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Welcome to our new Mama Cafe section, where we feature articles on Green Parenting. We have a wide variety of exciting features coming up to make it easy for everyone to sustain our organic babies and children. You may also want to check out our family life bazaar for more sustainable products and tips. Happy parenting!

Thursday
11Mar2010

A Special Eco Friendly Mother's Day Celebration

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Mother's Day is a long standing tradition to celebrate our mothers and mamahood. And being a mum myself, it's only now that The GIN Lady truly appreciates the hard work parenting entails, although it's worth every second of it! Whether you gather wild flowers on your way to your mum on Sunday as tradition would have it, or you want to treat your mum to something special, the whole point is to take the time and show your love and appreciation. Today we've come up with five smashing treats to show how much you care and plonk a great big smile on Mum's face!

Being a mother can be exhausting - whether you're a stay-at-home mum or working your socks off at the office. Either way, being a mum is a full time job and it's incredibly easy to forget the all important pampering. To help mum escape from the daily grind, Puresha, the online natural beauty store, has put together a cracking mama gift pack.

Inside your mama will discover some yummy organic and ethically sourced Chococo - a chocolate lovingly handmade in Dorset, along with one of Cargo Plant Love’s bestselling ecocert lipsticks, designed by Bond-girl-turned-mum Denise Richards. Puresha shares "This sheer praline shade is perfect for all complexions. There's also a Soap and Paper Factory Geranium Solid Perfume as well as a gorgeous tub of Fig Fizzing Bath Powder. This is truly a yummy mummy gift!"

What we particularly love about Puresha's approach is that you can also tailor make your own bespoke gift box by emailing hello@puresha.com. Even better, to make sure mum receives your gift in time, they will send it direct to your mum with a personalised card with any message you like. It will arrive beautifully wrapped up too in unique and re-usable hand-printed Furoshiki cotton wrapping. All in all, by giving mum this special natural beauty gift, you can save £15 on the whole box's contents, usually £55, as it's only £40 as a special treat!

How about breakfast in bed? Or deliver mum (and why not yourself at the same time?!) an incredible box of food sourced from local producers across the UK. The GIN Lady is totally sold on the idea of the Virtual Farmers Market, as she has recently tucked into a box full of delicious goodies. There's so much to rave about this nifty new foodie heaven. As The GIN Lady is just finishing reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, it has never seemed more important to support local producers. The Virtual Farmers Market is a brilliant way of doing just this because you can fill your virtual shopping trolly with lots of yummy goodies, in particular with foods that you can't find on the High Street. VFM is not trying to replace the supermarket... rather this is the perfect online destination to shop at every 6 to 8 weeks to fill your larder with delicious unusual food stuffs - from meat, cheeses, sauces, fish, you name it, they have it!

Lucky for us, the Virtual Farmers Market is giving our lovely readers the chance to sample their goods with a whopping 20% off! There is a minimum order of £25 excluding delivery, but your money will be well spent - your tummy or mummy's tummy will be tickled pink with the produce and you'll be doing British farmers a huge service too! We've put Sillfield Farm's breakfast box in the spotlight or just go to VFM and browse to your heart's content... simply enter GINLADY at the checkout to get your 20% discount! Visit the Virtual Farmers Market today!

If you're a mum yourself, and you want to treat Grandma to a special surprise, another creative idea that could become a little project for you and your little one is to put a special photograph album together with some gorgeous photos of you and your little one(s).

Undercover offer some large photo albums in recycled leather and are all handmade in Britain. They come in a massive rainbow of colours to suit your taste, from aubergine to lemon, and are jumbo sized (33.5 x 33.5cm), comfortably holding four 6" x 4" photos on each page. With forty pages to fill, you'll have so much fun putting together your own personalised photo story to delight your mum. Haven't got the time? Buy one now and do a bit over time to gift at a later date! Visit Undercover UK now!

Before we get to the all important card (we've found a fabulous eco friendly card company!), we couldn't resist another pamper gift. NEOM, the luxury organic body care and home fragrance label, has a wonderful, uplifting bath oil to gift to mum - she will love it! Using only the finest natural ingredients, their Complete Bliss aromatherapy bath oil will instantly lift your mum's spirits with its Moroccan Blush Rose scent. At £32, this touch of luxury will go down a treat. Visit NEOM today!

