My Eco Self

Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:18:00 +0000

One of My Eco Self's supporters, Tara from Boutiko, is offering a giveaway over at Tea for Joy, as well as an exclusive discount. Boutiko has lots of sweet ethical, fair trade and organic gifts, so this giveaway isn't to be missed! Competition closes on Sunday!

Top 10 tips for a cut-price Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who gave me tips for a cut-price Christmas in the kitchen this year.

This is the result. Please follow the link and post a comment!

Zoe Murphy furniture

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:29:00 +0000

My Eco Self quite likes numbers, and spreadsheets, and calculators with big buttons. So when I saw this table, I knew I just had to feature it here.It has been designed by British artist Zoe Murphy, who 'upcycles' pieces of mid-20th Century furniture, using bright colours inspired by her seaside home of Margate, Kent. Even her textiles are recycled; wedding dress silks which have been unpicked, dyed and printed.

Zoe kindly answered a few questions for me.

What inspires you?

I am mostly inspired by the 'everyday' and have always been influenced by designers and artists who turn a concept on its head or make people view things in different ways. Most of my work is focused on trying to draw attention to furniture and textile pieces that are otherwise left unloved and disregarded. As a result I use a lot of recycling in my designs and utilise processes such as veneering and patchworking constantly.

How would you describe your perfect day?

My perfect day - which I get to induldge in almost every Sunday of the summer - is waking up at 6am to get to a bootfair with my mum and rummaging around for an hour or three before retiring to a local cafe for a huge mug of tea and a bacon sandwich. The rest of the day is usually spent cleaning up all of the things I have bought and drawing up ambitious plans to regenerate each of them.

How can someone buy your work?

I mostly create bespoke pieces for individual clients. However, pieces are going into galleries in the UK and Scotland and I am in discussion with a London dept. store who will be taking on some of the work in the new year. Most of the work is made to order but some pieces, such as the Formica and some of the furniture, I will be making and then posting on the site for sale. With so much furniture and textiles gathered over the summer there are a lot of interesting things to come!

Thanks Zoe! Please check out her website for more information and up-to-date pieces for sale.

Originally posted at Tea for Joy.

Eco(nomy) Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:26:00 +0000

My Eco Self is looking for tips for a money-saving Christmas in the kitchen. Do you have any ideas? A cheaper alternative to turkey? Good ideas for leftovers? Telling the relatives to stay at home?

Any ideas welcome.

Vote for Boutiko

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:46:00 +0000

My Eco Self's friend, Boutiko, has been nominated for an award at Green England's Green Awards, in the best Fair Trade Company category. Go, Tara!

Please vote for Boutiko, here - it will only take a few seconds!

Rob Pepper and Daily Drawing Diary

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:28:00 +0000

My Eco Self has recently discovered the beautiful illustrations of Rob Pepper. He has drawn every day for the last four years, and posted the drawings at The Daily Drawing Diary. his simple images are just what I need when my brain is going fuzzy at blog text overload.

For all you budding artists out there (or even if you're not) Rob is running a two-week trip to Kerala in India with the Responsible Tourism Award-winning company The Blue Yonder in February 2009. A group of 10 will participate in art workshops alongside those of local Indian artists. The trip will offset its carbon by physically planting saplings in a local reforestation project. The trip will also go on a spice tour and learn local cooking.

Eco admission

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:14:00 +0000

I have an admission to make. I have been distracted from the eco blog by a new blog I have started. It is at www.teaforjoy.blogspot.com. Please have a look. Don't judge me too harshly if you notice that I have occasionally posted the same things on both blogs, but I think there are two different sets of readers.

I have not abandoned my Eco Self, but am taking a short sabbatical. Instead I am writing about lots of lovely, unnecessary things I don't need, as I have a really strong interest in design. Doesn't sound very eco, does it? Still, believe me when I say I still have the rumblings of an eco conscience. Today I went to two fancy dress shops in New York (I'm here as an election tourist), and felt really quite unwell at all the aisles crammed full of plastic use-once for Halloween tat. And then I bought a Cleopatra headress. I promise I will take it home and file it away for future fancy dress reference.

So, if you're wondering where I've gone, that's where I have gone. I'll be back.

