CHRISTMAS WILL BE GREEN THIS YEAR? YOU DECIDE...

Here's the latest installment of the eco house in Notting Hill. It's all coming along...

In the next post, I'll be reporting on some gorgeous green Christmas gift ideas

But in the meantime check out the GOOD GIFTS website.
Last year I decided to bypass all the gorgeously expensively twinkly packaged things in the shops that are SO only there to entice us into buying STUFF for our friends and family - this bypassing being very hard for a stylish Designer Girl who loves her gorgeous things...because you know as well as I that these things are so rarely anything we have a real need for...right?

Eco Warrioress gave instead gifts of a more ethical, green and less consumery nature.
My mum loves her garden, so I bought her a meadow of flowers; my environmentalist friend got an acre of rainforest and a few matcho blokes got a ten quid shot of bull semen for a cow in Africa -

You get the picture!

This year Good Gifts have a list of stocking fillas so that for a small 'stocking filler' price you can put in a little card in that says you have bought a homeless person some socks or given to a medical fund for street children. No expensive wrapping paper that gets thrown away, just a card on recycled paper that describes the gift. LOVE that!!

I found that the words inside the card always brought a smile to the recipient's face and evoked a conversation about the real meaning of Christmas and what giving to those who are truly in need really means to us all. Ahhhh....

ALRIGHT! That's enough of that.... I'm off to look at more Christmassy ideas...
and here's a few gorgeous green things for you to consider too....

GORGEOUS GREEN CHRISTMAS THINGS

See, I'm still not so much into the 'hempy' 'granola' look of eco so will always bring you the sexy and the stylish if I can....Last week I met the young and gorgeous Joshua who owns KANZI HOME. (KANZI means 'treasure' in Swahili ) and his website is FABulous. He is based in Newcastle and is not yet in a lot of stores but I'm so happy to have found this fabulous interiors, accessories and gifts website! Gorgeous!

As well as carrying cushions and cubes made from recycled car seat belts, gorgeous lampshades made from recycled paper and many ethical/fairtrade items, also has some lovely festive bits for your table top and tree.


Kanzi Home also carries SA8000 certified products. This is a rigorously audited human rights and social welfare programme (similar to Fairtrade) that give jobs to communities in need. Most of Kanzi's products are made in Thailand.

There is 10% off any online orders made before Christmas.

FINALLY,

FOR MY LOS ANGELES GREEN GIRLIES...

I will be visiting my friend Sam Robinson over Christmas to learn more about her eco fashion company, but in the meantime she is having a SALE.

DESIGNER SALE

Organic Clothing - wholesale & 50% off retail

earth & sky

Read all about her amazing fashion philosophies in this article in APPAREL NEWS...oh and Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie & Cameron Diaz love her stuff too!

Heather, Jenni, Rochelle, Emma, Alison, Andrea, April, Bootsey, Carolyn, Casey, Celeste, Celia, Claire, Collette, Eleanor, Hilary, Julien, Linda, Miriam, LInnea and Sarah; if you go, do please comment on the blog and tell us all about it!

A GREEN CHRISTMAS FAIR THIS WEEKEND

This weekend sees the first of a couple of ECO CHRISTMAS fairs coming up.

It's never too early to start finding your ethical, sustainable and green gIfts for your friends and family....nobody wants those nasty pressies that get returned after the holiday or shoved the the back of the cupboard.

A Green Christmas Fair makes going green this Christmas an easy option by bringing together a fabulous range of ethical companies so that shopping,and treating one-self, can be done with a clear conscience.

Hosted by One Green Earth and Bare Faced Cheek and set among the elegant surroundings of the 20th Century Theatre in Notting Hill, the Fair will offer a diverse range of gifts including eco underwear by Green Knickers, organic home accessories by Organic Furnishings, funky recycled Christmas decorations by Revampit, organic cotton-hemp shopping bags by Bags Of Change and remade children's clothing by Restitch .

The entrance fee of £2 will go directly to The Cambodia Trust

The Cambodia Trust works with landmine survivors and other disadvantaged disabled people in Cambodia to enable them to participate in education, employment and community life.

ECO DESIGN CHRISTMAS FAIR
Next weekend is the Eco Design Christmas Fair in Camden.
Friday and Saturday 23rd/24th November at
Cecil Sharp House.
2 Regents Park Road. Camden NW1.
11am - 5pm both days.
Entry is a quid fifty

And this just in...
There is an Eco Christmas Fair in East Dulwich sponsored by SNUB (yes, they SNUB plastic bags!) on December 1st at Goose Green. All details on their website.

WORLD TRAVEL MARKET

I'm already looking ahead to the new year. I'm off to the WORLD TRAVEL MARKET today to meet with a lady who needs an eco interior designer for her eco lodge project in Domenica and also The Responsible Travel people to look for fabulous eco and ethical holidays for you to book for next summer!!
Hurrah!