Natural Nursery Blog

Reusable bags make great Christmas presents - something that people REALLY want and they last forever.

We have added to our range of bags, and now you can find a full range of bags for shopping, trips to the farmers’ market, swimming, ballet lessons, carrying books around, as nappy change bags and just generally transporting your stuff.

Shop for reusable bags here.

I do love a good nosey around other people’s blogs and I just love this one - http://incywincytogs.blogspot.com/

Incywincy is the highly talented fabric artist/textile designer who made our beautiful new banner (you can see some pictures of it on the blog) and she makes the most amazing fabric covered buttons and peg doll kits - we have had hours of fun with the dolls we made.

The blog showcases some beautiful crafts and always sends me off to the fabric cupboard.

If you live in Glasgow or the area, I highly recommend visiting The Lighthouse. There is something interesting for everyone in the family. After visiting the Haptic Exhibition and taking part in the children workshop linked with it, we stopped by the Sustainable Den, a cute little project demonstrating a range of sustainable building materials from energy saving insulation and renewable energy systems to ‘green’ products, and new ways of living.

My Sust House is an on-line interactive game, there’s one game for the environment and one game for buildings. The little clips are interesting, taking you through the house and ways to save energy, the impact of where and how we live, choosing material for building your own house…

It’s unfortunate that the activities are not voiced over as children much younger than reading age would enjoy them, especially the environment one. The building one is more suitable for older children.

Despite dilligently sorting tins, bottles, paper and cardboard and composting any food that is leftover from leftovers, my little family still manages to produce lots of rubbish for my big black bin.

My challenge to myself - and anyone else who cares to take it up, is to find something else to do with things I normally throw away and this week I have chosen - milk and juice cartons.

Normally, I squash them down so they take up less space in the bin but it would be great to find something else to do with them rather than bin them.

My 5 year old tried one in the bath and had a lot of fun sitting on it and making fart bubbles, classy boy! I would like to find something rather more refined to do with them so here are some ideas:

If you cut the top off high they can be used for:

1. soaking paintbrushes in turps
2. storing carrots and courgetes in the fridge (honestly, it works, try it!)
3. storing veg peelings for making stock

If you cut the top off half way up they are good for:

1. planting things in
2. as a pencil and pen holder
3. putting ends of soap in

Cut lengthwise about 2.5cm high,

1. fill with cotton wool to make a cress garden
2. use as a boat

Cut the top off and open out the flaps at the bottom and then you can use it as:

1. a sandwich holder - pop it in and fold over the edges - a rubber band would help keep it together!
2. to store cheese in the fridge - put the cheese in, fold over and store on the folded side to keep shut

Masking tape sticks to them well and you can paint over or draw on it if you want to decorate your creation.

And when you tire of it,  Tetra Pak, who have been making cartons since the 50’s say that 82% of the UK have somewhere to recycle near them and the number is getting bigger all the time. They send them off to Sweden which is the nearest place they can be recycled. You can check your area at the Tetra Pak Recycling website.

The Reusable Bag Company have beautiful recycled Doy Bags made from by a cooperative that employes over 200 women in the Philippines. Backpacks, handbags and shopping bags make a fashion and recycling statement at the same time.

If you have other ideas for things to do with juice cartons please let me know!

We are getting much busier in the shop now and the mailorder has really taken off earlier this year.  I think so many people experienced problems with internet and mailorder purchases last year that they have decided to order early this year.

All the better for us as it does mean that our workload is more evenly spread, we make less mistakes and (hopefully) end up with happier customers.

Anyway, we have had lots of new stock in as ever, with the fantastic mouse wheelybugs just arrived, lots of ethically traded stocking fillers, such as a set of 6 mini memo clips for 99p, wooden wrist compasses £1.19 each and hair bobbles 99p for 2.

Lots more in stock - see our Christmas Shop for details.

2nd & 3rd of September, Bristol Harbourside.  £3.50 entry for adults, free for children.

With 150,000 visitors and over 200 exhibitors the 2005 Organic Food Festival became the fastest growing food event in the UK and one of the biggest celebrations of organic food held anywhere. The festival also includes the Demo Kitchen, Family Marquee, Health, Beauty & Textiles and a programme of Talks & Tastings. 2005 also saw the launch of the Fringe - a festival in it’s own right of food themed arts with contributions from the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, Desperate Men and many more.

This year promises to be even bigger and better, with improved layout and stewarding to help minimise crowd congestion, more stalls and, of course, lots of freebies.

We are delighted to be a sponsor-in-kind for the event, so do look out for us if you make it down.

The Festival is the highlight of the Soil Association’s Organic Fortnight, so do look out for events near you too.

For more information and directions, see the Soil Association website.

The yummy Tots Bots nappies just keep getting better and better.  Along with a few other changes, Tots will be introducing popper versions of the Bamboozle nappy plus coloured versions.

These are to be launched soon, so we will let you know as soon as we have any more news for you.  But be ready to be quick of the mark - if it is anything like the introduction of the original Bamboozle, stocks are likely to fly.

Saving just 20% of your energy consumption will not only save you money but have a positive impact on climate change.

These easy to action ideas to cut your energy use are taken from the Energy Trust website:

1. Turning your thermostat down by 1ºC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and save you around £40 per year.
2. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn’t need to be set higher than 60ºC/140ºF.
3. Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
4. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
5. Don’t leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
6. If you’re not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme.
7. Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you’re using an electric kettle).
8. A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they’re fully turned off! 
9. Replace your light bulbs with energy saving recommended ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb - and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs.
10. Do a home energy check. Just answer some simple questions about your home and we’ll give you a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £300 a year on your house hold energy bills.