Etsy eco: Allies Adornments

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:29:00 +0000

This week's Etsy eco is Allie's Adornments, from San Francisco. She makes one-off pieces of jewellery from 1800s buttons, collected from all over the world. Is it wrong that My Eco Self is somewhat swayed by the photographs as to which is my favourite? Clue: I love the pink flower in the bottom photo.

1800s button bracelet.

1800s button necklace

1800s button bracelet.

Laura Cahill's book vases and lamps

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:56:00 +0000

My Eco Self is very taken with these book vases and especially the standard lamp. They are the brainchild of designer Laura Cahill.

Books are notoriously difficult to recycle, because of the glue used in the spine, even though the Confederation of Paper Industries says that it is not impossible. What's your preferred method of disposing of old books? My Eco Self is going through a non-philanthropic stage, due to unemployment, and is selling old books secondhand on Amazon, rather than donating them to a charity shop.

I think that books are not necessarily that much of an ecological disaster (apart from the publisher's returns system, don't get me started) because most people keep their books and display them on their shelves to give off an air of intellectualism.

My Eco Self thinks that it is chick lit which is the greatest environmental liability. Keep this to yourselves, but in recent months My Eco Self has read Chasing Harry Winston and The Manny - but there is no evidence in my flat which would suggest so...Chasing Harry Winston was a throwaway purchase, read on the Eurostar between Paris and London and left behind on the train.

via Tea for Joy

Rise magazine

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:40:00 +0000

This month's Rise magazine has an eco focus.

Check out my feature on the Hyde Farm Climate Action Network - it is a community group in South London which is really involved in lots of energy saving initiatives, including lightbulb libraries, draughtbusting and foraging for fruit on the local common. When I was interviewing Sue, one of the founders of the group, she had to excuse herself to answer a very cloak-and-dagger telephone call. I later found out why - Gordon Brown visited her house three days later!

I also wrote about my experience of joining Food Up Front.

Etsy eco: recycled crayons

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:17:00 +0000

There's no avoiding it, autumn has truly arrived. My Eco Self has unearthed my hot water bottle and I have turned my heating on, once or twice. I know I could conserve energy by wearing a few more jumpers, but I find it difficult to function when waddling like a Michelin man. Let me indulge myself just these few precious times, as an imminent gas bill is likely to kill off my desire to casually turn on the heating.

There are great things about autumn; indoor cuddles, a fire, cosy blankets, and these beautiful recycled crayons from Art2theextreme's Etsy shop. They look like so much fun for children to draw with.

Tooting Foodival

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:23:00 +0000

This afternoon My Eco Self and friends went to the Tooting Foodival. There was lots of local food in varying forms - apple crumbles made from back garden apples, urban honey, eggs from Deen City Farm, and curry from Poojas.

I've been a fan of Poojas for a long time - they sell 4 delicious samosas for £1. I tentatively went in there last week for the first time in a few years and with only £1 in my pocket; convinced that inflation and the credit crunch would have pushed up the prices. But no, still 4 samosas for £1.

The event was organised by local community groups Transition Town Tooting and Food Up Front.

I first discovered Food Up Front about a year ago, when they had 30 members and I wrote about them here. They are a scheme which encourages members to grow food in containers. Since then there's been a flurry of FUF activity - watch this space for an update on their activity coming soon.

My Eco Self recently signed up to be a member of Food Up Front, and enthusiastically planted my seeds in compost which I literally rolled home on a shopping trolley and in high heels. Technically, there is no sign of life so far, but this could be because:

a) My back door broke. While this may seem unlikely, it is actually true. I couldn't get into my garden for a week to water my container, until my friend Emma (ie Emma of superhero Emma with superhuman strength fame) opened the door with a casual flick of her wrist.

b) I went to Paris, not the perfect locale for carefully nurturing my seedlings.

Now I come to think of it, there really is no sign of life in my container. I've just remembered that not everything I planted was a seed; I planted a chard seedling, as documented in the photo above. It's gone AWOL, with not even a hint it ever existed. I'm sure the foxes are to blame.

List progress

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:01:00 +0000

Progress on my list so far: none.

Except that I have been enthusiastically searching on Ebay for bargains. Further to my recent sales (for minimal results) I was convinced that there would be bargain purchases as well.