And now to the all important card. We came up trumps with Alice Palace, an original fun illustrator who offers a wide range of cards to suit all occasions and messages. We adore her sense of humour and imagination, and all are done sensitively to the environment: Each card uses high quality recycled uncoated board, recycled envelopes and biodegradable polybags. You can also get your hands on her illustrations as large mounted prints, canvasses, aprons and shopper bags - how clever is Alice.

Even if you've already found your Mother's Day card, we highly recommend browsing Alice Palace's website - it's a treat in itself!

Happy Mother's Day!

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Thursday
18Feb2010

Upcycled Toys from Recycled Fabrics

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Our kids - and us - can never have enough toys, but surely there's not enough raw materials to go around? Think again. A few special outlets specialise in the use of reclaimed, recycled fabrics and are able to entice us with highly original toys and playthings to excite our little people's imagination... while diverting precious materials from landfill. You'll love our upcycled toy round up... this is cool hunting for kids!

We have long been visiting Quail for sustainable clothing, and on one of our latest trips, we discovered their ever so cute toys for kids. Beautifully handmade from recycled fabrics, Quail's toy accessories are fun, original and as sustainable as their clothes.

Shauna Chapman, the creative force behind Quail By Mail shares "Finding ways to use scrap fabric is the type of eco-creative craft I love and the crafters I commission love to sit and chat while they make them." Shauna adds "Something new and cute is made from scraps of fabric creating something utterly unique. Most children's toys are made by the millions - where is the character in that?" We'll second that! You'll love Quail's colourful 'free range' chicken family...

Quail's Chicken Family, And what about Quail's gorgeous 'teddy friends'? Take your pick from a cool selection of handmade animals with moving limbs: A dinosaur, kangaroo, elephant, bear and rabbit - the latter we think would be perfect as an Easter present for your little ones! And at £10.95, these recycled teddies are exceptional value considering the craftsmanship and original designs.

Two members of the Quail 'teddy friend's - The Elephant and Teddy Bear.

Lined up next is a very handsome chap from Biome Lifestyle. Dressed up in red and cream, this teddy has been lovingly handmade with recycled fabrics and has been stuffed with hypo allergenic materials. A real character indeed, we think you'll love him for his originality as much as your child will. A collectible piece surely? Buy now from Biome Lifestyle.

Recycled and Handmade Teddy from Biome Lifestyle

Upcycling need not be limited to the cutest play toys and teddies. Original Stitch is a fantastic new destination for children and home goodies where they specialise in the creative use of reclaimed fabrics. Take their Pencil Roll kits - all kids want one but none are typically available as original as their pencil offering.

Original Stitch offer beautiful pencil rolls in a variety of vintage fabrics.Versatile in its use - pencils, pens, even paint brushes, we're loving the choice of fabrics to suit your boy or girl's taste.

We love the fabrics used for Original Stitch's Pencil Roll

Either opt for 'Boy Brights', 'Boy Darks', 'Girl Brights' and 'Girl Pastels'. There again, there are plenty of boys who like pink, and many a little girl who would fancy the boy brights. Let your little people decide or surprise them with a gift they'll spend many a merry hour playing with.

Another item on Original Stitch's colourful shelves are their backpacks for little people - either mini backpacks for toddlers or under 3's plus their big kids backpack. The GIN Lady's little one loves her backpack as does all her nursery friends too, but we've never seen one quite as eco friendly or funky as Original Stitch's collection. So let your kid be part of the backpack carrying crowd, but do it in original, sustainable style!

Original Stitch's Mini Backpack in Pink

Visit OriginalStitch.co.uk to find out more.

Another option is to have your own toys custom made from your own batch of unwanted or preloved clothes. And this is what Magic Pumpkins & Faery Dust excel at! While this lovely website has a fantastic array of ready to order organic and fair trade toys, we adore the idea of recycling our own clothes - Yours, a close grandparent's, even outgrown kids clothes, and upcycling them into adorable toys. The sentimental value is profoundly increased, creates a special story around the toy, and ensures your toys are utterly unique! Here are a couple of Magic Pumpkins & Faery Dust toys to help you decide which toy to have custom made...

Here's Bertie... even if you don't choose to recycle some of your own clothes, Bertie is designed on a 1920s-30s style and is made from organic cotton and filled with organic Welsh sheep fleece. Measuring in at 27 cms, he's utterly adorable.

