Hippyshopper

How to go Locavore

Food & Wine has a listing of sites to help you go locavore. Eating locavore involves the commitment to only consume sustainable food from within 150km of where you live (or, if that's infeasible, then organically produced food). Headwater site is Locavores.com, which gives you a plethora of tips on how to go more ethical with your food. [GT]

How to eat like a locavore

More food and drink

Balance water floras your travels

I'm always a bit sceptical of anything fluid that claims it does a better job of hydrating you than water does, since water is what our system is designed to like best, but in any case, Balance Water uses Bach flower essences to provide an extra lift in specific circumstances. Balance Water for traveling, for example, is good for "concentration calmness and alertness", "motion sickness, balance", "feeling comfortable in strange settings, tiredness and emotional fatigue and fear of flying." [GT]

Balance Water [via NOTCOT]

More food and drink

Whole Foods Market 'on course' to open organic megastore in June

Whole Foods Market has announced that it is still on schedule to open its flagship UK store - a whopping 80,000 square feet of organic goodness - in London's Kensington High Street this June.

We're used to supermarket chains opening massive outlets, but will this one really be any greener, and how will it benefit the area? 

More Food & Drink

[Via New Consumer]

Whole Foods Market claims that despite the vast space they have to fill (the lovely art-deco building formerly occupied by Barkers department store), there will be a 'focus on procuring foods from local growers, food artisans and manufacturers'. But with talk of air-freighted goods potentially losing their organic certification, I'll be interested to see how they'll work this out. 80,000 square feet of local produce would be no small feat.

The American organic and natural foods chain, which already operates the Fresh and Wild stores in the UK, says that this will be the largest supermarket (of any sort) in London. Just imagine a visit there...no more
looking for the organic 'section' or making do with only one type of organic bread...

And as a local resident, I'll be keeping a close eye on the company's aim to be an 'active member of the local community', checking out the events and activities they've promise to put on. I can't wait!

Celebrate fairtrade fortnight with Traidcraft wine

Fairtrade fortnight is coming up fast, and what better way to welcome it than by cracking open a bottle of fairtrade wine and raising a glass to the growers?

Unlike many of the wines in the still-small fairtrade category, Traidcraft's Torrontes is from a relatively little known and up-and-coming grape, which grows in Argentina. Torrontes gives a subtily fruity flavour, hinting of pears and melons, with a natural crisp acidity that lends itself well to salads, creamy pastas or mildly-spiced dishes - perfect for spring!

More Food & Drink

The grapes are picked by over 500 farmers who make up the La Riojana Co-operative, and are guaranteed a good price for their grapes, as well as benefiting from free advice and technical assistance thanks to fairtrade. Sold by the case for £67.70 (that's £5.65 a bottle), Torrontes is available to order on Traidcraft's site.

Seth Kinmont's Still transforms wine into eau de vie while you watch

The very gadget to chi-chi up any dinner party: Seth Kinmonth's Still.  Using the old-schoolest of tech (fire and glass) and 15 custom-blown Pyrex bottles, the still converts a regular bottle of wine into eau de vie over a period of time corresponding to about a dinner.  You can watch it work, and at the end, inhale some truly exceptional tipple.  It also comes with a case of cab sauv that the artist made himself, and candles he designed and cast.  $1750 USD.  [GT]

Seth Kinmonth's Still [via Cool Hunting]

More food and drink

Vegetarian Society awards - have your say

For the non flesh-eaters among us, the Vegetarian Society provides a wealth of really useful information on life in a carnivorous world. Their awards, which are now spread throughout the year with a different category to vote on each month, are a great incentive for the food industry to pull its socks up in terms of the quality and availability of vegetarian options.

And as a frustrated veggie who has been wondering for YEARS why Muller Light are still using gelatine, and why Worcestershire sauce is so hard to find without stealth-anchovies, I'm already cackling with excitement about this month's category: Imperfect world - vote for the products you think should be veggie. The society will then lobby the organisations concerned on our behalf. Which they've done with huge success in the past. Remember the days when vegetarian cheese was considered a 'speciality product'? Not that long ago, was it. Go there and have your say now!

Their past nominations pages also make interesting reading for any veggie whose ever wished for more than cheese salad in a baguette, or indeed any non-veggie who still thinks giving up meat means giving up decent fry-ups.

Oranges are the only fruit for February.

