Here comes the Liquid-less cleaning revolution... we love this, it makes so much sense!

Nearly all household cleaning products, including laundry liquid, are made up of over 90% water... This water is heavy and uses a lot of fuel to transport and distribute around the globe, not to mention it also takes up a lot of space. This is a major and unnecessary environmental problem both for transport pollution and carbon emissions.

Then there is the issue is the harsh chemicals that are used in the majority of cleaning products. Research has shown that breathing in the fumes can contribute towards many major health problems, and of course all the toxins eventually end up going down the drain and out into the environment.

Problem number three is the huge amount of plastic waste that is generated by the industry. You may say; 'but I recycle them so all is well...' No it isn't really, over 90% of all 'recycled' plastic just ends up in landfill or the great oceans of our planet. Nevertheless, please continue to recycle, that 10% is important!

So these are the problems, but the good news is that some new companies are thinking outside the box and coming up with some pretty ingenious solutions!

First we have Spruce, who make reusable aluminium bottles which you fill with water from your own tap and add a little sachet of environmentally friendly cleaner. Mix it up and give it a good shake before you get to spraying your surfaces down, works a treat. For every starter kit purchased, ocean bound plastic waste, equal to twenty-five plastic bottles, is collected by Spruce and removed from our oceans. Over 300 million single-use plastic bottles can be prevented from polluting the planet – if every UK household switched to refillable cleaning. For more details see: https://www.wearespruce.co/pages/how-it-works.

Another of these revolutionary companies is Tru Earth, which provides a clean, green and simple solution to our everyday laundry chores. Tru Earth Laundry Strips are eco friendly and hypoallergenic, making them as gentle on the skin as they are on the environment. The tiny strips contain non toxic, yet super concentrated cleaning detergent that you just pop into your washing machine along with your laundry. The strips dissolve in the water leaving no trace. They come in small slim cardboard packets, taking up hardly any room in the cupboard and in the vehicles that transport them. This means they reduce their carbon footprint by 94% compared with other leading-brand laundry detergents. Yes, 94%! See more at https://www.truearth.uk/

We CAN all make a difference. These are just two ways of many. More to come in future blogs.

We sell both these products in the shop: 

Spruce aluminium bottles £11.99, cleaning sachets £9.99 for pack of 12, so that’s 12 litres worth

Tru Earth Laundry strips £12.99, enough strips for 32 loads of washing

We also sell Miniml laundry liquid refill for £3.30/litre

We CAN all make a difference. These are just two ways of many. More to come in future blogs.

Which is why I was tempted to try some rather nice 'non food' items of stock for a change. Shared Earth is a company that is dedicated to fair trade and with a mission to 'To improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged people in developing countries, benefiting local community projects and keeping alive traditional skills that would otherwise be lost.' (read more about them here: https://www.sharedearth.co.uk/). And they do a lot of rainbow stuff, and I have been obsessed with rainbows for years and finally everybody else seems to be joining me in my little multi-coloured arching happy space!

So I’ve taken the plunge and now you can buy all sorts of stuff, from rainbow teapots to jute shopping bags to rag rugs, plus loads of other new stock like incense sticks, essential oil defusers, glass suncatchers, hand carved wooden trivets and coasters, colourful mosaic mirrors, and loads more (see elsewhere on this website) – all made from sustainable or recycled materials and all ideal for a useful and cheering present either to yourself or for some other lucky person.

We all need to keep cheerful!

Our aim in the shop is to enable our customers to reduce their plastic waste by buying refills, eat a healthy vegan diet with as many organic choices as possible, to support other local businesses, and to behave responsibility and respectfully to the earth, its animals, its people and the environment. We're also keen to do our bit towards tackling climate change, which will probably be the biggest challenge we have ever had to deal with in our history. Phew!

But here on the blog we aim to be interesting – hopefully – and to have some fun!