Bertie is old fashioned but can be refashioned with any preloved fabrics you want to reuse.Ragdoll's will never go out of fashion, but imagine having your own made from your kids cast off gear...

Lotta can be custom made but is pictured here in organic cotton and is plant dyed.Magic Pumpkins & Faery Dust is a delight to visit, not just for its toys, but is a great place to discover some gorgeous clothing and accessories for our special little kids. And as is always the case, this lovely independent store only uses organic, fairtrade and reclaimed fabrics.

That's all folks for this special upcycled toy feature. Enjoy visiting our crafty friends and we hope your kids enjoy playing with our lovely selection.

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Saturday
30Jan2010

Adorable Eco Friendly Dresses for Little Girls

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Make your little girl's day by gifting her an extra special eco friendly dress. Today The GIN Lady has rounded up our top seven dresses that not only look a treat, they can save the planet in their own extraordinary way. Starting from only £8.00, they won't break the bank balance either!

Tunic's are so easy to throw on and if you're little lady is anything like The GIN Lady's then you'll know this is a bonus - no tricky buttons or elaborate designs saves a lot of fussing around. We Love Frugi is the name of the brand, and the name is apt as we adore this little organic cotton tunic. Either pair with funky or plain tights or leggings and voila, a super little outfit. What's more, it's currently on sale, so if you're quick off the mark, you could grab this cute little number for only £8.80 (normally £22.00). Sizes from 2 to 6 years. Buy now from We Love Frugi.

Frugi Snowflake Tunic DressCarrying on with the tunic theme, we love Tatty Bumpkin's tunic because it's ever so warm with its brushback fleece made from organic cotton. Its mulberry palate is delicious and your little princess will look fabulous and feel oh so cosy as this warm dress also features a zip neck to keep her neck warm when the wind gets up. And as any mother knows, little girls do have a penchant for pockets, so thumbs up for its contrasting orchard pink pocket. Sizes from 1 to 7 years. Price £20.00. Buy now from Tatty Bumpkin.

Tatty Bumpkin Tunic Fleece Dress in MulberryThis dress from Linen Kids has really got our hearts thumping as we're loving the details and its rich rose colour. The stunning hand made ornaments of roses and leaves really make this sleeveless dress a picture to behold and your little princess will fall in love with this little number as much as we have! Made from boiled wool, this dress won't itch, but will still keep your girl nice and warm. Sizes 1 to 8 years. Price €26.00 (that's around £22.50). Buy now from Linen Kids.

Linen Kids Woolen Sleeveless Dress with RosesLittle Shrimp is a cool destination for organic baby and children's clothes. As a marine biologist in her younger days, The GIN Lady's eye was immediately drawn to Little Shrimp's Hoodie Top with Sea Horses and Roses Print - so funky! Made from organic cotton and dyed to GOTS standards, it surely gets the eco tick, but gets an even bigger one for being so unique. We love! Sizes 3 to 6 years. Price £29.00. Buy now from Little Shrimp.

Little Shrimp Hoodie Top-Sea Horses and Roses PrintWe often check out Mama Earth's fair trade and eco friendly clothing for little ones, and while there's a few dresses we'd like to mention, we couldn't take our eyes off their Chocolate Brown and Blue Velvet Party Dress... it's divine! Definitely a dress to bring out on special occasions, this gorgeous pinafore dress features a frill petticoat, a pretty little bow at the waist and vibrant splashes of blue. How can you resist?! Sizes 4-5. Price £26.00. Buy from Mama Earth.

Mama Earth Brown and Blue Velvet Party DressEditor's Pick: Nixie Clothing is a firm favourite of The GIN Lady's as its outfits are upcycled from cast off fabrics destined for landfill. This is the most environmentally friendly way to wear fashions, as it avoids the need to produce loads of dyes and fabrics to make new clothes. Upcycled clothing does tend to be pricier due to their unique manufacture - but these one-off pieces are adorably unique and ideal for a young individualist. Best of all, its the highly original and creative approach to Junior Fashion that we love Nixie Clothing most for. Nixie has sold out of most of its current collection, but we did find some pieces at eKernel, and prices are currently reduced to £24.00. We also highly recommend contacting Nixie Clothing to make sure you'll be the first to know when new stock hits their gorgeous virtual shelves.