It may come as a surprise that the sunniest of fruits should be at their best in the bleakest of months, but we're reliably informed by those lovely people at Eat the Seasons that oranges are the seasonal food of the moment. Which judging by the need for vitamin C in flu-ridden Shiny Towers is definitely no bad thing! 

Not sure what to do with all those oranges? Eat the Seasons website features loads of mouth-watering recipes and ideas, including chocolate orange and whisky mousse, caramelised oranges and cranberry, orange and port sauce. And if you can't get enough orangey goodness, why not cover yourself in it? Love Eco have slashed the price of their scrumptious Orange flower scrub to just £5.49 as part of their winter sale...

Shiny green stars: Ben & Jerry go fairtrade

For those in the UK today may not be the best day for eating ice cream, but climatic chaos will undoubtedly bring a heatwave before 'winter' is out, so we're delighted to learn that Ben & Jerry's ice cream is about to give more of its range the fairtrade treatment!

Just in time for Fairtrade Fortnight (a date for your diaries - or should that be dairies, hehe - watch this space for more info soon) Ben & Jerry's will be turning the classic favourite vanilla toffee crunch fairtrade. It'll be the second flavour to get the seal of approval in the Ben & Jerry's range, after their vanilla became the first ice cream to go fairtrade in the UK. Which awards them several million shiny green stars from us...

Win a valentine's hamper with Green & Blacks

Don't mistake us for romantic fools. Yes, it's yet another bloody V-Day promotion, but this one isn't only for couples. In fact, Green & Black's chocolate is so scrummy I'd advise keeping this one to yourself whether you'll be coupled-up or steadfastly single this Wednesday!

The green chocolate gurus are running a competition to win a valentine's hamper, crammed with tasty treats, including a luxury chocolate box, some decadent bars, cocoa dusted almonds and their trademark Dark, Milk and White Squares. Good luck, folks!

Bossa Nova açai fruit juice

Unless you've been in hiding since Christmas, you'll no doubt have heard that açai has been proclaimed the latest 'superfood'. So what's all the fuss about?

Açai is a small, dark fruit which grows on palm trees on the floodplains of the Amazon basin. It has the highest antioxidant count of anything measured so far by science, leading to it being labeled the world's healthiest fruit. Bossa Nova Açai juice is fresh Açai, sweetened with agave (syrup extracted from tequila cactus - it's good stuff! More neutral and sweeter than honey, with less of a blood sugar boost). Also, for every bottle you buy, Bossa Nova saves a rainforest tree.  [GT]

Bossa Nova Açai juice [via NOTCOT]

More Food & drink

Soil Association move to tackle air-freight debate

It's always a sad moment when you realise the delicious, environmentally sound, organic-certified banana you're chomping on has been flown in from the other side of the planet, contributing significantly to your carbon footprint, and pretty much cancelling out any 'green' credentials it may at first have appeared to have.

But in a brave attempt to solve this common ethical conundrum, the Soil Association - the body responsible for organic certification in the UK - is considering a total ban on air-freighted products, to the extent that food flown in from overseas would no longer be certified organic, regardless of how it had been farmed. This is certainly good news for shoppers, as not everyone has time to weigh up the various ethical arguments on every trip to the grocery aisle, and it can be disheartening to find your best efforts (and not to mention a few extra quid) are going to waste.

The air-freight ban is just one of many options being looked into by the Soil Association to tackle climate change, and we'll make sure we keep you up to date on developments!

Cup Noodles goes refillable!

26 March, instant snack food changes forever. Nissin Food Products is launching reusable Cup Noodle cups. The kit involves two meal packets, seafood and regular flavour packets, and a single plastic cup with a lid. To make the second packet, wash out the cup and have at. The cup-less meals will also be available individually. The kit costs about £2.50 and the refills are about 50p each. [GT]

Nissin Food Products launches reusable Cup Noodle [via Plastic Bamboo]

More Food & drink

Starbucks' fair trade claims. A load of froth?

Starbucks is protesting its innocence once again, this time in response to accusations made in the 'fair trade film' Black Gold, which exposes the plight of farmers in Ethiopia, the 'birthplace of coffee'. The chain has described the film's claims as 'inaccurate', denying that its workers are malnourished, barefoot, and completely reliant on US food handouts while multinational coffee chains rack up huge profits.

Pressure on the coffee giant and its rivals will mount further today when Tadesse Meskela, a spokesman for Ethiopia, meets Tony Blair to kickstart a campaign to get the East African country's farmers a better chance. At the moment, they're getting around $1.10 per pound of coffee, while retailers can sell the same amount for anything up to $160.

