What could be more rock‘n’roll than strumming away on an electric guitar pretending you’re a famous band member?  Well budding musicians everywhere can now save the planet whilst showing off their skills by investing in a made-to-order electric guitar crafted from recycled plastics.  Guitarist Tom Jarvis from indie rock band Reverend and The Makers was thrilled to be playing one at all the festivals this summer.

Conventional guitars are often made from endangered hardwoods but Simon Lee has produced the ones made from recycled materials, using environmentally sound processes wherever possible.  The Cyclotron guitars are available to buy on http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/.

If you have your reservations about their quality, fear not.  The maple neck, heavy recycled plastic body and top quality hand-wound Bare Knuckle pickups (as used by Matt Bellamy and Lenny Kravitz) combine to give it amazing sound.  Five way switching allows for a variety of sound combinations suitable for different musical styles.

Sheffield based band Reverend and the Makers burst on to the scene last year with their album ‘The State of Things’.  With their debut single ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’ becoming the anthem of the summer, Tom is well placed to deliver his professional verdict.  So don’t keep us in suspense, what’s it really like to play?…

"Playing a guitar made from recycled materials is definitely a change but I was pleasantly surprised.  It played really nicely with a gutsy bluesy and retro sound.  I’m impressed it’s made with bits of crushed CDs too – genius! "

Each guitar is made to order for each person and rockers can choose between the Cylotron Benton – a more traditional telecaster shape for £815 – and the Cyclotron Webster which is a bold new design using the timeless combination of three single coils for £850.

If you’re looking to be different, look no further.  Available in six unique funky materials which will give you the edge:

Marble: Reclaimed plastics from food production industry. Semi-translucent with black veining. Has the appearance of a very heavy marble.   

 Snow: Factory reject yoghurt pots with foil fragments from lids embedded in a white stone like material. Polishes to a hard shine.

Pirate: Sparkling fragments of crushed CDs suspended in translucent blue from office water cooler bottles. The CDs were seized by Trading Standards during a raid on illegal CD production facilities. 

Superfresh: Domestic bottles and containers of all types. Gives very vivid splashes and streaks of colour moving through the material. It even has a fresh soapy smell when first machined.

Chilli: Off cuts from industrial pipes. The mixture of colours produce a hot volcanic effect.

Espresso: Vending machine coffee cups which show as chips of cream and beige in a grey/ black base. This material polishes well to granite like appearance.

Now all you need is your record deal, happy strumming.  Check out a clip of Tom playing the Simon Lee eco-guitar at http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/simon-lee-guitars/simon-lee-recycled-guitar-(cyclotron-webster-)/ (scroll down).

Beauty comes with its own reward: As featured in Vogue, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar and Tatler, How on Earth has recently started stocking the Trilogy range of ethical skincare.

The first New Zealand skincare brand to achieve CarboNZero certification, Trilogy is now available through the luxury skin, hair and baby product website How on Earth. The range includes Trilogy Organic Rosehip Oil (£14.95), Trilogy Cream Cleanser (£18.95), Trilogy Balancing Gel Cleanser (£18.95), Trilogy Everything Balm (£18.95), Trilogy Energising Face Lotion (£22.94) and Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream (£20.95).

How on Earth offers a delightful way to shop for ethical skincare, hair and baby products. Brands are carefully chosen to not only reflect natural skincare requirements but also companies that have an ethical stance. All products are cruelty-free, have a very high natural content and none of the products contain questionable ingredients such as parabens, SLS, PEG, DEA, mineral oil or formaldehyde. How on Earth chooses manufacturers on the basis of their ethical and environmental policies and so customers can choose from organic skincare ranges to fair trade ranges – look for the different sections on the website: Organic, Natural, Local, Eco-friendly and Fair Trade.

The Trilogy ingredients’ policy means that all products are free from nanoparticles, GM ingredients, palm oil and there are no synthetic colouring or fragrances so, even though the ingredients’ listing includes parfum, you don’t have to wonder what kind of concoction is hidden beneath. All Trilogy contents and packaging are biodegradable, and the packaging is recyclable, made using a combination of non-bleached calico, non bio-accumulating dyes and recycled PET plastic. Certified under the CarboNZero scheme as committed to reducing their carbon footprint, all Trilogy products are transported to the UK by sea freight, rather than by air freight.