Nixie Clothing Upcycled Smock DressLast but definitely not least is the most luxurious among our picks: A handknitted cashmere blend smock dress by Sue Hill Handknits. Sue Hill's small team of expert handknitters create the most delightful outfits for little people, including young boys, and her dresses are stylish, unique and heavenly soft to touch. If you invest in a dress, it will prove a popular heirloom, but if you have no one else to pass onto, then you could always sell on at a children's second hand clothing store to recoup some of your investment. Sizes 3 to 6 years. Price £75.00. Buy from Sue Hill Handknits.

 

Sue Hill Knits Smock Dresses

Please visit our eco fashion site, Sustain Your Style, for more eco friendly children's clothing.

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Tuesday
19Jan2010

The Green School in Bali by Imran Ahmad

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Imran Ahmad, the author of 'Unimagined - A Muslim Boy Meets the West', is an endearing, funny author and public speaker. His commitment to world peace and 'detribalisation' is tangible, and we love his use of humour to break down the barriers. We invited Imran, a big fan of The GIN Lady (as we are of you Imran!), to give a personal account of his impression of the Green School in Bali, Indonesia, when he visited last year. Why? To inspire us to follow suit here in the UK and create more Green Schooling to help our future generations... Over to you now Imran - thank you :-)

The Green School is founded on the principle of giving its students a holistic education which equips them to promote a sustainable future for human life on Earth.  It is built on the very principle which it teaches – the primary building material is renewable bamboo.

The location and architecture of the school are absolutely stunning.

Car park - SUV's do make sense here in Bali, but not in Chelsea, London.

Approach to school.

Covered bridge.

Inside the bridge.

Nearly there.

The Director extends a warm welcome.

 

Typical school corridor.

Stunning buildings.

Report to the Principal's office!

"Nice office, mate."

The Principal is Andrew Dalton. He used to be a teacher somewhere in the Liverpool area of England.  Obviously, he can’t go back there now that I’ve published this photograph.

Andrew Dalton - Principal of The Green School.

The children seemed really happy, engaged, and upbeat.  There is no hint of gang culture, bullying or shallow materialist/fashion competition. The older children play with the younger children, without this being considered ‘un-cool’.  Very importantly, the staff also seemed very content, committed, and not in the least disillusioned or tired. 

Heart of School - stunning!  

A classroom.

Schoolbags.

A typical school desk.

Staffroom.

Such an air of utter calm.

Reminds me of the check-in area at the Four Seasons.

Ron Stone's OBE - one of Britain's most valuable exports.  Come back to Britain, Ron, and fix the education system. 

"Did someone mention lunch?"

The atmosphere in the dining hall was very relaxed and the food was absolutely excellent: healthy, appetizing and visually attractive. This was a far cry from my days of ‘school dinners’ and competition to get the fish and chips before they ran out.  

"What, no Spam?"

No washing up.

Ron told me something really exciting. Whilst the school currently draws on electricity from the local grid, it is planning – through a combination of hydro-electric, solar and wind power generators – to become self-sufficient in electricity, and even to become a net contributor to the grid. 

IT Department.

"Stunning!" - I keep using that word.

Sponsors.

Whilst it’s true that the Green School is a private fee-paying school, with a large number of relatively prosperous foreign families, 20% of the places are given to local children on full scholarships. 

Umbrella stand.

More sponsors.

Workshop in progress.  Uniformed kids are visiting from a local school.

When the children were being taught, ‘Where does chocolate come from?’, they personally performed the entire process themselves: growing the beans, harvesting, crushing, extraction, fermentation, drying, milling,  pressing etc, to produce their own chocolate bars.  And all without any machines.

The students even built their own common room, getting deeply involved in the design and build process. 

Despite this ‘hands on’ approach to learning about things you and I might take for granted (I thought chocolate came from supermarkets), there is no less emphasis on academic subjects: English, maths, science and so on, and the curriculum meets the standards required to achieve rigorous and internationally recognised qualifications.

Why can’t every school be like this?

I’m not suggesting that every school in the world can be built of bamboo, but I do believe that every school could adhere to Green School principles – a holistic environment where the children feel safe and nurtured, the staff are happy and feel appreciated (and safe!), there are no gangs, tribalism or bullying, and the rounded education includes development of the capacity to think, to have compassion, and to actively work to protect and sustain our fragile planet.  From some quarters, such views would get me called a naive dreamer, an irresponsible hippy, or a socialist or communist. 