Perhaps tellingly, on Starbucks' own 'pressing news' section of its website, a link promisingly labelled "Starbucks' comment on Black Gold and our relationship with farmers" guides the reader to this mostly blank page. Don't tell us we didn't give them a fair trial!

Little Salkeld Watermill reopens today!

If you've been desperate for bio-dynamic and organic stoneground flours milled the traditional way using clean, self-renewing waterpower - well, you probably could've rung up and gotten some special dispensation. But now you needn't, for Little Salkeld Watermill is reopened after Christmas hols. Also, the full list of 2007 courses has been posted - but if you want something a little milder, just take a tour. [GT]

Little Salkeld Watermill

More Food & drink

Winter sale at The Green Directory Shop

By offering just these 70 gram, 65% cocoa solids organic Rococo chocolate bars in lavender, sea salt, Earl Grey, cardamom and more at 18% off (£2.87 instead of £3.50) the Green Directory Shop is pretty much already assured of a successful winter sale, but I'll also mention they've got their wind-up mobile phone charger and torch on for £12 and the Green Directory 2006-2008 on for only £6! [GT]

Green Directory Shop

Related stories: Peopletree January Sale | Love-Eco Winter Sale | Ethical sales and boycotts outstrip beer and fags sales

Cloning a steer from a steak

In Cloned Bull: the bum rap on cloned food, William Saletan addresses the technical issues of cloning beef.  He mentioned a startling fact: ViaGen's 19-month old prize steer, Elvis, "was cloned from a side of Prime Yield Grade 1 beef."  That's right, they're taking cells from hanging carcasses that turned out particularly well, and using them to generate new breeding stock.  (At $15,000 USD per clone, they're nowhere near the direct food chain right now.)  Saletan also answers: "Why don't reprogramming errors taint your food?"  Whether or not you buy his analogy that "fertilization, like rebooting, cleans up programming errors", one can't argue that you (and I) should "Question your fears. That's the difference between us and the animals."  [GT]

Cloned Bull: the bum rap on cloned food

Related stories: US FDA OKs cloned meat | 2006 roundup #10: Send in the clones (and the GM too) | Celery GMed into a literal straw

Eat The Seasons tells you what's juicy now

The Eat the Seasons pick for this week is the Jerusalem artichoke. Make sure yours - which is neither an artichoke nor from Jerusalem, but a tuber not unlike a potato that Samuel de Champlain brought to Europe from North America in 1605 - is smooth, unwrinkled, firm, without sprouts or soft spots. They keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, and can be made into soups, hummus, salad and more. They're in season now, and Eat the Seasons will keep you posted on what's best year round. [GT]

Eat the Seasons

Related stories: Greening Supermarkets revisited: not so green | British summer organic recipes at Green Chronicle | Find your nearest farmer's market

Yay or Nay: Would you eat this potato?

Scientists found that the carcinogen acrylamide forms in deep fried foods, particularly chips.  Another problem with potatoes is that the longer they're stored, the more they break down, becoming mushy and unpalatable.  Simplot in Idaho hopes to change that, with their GM potato that 'rebuffs' acrylamide when fried, and stays firm and fresh longer in storage.  Would you eat this superior-tasting, less-carcinogenic, but genetically-modified, potato?  Post yay or nay in comments.  [GT]

Genetically modified spud healthier, creators say

Related stories: Yay or Nay: Should Al Gore give it away? | Yay or Nay: Would you eat a grey squirrel? | Organic, humanely grown veal: Yay or Nay?

Foods to improve your moods

Speaking as someone with tons of food intolerances, chemical allergies, and generally who has to live apart from other mortals, food makes a giant difference to how functional you are.  This is obvious, yet it seems lost on many (not, of course, you Hippyshoppers, who are all tall, strong, genius-class charmers; please just pass on the word to your idiot siblings and bosses).  About.com has a writeup on five foods for a better mood that's worth absorbing, so to speak.  They don't specifically mention blueberries but they're another vitamin-and-mineral-and-antioxidant powerhouse like pomegranates.  The upshot seems to be to eat beans and more beans.  [GT]

5 Foods for a Better Mood [via Slashfood]

Related stories: POM juice tea in reusable glass | Natural food colouring from Organic Consumers | Luscombe Organic Elderflower bubbly

