In central London on the evening of Tuesday 27th October, 8 green leaders will present their view on the future of their industry. To those in the know, it’s quite a star-studded occasion. Green Tomato Cars will give their view on the future of sustainable transport, Ed Gillespie from Futerra will speak about ethical communication and consumer attitudes, and Terra Plana will comment on how its ethical footwear will evolve. Sam Kimmins, Sustainability Adviser at Forum for the Future, will give his take on the future of sustainable construction. Other presentations will be from Germination (a cutting-edge event company furthering social progress), innovative web community Project Dirt, The Hub (a shared workspace concept for social entrepreneurs) and sustainable lifestyle magazine Sublime.

Each of the 8 presentations will last no more than 8 minutes, and to keep things highly visual, no more than 5 words per slide are allowed. It means that 80% of the ideas in a normal presentation can be communicated in 20% of the time. The evening will be held at St Giles Cripplegate Church in Barbican, EC2. Further adding to the creative spirit, guests are invited to help reduce waste and bring their own reusable vessels for wine.

Inspiration and insight won’t just come from the presenting businesses either. Up to 250 keen, green thinkers and doers are expected to attend, so there’ll be food for thought in the conversations and networking, too.

Want to know more and book your ticket? Here are the details you need to know:

When: Tuesday 27th October
Start time: 6.30pm for a 7pm start (drinks will be available – you’re encouraged to bring your own cup for extra green points!)
Where: St Giles Cripplegate Church, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8DA (for map click here)

Tickets are limited, costing £9.50 in advance or £15 on the door.

You can buy your ticket here: http://futureofgreen.eventbrite.com

To find out more, click on http://www.insider-worldwide.com/trend-evening-green-futures/

There’s something particularly special about the Cape Town Green Map launch that I wanted to share with you. It’s probably the lowest carbon launch of all the Green Maps, and I’m quoting from the launch invitation to illustrate why/how:

The venue is “your laptop, PC or iPhone so there are no travel costs or [additional] carbon footprint. The dres code is “optional – but locally designed garb from hemp/bamboo/organic cotton is encouraged”. There are no speakers – “an untold saving on hot air and CO2 emissions”.

In addition there are “no printed invitations (save on ink/chemicals, paper/trees), no printed media packs (save on ink/chemicals, paper/trees and packaging), no travel to the venue (save on CO2 emissions, time and roadwork frustration), no food or beverages (save on packaging, waste, energy and food miles) and no speakers, official openings, ‘live’ performers (save on CO2 emissions, uncomfortable silences and the effort to look impressed)”.

Isn’t that cool? And in this very wet weather I’m extra-specially glad not to be going anywhere!

Here’s a bit more about Cape Town Green Map for Capetonians who are interested in giving it a test-drive:

Cape Town Green Map is updated by interested green Capetonians, making it a direct, democratic communication of local knowledge and action. You can find community gardens, craft centres, recycling drop-offs, areas of natural beauty, shops and markets that sell green and organic products, restaurants and bars who serve organic food and drinks and more. If you know about somewhere green that’s not on the map, you can suggest it to the mapmakers, or become a mapmaker yourself.

More great green news for Cape Town is that in October A&C Maps, who print “Not the official guide to Cape Town”, the “Pink Map” and the “Food Map” will be bringing out a printed version of the Cape Town Green Map. Look out for it!

A big thanks to Open Green Map, the City of Cape Town, urban sprout and A&C Maps for this great tool.

*Read Treehugger’s great article about why maps are such a good tool for helping us go green.

Pure Design is a UK-based social enterprise that seeks out the latest talents and designer eco products and makes them available via an online boutique. They represent established as well as emerging eco designers and artists, and offers an exclusive collection of eco-friendly pieces selected for their craftsmanship, style and eco credentials.

The Pure Design website has been given a stylish makeover, making the site a pleasure to browse and incorporating more product images to make shopping easier. They have also added some new designers to the fold including Katie Chaplin’s hand-made one-of-a-kind Kimono Brooches, EaKo’s cool reclaimed fire-hose accessories and Studiomold’s jaw-dropping statement piece the Spaghetti Princess chandelier.

To celebrate the launch of the new site, Pure Design is offering 20% off all products for the month of May. Delivery is free if you spend over £150.

My pick of the bags are these dragonfly print jute shoulder bags with cotton lining (the handles are lined too to be comfortable on bare shoulders) with a cell phone pocket.

“Each Freeset Bag tells a story of one woman’s journey to freedom. She used to stand with 6,000 other prostitutes in a small but well known area of North Calcutta. She didn’t choose her profession; it chose her. Poverty does that. It robs people of their dignity and children of their innocence.

She still lives in the same area, but instead of selling her body she makes Freeset Bags. Now she has choices, the choice to work decent hours for decent pay, to re-establish her dignity in her community and to learn to read and write. Now her daughter won’t have to stand in the street selling her body like her mother used to. Freedom has been passed on to the next generation.” – from the Freeset website.

Also check out these wood-free Kantha journals. They are handbound, with a kantha- stitch multilayered cover, a screen-printed pencil and white wool paper. Each journal is unique. They are made by the daughters of sex workers. Freeset’s goal is to bring wholeness and restoration to their lives. Many tragic stories are told by the girls. By giving these girls a dignified job, Freeset have given them a step up, to gain respect by society. The cycle of shame is broken!

