Our order including the made to order and measure mattress only took one week to arrive.
The mattress is brilliant and really cosy with Cotton over pad – it has even exceeded our expectations!

The millet husk pillows are great too – we both needed to take out some millet husks but we think this was because our pillow cases are quite small.  They can be easily moulded to head and neck position whether sleeping on your back or side and I made my’n extra cosy with a thin cotton pillow as I like a soft pillow.

See the last Dojo Eco Shop post for more information.

Yesterday we went to the Dojo Eco shop in Manchester, to see and order an organic and natural double mattress and accessories.  Our friend’s have one of the mattresses already and they are great.

We travelled by public transport as usual – train, free city shuttle bus and then a short walk – it’s out of the centre in a more industrial area.

The shop was amazing; lots of wonderful eco products – even more than they have on the website it seemed.

We ordered the Firm/Springy double mattress (£495 – cheapest organic one we’ve found), a cotton mattress pad (£100 – I love my comfort) and two millet husk pillows (£27 each) – all of which we were able to try out first at the shop.

The mattresses are made of organic British wool, organic cotton, natural latex and coconut fibre.  They are made to order in Manchester (ours is even been made to measure at no extra cost) and are delivered in approximately two weeks which is great.

We left a deposit and the balance is due when they ring to organise delivery, which is very fair.

We also bought a selection of FSC wooden brushes with plant fibresbristles (£1.25 to £6.50) , an organic cotton duck soft a toy for our friend’s new baby, an Onya Back Bag (£10 – alternative to plastic backpack),  a ball of natural jute twine (£3.75) and a wooden juicer (£3.50) …..and we could have bought so much more.

There was lots of great eco toys, organic fabrics, organic and eco household furnishings and eco garden products – the list goes on and on………

We also visited the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, which is free except for special exhibitions and was enjoyed by all the family.

This morning I discovered the Eco Duvet from Eco Sleep available from the Ethical Superstore and here’s a link.

Recycled Fibre Duvets etc. from £19.95

Okay it could be covered with organic cotton, but the filling is 100% regenerated hollow polyester – so less land fill and it’s vegetarian too.

Here’s our favourite eco gadgets:

Here’s our favourite eco gadgets:

My’n is the Eneloop USB Battery Recharger.
It recharges AA and AAA batteries and the charger comes with two Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries. Also the Eneloop batteries come charged and their blurb says they still have 90 per cent of the charge after 6 months and 85% after 12 months.

We use if for recharging all rechargeable batteries – it probably says on the instructions for recharging Eneloop batteries only, but we have had no problems.
It’s really convenient, we just connect it to the USB extension on the computer desk and when they light stops flashing the batteries are charged!

Here’s a link to it on Amazon where it costs £13.99 for the Eneloop charger and two Eneloop AA batteries.

Paul’s is the Solio – a solar powered source for portable electronics. Charge it in a sunny place – even the inside of a window and also main rechargeable too. Then use it to recharge mobile phones, MP3 and MP4 player etc. etc. It comes with a selection of connectors and more can be purchased for particular devices. It looks great too and come in a small protective pouch.
Paul carries this everywhere for on the move recharging and is great for camping too.

Here’s a link to it on Ethical Superstore where it currently costs £49.95

I got an email today from the Ethical Company Organisation called THE MOST (& LEAST) ETHICAL CHRISTMAS SHOPPING.

It named brands to along with their Ethical Company Index Scores (the higher the better).

There were no real suprises in the ones to avoid and the lowest score went to Exxon Mobil at five.

Other low scores included Tesco scoring 38 (I so wish Sainsburys delivered to our postcode!) and Barclays scoring 18 (than goodness we have parted company with them).

In their list of Ethical Brand to choose there were many I recognise and use including Good Energy, Green People etc.

And some surprises to:-

New Look scored 88!
Here their info on them:
New Look is one of the UK’s leading fashion retailers. With the motto “accessible fashion”, they make cool, trendy clothing for everyone, no matter what your age, shape or size. In the last year, they have launched exclusive designer ranges with Giles Deacon and Lily Allen. The company is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, and believes in setting the highest possible standards for its suppliers – including seeking and promoting sustainable improvement in working conditions. New Look also has a rapidly expanding organic range, which includes jersey tops and dresses, as well as items in the 915 Generation, Maternity, Tall and Inspire ranges. See www.newlook.co.uk

And Sainsburys scored 77
Here’s their info on them:
Sainsbury’s successfully applied for Ethical Accreditation in May 2007. They score 77 on our Ethical Company Index which a very commendable high mark in a sector which sees rivals like Asda and Tesco score as low as 38. As well as stocking a number of own-brand organic products (450 at last count) they also choose to sell a good range of Fair Trade products. In April 2007, they announced Sainsbury’s announce that will sell only line-caught fresh cod and haddock to its 16 million customers. This move has been welcomed by Greenpeace. Sainsbury’s is increasingly becoming one of the leaders of the ethical supermarkets sector.

If you’d like the full article it may be on their website (address above) or email me and I’ll send it to you.

Happy festive Shopping!

Whilst doing some research for Clothes and Footware in our Lifestyle section I discovered this article from the Independent on ethical clothes shops

Primark is named as least ethical clothes shop

Not surprisingly the research was carried out by Ethical Consumer who’s sister site is Ethiscore

I ordered organic cotton present bags from bishopstontrading to use instead of lots of wrapping paper – Paul’s not into doing loads of wrapping and it save paper and all the waste too!

Grandma gave Paul and I money to buy our own presents, I ordered – a fair trade hoody for Paul from Natural Collection and a Goddess Statue for me from The Goddess and Greenman

8th Dec – we went to the Christkindelmarkt in Leeds with Mark, Michelle and Rebecca on Saturday – wonderful of as usual, great mulled wine (I can highly recommend the roasted apple), wonderful chocolate fruit kebabs………. but the rain was really really heavy!

And today we are waiting in for delivery of our pot grown Yule/Xmas tree from www.yorkshirechristmastrees.co.uk

I love festive shopping and all the festivities of Yule/Christmas time.
And this year I have tried to get as much done before December as I can (I started in October), so I can relax and enjoy all the festivities.

I’d like to share with you some of the great websites I’ve used:

www.montezumas.co.uk
Wonderful organic chocolates

www.naturalgrocery.co.uk
Just got my first order from this site – lots of great organic treats and everyday groceries

www.vinceremos.co.uk
Wonderful organic wines, bears, ciders, liqueurs, juices and cordials etc. and we can highly recommend the Schoko (chocolate) Crême Liqueur!

www.sharedearth.co.uk
Lots and lots of fair trade gifts

www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk
Earth based spirituality/pagan goods, books etc.

www.somethingforthewickend.co.uk
For organic and vegetable wax candles

www.toyday.co.uk
Traditional and wooden toys

www.paintingdreams.co.uk
Wonderful nature, goddess, wheel of the year and mythical cards and art

www.organicsmokehouse.com
Wide selection of smoked foods

www.astrocal.co.uk
I treated Paul and I to one of their wonderful astrological calendars.

Enjoy!