Hippyshopper

Diary of a Green Wedding #2: How much is that organic wedding cake in the window?

When John mentioned the idea of an organic wedding cake, I admit I rolled my eyes.  I'm a bit, shall we say, fiscally conservative, to begin with, and never really had the girlish daydreams about a big wedding (certainly far less than he does!) so the first thing I thought was, how much more is this dratted cake going to cost now?  I'd seen the cakes in the bakery windows and instinctively guessed that, like the dress, anything that single-use was going to be expensive.  Yes.  Top Hat Cakes, the first Soil Association approved wedding cake maker, charges £60 for their simplest 30 serving, and it goes up to £800 for their most elaborate 200 serving cake.  As I complained about the dress, I could get quite a nice new MacBook Pro for that price.  I am sure it is fabulous, life-changing cake.  I am not casting aspersions on those of you who feel a wedding is important enough to merit £800 for one cake alone.  But I did have to think about it for a while before I came around to believing it was indeed a good idea - not just the cake, but doing all the food with organics.

I have a whole raft of chemical sensitivities and food intolerances - so many that I often just give up on observing them and take my lumps, because the hassle involved in avoidance often seems (though never truly is) comparable to the illness provoked by exposure. My wedding day is a day where I enter into a life-altering contract and I should be clear-headed for the experience. While this applies especially to me, I think it has general meaning as well. We don't know what subtle effects a lot of chemicals and processed foods have on our characters - unless we cut them out and see what happens. The wedding day is about change and renewal; there is no better day to make the extra effort to go clean, especially now, with organics increasingly available. Hang the extra expense; you only get married once (or twice, in my case). [GT]

See more Green Weddings posts at Hippyshopper.

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Turn Cauldron tofu into chocolate-orange pots

To make this incredibly yummy looking Little Chocolate and Orange Pots, start with Cauldron original tofu, and puree in the blender. Add 125g of melted chocolate, 200ml of Greek yoghurt, 50g of caster sugar, 50g of ground almonds, and blast until smooth. Pour into pots (the recipe recommends coffee cups) and chill for 30 minutes. Garnish with zest of 2 large oranges. For more sinful yet shockingly healthy tofu recipes, visit Cauldron Foods - they have Creamy Mushroom & Tarragon Risotto, Red Tofu Fritters with Chilli Dipping Sauce, and Kids Ranchero Pie. [GT]

Little Chocolate and Orange Pots

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Trout Pâté with Sunblush Tomatade makes you happy!

The Patchwork Traditional Food Company offers what it calls a double dose of happiness with its Summer Trout Pâté with Sunblush Tomatade. This is a gently smoked trout blended with cream cheese and a bunch of very registered trademark sunblush® tomatade®, sunblush® tomatoes. £9.55 for 230g and £18.70 for 455g. And if you find it unfit for human consumption (which seems unlikely as it sounds divine) you can get a refund. [GT]

Summer Trout Pâté with Sunblush Tomatade

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New shades from Garthenor Organic Wool

Garthenor Pure Organic Wool is all naturally coloured by the sheep its shorn from, and has an ever-increasing set of Soil Association Certified products. Shades range from white to fawn to brown to grey to black, and even include 'marl', which is a very stylish salt-and-pepper speckle. Prices start at £3.50 and top out at £13 for their chunky Manx Loghtan in natural milk chocolate. Yum! [GT]

Garthenor Pure Organic Wool

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Arthur Street Trading Company vegetarian and organic produce

Arthur Street Trading Company doesn't just produce organic fruits and vegetables, they also distribute them via a purpose built solar powered workshop (at Unit 2, 23 Arthur Street in Hull, if you have the urge to drop by and check it out yourself). Research shows that the people in the Hull area have poor access to organic produce, and many are forced to buy from supermarkets that do not have the true concerns of the local community at heart and also encourage the use of polluting modes of transport that involve many extra costs both financially and environmentally. Their organic produce box delivery scheme goes to 180 customers in the area who can either go with a standard assortment, or customize their box. They also offer organic Christmas hampers with "offer carefully selected organic wines and beers, many of which are award winning products." [GT]

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Vitaorganic Organic Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant

Specializing in "live, enzymatic and gently cooked food", Vitaorganic Organic Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant also has "an extensive living/raw food menu as well as a juice bar".  Open every day from noon to ten (except Sundays where it closes at nine), and located at 74 Wardour Street in London.  If you can't make it there, at least you can check out their menu (and a bit more menu here).  [GT]

Vitaorganic Organic Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant

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Chegworth Valley: Organic stairs (that is, apples and pears)

After six years' effort, Chegworth Valley is pleased to report that they finally have fully organic apples and pears on offing.  Their Discovery apples and Bramleys are on sale at all their farmers' markets, and is available for delivery all over London (minimum order £18).  That includes soft fruit, apples and their fully organic pear, apple and pear-apple juice.  If you’re interested in ordering call them up on 01622 859272.  [GT]

