The Green Familia » hemp

Cosy Pyjamas

erica — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:34:36 +0000

There’s something about those long, cold winter evenings that seems to call out for getting snug and comfortable in your pyjamas and settling in for an early night. There aren’t that many eco pyjamas out there for women, but I’ve picked out a couple of pairs that I’ve managed to scout out.

I do like these women’s organic cotton pyjamas from Green Fibres. They have a lovely striped design and come in either aubergine or terracotta. They’re made from 100% organic cotton interlock jersey fabric so they should be cosy and warm too. An elasticated waist will make them comfortable and easy to wear. Sizes range from small to extra large and they’re priced at £49.

People Tree offer a range of eco pyjamas and loungewear that can be bought as separates so you can buy a set or mix and match pieces. This stripey top comes with the option of combining it with matching bottoms. It’s a long sleeved jersey tee with a gentle scoop neck in brown and light pink stripes. Made in 100% organic Fairtrade certified cotton in India and available in sizes 8 through to 16. It’s priced at £22 as are the matching trousers.

Keeping Warm – Ladies Accessories

erica — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:00:24 +0000

Keeping those bits warm that aren’t covered by a winter coat will keep you cosy and snug despite icy cold weather. I’ve been taking a look at the accessories available that are ethical, but will also look good and keep you warm.

I adore these Deep Winter Warmers from Bobbie’s Boutique. They’re available in a range of beautiful colours so you’ll be able to find one to suite your coat. They’re handknitted in England from Peruvian alpaca wool. With a olivewood button to hold them in place, they won’t move around and leave you with a cold neck. They’d make lovely Christmas presents too. They’re priced at £48.

If you’re after some bright and cheerful accessories to cheer you up and keep you warm at the same time this winter, then look no further than Braintree. Their Tres Berets are made from a mixture of hemp and organic cotton. There are 4 lovely colours available and they are priced at £19.

Autumn Hot Picks: Socks

erica — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:00:27 +0000

Last year’s socks are looking rather threadbare or in my son’s case too small, so I think some sock shopping may be on the cards. Luckily, there is quite a range out there and there’s a choice of materials too with organic cotton, hemp and bamboo socks now available.

1. Organic cotton stripy socks from Spirit of Nature for children. There are 2 designs and they would suit both girls and boys. As well as being reasonably priced at £3.95, they are come in a wide range of sizes.

2. Braintree Ladies Hemp Sport Socks are a bright addition to your feet this autumn. I love these red sport socks made from hemp, which is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. They cost £4 a pair and one size fits those with feet sizes 3-6.

3. If you prefer bamboo to hemp, try these Bamboo Active Socks from BAM. They’re a wonderful purple colour and they look supersoft to wear. Available in a pack of 3 costing £11.99.

4. For men, there’s a great range at The Green Apple, including these Bamboo Stripy Socks. They are priced at £4.25 and fit sizes 7-11.

5. Little girls will love this pack of 2 Fashion Socks from Green Baby. There is one of each design in a pack and they both feature a funky shade of cerise. The 2 pack costs £9 and covers sizes 6 months to 4 years.

Tree Free Hemp Paper

Brenda — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:00:53 +0000

Do you have a green business? Or would you like to be greener in your printing habits? Then you should check out the Tree free hemp paper, available from The Hemp Shop.

Designed by the legendary environmentalist John Hansen as a green alternative to the normal printer paper. It has a weight of 67gsm for an A4 sheet of paper. Price is 99p for 10 sheets.

Lovely Things Made From Hemp

erica — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:00:23 +0000

I’ve got rather more handbags than are strictly necessary, but I can’t resist looking for new ones.

This bag from Drapers Organics caught my eye. It’s made from environmentally friendly hemp and organic cotton with leather detailing. I need lots of compartments in a bag to keep my things organised, otherwise I just lose stuff. So this bag is ideal with its four pockets at the front, one in the flap and another within the main compartment. Most of the pockets are zipped so things can’t tip out easily. The shoulder strap is adjustable and there is also a belt attachment, if you prefer. It comes in 4 colours: blue, olive, orange and deep red. Available from Drapers Organics for £14.

These lovely hemp baby throws come in some lovely soft, but not washed out, colours and would make the perfect addition to any nursery. They would also be great to use out and about as a playmat, sunshade or blanket. Available in 3 colours: soft lilac, natural and powder blue from Drapers Organics for £8.99.

Those finishing touches from The Green Apple

erica — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:00:18 +0000

Erica writes …

I love to find those little finishing touches that really make an outfit…it might be a piece of jewellry, a belt or a pair of shoes. The Green Apple do a lovely range of eco-friendly accessories and I’ve picked out a few of my favourite items.

This beautiful bow motif bag, designed by Sarah Donegan, is hand made from environmentally friendly linen and is lined with vintage fabrics. It would look fantastic all year round, but it would be ideal to match up with a spring wedding outfit. There’s a magnetic snap closure to help keep your bits and pieces secure. Available in 3 colours: berry, black and nude from The Green Apple for £55.

Keep yourself warm through the cold snap with this lovely snug scarf. It’s made from a hemp and organic cotton mix. One great feature is the pockets at the front designed to keep your hands warm. It comes in 3 colours: chocolate, olive and raspberry. Available from The Green Apple for £20.

