Earth Hour 2011

Are you taking part? At 8:30pm tonight local time I will be switching off all lights and electrical equipment for 1 hour.

Earth hour started in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for 1 hour to take a stand against climate change. In 2010 a record 128 territories and countries joined the global display of climate action. To read more about Earth Hour and to sign up to say that you will be taking part you can visit the WWF website here.

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami

I felt it was only right to post a little something about the events that have occurred over the last 24 hours in Japan.

My heart felt thoughts go out to all of those affected, the scenes unfolding on the news have been horrific to watch so I cant even begin to imagine what the people of Japan have been going through. I am sure there will be many prayers said all over the globe tonight for them.

It really does make you realise how precious life is and how vulnerable we all are. Its sad that it takes a catastrophe to put things into perspective, we should cherish life and take the time to take it all in. Its easy to get caught up in the throws of 'life' but we are all only here for a short time, some shorter than others, out of our control.

Please spend a little time to have a thought/prayer for those in need tonight. Humanity can be a wonderful thing......I hope they are all safe tonight.

Oh dear

Is it really that long since we blogged here at TLBG :( We promise we haven't forgotten about you all, but I guess life has just kinda got in the way.

We haven't slacked off in the attempt to be a little bit greener, there has just not been anything too exciting to blog about. I am still using my re usable clothes for cleaning and still using ecover cleaning products. Can anyone suggest a good replacement for bleach, I try not to use it that often but sometime nothing but bleach will cut it.

Well that's it for now, hopefully we will be back soon with some new topics.

Take care and stay that little bit greener.

Emma & Rachel x

Belated Happy New Year from TLBG

Sorry this post is a little later than planned. I think I can speak for both Rachel and I when I say Christmas was hectic, lots to do and organise mixed with illness.

Even though I thought that I'd forget about the tags I made I made from Christmas cards last year or the gift bags that I had kept to re-use, I think being laid up in bed ill made me over think everything. And I'm proud to say that I used all my tags and had some lovely comments about them :)

Hopefully we will get another swap organised this year and were hoping to get some more topics covered. So if you have any topics you would like to see us discuss or you would like to send in any links, websites, tips or ideas we would love to hear them. Just drop us an email.

Back soon :D

Hugs
Emma & Rachel

I'm loving right now!!

I'm really loving this creamy body wash from Weleda, not only is it a pH balanced wash but its also an Eco friendly product. I came across Weleda earlier in the year and I have to say this Pomegranate body wash is lovely. When I first read the blurb on the back it stated that it invigorates the senses, I did the normal thing of thinking yeah OK it smells nice, but when I used it in the shower it reminded me of Summer, fruit flavoured cocktails and ginger beer. Now I know that sounds strange but those are some of my favorite things about Summer. And for the most important bit it made my skin very soft and C even said when we got into bed later that I 'smelled like fruit' I'm taking that as a compliment :D It is a little more expensive than the body wash I normally use but I can tell the difference so you do get what you pay for. I'd buy it for the smell alone.

I'm very eager to try some more of their products and like the fact that they also do a cleansing and toning range. Oh I must not forget to add that this product is suitable for Vegans too.

They have a great range of gifts too for Christmas, hint hint Chris!!!

Some things I'm loving right now

Hello! Rachel here. Remember me? Goodness, it's been a long time since I've been here, for which I can only apologise profusely! When you've been away from something for a while it's very hard to get back into the swing of things, so that's my only excuse, but I will try and make up for it and be a better blogger! Today, to ease myself in slowly, I thought I'd just share with you a few products that I've been using lately that are that little bit greener.

First up we have this Method laundry liquid. Now, I will put my hand up and admit that I only bought these because they were on special offer - the normal, full price is more that I would really want to pay, so I snapped up a couple of bottles when I saw they were reduced.


On the back of the bottle it says " biodegradable, 95% plant-based formula, 70% less detergent, water + plastic per load than 2x concentrated detergent, save energy and wash at 30degrees"
I almost always wash at 30degrees now and I've been very happy with how this detergent performs - our clothes are clean and they smell nice, what more could you want? I shall be keeping a eye out for more special offers on this so that I can stock up!

Next, is this Dr Organic range of toiletries which I recently discovered in our local Holland&Barrett. I am rather fickle when it comes to toiletries and do love trying new things, so I thought I'd give this range a go. The range includes soaps, shampoos & conditioners, shower gels, body lotion, hand cream and facial moisturisers (but, rather oddly I think, no facial cleansers) and there are a number of varieties - lavender, tea tree, Vitamin E, Manuka Honey and pomegranate. So far, we have tried 2 of the shower gels (tea tree - big thumbs up from my eldest - and vitamin e) and I have been using some of the face creams and a body lotion. The vitamin e oil is my latest purchase - I have very dry, sensitive skin and it does need a bit of extra care, especially in the winter, so this is perfect. In fact, I really do like all the products I've tried so far and am planning to try out the shampoo & conditioner next. The whole range is very reasonably priced and contains bioactive & organic ingredients and no parabens, SLS, artificial colours or fragrances.

Finally, I am loving these mineral cosmetics by Lily Lolo. I don't wear a lot of make up but I am finding that, as I get older, I do need to make a little bit more of an effort! So I use their mineral foundation and have several of their eyeshadows, which come in a fabulous selection of colours. The products are free from harsh chemicals, dyes & fillers and parabens. Almost all the products are manufactured in the UK and are not tested on animals. They do some brilliant kits too, some of which can be customised with your own choice of product shades, and also sell make up brushes.

So, those are the products that I am enjoying right now. How about you?

Rachel x

Eating this chocolate saves trees

Do you remember back in June'ish when Rachel and I set about organising a 'Green' themed swap? Quite a few of you took part and there were some fantastic parcels exchanged. My partner in the swap was the lovely Jane from over at Hooked Yarn, she sent me the most lovely things in my parcel. Amongst all the goodies she sent me there was a bar of Organic Meltdown Hazelnuts and currants Chocolate (did I mention that it is also fair trade chocolate). Ashamedly it took way less time for me to gobble down the chocolate than it did for me to actually getting round to writing this post. The main thing is that I am doing it now :D

On the front of the bar it quotes "Eating this chocolate saves trees", intrigued? I was.....so after eating the chocolate I read the inside of the wrapper. Inside it stated that if you went to their website which is in partnership with the World Land Trust and enter your code you could track the tree that you saved by buying the chocolate.

So this morning off I went to www.organicmeltdown.com and registered my details and code. I watch two very sad video clips of the rainforest's in Ecuador and found on google maps where my tree is. It is situated near Rio Chico which is in between Ambato and Puyo. The proceeds from the chocolate bar are donated to the World Land Trust so technically both Jane and I saved the tree together.

Their goal is to save 5 million trees in Ecuador by 2012, that's a lot of chocolate bars. I'm sure I can help a little by eating a few more ;) Their website is definitely worth checking out, there is a lot of information on the World Land Trust and the work they do, including working with the Happy Charitable Trust, the rainforest's in general and all the beautiful plants and animals that reside there.