen.com 
 Book of Green will be available in WH Smiths this July, attached to the
front of Permaculture Magazine as well as distributed across the UK in high
street eco stores, online eco stores, and at events during the summer as well
as at the Eden Project and the Kent Eco Village, the Kent Show by The
Ecologist, July 17-19.

Book
of Green is co-founded by Sue Jueno (founder of Allthingseco) and Katie Keegan
(founder of One Green Earth),
 whose combined experience of 6 years in the eco/ethical business arena
has given them the experience, knowledge and contacts to create a guide for
green living which everybody can trust.

“Being
green is more than reducing the threat of climate change, it’s also about
ethical trading and personal health.  The companies found within Book of
Green provide solutions across all sectors through their products &
services to help build a positive foundation for your family’s future
generations,”  says Katie Keegan.

“With
credit crunch in mind and a passion for promoting green shoot businesses we
have made Book of Green extremely affordable to advertisers and free to the
public to show off exceptional companies that are solving environmental
problems and that will be leading us into the future,” says Sue Jueno.

As politicians gather in Italy for G8, TheGINLady.com ladies invite people to gather on Twitter for GIN8 ‘The People’s Summit’.

As politicians propose targets and ways to achieve those targets, the GIN Ladies invite people to make their own targets and propose their own strategies.

The GIN Ladies, otherwise known as former marine biologist, sustainable comms guru and MD of Sustain Your Media Dr. Nicola Thomas and futurist, sustainable innovation strategist, Sustain Your Media’s Creative Director and Societás Founder & CEO Melissa Sterry invite people to put forward their ideas for tackling the economic, environmental and political meltdown.

What do ordinary people think we should do? What targets do people think we should set? Who would the people’s GIN8 leaders be? Do we need GIN8 leaders? Do we need G8 leaders? Let fellow members of the GIN8 People’s Summit know what you think.

The GIN8 online People’s Summit on Twitter kicked off on the morning of 9th July 2009 and it will continue whilst G8 continues.  Read on to find out how to take part…

 To take part all you have to do is…

1. Get yourself a Twitter account here www.twitter.com

2. Think up a few targets and proposals… remember you only have 140 characters to use to post those proposals on your Twitter page.

3. When posting up your GIN8 target or strategy proposal tweet remember to start it off with #GIN8

When the GIN8 People’s Summit 2009 is
finished the GIN Ladies will be drawing up a summary of the summit
detailing the targets the people set, the strategies the people came up
with and they will put it up on TheGINLady.com – so the world can hear the solutions the people propose, as well as those politicians propose.

Send your tweets to @TheGINLady and @Societas_ and remember to put #GIN8 in the text!

Sharing the environmental attributes
of the original WowWallet, wewow’s latest innovation can be produced
from FSC accredited stock or 100% recycled board and does not require
any matt or gloss laminate.  Furthermore, the wallet can be accompanied
by an FSC accredited booklet, with the option to use vegetable based
inks. 

More information on wewow’s range of
eco-friendly optical media packaging can be found at http://www.wewow.co.uk/wowwallet.asp

With
Summer upon us Bambienti
unveil a colourful range of Eco-Friendly Sun Loungers which are
hand-carved entirely out of Bamboo.

Bambienti
is a new brand that designs and produces a range of products that are
ethically sourced, eco friendly and made using naturally sustainable
Bamboo.

Hand-carved
to last from solid, strong and durable Bamboo they are available in
Single (W 65 cm
x D 120 cm H 15 cm)
and Double (W
120 cm x D 120 cm H 15 cm)
sizes
and come with the added benefit of being foldable enabling easy
movement and storage. Each Sun Lounger can be easily set to various
recline positions to ensure maximum comfort. All of our Sun Loungers
are put through a vigorous finishing process to ensure they are
weather proof.

Standard
colours include Cherry Oak, Dark Teak, Oak and Green.

With
a
high bearing capacity and tensile strength comparable to steel Bamboo
is perfect for garden and outdoor furniture.

At
Bambienti we have come to believe that current levels of sustainable
timber resources are insufficient to supply all of our domestic and
commercial requirements. We also believe that an unaltered demand for
timber based products inevitably encourages illegal logging. This in
turn contributes to the degradation of land and those communities who
depend upon it.

Therefore
we decided to look for alternatives and chose Bamboo as the principal
material for our products.

There
are five key reasons behind this decision

(1)
Bamboo requires no replanting after harvesting and is naturally
sustainable.

(2)
Bamboo grows extremely quickly. Up to one metre a day in some
instances.

(3)
Bamboo provides natural resistance for a planet with increasing CO₂
emissions. It releases more oxygen than the equivalent strands of
trees, as much
as 35% in some instances and is capable of removing up to 12 tons of
carbon-dioxide from the air per hectare (10,000 m²).

