www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk

If you’re green and you’ve got an iPad then what better desktop accessory than a WoodPad?

The WoodPad is a solid wooden iPad stand that comes in a range of finishes – Ash, oak, cherry or maple.

Handmade in England by a traditional cabinet maker, each WoodPad is made from solid hardwood, has two viewing angles and has non-slip rubber feet.

What’s more, the WoodPad is just £20 and comes with FREE international shipping.

So hurry, get a WoodPad for christmas, whether it’s for you or for someone cool, the lovely WoodPad, the perfect green xmas present, will enhance any environmentalist’s desktop

NB: There’s also a WoodPad for your iPhone too, so if you want a stylish solid wood iPhone dock on your desktop to present your iPhone at the perfect viewing angle, grab yourself a WoodPad for iPhone too (and just £16 too!)

Bottled Water. A multi million (billion?) pound industry where businesses put water in bottles, market it heavily and make big fat profits.

And all you need to do is turn on the tap and out it comes. You already pay your water rates/have a water meter, so why on earth are you paying someone else to make big profits on something you’re already paying for?

And then there’s the whole industry of making the plastic bottles to fill up and throw on the streets or in the trash – What a waste of resources, just take a reusable bottle out with you, fill it up at home.

Did you know that…

• on average, people in the EU buy 85 bottles of water per year?
• A typical UK local authority will dispose of up to 10 million water bottles per annum?
• Worldwide, the human race threw away 5,000 bottles every second, that’s 150 billion bottles a year!

But what if you came out without your water bottle? What happened to all those drinking fountains that were around when we were younger? What about those Victorian drinking fountains?

Well, that’s where the Find-a-Fountain project comes in.

Drinking fountain, Lewes. (c) 2008 The Justified Sinner

The ‘Find-a- Fountain’ project, developed by environmental entrepreneur Guy Jeremiah and now part of the 1859 Drinking Fountain Association, aims to record all publicly accessible drinking water fountains across the UK via a specially designed interactive website. Also optimised for smartphones, the service enables individuals to key in their location to find their nearest free water source or to share the whereabouts of a new site.

The Find-a-Fountain project hopes to start a renaissance in the use of drinking fountains in order to reduce the UK’s reliance on inefficiently produced bottled water, and lessen its negative impact on the environment. It is hoped that this campaign will also lead to a second phase which will facilitate the installation of new drinking water fountains around the country and the restoration of old fountains which have fallen into disrepair, like the campaign to restore Bristol’s drinking fountains.

Through public records, www.findafountain.org has so far logged over 600 of the nation’s drinking water fountains and is now calling on volunteers to upload details of their own local facilities or free public drinking water sources.

Guy Jeremiah, founder of Find-A-Fountain, said:

“This is an ideal opportunity for anyone to play a part in reducing the environmental damage associated with the consumption of bottled water. The average person in the UK buys 85 bottles of water a year and a typical local authority in the UK has to dispose of up to 10 million bottles a year, at a significant cost to tax payers. So, we’re calling on everyone to join us in helping to find fountains and free drinking water sources. It’s a great project for walkers, photographers, students, cubs, brownies, geo-cachers, urban explorers, local historians and anyone who cares about the environment. It’s a small thing to ask with the potential to make a big difference.”

To encourage volunteers to get involved, Aquatina collapsible pocket-water bottles will be given away to the first five hundred people to add a fountain to the website.

So, what are you waiting for? Get looking for those water fountains and log your results over at www.findafountain.org

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Vax have come up with a cardboard vacuum cleaner.

No, it’s not the practical equivalent of a chocolate fireguard, it’s a seriously cool, practical and very green product. This is how it works…

You get your Vax ev vaccum cleaner in its box. The box disassembles to become the corrugated cardboard panels of the vacuum cleaner and they fit around the motor housing, popping into place, no need for glue.

The cardboard panels are flame retardant and fully-customisable, meaning that when you get your felt-tipped pens out, you can design the outside of your Vax ev cardboard vacuum cleaner however you like.

And if you break any panels, that’s OK, because they’re cheap and easy to replace and, what’s most important, is that they’re recyclable too, so your flash new vaccum cleaner won’t cost the earth!

The brains behind this green and clean vacuum is industrial design student Jake Tyler, who developed the green vacuum cleaner in his final year degree project at Loughborough University. Jake spent a year working at Vax under their student placement scheme and was supported by Vax’ New Product Design (NPD) team.

Paul Bagwell, Director of NPD at Vax said:

“With sustainability becoming an increasing concern for manufacturers, the Vax ev shows just what can be achieved when young designers are encouraged to think creatively and push the boundaries of product design.

It’s so important that manufacturers such as ourselves support young British designers like Jake, as they are the key to this country’s future success.”

For further information on current industrial student placement opportunities at Vax visit their industrial placements page or email recruitment@vax.co.uk

You can see Jake’s green cleaner at the New Designers exhibition to be held at the London Design Centre from the 6th-9th July. Vax are also looking into a very limited production run of the Vax ev, so if you think this environmentally friendly vacuum cleaner is a great idea then badger Vax and tell them you really want one

Lush, the high street retailer and maker of fresh hand-made cosmetics, are concerned about the waste from traditional toothpaste dispensers. Most toothpaste tubes and modern fangled pumps end up in landfill so Lush have come up with a simple solution – Toothy Tabs.

Just open up the cardboard box, pop a toothy tab in your mouth, crunch it up, brush with a wetted brush and voila – clean teeth and no waste.

