Green Round-up: The free food edition

Welcome to the May edition of the BritMums Green Roundup.

Yeah, May, but I’ll forgive you for thinking it’s April or even October right now. I don’t know about you but I didn’t exactly do any (May)pole dancing this May Day, no fear – I was sitting in front of the fire cuddling the bunny.

Not to worry; while you’re huddled up in jumpers sipping some Rosie Lee there’s plenty of fuzzy, warm, feel-good stuff to be had with this month’s Green Roundup.

Food for free?

Come on, admit it, you’ve always wondered if growing your own veg is cheaper in the long run than chucking it in your trolley as you go around the supermarket.

We’re TOLD it’s cheaper – food for free! But what about the investment of compost, seeds and pots?

Our intrepid green-fingered hero, Zoe, is doing the research for us as she ponders “Is it cost effective to grow your own organic vegetables?”

More tea vicar?

The other day my daughter, who is an avid reader of Enid Blyton, told me she wanted a proper cup and saucer – you know, the one your granny used to give you as a kid and you ridiculed it because it held a thimble full of the hot, sweet stuff?

I guess what goes round, comes round, and what was once ‘uncool’ now has a certain charm as we tend to sip from big mugs with little character.

Lulastic, collector of all things beautiful, (and with the natural gift for being able to make the ordinary look stunning) has come up with ten fantastic ways to use old teacups.

Say goodbye to hair shirts

When I first became interested in being an ethical consumer my choices for fashion were limited. It was all about tie die and kaftans. While I love both and my inner hippy loves to play, they aren’t always my garments of choice (think job interview, wedding or boardroom meeting).

Thankfully the times they are a-changing and retailers are realising that more and more women want to wear beautiful clothes that make them look and feel great and at the same time have a minimal impact on the environment and a positive effect on the lives of people involved in the supply chain.

If you’re looking for brands who manage to be sustainable AND stylish check out “Ethical fashion without hippies”.

A walk on the wild side

It’s probably a bit late in the day for this year, but do copy this idea down on your best hand writing ready for next March and April.

There is an abundance of foraged food to be enjoyed during spring and Liz from “Me and my shadow” has been busy picking wild garlic (ransoms).

You can eat the leaves, bulbs and flowers and this beautiful plant has numerous health properties It’s great for boosting the immune system, so useful for coughs and colds and is even reported to reduce high blood pressure.

Check out Liz’s “Wild garlic and goats cheese quiche” and take a walk on the wild side.

Think before you buy

One of the main reasons for living ‘green’ is that you don’t waste things unnecessarily and you’re a good custodian of the items you have.

I’m sure most of us are aware of our wasteful culture – we buy plastic rubbish in pound shops, we are lured by disposable fashion, we can’t resist food on offer but then we throw most of it away.

While separating our wants from our needs is a great idea, Lisa goes into more detail with her “Top five tips on deciding whether to buy something”. This post should help you be a savvy shopper; saving you money and allowing the environment to heave a sigh of relief.

Check out more green goodness with some of theBrit Mum’s greenest groups: Green parents, Allotment bloggers, The Simple Life or the gardening group. And if you missed last month’s nail bitingly exciting green instalment, go and check it out!

Have you written a freakily good eco friendly post recently that we should all read about? Add your post to the linky below so we can come and groan with delight at your brilliance.

About

Mrs Green lives with her husband and their highly spirited daughter in rural England. Most of the time she talks a load of rubbish. No really; she’s passionate about recycling and reducing waste, and reckons she saves around £2000 per year from her greener way of life – find out how she accumulated just one carrier bag of landfill waste during 2010 at http://myzerowaste.com. If you can’t get enough of the Good Life then check out http://littlegreenblog.com where she blogs about green tech, natural parenting and environmental issues. Give her a tweet her @littlegreenblog; go on, you know you want to...

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