My favourite market...

This weekend I think we will take a Saturday afternoon stroll around Borough Market. For anyone who has never ventured to Borough Market, wandering around the many delicious food stalls is a wonderful way to fill a Saturday afternoon. The market is always lively and there is so much to see, smell and taste it's a great way to spend the weekend!

Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, South East London. It is one of the largest food markets in the world, and is regarded by some as one of the highest quality markets in the United Kingdom, selling a large variety of foods from all around the world.

Many of the stalls sell organic produce and as the majority are very small businesses, it's good to know you are supporting small ventures, especially during these tough times. To find out more visit http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/.

Ethical clothing

A few years ago ethical fashion seemed to be light years away from the catwalk trends. However, now thanks to a number of fantastic designers such as Ciel, Annie Greenabelle and Edun, ethical fashion is finally offering discerning customers fashionable alternatives.

One of my favourite online stores Equa - not only as they have a fantastic collection online, but they also have a lovely store in Islington about five minutes away from our office! A little too tempting though...! If you are not based near the Islington store then take a look online at their lovely collection.

Biome Lifestyle's student design competition!

Biome Lifestyle is delighted (and very excited!) to announce the launch of the Biome Lifestyle Product Design Competition 2009. Biome Lifestyle is keen to recognise and support young creative talent that is focused on sustainable design. This is the first year of the competition, which aims to unite the three foundations of Biome Lifestyle: good design, great style and strong ethics.

This competition aims to find a winning product design for Christmas 2009. The product
design needs to retain a Christmas theme or a Christmas use, with the winning design being
produced and sold on the Biome Lifestyle website from October 2009. The competition winner will receive a commission based on the sales of their product, calculated on a monthly basis. Biome will organise and pay for the manufacture of the winning entry, which will be assessed on its eco-credentials and made either in the UK or by co-operatives in Nepal, Vietnam or India. Products made outside the UK will be manufactured using sustainable materials including felt, bamboo and organic cotton.

The competition is open to students over the age of 16, and the closing date for entries is 1 May.

A winner will be chosen on 11 May, and the product will go sale in the run-up to Christmas.
Contact alexandra@biomelifestyle.com for more information or to enter.

Best of luck!

Wonderful women making wonderful products!

Biome Lifestyle is delighted to be working with a new fair trade producer in Malawi.

The women all hand stitch the beautiful linen cushions with raw and natural beads made from wood, coconut, shell, ostrich egg & bonehand stitched onto heavy weight linen.

The quality is fantastic and the attention to detail on the beadwork is truly wonderful.

Aside from being a great new addition to the Biome range, we are also delighted to be supporting the talented makers. The cushions are hand crafted in Malawi by single mothers, selected, from the local orphan program –

creating employment, empowerment and independency in an area where jobs are scarce. Each cushion is considered with care and the end product acknowledged with great pride. Welcome to Biome Lifestyle ladies!

Artisan Awards 2009

It's great to see that traditional crafts are still recognised and encouraged in the UK! Biome Lifestyle is always looking out for new designer-makers who are based in the UK and use traditional skills and crafts.
That's why we are loving the Country Living Artisan Awards 2009. Once country trades were passed down from parent to child, with generations of the same family specialising in one skill. Faced with a lack of training opportunities, today's craftspeople have to demonstrate self-motivation and creative talent in equal doses in order to succeed. Our Artisan of the Year for 2008, thatcher Jonathan Botterell, spent years travelling the country to learn the rudiments of his craft, while Andrew Seddon, winner of our Outstanding Support of Future Artisans Award, taught himself the skills needed to become a stained-glass maker, then began training apprentices to pass on his knowledge. Good luck to all those talented people who will be entering the awards! We look forward to reading more about the selected finalists in the near future.

Brazils new sustainable parks

Brazil was once known as the country that was destroying the rainforest. Now it seems they are trying to rebuild their reputation by pushing renewable energy and sustainable architecture.

The Brazilian government built this sustainable park in Sao Paulo on the site of an old landfill. Using only certified forestry lumber and recycled steel, they turned this brown site into a beautiful green vision of possibility. It is a free-flowing structure that is built like a giant continuous deck.

The architects also used the landfill’s old incinerator building to create a sustainability museum. It always does the heart good to see that with a little desire it is possible to undo serious environmental damage and create something beautiful.

Anna Dietzsch, Managing Director of Davis Brody Bond Aedas‘ São Paulo office and Levisky Arquitetos Associados designed this beautiful eco-park on what was once a contaminated brownfield in São Paulo, Brazil. The 130,000-square-foot site was previously the home to a garbage incinerator, so even after the area’s clean-up the team strove to minimize soil excavation by building a deck that, on average, floats three feet above the ground. Victor Civita Plaza also includes solar panels, the extensive use of reclaimed wood, and a retro-fitted museum that explains the sustainable features that were designed into the site. (Inhabitat))

Join in with Red Nose Day!

It's that time of year where the days are getting lighter, the days are slightly brighter and Red Nose Day will be on our TVs once again.

I have watched the Red Nose Day on BBC 1 show since I was very young, so it is something of a tradition to me stay in, watch and donate. Once it's over, I usually go to bed exhausted (I have to admit, I have never lasted the whole show!), after a night of tears & laughter.

Over the years, Red Nose Day has raised millions of pounds to help disadvantaged children from all over Africa and the UK. It's a wonderful cause which has done so much to help. Click here to read about the projects all the donation money helps to support.

The site says "we take some fantastic fundraising in schools, offices and homes across the land, mix it with the nation’s favourite celebrities getting up to all kinds of mischief, sprinkle a new Red Nose (or three!) across the entire UK and add a cracking night of comedy on BBC One to make Red Nose Day the phenomenon it is."

On March 13th, we will be wearing red noses in the office and I will be sure to make a donation both from Biome and personally too. I hope you all at least watch the show for some amazing heartfelt stories & some great comedy moments.

Best Fair Trade

Bestfairtrade.com is a new favourite website of Biome Lifestyle's! 

The inspirational founder, Leona Mani  created the site to provide an online guide to all aspects of the Fair Trade Industry. As Leona states "The main aim of the site is to act as a relative 'Private Eye' for the Fair Trade Industry, not placing our focus on simply being another listings site, but aspiring to engage with consumers through interesting and relevant news broadcasts, instead of bombarding them with relentless sales offers and uninteresting pieces of information."

The site is packed full of useful and interesting information, from clearly explaining 'what exactly is Fair Trade' to a useful round-up of some of the best buys & unmissable Fair Trade products on the market.

Keep up the great work Leona, we will enjoy reading your next updates!