Green

Calling on Londoners who turn the capital green

Today The Conservation Foundation is launching its Green Corners Awards inviting all Londoners to join the campaign to make London one of the world's greenest capital cities. The search is now on to find the beautiful, unusual, unexpected, inspirational, gorgeous, delicious and witty green corners.

Chai Stop's award winning authentic frozen curries hand-made in Minster, Kent are now available nationwide, thanks to the innovative use of sheep's wool as an eco friendly insulating material. A recent trial order successfully completed the 250-mile overnight trip to Bath. The dishes arrived still completely frozen and the customer was so delighted that she has set up a weekly "curry club" for her friends.

Less hippy and more Lippy! You care about saving the planet - but you also want to look fabulous.

The solution?

No, not a homemade yoghurt face mask. We're talking luxurious beauty lotions and potions from Nature's Boutique. Our brands are earth-kind and cruelty-free - and (crucially) also give you glowing, healthy-looking skin.

Leading indoor plant Company Leaf-it-At-Home confirms that plants clean indoor pollution, reduce stress and stimulate creativity.

A report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)[1] estimates that the indoor environment may be two to five times and in some cases as high as 100 times more polluted than the outdoor air. The likes of computers, wi-fi and electrical goods used in workplaces across the country give off by-products from their electrical energy and continued exposure can lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, sore eyes and sore throats.

Two and a half years ago I set up the charity Yes to Life (www.yestolife.org.uk) to directly assist cancer patients in obtaining information, consultations and treatment with non-toxic alternatives. At that time I would have considered myself pretty 'green' in relationship to the chemicals I exposed myself to. I had been a vegetarian for about 35 years and had to a large extent sought to avoid the move towards preprepared, pre-packaged foods.

Are your healthy habits ruining the environment? We generally assume that what's good for us must be good for the environment, but often this isn't the case. As we strive to keep ourselves healthy we could actually be damaging the planet. Here's how you can take care of yourself and the environment too.

There's something extremely satisfying about painting a wall, and then another one, and then the whole room. But as you beaver away, lovingly transforming your immediate environment, do you spare a thought for the impact you may be having on the wider environment? And do you wonder, too, if that gloopy, malodorous mixture you are using might damage your health, or that of your family?