Celery GMed into a literal straw

Standard celery has been tweaked from its normal U shape to be an airtight living celery straw.  Targeted at bars as a natural (unnatural, I guess) fit with Bloody Marys, it'll probably also hit stores with a cheese or peanut butter filling.  While the idea of a natural (edible, even) alternative to plastic straws or swizzle sticks is appealing, there is the small issue of them being genetically modified, of course.  [GT]

Celery that sucks: Stalks torqued into edible straws

Related stories: Use BioBags; avoid lead poisoning | Omas 360 vegetable resin pen | The DVD player you can eat

POM juice tea in reusable glass

I've been pro-pomegranate since I was old enough to peel one, and given the news about pomegranates being loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and other good stuff it's not surprising I've loved them so much.  The biggest face of the pomegranate these days is POM, who've now branched out into providing bottled tea with juice (such as the Pomegranate Lychee Green shown here).  The smart-smart-smart part is the shape of the bottle: just pop the top off and you've got a glass you can wash out and stick right in the cupboard.  Or, since the glass is thick and the top air-tight, you can re-use the container far more conveniently than the standard bottle shape (and without the concerns with plastic breakdown should you repurpose old yogurt cups).  Super design choice shown by POM.  [GT]

POM Juice Tea [via designverb]

Related stories: Juice (and how to recycle it) | Natural food colouring from Organic Consumers | Luscombe Organic Elderflower bubbly

New Zealand honey takes many forms

I was wondering the other day exactly what made manuka so exciting, and the good folks at Mighty Foods have provided a full roundup of all New Zealand honeys.  Manuka apparently has large crystals in it, and is "big, bold, amber colored", in addition to the antibacterial qualities I read about elsewhere.  However, there's also the light Pohutukawa honey (from the "New Zealand Christmas Tree" shown here), smoky-ginger Rewarewas, and caramel-butter Tawari.  They also recommend you serve honey chilled to keep the taste subtle, "the way we drink sweet wines".  Sounds delicious!  Another reason to go with a varietal is to avoid the risk of your honey being tainted with carcinogenic antibiotics.  Though banned in the UK, some countries continue to use them to kill bee mites, and the honey is then "laundered" through other countries before being blended into the commercial product.  So go local -  World of NZ has manuka for sale, for example - and know what you're getting.  [GT]

Profile: New Zealand honey at Mighty Foods

Related stories: World of NZ Manuka honey | Organic beer of the week: Fullers Honey Dew | red flower floral beauty products

McDonald's sources ethical coffee

I'm not the world's biggest fan of McDonald's.  Admittedly this is mainly due to foodie tendencies more than ethical concerns.  In any case, the day my daughter breaks my heart by asking if she can 'have a McDonald's', instead of a juicy home-made burger made from Scottish fillet steak minced by my fair hands (and the food processor) topped with home-made mayo and salad fresh from the allotment, will at least be made more bearable by the thought that it's paying some lip service to the idea of sourcing its fare ethically.

According to a report in The Independent, the junk food chain is going to source the coffee served in its UK outlets (I refuse to use the word 'restaurant' to describe those places) from farms approved by the Rainforest Alliance.

The Rainforest Alliance is separate to the Fairtrade Foundation and, unlike the latter, does not guarantee premium prices.  The Independent's wording on this is: "Mr Willie [chief of sustainable agriculture for the watchdog] said that farmers who use sustainable processes tended to get a "significant" premium." Hmmm.

Anyway, if you're a parent under pressure to take your children into McDonald's for some empty calories, at least the coffee you'll be drinking to take the edge off the horrendous experience won't be as unethical as before.

Related stories: Devon McDonalds Closing Due to Farmer's Market | McDonald's redesigns McFlurry to save the hedgehogs | Review: Pret - ethical fast food | Leon: real fast food

Photo credit: This delicious looking McDonalds McRib Sandwich was photographed (and, presumably endured eaten) by Eli Hodapp and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence

Eastern Venture provides Holy Basil

Eastern Venture was the first UK company to import Tulsi, aka Holy Basil. Used in a variety of healing teas, Tulsi is also prized for antioxidants and fresh taste. Available with ginger, chai spices, and blended with green tea. [GT]

Eastern Venture

Related stories: Mighty Leaf Tea tastes mighty fine | Nothing but Tea | Stoke me a Clipper (Malted)

