Woodland Trust ethical clothes at Dorothy Perkins

Talking of the Woodland Trust, there is a small range of clothing produced by the high street chain Dorothy Perkins, of which 15-50% of the cost will be donated to the Woodland Trust. The cotton is supposedly organic. You can see the range online and buy at http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=20552&storeId=12552&categoryId=77405&langId=-1&top=Y. I am very tempted by the flip-flops.

However Dorothy Perkins is owned by Arcadia, the high street conglomerate run by billionaire businessman Phillip Green, and has often been criticised for not keeping a close enough eye on its suppliers. Arcadia also owns British Home Stores and Topshop, who have sometimes been found to not be meeting Ethical Trading Standards (e.g. using sweatshops or child labour in manufacturing).

Still tempted by the flip-flops.

Plant a tree

Trees absorb carbon, obv. If you haven't got a garden, or room in the garden that you do have, you can plant a tree through the Woodland Trust (http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk). They are planning to plant a new forest in Hertfordshire composed entirely of native species, to combat both the ever-declining stock of ancient woodland in the UK, and climate change. If you donate £15 to the campaign, this will buy the land necessary to plant one tree, the actual sapling itself, and resources to look after the tree for 5 years. You can also donate less or more to the campaign if you want to plant more trees.

Watch the campaign video at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=COLvqjHBWHU

Rehome lonely bikes

If you're desperate to get on the green travel bandwagon and avoid using your car as much as possible, bikes are a great way to do it. If you don't want to spend lots of money on a new bike, or you just like the thought of giving an un-loved bike a home, go to http://www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk/XcAPViewInCat.asp?ID=24. Bumblebee auctions are the UK Police's way of selling on stolen property that they have recovered, but sadly can't reunite with their proper owners. There are lots of really good bikes on there for very little money that can get you from A to B quickly and greenily.