Marketed under the “Dirty” range, in a black box, we’re not totally sure of the branding, as it seems to go against the grain of the usual “minty fresh” cliché of the major players. But hey, what do we know and maybe that’s the whole point

But you’ve gotta give it to Lush – Their shops are the sweetest smelling little paradises on the high street and their soaps and bath bombs are divine (Yes, even the guys admit to being more than a little bit taken by Lush stuff)

So if you want to keep your teeth clean and reduce waste then why not give Lush Toothy Tabs a go? 2 quid for a 12g box of 40 tabs, they’re vegan, they’re not tested on animals and they’re available in 5 flavours.

When I die I want to be a… tree!

Well, if that’s what you want, your last wish can come true thanks to the BIOS Urn.

Originally designed in 2000 by Gerard Moline, the latest incarnation of the BIOS urn, from Spanish designer Martín Azúa, is made from coconut shell, compacted peat and cellulose with a funky green design on the outer sleeve.

The biodegradable urn comes complete with a seed to sow in the ashes of the deceased or you can substitute this with a seed or cutting of your own.

So if being a grey headstone is not for you or the benefit of the world then consider being a mighty oak and get your BIOS urn exclusively from LIMBO.

From the moment you see the distinctive “upside down” photography you know that Po-Zu is going to be an interesting brand.

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Ignore the name on the device (We’re thinking of going to our friends at Ecotricity for their green gas scheme) but this is our new smartpower meter. OK, we’ve had it a few weeks now, but this little device is a lifesaver. OK, moneysaver. Energysaver.

Since plugging this meter we’ve monitored our electricity consumption, which is pretty low we think anyway, and it’s made us even more aware of our energy use than ever. It’s interesting watching the meter as the kettle is boiled or the fridge kicks into life but we’re happy that we’re consuming very little (Compared to some households we know)

The other device that has helped us reduce our electricity costs has been the excellent Energenie Automatic AV Standby Shutdown gang socket which totally switches off our TV, Wii & DVD when we’re not using them.

We got this from our gas supplier but if we can find a link or place where you can grab one too we’ll let you know.

Does anybody else think it’s ironic that we have to plug in an electricity-consuming device to monitor our electricity consumption?

Today a contractor turned up on behalf of South East Water and installed a water meter at my request. It was a pretty quick and easy job and the water meter was actually installed at the point in the public highway (the footpath at the end of my drive actually) where the water pipes into my property rather than in the house as I had suspected (I was concerned it would be yet another  a big ugly box just like the gas and electric meters that take up space inside an understairs cupboard in the hallway)

I have to admit, the main reason for getting a water meter installed was a financial one. Currently I occupy a 3-bedroomed semi-detached house on my own whilst my better half and daughter spend an extended period of time abroad. The local council reduce my council tax rates for single occupancy but the water company do not. The annual bill for water is approximately £320 and that is based on the rateable value of the property.

Somewhere down the line you can only assume that the water companies have estimated the average use and cost of water supply, drainage and sewerage for a typical 3-bed semi with X amount of people living there. In my case that doesn’t apply so it makes pefect sense to be metered – So, presumably, the cost of my water bills should  come down.

Now here’s the green bit…

Because this is a green-thinking household there is a bath in the house but showers are more than 99% of the time. A shower uses a third of the volume of water that a bath does (plus it’s quicker to take a shower than run a bath, as we all know) OK, there is a Turner Monsoon pump fitted to boost the water pressure of the shower (and it uses electricity) but that’s because the water pressure is really pathetic in the bathroom and it’s virtually unusable without a boost. Continuing to have showers rather than baths will keep the water consumption down. Winner.

Then there’s the fact that  a low-flush toilet was installed in the bathroom, the only WC in the house. Not only does it use less water to flush than the previous Armitage Shanks cistern from 1964 but it has a dual-flush that uses less water (depending on whether you flush number 1s or number 2s ). Winner #2.

Also, by not driving a car, partly out of green choice, partly for health & fitness and partly for financial reasons, the cars don’t get washed. Winner #3.

And then there’s the water butt in the garden. Because the local council had a great deal on a compost bin we saved enough money to have a water butt purchased & delivered for the same cost as had we just had the composting bin on its own. Winner #4.

So it looks like this could be a win-win situation – Not only does this household save water but it saves money too. If you’re green and you haven’t got a water meter installed then it might be time to consider doing so. I’ll keep you posted as to how long it is before the water company start reducing our water bills – you know what these big companies are like when it comes to letting go of your cash…

Footnote: I just had a look at the volumetric water meter manufacturer’s website. Being a marketing guy myself I wasn’t totally enamoured at the language used for the V210 meter:

V200 and V210 volumetric meters are designed to maximise revenue collection.

Now I know the website is not consumer-focused but when they stumble across the term “maximise revenue collection” it doesn’t sound fair does it? Maybe I should suggest to the manufacturer that they use the term “optimise revenue collection” – that would be far more agreeable, don’t you think?

Every so often you find a piece of clothing that you really like. And I mean REALLY like. You like it so much that it becomes your favourite piece of kit and you want to wear it every day. That’s how we feel about the organic t-shirt range from Red Robot.

Not only are Red Robot’s t-shirts made from supersoft, guilt-free environmentally-friendly organic cotton but they’re also incredibly cool too. Of all their range we particularly liked their Mono Turbine in a gorgeous yellow (Aspen gold) with a fantastic distressed print graphic.

Their attention to detail is sublime too, with an embroidered logo on the sleeve. Some of their other shirts also have a  signature single arm ringer; those sort of details are always a nice touch but also the mark of quality.

So if you’re a Joy Division fan (see their Robot Pleasures design), a Quentin Tarantino fan (have a nosey at the Robot Dogs T) or just a lover of great quality organic cotton t-shirts then go check out Red Robot for some additional cool wear for your summer wardrobe.