How on Earth stocks the following brands so far: Balm Balm | Barefoot Botanicals | Beaming Baby | Burts Bees | Ecosoapia | Gossypium | Green People | John Masters Organics | Laidbare | Natracare | Pai Skincare | Pangea Organics | Pukka Herbs | Simply Gentle Organics | Suki | Urtekram | Weleda.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR PRESS LOANS: Email shona.stewart@howonearth.co.uk or jo@jomoulds.co.uk or call 020 7359 7961, 01444 454212 or 07834 779 124.

http://howonearth.co.uk/   http://howonearth.co.uk/brands/trilogy.aspx

The Aarati Festival is a brand new green charity fund raising event in Cornwall on the 31st of August 2008. The National Trust have very kindly agreed to let us hold this festival in the grounds of Lanhydrock House near Bodmin. We have 6 themed areas for talks/workshops and presentations. The themes are Environment, Kids, Food, Healing, Yoga and exercise, and Bush craft/Wilderness skills.

We have some really great guest speakers including Brigit Strawbridge the environmentalist and founder of the Big Green Idea charity who was featured in the BBC tv series "Its not easy being green". Peter Bunyard, climatologist, journalist for the Guardian and founder of the Ecologist magazine. We also have Lettie Vantol, (founder of the Crystal Healing Federation one of the Worlds foremost experts on the revival of the use of minerals in healing practices)and most of Cornwall’s best yoga teachers . We have more than 60 confirmed workshop leaders/lecturers/teachers/entertainers.

covering a diverse range of subjects, from ethical investing to juicing for health and from storytelling for children to the Bhuddist philosophical approach to environmental conservation. There are musicians, puppeteers, face painters, and the chance to participate in a big green art attack!

This festival is no ordinary fund raising event. The day offers the chance for everyone involved with sustainability, people who care about the future of our planet, to show case how they are playing their part and to inspire each other to keep up the good work. We urge you all to get behind this event, don’t miss the opportunity to be involved. This is just the beginning.

We have trade and promotions opportunities available for all green businesses, educational and community organisations, and local artists and crafts people. Bookings can be secured by post or on-line through our web-site(see below) Prices of pitches vary, again please look at the web-site for details.

We are also looking for sponsorship and support for our event, this could be anything from a cash donation to simply offering to put up a poster in a window or public place, displaying promotional leaflets for the public to pick up or donating an item to add to our raffle prizes.Any additional promotion and support for the event is greatly appreciated. We have created a wish list which breaks down various expenses the event has incurred, all donations ultimately mean more money for our charities.

The event has been set up as a charity fund raiser. We are supporting the National Trust and The Global Natural Health Care Trust (GNHCT). The GNHCT is a small charity which achieves big results in helping to alleviate suffering caused by the Aids epidemic in the Orange Farm Settlement just outside Johannesburg in South Africa. The Trust uses only herbal medicines and organic fruit and vegetables to achieve fantastic results in helping sick people to live. They also run a programme finding foster care for orphaned children and have found care for over 7000 children to date.

Tickets are on sale now from our web-site!!£25 per ticket all workshops included in the price( plus price of sending tickets Royal Mail recorded

delivery- £1.50 per booking-if you wish to purchase more than one ticket you are only subject to one postal charge). Children under 16 are free, you must apply for a free ticket and be accompanied by an adult. Tickets are now also available direct from the Herbal Clinic, 58 Fairmantle St, Truro and from the Henna Tattoo shop at Hendra Holiday Park, Lane, Newquay.

Please take the time to look at the time table: http://www.cstn.org.uk/forum/welcome.asp?id=9793

www.aarati.co.uk and www.gnhct.org

CHI-QI is an ethical, green digital/mobile record label and art inspired content provider. We don’t sell/distribute CDs and don’t represent music/art that is insensitive to a global audience.