Where to start? There is just so much for sale, that it's almost impossible to narrow it all down. So I started searching by keywords of things I like; trees, hummingbirds, storms, swallows, Polaroids, black and white photographs. In my over-enthusiasm, I managed to buy a 2005 black and white photo of Green Park. 2005 is not exactly the vintage era I was aiming for. I lost out on Wedgewood hummingbird teacups, a cross-stitch of a hummingbird and an old hummingbird print. Do you notice a recurring theme?

Then I got a little bit carried away with shopping online, and bought a set of five spotted dishes from Lottie's Barn, like the one in the picture above. I am very excited about this new purchase, which of course is going to encourage me to use up all my leftovers and completely abandon any inclinations towards food waste.

Picture via Vintage Heaven.

Chateau Tooting

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:15:00 +0000

For those of you not already in the know, Tooting, in South London, is not exactly an area with the sun-streamed vineyards of Italy, South Africa, Australia, or well, anywhere warm.

Nevertheless, Richard Sharp, a local resident, decided to set up an urban community scheme to get his Furzedown neighbours growing grapes in their small back gardens, which were then pressed in West Sussex and turned into wine.

For the discerning sommelier out there, an English backyard might not sound like it has the likely credentials for a quality wine, but it's a great community scheme, and we're assured that the taste is improving every year.

There's a great interview with the founder at Rise Magazine, and if you're interested in running a similar urban scheme, there's lots of help and advice at their Urban Wine Company website.

Re-usable Bag dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Ah yes, the re-usable bag again...I've just seen this post on Re-nest; apparently the Wall Street Journal just ran a piece which states (somewhat obviously, but with statistics) that if you have a re-usable bag, you need to use it a lot for it to be a more environmentally friendly than the normal plastic bag, as the cost to the environment can actually be higher than making a plastic bag if they end up in the landfill, unused and unloved. They take more energy to make and longer to biodegrade.

If you get the chance, have a listen to the podcast on the WSJ site - it's actually pretty interesting. I'm sure it must depend on the material used - if you're using recycled fabric to make your own bag, that has to be preferable to using a plastic bag.

I'm really wishing I had bought the yellow trolley bag in Paris.

Paris bicycles

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:44:00 +0000

Every few months, My Eco Self has a renewed desire to get a bicycle, but then I remember that I don't have anywhere to keep it, unless I want to drag it up my stairs, and, most of the places I go to I can walk to (I will never become a fully fledged bicycle commuter, I'm accident prone.)

I wish London had a scheme like the the Velib scheme in Paris. There are various bicycle stops around the city where you can pick up and drop off the bicycles - for a minimal fee. The bikes are great too - they have everything you need; a basket, lights, and locks. I saw lots of people using them, although it seems that French cyclists don't use helmets. People of France, that is a mistake! Although there are some allocated bicycle lanes, there still seemed to be some pretty risky manouvres going on - not least because cycling in high heels (as lots of the French women were doing) seems like a recipe for disaster.

An eco-aspirational list

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:47:00 +0000

My Eco Self has decided to improve my eco credentials, so am setting myself a target by participating in Simple Lovely and Doobleh-Vay's list challenge.

This is my list of eco to-dos before the end of October. Warning: if you believe that I am some kind of eco guru (in which case I'd have to assume you are a new reader) - and are averse to having that image shattered, then look away now - there are some shocking revelations on this list...

Check if my loft is insulated (shameful, I know, but it's really inconvenient to get into my loft - through a very high hatch - I've never been up there.)
Use up all the contents of my organic vegetable box before the next one comes, at least once - so I don't have to always resort to Friday morning soup.
Make one of Orangette's delicious banana bread recipes (with the collection of mushy frozen bananas in my fridge which I didn't eat in time - see point 2. Note: top tip - freeze them without the skins - or perhaps you all knew that already? Never occurred to me.)
Do an inventory of all of the reusable bags I already own, so I don't feel tempted to buy another one...
Become more serious about my food shopping habits, take my shopping trolley and try out the well-reknowned organic butcher, Chadwicks in Balham, near to where I live.
Turn my thermostat down by one degree.
Remember to water my rocket plants so that they don't die.
Look on Ebay for some second-hand bargain furniture, the likes of which elude me but seem to feature regularly in the homes of celebrity stylists/designers/never your ordinary 5'8" in Living Etc.
Put up the curtains I've lived without for 17 months (I know, how did it get to be so long?) - a major energy waster.
Buy one of those energy monitoring electricity devices.

