Fresh eggs on your doorstep!

My parents always used to keep hens when I was young. I used to love collecting the warm eggs after they had just been laid, then watching my mum whip up a lovely fresh omelette!

Although I always buy organic free-range eggs, you just can't beat the taste of fresh eggs that have been laid in your own back garden. So I started to look into keeping hens again. However, living in a flat in London with a small garden means there are a number of challenges...

That is until I came across the fantastic range of Omlet hen hutches. Designed specifically to house from 2-10 hens in an urban garden. The designs are fantastic: bright, modern, easy to clean and safe, the eglu has been designed together with leading animal experts to be an ideal habitat for your hens and an attractive addition to your garden. f
Plus, if you are thinking of keeping chickens for the first time then the Omlet team have all the experience to help you get started! They can deliver the eglu and lovely, organically fed chickens direct to your garden so you'll be collecting extraordinarily tasty eggs in no time. Fantastic!

Available in 5 lovely colours too.

As Omlet states "We designed the eglu for the town garden, the first time chicken owner, the family and the eco-savvy individual. We wanted it to be as easy as looking after a goldfish but more rewarding than owning a dog (you get eggs with chickens!)"

Unfortunately our post-stamp garden isn't large enough (a min of 6 metres by 8 metres of grass is needed) but when we next move (to hopefully a place with a larger garden) the Eglu will be top of my list!

Recycled pans now in UK

Biome Lifestyle is the UK's only stockist of the fabulous Recycled Iron Pans. The pans have been designed and made in Japan with the help of some of Japan's top chefs. This range of eco-luxury cookware is made from 75% recycled cast iron. The pans are literally ‘naked’ and free from enamel or tefal coating, which often chips over time reducing the lifetime of the pan. This also means that no chemical substances are released (which often happens with regular coated pans), even when the pan is heated to over 300 degrees Celsius. Instead, the oxide film produced naturally on the surface prevents the pan from rusting and also offers a non-stick surface which is great for cooking. The range includes a wok, frying pan, roasting pan and more. Stylish, safe and made to last a lifetime!

Mr Whippy

Rather than hide energy-saving lightbulbs, the clever designers Nahoko Koyama and Alex Garnett have designed a light which incorporates the bulb within the design. The light fitting mimics an ice-cream and cone; comically called the Whippy light.

Biome Lifestyle always encourages the use of energy-efficient bulbs, although we can't decide in the office if the light fitting is hot or not...

Unpackaged

I have come across and visited this fantastic little store in London, called Unpackaged. Unpackaged sells everything loose; therefore without any packaging at all so it is up to the customer to bring their own containers (such as jars, tins etc) to take the products home. Unpackaged sells a wide range of products from washing-up liquid to red kidney beans. If you do forgot your container, then you can buy a one-off reusablable one.

Here is their policy statement, which is fantastic:

Apart from the teas, all of the products we source are certified organic
We always source fair trade products where possible
We do not sell any products that are air freighted
We give preference to suppliers who are cooperatives or social enterprises
We apply the principles of the waste hierarchy: reduce, reuse and recycle
We plan efficiently to minimise any transportation by ourselves and our suppliers

As stated by Michael Pawlyn, The Guardian, November 21 2005: “ It’s hard to visit a landfill site without being struck by the craziness of taking very valuable minerals and resources out of the ground, using a lot of energy, turning them into short life products and then just dumping them back into the ground. It’s an absolutely monumental waste of energy and resources. As someone from the fashion industry might say, its just so last century”

The Problem with Packaging
Cost: Unnecessary packaging increases the price of the goods you buy. It means you are charged twice; first when you buy over packaged goods and then through your council tax to dispose of your rubbish.

Waste: Unnecessary packaging is a waste of resources at every level: to produce, store and transport, remove and to dispose of.

Pollution: The two main methods of disposing of this packaging – landfill and incineration – are major pollutants for humans and the environment and release greenhouse gases.

What about recycling? While some packaging is recycled, most ends up in landfill sites and some packaging is just difficult and often impossible to recycle. Recycling is certainly part of the solution, but it will only work if we use less packaging in the first place and adopt more reusable ways of doing things- it is this ethos of reuse that Unpackaged is based on.

Biome Lifestyle is looking forward to visiting the Unpackaged shop soon!

Green reward!

I am not sure if this is genius or madness; however Yoon Kuk Hyun has come up with an answer to people throwing away their soap bars before they are completely used by including a small gift inside each soap! The witty and fun design aims to motivate consumers to use their soap to the end, helping prevent waste.

I have to admit the idea is really growing on me. It is a simple and clever way to reduce waste and help the environment and is almost like a Kinder Surprise egg!
I believe this trend of “motivate people to be green by rewarding them” is the way to go. Biome Lifestyle has also come across Soap Bank, a brilliant design that enables you to get the most out of your soap, no matter how small they get.

Handmade with love

I absolutely love http://www.etsy.com/! I could genuinely search all day through the lovely handmade items.

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.Anybody can sell on Etsy, from a top designer to your dear old Granny - making the range diverse, quirky and interesting.
The only issue is it is US based, although quite a few of the makers do ship to the UK.
There are so many adorable items on there - the only problem is deciding what to choose!
Biome Lifestyle rates this lovely site 10/10!

Eco wallpaper

I am loving the new Eco Range Wallpaper by the brilliant Graham and Brown!

The paper is FSC sourced and holds and displays an important (yet subtle) message. For example, the Eco Highway Paper aims to encourage children to think about their carbon footprint; the design features futuristic cars that run on milk instead of petrol.

I love wallpaper anyway, but these new eco-designs have encouraged me to add even more to the walls of my home!

Recycle Week

This week (2nd – 8th June) is Recycle Week, a great awareness week organised by WRAP to encourage us to recycle both on a national and local level and highlight the benefits of doing so.

Whilst recent stats have found that we are increasing the amount we recycle, we need to do more to make a difference.

According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (May 2008), recycling has increased by 27% across all regions between 2002 and 2006. Households in the east of England have recored the highest figure of 34%, almost double the rate of four years previously, whilst London and the north-east recycled the lowest proportion.

The government has set a target for 40% of waste to be recycled by 2010. Separate figures for 2007-08, released by the environment department, show that the recycling trend has continued this year, to 33%, with a fall in the amount of waste going to landfill.

Biome Lifestyle fully supports Recycle Week and urges everyone to recycle waste where possible, and also buy products that are made from recycled materials. Every little helps.

World Environment Day 2008

World Environment Day 2008 is Thursday, June 5! The theme for this year’s international United Nations celebration is CO2 – Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. The UN writes: World Environment Day (WED) is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

The agenda is to give a human face to environmental issues; empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development; promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future. Stand up to Climate Change are asking people to select which change to their routine they will be making to help prepare for Climate Change – from saving water to helping prepare against floods. http://www.standuptoclimatechange.org/ask.aspx

Biome Lifestyle fully supports World Environment Day – the greater public awareness about Climate Change the better!