Lye Cross Farm organic cheese

For the past 55 years, the Alvis Bros. Ltd have been making cheddar at Lye Cross Farm. Lye Cross is at the foot of the Mendip Hills, which is only a few miles from Cheddar itself, the birthplace of the most popular cheese in the world. Alvis Bros. Ltd gets milk from seven local dairies, which it uses to produce regular cheddar. It also has three dairy farms of its own, one of which is certified organic, which goes into their organic cheddar and territorials: Blue Stilton, Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Cheshire, Caerphilly, Wensleydale and Lancashire. Vegetarian-safe, with non-GM rennet, certified by the Soil Association. [GT]

Related stories: Lubborn Organic Brie | Mauritania's newest big export: camel milk | SoLait 100 solar powered milk frother

TraidCraft Fair Trade dried fruit snacks

It's that time again; New Year's resolutions are being made (or at least seriously thought about) all over the country. If one of yours is the ubiqitous 'eat more healthily' then these yummy little snack packs of dried fruit may help you on your way.

Each bag contains 40g of pure, dried pear, nectarine and peach from the Cape area of South Africa and is fairly traded.

And just half a pack gives you one portion of your 'five a day' fruit and veg target.

Ten bags cost £5 from the TraidCraft shop.

More food and drink

One World Cafe: pay what you will

Don't skip lunch because you can't afford it: move to Salt Lake City instead.  The One World Cafe operates on the SAME principle: So All May Eat.  If you don't have enough money, you're requested to help with the dishes, weed the garden, sweep up, or otherwise participate in operations.  If you have too much money (and I know some of you do!) well, you might be so good as to overpay so that someone else can have a healthy, organic meal.  They've recently formed OneWorldEverybodyEats as a nonprofit venture to help others set up their own One World Cafe.  "Birky at SAME has yet to notice anyone not paying. And Cerreta has had to approach only a few people."   So even in the 21st century, people know right.  [GT]

Where "Check, Please" Is Your Call [via Spluch]

Related stories: Barnet Garden Project provides chemical-free veg and a hand up | Allotmental | 2006 roundup #12: Los Angeles urban farm bulldozed

Soil Association chicken survey

Quick! Head over here and fill out the Soil Association's chicken survey. They are compiling information on the gap between consumer's expectations and the realities of chicken welfare.

You need to record your own expectations for the last bird you bought, then contact the retailer to find out the reality. The survey must be completed by 15 January 2007.

We'll report on the results as soon as they are available.

Related: Put your chicken in an Omlet Eglu

US FDA OKs cloned meat

Saying that cloned meat is "virtually indistinguishable" from the conventional variety, the US FDA has declared "that meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day" and need not even be labeled as coming from clone sources.   Clone sources for food are nowhere near the marketplace presently due to the expense - they're wanted for breeding - but could end up in the food supply as they get too old for that purpose.  [GT]

U.S. Government Says Food From Cloned Animals Safe to Eat | Cloned hamburger meat still seen a long way off

Related stories: Keep organic food GM free | Britons unknowingly eating GM rice | Julie's Restaurant fined for claiming non-organic meat is all-green

2006 roundup #17: Thunderbolt Tea, fair trade tea straight from India

The awesome thing about Thunderbolt tea is that you can order it yourself straight from the plantation in India.  This gets you fair trade tea with a minimum of middleman.  You do have to order semi-large quantities normally, but often they have bin-end sales where you can get as little as a quarter kilo for $11 USD (which is 250 cups of tea, give or take).  You're also getting very fresh, high-quality tea at exceptional prices.  Considering the appalling conditions under which coffee is generally produced (vis Black Gold) switching to this kind of tea oughta be a high consideration.  (If you're worried about losing caff hit, do remember, tea actually has more caff.  Barry's Tea kicks harder than Coca-cola!  I love it!)  [GT]

Original stories: Thunderbolt first flush fair trade darjeeling tea | First flush sale from Thunderbolt Tea | Hustle over for the second flush Thunderbolt tea! | Black Gold: Fast Food Nation for Coffee

Nothing But Tea

Shopping for tea is a blissful experience, and all the more blissful if you're in a shop devoted exclusively to the beverage.  Nothing But Tea brings this to the internet, and what it loses in whimsy it makes up in the ability to be visited at 4am whether one is even in the same hemisphere.  They offer tea starter kits (£12.50-£17.50) for newcomers to tea and wholesale tea for those who need their tea big and bad.  [GT]