I could go on, and on - perhaps I'll update this list when I've achieved everything above - I want to keep it manageable...Please post your list below and I will feature any good resolutions (as long as the intention is sincere!)

Please stay with me...

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:46:00 +0000

As I do some work on the blog header....there's still some work to do so please don't desert me if you think this one is a bit much!

Yellow fever

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:20:00 +0000

My Eco Self took myself on an impromptu trip to Paris this week, feeling the strong call of the Paris flea market...Quick as a flash I booked myself onto the Eurostar and (I'm still trying to blank this bit out) into a youth hostel, as I couldn't find any last minute options under £300 a night.
These are my happy Paris feet - and as much as can be revealed for public consumption. I took one small rucksack, with only a few cardigans and clean vests, and I suspect I looked quite rough for a few days. As a last minute gesture towards Parisien chic, I threw in a lip gloss at the last minute, but I am not sure that was enough to pull me back from the depths of scruffydom. Lip gloss + towel-dried hair does not equal a chic Parisien look.

I managed to exercise great spending restraint and I only spent 28 euros on things for myself. It was so sunny in Paris that I felt myself drawn to this yellow Perigot trolley bag, but then I remembered I already own a shopping trolley so in my non-wasteful attitude I decided I couldn't justify getting another one.

I think this may have been a mistake. This one was really sturdy, whereas mine is a) very flimsy, so it's a real pain to pull along and b) not yellow! I think if you're going down the old lady trolley route, you might as well have a statement piece? Oui?

A Jungle tribute

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:11:00 +0000

Yes, another bag. This time, it's a collaboration between primologist Dr Jane Goodall and GANT - for this £8 purchase, available online, they will plant 25 trees in the Tanzanian jungle.

When I saw this bag I couldn't help think of fellow blogger The Jungle Fever...

via Hippyshopper.

Eco Fair Promotion

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:45:00 +0000

Enter 'balhameco' into the promotional code box at greenhands.co.uk and receive a generous 20% discount until the end of this month.

Green Hands eco-friendly manicures

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Green Hands provided very popular manicures at the Eco Fair. A lot of the ingredients in conventional nail products are really very toxic - they sell very natural hand creams and formaldehyde-free nail polishes and oils. I especially liked the glass nail files - they look stylish as well as lasting for a long time.

Tree-pee

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:15:00 +0000

My Eco Self is still impressed with my friend Alice's imagination in calling the teepee covered with tree pictures a 'tree-pee.' Thanks to Tactile Interiors, who provided it - they sell lots of children's play houses made of recycled cardboard, including forts, rockets, dolls houses and dens.

Eco Fair favourites

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who helped with the Eco Fair yesterday. It was a really nice selection of stalls - here's a roundup of some of my favourite products: Reversible bandana bib from Mums Space - lots of lovely organic baby things, including bamboo baby wipes, and Fair Trade toys.

Rose moisturiser from Emaelle - all natural beauty products, made with essential oils.

Fair trade silver and copper ring from Akalico.

Chicken doorstop made from reclaimed fabric from Boutiko - lots of nice gift items, including a London A-Z with a recycled leather cover, and lovely cards.

Warning: non-eco digression

noreply@blogger.com (My Eco Self) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:00:00 +0000

Apologies for the digression, but I was so thrilled when this link appeared in my inbox, that I feel I need to spread the word. I do so love the music ofIain Archer. This is a recreation of a rather touching moment at Greenbelt this year where he had his parents and parents-in-law get up on stage and sing with him.

One of my favourite songs of the last few years is Take That's Rule the World. I even heard it the other day when I was in a taxi with a Turkish taxi driver - and he was singing along with it as well. Anyway, the thing is that I was never into Take That the first time round - but now I absolutely love them.

Don't let that admission colour your opinion of me - but I just wanted to point out that I WAS into Iain Archer the first time round, and every time since - I've been listening to his music for more than half of my life.