But looking at the children and staff of the school, gazing at the environment, and breathing in the magical atmosphere, I say, ‘Why not?’ 

Imran Ahmad is an entertaining public speaker and offers his services to both corporations, community groups and schools and has received very good feedback. Why not ask your school to invite Imran to come and visit your children's school as his School Workshops are fabulously entertaining, informative and engaging. Imran, both a father and a professional, gives talks that fit in well with  citizenship education, as well as English, humanities, sociology and religious studies. We also highly recommend reading his wonderful book, Unimagined - A Muslim Boy Meets the West. This book should be on every school child and adult's reading list!

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Tuesday
12Jan2010

Clever Eco Friendly Storage Ideas Designed for Children

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Now that Christmas is over and the New Year is in full swing, your house, like ours, may be drowning in excess toys - where to put them all?! We've put together some fabulous eco friendly storage concepts to help you keep calm... by helping the kids tidy up their own toys in style!

Contemporary Design Toy Box

You can't go wrong with a toy box as you don't need to be a 'neat freak' to keep everything tidy - the kids can just 'throw' their stuff in, close the box lid and voila - their room is tidy! We love this stylish and contemporary Design Toy Box from Funky Kids Furniture - here's why.

This toy box is design led, and hence will likely be a room staple for many years to come. You also have the option to personalise it with your kid's name - something little people just love, and you can choose from a variety of colours to suit your decor! It also has rounded corners to prevent nasty injuries, doesn't have any metal fittings and is painted with eco friendly paints. On a green note, the Design Toy Box is also made with Finnish plywood sourced from sustainable forests.

 

We found a gorgeous array of Rice Kids Storage Baskets at Lulu's Gifts. Rice is a responsible retailer from Denmark, practicising fair trade with its suppliers and their Rice Storage Baskets are just the ticket if you're looking for something eye catching and different. Made with Raffia, each basket boasts fantastic colours, characters and shapes - think Gypsy Vans, Flower Gardens, Farmer Joe, Funny Farm, and more - so there's plenty of choice for your little man or girl. Take your pick from Lulu's Gifts!

We just love The Toy Store we discovered at Oeuf, based in New York City. Design led, it's a super Toy Store that's in easy reach of kids, allowing them to tidy up in style. The bins can be positioned flat or at a tilt and its bin dividers are removable, enabling your little person to store whatever they like, whether it be lego bricks or footballs. Even better, it's made with Baltic Birch plywood and environmentally friendly MDF from recovered wood fibres, finished with a non-toxic white water-base. Discover more at Oeuf.

If you're looking for a colourful but cheap option, look no further than a Hanging Room Tidy from The Africa House. They have a great range, and we particularly liked their Safari version - all kids love animals, and the wilder the better (although most kids, like adults, have mixed feelings about crocodiles!). Each pocket is handpainted and unique in primary colours, and with 8 big pockets, your kiddo will be storing away their toys with delight. Visit The Africa House to explore further.

Another clever way to store away bulk toys without creating any more space is to opt for multifunctional furniture, like this Childrens Mozart Bed from Warren Evans. All of Warren Evan's bed furniture are hand made with sustainable wood sources, and their Children's Mozart Bed allows for storage drawers to be cleverly hidden underneath. What we love most, apart from this company's eco credentials, is you can choose from a wide range of colours, from pink to oak satin. And at time of writing, this bed has been reduced from £550 to £275! Buy now from Warren Evans.

Talking of beds, you can also store away smaller items with a Storage Stool, which feature a Mouse Cutout Handle. These pieces would look wonderful as bedside tables and are just the ticket to store away easy to reach bedtime story books, piggy banks, you name it! Buy now from Mimimyne.com

 

Also from Mimimyne is one of our favourite products for kids - the Child's Splat Chair. Funky, eco and stylish, these Splat Chairs are made from recycled cardboard and are the perfect place to store away art and craft materials. The back of the chair offers compartments to store away stuff, and paper can be neatly hidden under the seat. Eye catching, these splat chairs will be oh so fun to sit on as well as store away materials in a particularly handy way. Treat yourself today and visit Mimimyne!

We hope you enjoyed our selection today. In our hunt for eco friendly storage ideas, it has to be said, sustainable solutions are not easy to come by. So if you know of other cool products, please post a comment below to share with our lovely readers - thanks :-)

 

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