Chegworth Valley

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Technorati Tags: bespoke, biodegradable, environment, ethical consumerism, fair trade, green, hippie, hippyshopper, lifestyle, organic, shiny media, recycled, reclaimed

Canby sustainable jute totes

It's not too late to get in on the Canby summer sale on white jute shopping bags. For £350 + VAT, you get 200 bags, printed on both sides with the same 1 colour design (of your choice) to resell for around £600. If that's more of an investment than you want to make, you can get 50 of the Green Shopper bags for £50 + VAT, and obviously they're worth more than £1 each. The bags are all fair trade and created greenly. If you just want to buy one bag, stop by their sister site, Summer Bags, where you can get their Havana bag for £10 including VAT, the GOA bag for £5 and the classic Antibes brown or blue also for five quid. [GT]

Canby jute shoppers | Summer Bags

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Yay or Nay: Is there a spy bin in your neighborhood?

Pocket-lint reports that councils across the UK have put out 500,000 spy rubbish bins across England to monitor trash dumping habits with RFIDs.  The RFIDs cost £2 each (so a million pounds right there) plus outfitting the trucks with RFID readers costs £15,000 per truck, equipped to an unspecified number of trucks.  The idea is to figure out who is dumping excess non-recyclable rubbish and eventually to charge those who toss too much.  Is this an appropriate expenditure, or are there more efficient places to put a few million quid in order to increase recycling?  Post Yay or Nay in comments!  [GT]

Wheelie bin gets high tech makeover

[Don't forget to vote at Trashionista, Bridalwave, Corrie Blog, Kiss and Makeup, The Bag Lady, Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny too!]

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Fair trade, compostable, biodegradable dishware made from sugar

It's great to see "Made in China" on disposable products that are actually fair trade and won't be around long after I'm compost myself.  Branch Biodegradable Plates, Cups + Utensils are made from bagasse, which is extracted from the sugar cane.  The utensils are made from 4:1 mix of potato starch and vegetable oil.  So if you end up crashing on a desert island, after you've eaten all the rations, you can give a try to melting these down and fermenting them into a digestif.  25 bowls for $4 USD, 50 cups for $7 USD, and 50 sets of utensils for $13.50.  [GT]

Branch Biodegradable Plates, Cups + Utensils [via PopGadget]

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Clean Slate school uniforms

If you want more than the usual school uniform, Clean Slate offers fair trade, organic cotton clothing that otherwise conforms to the school requirements.  Side pleated skirts for girls start at £12.50 and polo shirts for boys at £13.  [GT]

Clean Slate organic, fair trade school uniforms

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Site of the week: EcoGeek

As of this moment, EcoGeek has five excellent top stories: Boeing's Concept Hydrogen Plane, 99.99% Mercury Recovery from Flourescent Bulbs, Thinking about Going Solar?, Solar Panel Printing Press and Yo Yo Powered MP3 Player.  It's also a clean, fast-loading site that's easy to like.  [GT]

Site of the week: EcoGeek

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Tuesday blog roundup: Eco Sac, Sustainable Building cert, diesel speedboat, more

MetaEfficient has a 50,000 liter compact rain storage tank which is easily installed and fits into areas as shallow as 70cm.  The bad news: it's made from PVC.  Since it's being called an Eco Sac, hopefully there's work going into finding an alternative material.  But, baby steps, right?  More blog roundup after the jump.

Sustainablog writes up a Sustainable Building Course at Mount Hood Community College.  They even have a full Sustainable Building Advisor Certificate Program.  Students are coming from as far away as Oakland, California, to study and get certified in this booming area.  Excellent!

Eco-Worrier is a blog run by the Times Online, answering random hippy and ethical questions ranging from How can I help Lebanon? to Q: Help! I’ve become dependent on handy-sized bottles of mineral water.  This week: Q: My roof is unsuitable for solar panels or a wind turbine. Are there any other options for making energy in the home?

Ecofriend has satellite photos showing that the volcanic region of the Phlegrean Fields has uplifted about 2.8 centimeters from 2005 to 2006.  The caldera is definitely swelling - slower than, say, Mount Saint Helens, but nonetheless, it's pretty interesting that such subtle alterations in the planetary landscape are now so glaring with our modern tech.