We wish to launch soon with new marketing initiative whereby for £15 annual membership members can download all content for free.

CHI-QI will be the first label anywhere in the world to do this and have a marketing co. who have pledged to achieve min. 8,000 new members per month.

Therefore, we seek an ethical investor for equity share in order to recode our website for this new initiative and to launch with our new marketing plan. Investment required is from £15k to £45k.

Website is at www.chi-qi.com and the 3500 "comments" from around the world at www.myspace.com/chiqicontent should illustrate our global potential.

Andre Power MD

CHI-QI Ltd

01702 389005

07812 600867

What do you do with the furniture you no longer need? Phone a friend, call your local re-use charity, put it on Freecycle, take it to the local tip, sorry household waste recycling centre, or phone the local council to collect it?

Every year over 20 million items of domestic furniture, one for every householder, is smashed up and either buried in the ground or incinerated. That is over ½ million tonnes of sofas, beds and cabinets destroyed. A quick desk review of various research suggests that around a half of these items are in reasonable condition and could be used by someone else.

Research into child poverty for the Government found that 4 million families in this country could not afford to replace worn out furniture and 3 million could not afford to replace broken electrical items. While some people change their three-piece suites with their wall paper, many others are struggling to furnish their homes.

We have the absurd situation that the majority of councils have a homelessness team moving people from temporary, furnished, accommodation into their first home, often without beds, cookers and other household items, struggling to find people the things they need, while another part of the same council is crushing and burying perfectly good furniture.

Re-use is an area where the third sector really does provide added value and joined up thinking. Where we meet social, economic and environmental objectives. Across the UK 400 charitable organisations are running vans around their communities collecting and delivering furniture and other items. Often working on a Robin Hood principle of collecting in the wealthier areas and delivering in the poorer ones, these organisations are reducing waste and moving resources to where they are most needed. Last year over 2 million items were saved from the council compactor vans and put to good use.

Many so-called ‘furniture projects’ are also collecting and repairing a wide range of other items from computers to carpet and bicycles to cookers. Organisations are often dealing with the poorest in our society and providing a wider service. Providing someone with a cooker has little value if they have no pans to cook with or crockery to eat from. A bed is nice, but it is much better with bedding and pillows. Starter Packs schemes aim to provide people with the items they need to make their accommodation a home. An increasing number of re-use charities are seeking to provide this wider range service for the poorest of their customers. They are also supporting socially excluded volunteers and trainees, with an core of organisations providing people with fully recognised qualifications.

At the other end of the spectrum there is a growing ethical consumer, hopefully everyone that reads this bulletin. Re-use charities are moving to dual pricing schemes with a higher charge for people who have not been referred by a recognised agency or are not on an income related benefit. One pioneering organisation in the Midlands, South Shropshire Furniture Scheme has taken this one step further.  Their shop in Ludlow looks like a cross between a craft centre, a book shop and an antique shop, all with a café on-site too. Much of the furniture they were being offered was too large for the social housing and small flats that many of their clients were being allocated. They now sell large wooden items, sometimes reconditioned in their workshops, alongside arts and crafts produced by trainees, to people with large houses and tourists with an eye for the unusual and the unique.

The opportunities not only to donate, but also to buy goods is growing. Many re-use organisations now stand alongside the charity shop sector in opening their doors to the public. Community organisations can save money by taking second hand office furniture (as we have at the FRN) and reconditioned IT equipment from re-use organisations. To find out who is in your area visit our website at http://www.frn.org.uk/

The re-use sector in this country is growing and some local authorities are beginning to realise that destroying or burning items does not fit into their overall environmental strategy. DEFRA has recently produced figures that show for every tonne of furniture re-used 9 tonnes of carbon is prevented from entering the atmosphere (compared to ½ tonne saved for items recycled). If we could save all the furniture councils are currently dumping that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 4 million tonnes, that is roughly equivalent to taking 1 million medium sized cars off our roads or 12 million return flights to Europe. Every Action Counts!!!

Paul Smith

Chief Executive Furniture Re-use Network