Nothing But Tea

Related stories: Leaf Tea Travel Kit | Clipper sets sail with organic white tea | Mighty Leaf Tea tastes mighty fine

Cue n' 8 Salt and Pepper

Telling the salt from the pepper is a snap when you've got the Cue n' 8 Salt and Pepper from EcoCentric.  Made from actual "used and bruised" cue balls and eight balls from Britain's pool halls, they've had the bottom ground flat so they sit nicely on the table, and the centers cut out to hold the seasonings.  £25.  [GT]

Related stories: Anglesey Hand-harvested sea salt | Karma-tastic spa goodies | WalaVita holistic dental care

Organic Burns Dinner

Warm up in green style at the Organic Burns Dinner at the Inverness High School on 27 January.  Put on by the Soil Association of Scotland, the food is all prepared (organically, of course) by the Inverness students, providing them with useful experience on start to finish dining, and gives you a chance to have some sustainable delights.  £28 for SA members; £35 for nonmembers, which includes a four-course dinner, drinks, and entertainment in form of an interpretive dance piece devised around the Ploughman Poet's most famous poem, Tam o' Shanter. For more information, visit the REAL Project's blogspot.  [GT]

Organic Burns Dinner [via GreenGirlsGlobal]

Related stories: Acorn House Restaurant trains restaurant workers in the art of hippy | Jamie Oliver to power, turbines to restaurant speed | Julie's Restaurant fined for claiming non-organic meat is all-green

Halzephron Herb Farm

Halzephron Herb Farm grows their own, all organic, and then makes it into treats for the inside (mayos, dips and dressings) and out (soaps and tonics). You can even still get hampers from them in time for Christmas (if you're willing to absorb the additional shipping), which range from £15 to £35 and are bound to fit everybody (unlike a sweater - send the sweaters to me). [GT]

Halzephron Herb Farm

Related stories: DIY organic herbs for autumn | Barwinnock fragrant herbs | How not to kill your herbs (the self-watering way)

2006 roundup #37: Pot de feu tabletop grill

Form met function with an eco-twist in surprising places in 2006, such as the Pot de feu tabletop grill made from old propane tanks.  If you combine it with some indoor fireplace technology you can do bannock right on your tabletop, too.  But mostly what John T Unger (who also did the Great Bowl O Fire last year) showed is that recycling and repurposing need creative thinking.  In this case, the results of that creative thinking can be yours for $75 USD ($80 in matte black). 

Original story: Pot de feu tabletop grill | Great Bowl O Fire

Jimmy Buffett loves baby seals more than Canadian seafood

No Margaritaville Cafe will serve Canadian seafood until the seal hunt ends, vows cranky king parrothead Jimmy Buffett. 300,000 baby seals were slaughtered in Canada this past spring and a similar count are likely to get the chop in just a few months. Buffett figures, publicizing the issue worked to help save the Florida manatee, and baby seals are far cuter than manatees - which, they are, just look at the picture! [GT]

Seals Find a Friend in Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett's Restaurants Join the Canadian Seafood Boycott

Related stories: Jamie Oliver to power, turbines to restaurant speed | Bordeaux Quay Restaurant: the future of food | Acorn House Restaurant trains restaurant workers in the art of hippy

The Olive Oil Store

People who are serious about olive oil (and why not, given how it upgrades your good cholesterol and is loaded with omega goodness and is on the whole very tasty) want the really, really good stuff. The Olive Oil Store carries more than simply olive oil, but the olive oil they do deign to carry, like all their goods, is the finest organic European produce the globe can offer. Their specialty, Luque Olive Oil, is £6 for a half liter, up to £36 for 5 liters. [GT]

The Olive Oil Store and Luque Olive Oil

Related stories: Greensand all natural Dead Sea and olive oil soap | River Cottage reinvents olive oil with hemp | Smell nice twice with Neal's Yard Orange and Geranium

2006 roundup #41: GuyotDesign's Gription, Firefly and water bottles

The Firefly by GuyotDesigns was blogged far and wide.  Its gimmick: replace your water bottle top with a Firefly and you can turn it into a glowing blue nightlight.  This product illustrated two things: sometimes green gadgets get picked up simply because they've got the tech equivalent of big baby seal eyes (even if the actual implementation isn't very good: the Firefly fits few of the water bottles I've encountered, installing it is a pain in the ass involving a specialized wrench you're sure to lose, and replacing the batteries is even more annoying) at the expense of better pro