This Vintage Word Game Ring is really quirky and fun. It’s made from letter tiles from game sets (I’m sure you can work out which game they come from) that are unusable for their original purpose. Lots of letters are available so you can probably pick out one for your initial. You can buy one from The Green Apple for £3.95.

TGF Rated Review: Baby Beehinds hemp nappy

Rachel — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:00:35 +0000

Rachel writes…

TGF would like to welcome Rachel to the family. Rachel is a contributor over on Bambino Goodies and has turned reviewer for TGF today.

Made from super-absorbent hemp (rather than the usual cotton), the Baby Beehinds hemp nappy is a birth to potty nappy whose unique selling point is a natty system of poppers to adjust the size and absorbency. Hemp is also a good pick for the eco-friendly parent, since it needs less water and chemicals to grow.

As for me, I’m a relatively recent cloth nappy convert, using re-usables regularly on my five month old, but still sticking to disposables at night, or when we’re staying away from home.

Hold your horses
Once you have your nappy (or nappies) then you can’t just jump straight in and try them out. Or, rather, you could, but you’re instructed to wash it three times before use to ensure it’s absorbent enough. The instructions further add that the nappy only reaches its full absorbency after an eye-watering ten washes! Since it’s slow-drying and I wanted to get this review written sometime before 2009, I went with the three washes before cracking on and getting it in use.

Appearance
It’s a cute nappy. Obviously, hand on heart, the committed greenie shouldn’t really judge re-usable nappies based on cuteness alone (… honestly, perhaps they shouldn’t be judged on cuteness at all). But I reckon I spend so much of my time looking at nappies, that looking at something appealing has got to be a bonus. Made from cream coloured hemp that once washed looks and feels rather like felt, it has a little gathering around the legs, a little bee on the front, and a small label with a smiling bee head on the back. It was all looking good…sadly, things didn’t look so good once I tried to use it.

Snap out of it
I’m no stranger to layering up paper liners, fleece liners, wraps, dealing with Velcro / Aplix and the like. But even I struggled somewhat with the instructions for this one. And you do need to have some kind of guidance – the whole nappy appears at first glance to be covered in poppers!

Perhaps I exaggerate somewhat… but what with the adjustable bits, the snap in ‘tongue’, and the snap in booster, there are many more poppers and snappy bits than I’m used to. What I really wanted were some nice clear, big pictures showing me how to snap it together. Try as I might I couldn’t find such a thing online, and instead found myself grappling with some rather opaque written instructions. I remain convinced that the design, and the strategic placement of all the poppers, is probably all incredibly clever. The idea is that you can customise the absorbency, folding the insert differently for a boy or a girl, and hey presto – you have one nappy which you can use right from newborn to a heavy-wetting toddler. It all sounds genius. But, sadly addled-Mummy-brained thing that I am at the moment, without clear pictures that I can gawp at, I ended up having to make an educated guess, and am only reasonably confident that I was actually using it correctly in the end.

In use
Once the insert was in, and I’d poppered it (I hoped) the right way around my five month old, I couldn’t get my normal wrap around it. (For those not already using cloth nappies, this kind require a wrap over the top of them.) It’s a big old nappy, and my wraps left bits sticking out at the top – a big no no as this would mean wet clothes / wet bed / wet everything. Luckily, I had a Motherease wrap kicking about, and a bit of squeezing meant I could just try it out.

Sadly I wasn’t that impressed. The nappy was so huge that I’m having difficulty imagining it being used on a newborn. Then when I picked up the little one it felt bizarrely heavy and solid on her. I’m as big a fan of the big-bottomed cloth-nappied baby as the next woman, but this extra solidity in the nappy region was a bit off-putting.

Try as I might, I couldn’t secure it so that it didn’t gape slightly at the legs. And then at the first poo, it leaked straight onto the wrap, which was our first wrap leakage ever, and a bit disappointing.

However
I’ll be honest, it’s not the nappy for me. But I feel a bit mean writing such a damning review, because it’s my personal opinion that the whole point of cloth nappies is that there is such a huge range. Size, fitting, absorbancy, appearance, material, shape… what’s right for one mother, and what fits one baby, will not be completely right for someone else who wants something a bit different.

It’s only fair to say that people rave about these online, particularly praising the ingeniousness of the snap-in insert (I knew I wasn’t getting it right), the fact that it’s a birth to potty nappy, therefore saving you some cash as well as saving the planet, the fact that hemp is good for sensitive skin, and the apparently totally incredible absorbency compared to other brands. I don’t have a heavy wetter, and perhaps if I did, my view would be rather different.

Overall
I’ll be sticking to my normal brand, but – who knows? – you might just fall in love.

Where to buy
You can get hold of your own Baby Beehinds hemp nappy from Ethical Superstore for £11.95 Delivery costs vary between nothing at all on orders over £40, to £5.95 for express delivery, which is guaranteed the next day.

Verdict
2 out of 5

Hemp Shower Curtain

Brenda — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:00:15 +0000

Brenda writes..

If you and the family are looking for stylish, ethical alternative to your dodgy PVC shower curtain, treat yourselves to this gorgeously stylish 100% Hemp shower curtain. It is the perfect addition to your eco friendly house, as it is toxic free, attractive and bio-degradable.

It can be washed and left to dry. It includes Hemp rope rings from which to hang it from.

Available from Drapers Organic for £46.99.