(4)
Bamboo can be grown comfortably in the top soil of degraded land.

This is
something that is not easy to do with conventional trees. We can
therefore use Bamboo to counteract the damage caused by illegal
logging.

(5) By
designing and making products using Bamboo we hope to support

a
necessary process that reduces our over reliance upon already limited
sustainable timber resources.

Ethical Garden is an online only retailer specialising in high quality outdoor garden furniture that is produced with minimum 
negative impact on the environment.

Our Teak Garden Furniture is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Our Weave Garden Furniture is a great alternative to wicker.  It is 100% recyclable and does not contain PVC. The fibre is made from polyethylene, which is non-toxic (even when burned no toxic substances are generated). Our Garden Furniture Accessories include acrylic weatherproof garden furniture cushions, FSC certified sycamore garden parasols, aluminium parasols with brushed finish and robust parasol bases.

There are special deals available right now on table and chair combination plus lots of teak offers… exclusive to anyone who reads this article we are also giving a further 10% discount and free delivery just quote coupon code ‘ethical1905′ in the shopping cart when making your purchase.

www.ethicalgarden.co.uk or call us on 0117 3017080 if you need any help

Introduction to Permaculture Design – A two-day course
These courses introduce the basics of Permaculture and show how this approach can be applied. These courses are run regularly.
3rd-4th June 2009 – NOW TAKING BOOKINGS
For full details and bookings please visit:
www.brightonpermaculture.co.uk

Soap Star Gets Quizzing For Christian Aid Week

Eastenders star Kara Tointon is helping put the fun into fundraising by
backing this year’s nationwide Quizaid during Christian Aid Week (10 –
16 May 2009), which aims to raise vital funds for the world’s poorest
communities.

Last year Quizaid raised £185,000 for Christian Aid’s
overseas development work in 49 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin
America. This year the charity is challenging the great British public
to use its grey matter to raise £225,000.

Organizing Quizaid couldn’t be easier with the charity providing packs with all you need including question cards, posters, invites, answer sheets and a certificate for the winning team. All quiz organisers will be entered into a draw for a year’s supply of chocolate courtesy of the fair trade company, Divine Chocolate. There is a similar draw for those that participate in Quizaid.

‘I hope all the pubs, clubs and community halls up and down the country get quizzing for Quizaid,” says Kara. “Having seen some of Christian Aid’s work myself in Zambia, where I saw children who have been orphaned by HIV given homes and care, I know how vital this money is.’

In a bid to get even more people quizzing, four new levels of questions have been introduced – Brainiacs, Average Joe’s, 11-18 year olds or under-10s.  Just choose which category your participants fall into and then pick from subjects such as sport, music, geography, pot luck, history and maths.  The emphasis is on having fun while raising money for a great cause.

Click here for quiz teasers and to request a free Quizaid pack, log on to www.christianaid.org.uk/quizaid or call 0808 000 5005.  Get your friends, family or work colleagues together at home, at school, in the office or in the pub, charge everyone £2, then get quizzing!

ENDS

For further press information contact Emma Wigley ewigley@christian-aid.org or call 020 7523 2452

The EcoVillage is an exhibition which promotes green and ethical products, services and organisations and which is designed to be taken to mainstream events.  The aim is to provide a platform for ethical, sustainable businesses to promote themselves to broader mainstream markets and to help those businesses expand from niche to mainstream businesses.

In 2009 The EcoVillage will be present at the Kent County Show and at
the Kent 2020, with more events being considered.  For more information
on these events email amanda@sustmarketing.co.uk or sign up to our
newsletter to hear about new EcoVillage events as we bring them on
board.

The EcoVillage Kent County Show 09
After it’s successful debut at the Kent County Show in 2008, the team
at Sust will be bringing The EcoVillage back to the Show in July 2009.
And it promises to be a bigger and better event!

This July The EcoViilage will be a staggering 5,000 sq m, more than
twice the size as last year. In this bigger space Sust has brought in
more exhibitors, three large marquees, an EcoVillage Picnic Green and
the EcoVillage Square.

At The EcoVillage 2009 visitors will discover exhibitors of all shapes
and sizes, arranged in village streets such as Energy Avenue, Green
Lane and Sustainability Street, or inside the EcoVillage Hall and the
Market Marquee. They will be able to see live demonstrations all day
long at The EcoVillage Square and relax in the EcoVillage Green Picnic
Area.

The EcoVillage is about showing people that Kent and the UK has plenty
of businesses and organisations working sustainably. It is a commercial
event without the support of regional or national public funding. With
over 90,000 visitors, the Kent EcoVillage is possibly the largest green
show ever held in the UK. This year we are pleased to announce media
partner The Ecologist, and to welcome back exhibitors such as Riverford
Organic Vegetables and CPRE together with new businesses such as I am
Natural and Charity Bank.

