Win an eco-friendly picnic kit courtesy of Arniston Bay

Environmentally friendly: enjoy a guilt-free picnic

Summer is finally here! It’s time to pack a picnic basket and head outdoors to enjoy all that the British countryside has to offer.

Arniston Bay is offering five lucky readers the chance to win an eco-friendly picnic kit. Make the most of the sunshine with friends and family, knowing that you’re doing your bit for the environment.

Each eco-picnic pack contains a selection of unique products that will help you become a bit more environmentally friendly this summer including:

* Arniston Bay pouch: a convenient and more environmentally friendly solution to wine packaging. Easy to transport, the pouch is perfect for picnics, parties and more www.arniston-bay.com
* Eco-friendly picnic packs containing bio-degradable organic bamboo cutlery and plates, sustainable napkins, natural fairly traded palm leaf serving plates and dip bowls from Little Cherry; your one-stop shop for stylish eco-friendly party supplies www.littlecherry.co.uk or call 01753 857003
* Organic cotton napkins from Greenfibres, purveyors of eco goods and garments www.greenfibres.com
* Organic and natural sun lotion for sensitive and tender skin from Green People, organic and natural skin and hair care for the whole family www.greenpeople.co.uk
* 100% natural mosquito protection spray from Incognitome www.incognitome.co.uk
* A reusable, eco-friendly picnic bag from Let’s Bee Greener www.letsbeegreener.co.uk
* A set of recyclable wine glasses

Inspired by the sunny skies and pristine beaches of Arniston – the Arniston Bay pouch is perfect for those carefree, alfresco dining or easy drinking wine occasions. The Arniston Bay pouch has an 80% lower carbon footprint than the same wine in glass bottles and has been developed to lower the environmental impact of the entire product, rather than just its disposal at the end of its lifecycle. An Arniston Bay pouch will stay chilled and fresh in the fridge for up to one month once opened and when empty flattens down for quick and easy disposal; making it perfect for BBQs, summer picnics, parties and more.

The Arniston Bay pouch is available from branches of Tesco, Waitrose, Morrison’s and Asda priced £9.79 for 1.5 litres. 250ml pouches will be available in retailers soon priced £1.79.

To enter this competition simply CLICK HERE!

Terms and Conditions:
* The prize is a range of the following products: two pouches of Arniston Bay wine – 1 x Pinotage Rose, 1 x Chenin Chardonnay, an eco friendly picnic bag, palm leaf serving plates and dip bowls, organic bamboo cutlery and plates, recycled napkins, an organic cotton napkin, a natural sun lotion, a 100% natural mosquito cream, a set of recyclable wine glasses.
* The prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged in whole or part for cash.
* The prize will be dispatched within 28 days of the winner being informed.
* Competition only open to people over the age of 18.
* Competition closes 11 August, 2008.

With summer BBQ invitations coming in thick and fast, the eco-conscious consumer understandably breaks out in a light sweat at the thought of yet more wasteful, disposable plastic party tableware.

Leading the way and offering stylish yet affordable products for an earth friendly party, Little Cherry today announces the launch of a brand new range of stylish compostable tableware, which is not only friendly to the earth, but also friendly to the craftsmen too.

The beautiful plates and serving dishes are handmade in India from palm leaves which have naturally fallen to the ground. India has an abundance of palm leaves, which are shed every twenty-one days or so, these leaves are collected by local people; some are used for earth-worm farming, but most are burned.

The leaves which are destined to be beautiful compostable plates, serving dishes and bowls are collected and soaked in local spring water, before being shaped by stamping the leaves at high heat between two moulds. The process is totally natural and has no need for any nasty additives or chemicals – just spring water and sunshine!

Supporting rural communities, the manufacture of these palm leaf eco-friendly plates is carried by craftsmen in areas where they have been marginalised in the past and have had difficulty supporting themselves. Through collecting the naturally fallen palm leaves and creating these plates, the people are able to earn a living to support themselves and their families successfully.

As the process is very hands on, for the amount of leaves that fall to ground in India every year, up to 300,000 of its millions of under privileged people could be employed making palm leaf plates to replace all the paper and plastic ones around the world.

Durable and robust, they are suitable for hot, wet and oily foods and can even be used in the oven or microwave. Not only are they sustainable and made from a renewable resource, due to the natural variance in each leaf, the plates are wonderfully unique and stylish, and are sure to become a great discussion point at your eco-friendly party!

After use they can become lovely enriched compost for your garden – or they can be donated to local farms to be fed to the animals, who love them!

So spread the word and let’s try to make a real effort to replace plastic tableware this summer with this gorgeous earth-friendly tableware from Little Cherry.

I came accross this Blog the other day and thought the wasp cake was amazing!

http://goatinacoat.blogspot.com/2008/06/wasp-cake-final-product.html

Take a look!

Oooohhh! Yummy clown cupcakes!

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/clown-cupcakes

Perfect for a clown themed party!

I found the Martha Stewart website the other day and see she has some fantasic ideas for children’s party food - you can find party food ideas here: http://www.marthastewart.com/more-kids-parties

x

There was a great article on the BBC News website the other day about the politics of children’s birthday parties - follow this link to read it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7481037.stm

It explores the classroom politics of who to invite to the party!

Happy reading!