Hi all, I’m back …I know it has been a hell of a long since I made my last post. Life has flown by with kids, family and travel being responsible for my sabbatical. From here on in I intend to pick up the baton once again.
A dear friend of mine has created a fabulous website for all discount seeking shoppers, it’s in the voucher codes market place. I highly recommend you check it out
Tips to make your Halloween more eco-friendly:
Make your own Halloween costumes – check out what you have around the house or check out charity shops for items to use. Use face-paint or make your own masks. Use card board, alluminium, bin bags, unwanted material – black velvet is great.
Apple bobbing is a firm favourite. It’s fun and healthy! Just float apples in a large bowl of water and take turns trying to take an apple out with your teeth – mind the face paint!
Bake cakes and anything else but add weird and wonderful food colouring.
Pumpkins are a great eco-friendly decoration. Cut faces out of pumpkins and insert a candle and after use they can be thrown on the compost! And in the future why no consider growing your own!
Use up all the sweets you accumulate during the year for dishing out to trick or treaters. We have about three jars by the time Halloween comes along and otherwise they’ll be thrown away. Alternatively buy fair-trade, organic and natural ingredient sweets or dish out a variety of fruits, small toys and crayons.
Have a spooky time!
I know that I am not the only one who believes Halloween has turned into the huge farce in our celebratory calender. Not only can you not walk into a shop without being affronted with every kind of costume, consumables, decorations and now spooky music CDs (quite absurd I thought) but the time shops are stocking up is almost as ridiculous as for Christmas.
Hey, now I don’t wish to be a party pooper, but as you may have gathered – there is a better way!
I was brought up on Halloween parties! My mum used to black out our front room and create a ghost tunnel using mainly blankets and string… I know I was spoilt!
The history of Halloween is ancient and interesting and makes you appreciate it all the more.
Check out our eco-friendly Halloween tips coming soon.
And how green could he be???
The Natural Collection offer a great range of men’s eco-gifts ranging from the traditional but not traditional eco-gadgets to hip-dads hot off the eco-press fashions.
Surprise your dad with an eco-gift and spoil him this eco-father’s day without spoiling the planet.
Mini Easter eggs are great for Easter treats, Easter egg hunts and for those of us who don’t want to be too greedy – even though we may get through a whole bag of them!
The Natural Collection is offering a pack of free fair-trade Easter eggs with every order over £50. Take advantage, the Natural Collection offers a great range of eco-friendly gifts and everyday items and you can feel good eating and giving fair-trade Easter eggs this Easter.
If the weather is fair why not get into spring with a few ideas for the outdoors! Treasure hunt – hiding the eggs with a twist! Kids love pirates, why not stretch the traditional egg hunt to a golden egg treasure hunt. Depending how creative you’re feeling and the age of the kids this could involve a treasure map with an ‘X’ marks the spot, or written clues leading to the hidden eco-treasure. Use any fair-trade and organic ranges for complete egg-hunting satisfaction.
Egg and spoon races - you could use chocolate eggs so as not to waste any real ones! Otherwise use real ones and give chocolate eggs or treats for the winners.
Why not go for gold with an Easter planting session – April is a great time for summer planting and it’s a brilliant way of getting the kids involved. Why not use sticks or old lolly sticks and make signs for the plants using pictures with a spring and Easter theme. This will certainly build up a good appetite – or burn of the calories, whichever way you want to look at it!
All your Easter goodies can be purchased at the Natural Collection for fair-trade and organic eggs and Easter gifts or the Ethical Superstore for chocs, flowers and other ideal Easter gifts.
Nick
Easter in the rain could mean you need to fill your kids time up indoors.
All your recycling makes is great material for arts and crafts. Why not use an Easter theme to create collages – eggs and flowers lend themselves to all the colours from magazine pictures and old packaging.
Even bunny rabbits could evolve from your imagination and a bit of papier mache reusing any left over news papers. Messy but fun!
Nick
Have you got your free range organic eggs on the shopping list for Easter?
Pierce a small hole at both ends of the egg and then blow through one end to empty the white and yoke into a bowl. The eggs are then ready for painting! Even at 16 months my son spent ages painting his eggs but its just as much fun for older kids and adults too. If its a nice day get the paints set up outside and to reduce your waste just cook up a scrambled egg brunch!
Be warned – blowing the contents of the eggs out is quite hard work – I have friends who hard boil their eggs first but the no-one will want to break their master pieces for eating will they!
Nick
The Cornish Bedruthan Steps Hotel is offering some great spa offers and a delicious menu lined for a Mother’s Day treat. Perfect for mother and daughter or the whole family.
Nick
Thinking of giving mum flowers for Mother’s Day?
Why not opt for a potted plant instead? Not only more environmentally friendly than cut flowers but you have a huge variety for indoor and outdoor plants and your mum can look forward to years of growth and blooms…sometimes you don’t even need GREEN fingers!
Nick