Finally, thegreenguy has a writeup that a Sci-fi biodiesel boat aims to beat the round-the-world record.  Powered solely by green fuel, it's headed to London and the rest of Europe circa November, and hopes to navigate the globe in 65 days - 10 faster than the current British-held record.  For more information, visit the Earthrace site.    [GT]

Last week's roundup: Tuesday ecoblog roundup: Tree-athalon, National Eisteddfod, more

Ugo bespoke organic pasta

Ugo Foods loves da pasta, loves making da pasta, and wants everybody to have da pasta.  Want it organic?  Just ask!  Need it wheat free?  They'd love to have you love their pasta.  But don't just sit here pondering on love.  Drop 'em a line and arrange to go over to their place in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and have some free samples.  Free pasta from people who love pasta?  What are you waiting for?  [GT]

Ugo Foods

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Wam-Bamboo nappies

The evidence that bamboo is the perfect plant continues to grow as fast as bamboo itself.  Latest point of reference: Wam-Bamboo nappies.  Bamboo is naturally antibacterial, making your baby less likely to develop diaper rash, and as smooth as whipped silk without being quite as expensive as silk nappies.  £8.25 per nappy.  [GT]

Wam-Bamboo nappies [via Treehugger]

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ViaStone: rock, (inkjet) paper

When paper is made from rock, what does it do to the traditional game?  ViaStone is inkjet paper that holds up to 2880 dpi, dries instantly, is water, fade and tear resistant (so that answers about scissors), uses no trees or tree byproducts, and has a price tag that is in line with premium rag-and-branch papers.  If you've used it, please drop a line to editor at hippyshopper.com or leave a comment; I'm a photographer by night and dying to know how well this stuff really performs.  [GT]

ViaStone [via Treehugger]

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John Hurd's Organic Watercress

All John Hurd does is make organic watercress.  He's been doing it since 1991 and has a National Rivers Authority approved settlement tank for the beds.  The tank allows silt and organic debris to settle before water is released, thus helping to maintain a natural balance in our rivers.  Watercress beds are flooded and sluiced, ridding the product of pests, without the need for toxic pesticides.  Thus making perfect watercress "all year round, subject to weather conditions".  Recipes on-site range from Chargrilled Monkfish with Watercress Mash and Oil to Watercress and Mussel Risotto.    [GT]

Organic Watercress

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Uniform2 lets you buy, swop or give away old school togs

Kids grow fast.  School uniforms don't.  Ergo, there's a burgeoning supply of barely used school uniforms out there.  Uniform2 has made a nice nexus for these, enabling you to locate second-hand blazers, books, bats and bassoons!  Use of the site is free; sponsored by uniform makers Aitken & Niven.    [GT]

Uniform2

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Fungamentals: organic mushrooms

Next time you fry your little white button mushrooms, remember that the 'button' mushroom industry is the largest commercial user of formaldehyde on the planet!  Ew.  Which makes produce from a company like Fungamentals: organic mushrooms an incredibly attractive concept.  Their mushrooms are all grown within a few hours' travel of your store (and therefore your plate) using traditional non-chemical Japanese growing methods.  They produce shitake and other mushrooms intended to provide significant medical and flavour attributes. [GT]

Fungamentals: organic mushrooms

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Monday ethics: are tampons okay?

The Guardian asks: is it okay to use tampons? The long and the short seems to be: generally not, sometimes yes. Most tampons involve plastic applicators, paraben preservatives which can mimic estrogen in potentially dangerous ways and have unpredictable environmental consequences, wrappers that don't biodegrade, and a bewildering willingness to apply artificial scents to a part of the body which, frankly, ought not to smell like anything synthetic. But rather than simply griping about an issue, the article does mention alternatives, ranging from Natracare products (organic cotton, readily available in many high street stores now) to the Mooncup to - if you're really dedicated - patterns for making your own washable pads. I've used washable pads for years now and find them much less trouble than one might imagine, and the satisfaction of knowing I'm generating less waste is worthwhile. Please email or comment with your own solutions to this. [GT]

Is it okay... to use tampons?

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Did you know: Hybrids pay for themselves (eventually)

A report commissioned by CNN via Edmunds found that hybrid vehicles save enough on gas, and have good enough tax breaks, to offset the higher sticker price.  The 2006 Toyota Prius four-door Hatchback can turn it around in just 1.2 years.  Unsurprisingly, the one that takes longest to pay itself off is the 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Limited - an SUV. (But if you must have an SUV, it's better than a regular one.) [GT]

Some Hybrid Vehicles Becoming Sensible Purchases, According to Edmunds.com

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Prototype yoyo-powered mp3 player

With the prototype ReGEN: Yo Yo Powered MP3 Player (part of the Pop Sci and Core77 challenge to create a human-powered device), when you run out of juice, you just walk the dog a dozen times (so to speak) and it charges back up for another hour. Since the headphones are wireless, you can listen comfortably while flicking up a new charge. The LCDs will probably take a little sorting out (especially to make them damage-proof; who has used a yoyo and not dropped it?) from an engineering perspective, but the basic idea is solid as Undercover Brother. [GT]

ReGEN: Yo Yo Powered MP3 Player [via EcoGeek]

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Orkney Seaweed for Your Garden

Seaweed has long been used on gardens to help promote plant growth. Orkney Seaweed Company has updated this idea and manufactures liquid seaweed. They point out that their liquid seaweed product is a true organic product, made without the use of chemicals from fresh seaweed. They offer two main variants, Seapower for the commercial grower and SimplySeaweed for the amateur gardener,which is available from Harrod Horticultural. [John]

Orkney Seaweed Company Ltd

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