Sites we like
Creative Links
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers flexible copyright licences for creative works.
Style Will Save Us is an online ethical style magazine.
Where does your money go?
The Co-operative Bank is the only high street bank with an ethical policy.
Triodos is one of Europe’s leading ethical banks. Triodos Bank only invests in projects that support positive social, environmental and cultural change.
Ecotricity is one of only two electricity suppliers in the UK to invest all their profits building new sources of renewable energy. I will endeavour to find out who the other one is.
Avoid the supermarket giants. ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury's. They might have sold their souls but we don't have to join them.
More new stuff
Why buy new? Most of the time you can buy good quality second hand goods from charity shops, vintage clothes shops, car boot sales and e-bay. Cheaper, more individual and about as environmentally-friendly as you can get.
Green Metropolis have helped find new homes for over a million books so far. They offer a minimum of £3 per second-hand paperback book sold through them, standard paperbacks cost £3.75 each and they give 5p from every sale to the Woodland Trust.
Why do you spend money anyway?
Join your local Freecycle group. Members offer their unwanted goods to other members for free by email to reduce the number of potentially useful items going to landfill. You can request things too. Freecycle. In Nottingham most people have moved across to a group called Realcycle instead.
In Nottingham there's a free shop. If there's not one in your area perhaps you could set one up.
Hungry anyone?
Organic food is better for you and better for the environment. Try and use a local veg box scheme or visit your local farmers market. For more info see The Organic Directory
Even better, have you thought about getting an allotment and growing your own fruit and veg?
Meat and dairy farming is much more resource-intensive and environmentally-damaging compared to the production of plant-based foods. Vegan Family is a great resource for recipes and advice on eating healthy animal-free food. The International Vegetarian Union has nearly 2000 animal-free recipes.
Baby Cakes Direct do amazing vegan cakes - amazing!
If you are buying new get something ethical
Pudding sell beautiful fair trade organic cotton kids clothing all printed with eco-friendly waterbased inks.
Holiday?
Ecoescape is a directory of eco-friendly holiday destinations in the UK.
Take the 12 month no fly pledge
Ethical printers in the UK
Visit lovelyasatree for information about choosing environmentally friendly paper and printing in the UK.
Calverts printing co-operative are based in London and offer environmentally-friendly printing using vegetable-based inks and a water-based seal.
Visit Green Your Office to buy socially and environmentally responsible office products and find out how to ethically transform your office.
Bacchus Press are a certified green printer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
