:: Ethical travel picks

Posted by Joelle on August 27, 2008 | Permalink

Another in my occasional series of ethical picks.

This year I am saving up my carbon karma and holidaying without any flying, and it has turned out so far to be no sacrifice. We took the Eurostar to Bruges and Provence, and loved it. Somehow the old fashioned glamour of train travel, generally now all but lost, is revived when you can whizz along in comfort and end up in Avignon by lunchtime. Keeping local, we’ve got a weekend planned in Dorset, and one picking apples and making cider on a farm in Herefordshire. In my head I have planned and imagined countless more, if only I had the time and money!

Here’s a selection of my favourite ethical travel picks:

Taste the Wild - foraging, wild food and bushcraft courses, in probably my favourite part of the country, the North Yorkshire coast.

Cider making - this is an article about a cheap (and boozy) weekend, camping for free at a cider farm in exchange for helping with the harvest and cider making. This is Broome Farm in Herefordshire, but I’m sure many farms do a similar thing.

National Trust working holidays - learning to build dry stone walls, planting trees, maintaining footpaths in some of the UKs most lovely spots for the good old National Trust.

Green Traveller - great site full of ideas for green and ethical holidays

Intrepid Travel - excellent, responsible adventure travel company.

Under the Thatch - the most amazing, charming self catering accommodation, from Romany caravans to retro Scandinavian forest cabins. A great ethical company, with all profits used to preserve historic buildings.

The Man in Seat 61 - amazingly helpful site all about how to travel the world by train and boat.

Fforest - possibly the best campsite in the country?

Nothing to see here - I love this blog some of the world’s lesser-signposted places to go. It has lots of my favourites: Shipley Glen Tramway, the Keswick Pencil Museum, Saltburn-on-Sea. Not ethical travel in the usual sense, but it’s important to value and preserve these odd little places.

Categories: adventure, green, shopping
Tags: ethical picks, travel

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:: Ethical shopping picks

Posted by Joelle on July 20, 2008 | Permalink

Jeans by Camilla Norrback, bag by Ashley Watson, fabulously hip ethical styling: all at Fashion Conscience

For the last year or so I have been making ever increasing efforts to avoid sweat-shop produced clothes as much as possible. First up was just to buy less stuff, and to make sure the stuff I did buy would last me, and to favour independent and local shops. I have been getting stricter and stricter with myself, looking for organic and fairtrade labels, recycled products and manufacturing practice that cares about the communities who make it.

Luckily it’s getting easier as more and more labels with watertight ethical credentials are appearing, and getting more publicity. Gradually I hope, it will become normal and we won’t have to do so much detective work before we can shop worry free.

So, it’s time to share a few of my favourite ethical shopping picks with you - nice timing at the moment as there are quite a few summer sales going on. Each month or so I’ll be posting more picks.

Fashion Conscience - the picture above is from this UK based online boutique, a great one stop shop.
Howies - most days I am wearing something from Howies! They do great organic jeans, t shirts and laid back clothing and they are awfully nice.
Annie Greenabelle - Very cute retro themed clothing in organic, fairtrade and reused fabrics. Stocked at Equa and the Topshop Oxford Circus concession.
Toms - I bought the loveliest pair of simple summer shoes from Toms. They work with communities in Argentina and South Africa and for every pair sold, they give a pair to a child in need
Enamore - very glamorous label with fancy underwear and vintage styled dresses in organic and sustainable fabrics.

Categories: green, shopping, style
Tags: ethical picks, fashion, green

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