Organisations promoting green products, services and initiatives that
want to exhibit at The EcoVillage 2009 can find information on
www.theecovillage.co.uk or email amanda@theecovillage.co.uk.

EcoVillage Kent2020 09:
The EcoVillage makes its debut appearance at the Kent2020 this year. 
The Kent2020 is Kents largest business exhibition and conference with
over 350 exhibitors and 3,700 attendees.  This year the Kent2020 will
be at the Kent Showground, Detling on Thursday 2nd April and will
feature speakers such as Simon Calder, travel editor of the Independent
and regular broadcaster and Andrew Neil, editor writer and
broadcaster.  There will also be opportunities for free one to one
business advice, a networking business breakfast and workshops on
innovation in recession, staff training,  and London 2012
opportunities.  

The EcoVillage will also be there with its dedicated area for
sustainable enterprise, with businesses showing the way forward for a
sustainable future.

Bookings for the EcoVillage at the Kent2020 will shortly close, so
email Amanda@sustmarketing.co.uk for more information and to book your
space!

Because last year’s events were over-subscribed and the feedback was so good, we thought you would like the chance to come to a Herb Day this year.  Below are a few new dates to choose from.

The day-long workshop includes a morning tour of the garden with
medical herbalist Zoe Hawes (herbal practitioner, author, nurse,
plant-collecter et al) who will introduce you to all sorts of herbs
that we grow in our organic garden.  She will explain their history and
uses and teach you how to make a physick or two of your own, to take
home.

The afternoon session will be lead by Debbie O’Shea Freke, a member
Guild of Beauty Therapists and spa consultant with extensive experience
in cosmetic, beauty and holistic therapies. She will talk about the
structure of skin, the value of a proper skincare regime, and explain
the importance of using pure products.  She will demonstrate the use of
Great Elm’s organic skincare products; you will be given a full facial
and taught how to give how to administer one.

Scrummy lunch, refreshments, and all demonstration materials included – £70 for the whole day!

Saturday 18th April
Tuesday 21th April
Wednesday 1st July
Saturday 4th July

All days: 10am – 4pm
B&B can be arranged locally.

So learn and enjoy.  What could be better!  

Book soon to avoid disappointment. Visit the website www.great-elm.com

This New Year, forget resolutions, pledges are where it’s at – as US President-elect Barack Obama knows only too well. From 20 January, when Obama becomes the world’s most powerful man, the world will be looking to him to fulfil his manifesto pledge to make the US a leader on tackling climate change.

Christian Aid is calling on the British public to take their own pledge to go green and make their voices heard by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other world leaders including Obama. The charity wants them to speak out on behalf of millions of poor people in developing countries who are suffering the devastating effects of climate change. 

People like grandmother and coffee cropper Audelia Ramos, whose village in Honduras is under threat of hurricaines and flooding and mother Hadja Sala Diallo, who spends all day collecting water because of the encroaching desert in Senegal.

As the New Year encourages people to re-evaluate their lifestyle, Christian Aid is challenging the public to help them reach a target of 250,000 pledges taken to help women like Audelia and Hadja. Taking the Copenhagen pledge includes a commitment to:

• Reduce your personal carbon footprint through recycling, reusing and reducing consumption
• Write to the Prime Minister and speak to your local MP and let them know you expect the UK Government and other world leaders like Obama to work for a new international climate change agreement that is fair to poorer countries
• Encourage friends and family to sign up to the pledge

It’s easy to take the pledge and e-mail Gordon Brown by adding your name at: www.christianaid.org.uk/climatechange

2009 is a crucial year for making real progress on climate change. World leaders are due to meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a deal on climate change. Christian Aid is calling for industrialised countries across the world to pledge to reduce their CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, to prevent climate catastrophe. Without this commitment, it will be impossible to keep the global temperature rise below 2˚C. As a result, 30 million more people could go hungry, 18 per cent of Bangladesh will be underwater and up to 3 billion people could face acute water shortages.

Rhian Beynon, Campaigns Manager for Christian Aid, said: ‘Let’s keep switching off the lights and cutting our flights, but let’s also make our voices heard by those in power. With a new US president who’s made climate pledges and a new international deal up for negotiation in December, it’s time to let Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other world leaders know that people across Britain want them to make a difference to the poor in countries like Senegal and Honduras.’

Ms Beynon added: ‘Campaigning with Christian Aid works. Last year our supporters successfully campaigned with us sending decision-makers and businesses some 70,000 letters, e-mails and action cards to get changes made to the pioneering UK Climate Change Bill, which now includes mandatory CO2 reporting for all FTSE-listed companies and a more ambitious CO2 reduction target. Our supporters highlighted the need for strong legislation and the government listened.’