With London Fashion Week kicking off today, the beautiful, the big, the brash and the bold will be amassing in the capital, ready to strut their stuff.

                                                      Photos via Flickr: Abby Cattermole and Julianne.hide

The fashion world may traditionally be considered the realm of extreme glitz and glamour, but this doesn’t exclude ethical fashion brands, which are becoming progressively more mainstream every year.

Esthethica is the name at the centre of London’s ethical fashion industry, showcasing Fairtrade, sustainable and eco-friendly fashion at the Designer’s Exhibition all week. This is great news for ethical style worldwide, as London has always been recognised as a trendsetter in all things à la mode. Those involved in this movement range from well known names such Oxfam and People Tree to a wide ranging list of less known designers, but whether these are recognised or not, one thing is significant – ethical clothing moving to the forefront of fashion, which really is good news.

Check back on How Ethical’s post on Orla Kielly’s contribution to ethical fashion as well as Worn Again recycled designer bags to see how you can get your own piece of ethical designer chic.

Newcastle Green Gathering is back, bigger, better and, erm, greener than ever! It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and living ethically by providing a creative and educational environmental at an arts and music based event.

There’s a Kids Area and Healing Zone as well as a plethora of local and national bands performing - ensuring there’s something for everone to be entertained by. As well as this there will be a whole host of stalls and pitches around the site in Exhibition Park inspiring the ethical consumer and green living enthusiast in all of us.

 As the official site says;

‘The festival will be taking place in Exhibition Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne on the 30th & 31st August. Featuring 5 stages of local and national music, arts, community groups, alternative therapies, stalls, food, drink (please note – no alcohol to be brought onto the site - drinks available through event bars) and much more. All dedicated to making sure that everyone in the city and beyond can make small but practical steps to change the environment we live in for the better; and have a great time while learning a bit as well.’

For more information check out the Green Gathering website

Photo: BBC

Something that came to my attention about a month ago (and which I have successfully managed to block out since) has resurfaced thanks to our friends over at TreeHugger. The aptly named Shit Box is supposed to be the answer to all of your festival toilet troubles.

The creator, who also founded the footwear retailer Office, is Richard Wharton who has since set up the Brown Corporation to manufacturer his little brown brain child. It is a portable, flatpack, lightweight cardboard toilet designed for outdoor use when you need it most. It’s designed to be reused with the use of degradable poop bags – 10 of which come with the Shit Box.

So next time your kids are desperate for the loo in the car, or you’re at a festival and are dreading the long drop – just think – you could be sitting comfortably on a cardboard box, in the comfort of your own tent, emptying your bowels in style!

Seriously though, it’s quite impressive and its eco-friendly credentials aren’t bad either. Made with 70% recycled cardboard, with all of the components degradable, this novel idea might just prove to be popular, not least with eco-conscious festival goers.

We already have self contained solar showers, biodegradable tent pegs, and floatable dinner sets! 

So why not add a Shit Box into the mix?

Have a look at other innovative uses for the humble cardboard box over at Ethical Superstore.

I wonder what’s next . . .
 

(Image via LittleJackShit)

 Image via www.olympic.org

It would be hard not to have noticed that the greatest show on earth commences this week. That’s right – it’s the Olympic Games 2008.

China was awarded the games back in July 2001, but during the intervening seven years many questions were asked on the suitability of the choice, and whether Beijing would get themselves organised in time. However, with only hours to go til showdown, they seem to have pulled the proverbial cat out of the bag (and dog off the menu!). The city has been transformed, with new architecture and various bilingual facilities.

You can check out the official Beijing 2008 website for the full run-down of events, however if your Chinese is about as hot as mine, you’ll probably find the more general Olympic Games site of more use!

More on the Olympics after the jump…

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Bamboo can be made into all manner of things these days. You can buy bamboo jewellery and bags, and clothing made from bamboo is becoming less of a phenomenon and more of an accepted production technique with ethical clothing manufacturers. Check back to our article from last June on bamboo bikes for a truly innovative use of the material.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that bamboo bridges were the kind of construction you’d be more likely to come across in deepest Asia, however, in a bid to avoid conventionality, an eighth bridge has been built across the River Tyne in Newcastle over the last fortnight. Measuring 100 meters in length and with two 25 meter towers at either end, it is a formidable structure. Although it’s only a temporary installation, this latest enormous work of public sculpture in the North East has raised almost as many eyebrows as the Angel of the North did.

Find out more about the bridge after the jump…

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