Freeset products are available in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden.

Patagonia donate time, services and at least 1% of their sales to environmental groups worldwide, while using recycled polyester in many of its clothes and only organic, rather than pesticide-intensive, cotton.

Their Spring ‘09 collection is now available online in the UK from the Ethical Superstore (remember that buying online is better for the environment when you’re just buying a few non-food items).

Here’s what Ethical Superstore has to say about the new range of Patagonia gear:

“we think it’s safe to say that Patagonia not only make good looking, pro-performing gear, but are a great example of how man and nature can work side-by-side, co-existing and co-depending on the other for a mutually beneficial existance.”

Take a look.

For men:

For ladies:

See more at the Ethical Superstore.

Oranges are not the only fruit, but these fantastic fruiting trees make rather nice Mother’s Day gifts. Put some tang into your mum’s life, they look fabulous in a hallway, conservatory or even out on the patio during Summer. Supplied approx 50cm high, it’ll fruit up to four times year. Orange trees look and smell terrific and will bring a taste of the tropics into the house all year round. £49.99

This Pocket Organic Herb Garden will make it easy for your mum to grow her own delicious organic herbs indoors. £4.99

The Sun Jar Solar Light stores sunlight in a jar to brighten up your mum’s evenings. £19.99

If your mum loves to cook, then this Bamboo Heart Shaped Spoon will be a great gift. For food made with love. £3.99

Amelia’s Magazine Apron Dress Kit will make is easy for your mum to make her own 100% organic and fairtrade babycord dungaree-style dress, from size 10 to 16. £24.99

For 10% off the prices you see at nigelsecostore.com, use the code ECOMUM at checkout. Valid till 20 March 2009.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, By Nature has launched a new flower delivery service with a selection of freshly cut UK grown seasonal blooms. From the end of March 2009 an organic bouquet will be added. Their English flower selection is bound to please anyone questioning where their flowers are coming from and how they are grown.

We have become accustomed to finding flowers available year-round, losing perspective of traditional seasonal flowers. Flowers forced to grow out of season generate a huge carbon footprint as they need to be heated.

The impact of the cut-flower industry also has a human cost. Like many other industries, it relies on cheap labour and workers work in appalling conditions with crops laced with dangerous pesticides.

Tread lightly and reconnect with the seasons by buying UK grown bouquets. Local and seasonal, their carbon footprint is kept to a minimum. Each bouquet is wrapped using biodegradable cellophane, recycled paper and organic jute ribbon ties.

The “card” is soft and lightweight, so it’s easy to apply in your design (with keys or a pocket-knife) and easy to post.

This sort of card avoids the processing involved in making paper greetings cards. That’s good for the environment.

£4.99 from Nigel’s EcoStore.

Of course, going mad at the sales is not a good idea, because it’s not very green to buy what we don’t really need. But if you’re going to be buying green and would like to take advantage of the sales, I wanted to point you in the direction of a few online retailers who are eco-friendly and sell just about all the green stuff you could want.

People Tree are offering up to 50% off.

Decorous Recycled Glass Tea Light Holder.

These tea light holders are really cute and would make a lovely stocking filler. They can be used all year round, either in winter for lighting up your fireplace and windowsills with a cosy glow, or in summer, hanging from trees in the garden to create a beautiful light and ambience. They are made in Spain from 100% post-consumer recycled glass and brought to the UK by sea-freight to minimise carbon emissions in transport.

Available in blue, pink and clear glass with one tea light included. £5.00 each from Biome Lifestyle.

Stingray Solar Powered Pocket Torch

This dinky little torch (6,6 x 3,8 x 1,4 cm) will give its owner the the freedom of mobile light wherever they go. The powerful solar cells of the Stingray charge the internal eco-friendly rechargeable battery quickly and efficiently. And the Stingray gives a powerful light with 2 LED’s using the latest lighting technology.

Because of its compact size the Stingray can fit into any pocket or be attached to a key ring ready for use whenever or wherever you need a powerful light. It also fits easily into Xmas stockings.

£3.87 from Ecotopia.

Burt’s Bees Essential body kit

This essential care kit is not just for the ladies, it’s perfect for every body.

It is a collection of Burt’s Bees popular all-natural creams, lotions and salves formulated for healthy skin and containing naturally softening buttermilk, emollient beeswax, vitamin-enriched oils and healing botanicals that nourish skin and restore essential moisture.

The featured ingredient in Burt’s Bees products is beeswax, a natural wax made by bees in the cell walls of honeycombs and which is used as a natural emulsifier in cosmetics. Burt’s Bees never use any ingredient that isn’t proven safe and effective such as petroleum-synthesized fillers like mineral oil and propylene glycol and they don’t use artificial preservatives such as methyl paraben or diazolidinyl urea.

The kit contains: Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion (1 fl. oz.), Soothingly Sensitive Aloe & Buttermilk Body Lotion (1 fl. oz.), Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme (.25 oz.), Beeswax & Banana Hand Creme (.25 oz.), Hand Salve (.30 oz.), Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme (.30 oz.), Honey Lip Balm (.15 oz.) and Peppermint Foot Lotion (.47 fl. oz.) .

£13.99 from Big Green Smile.

Guys Bar natural & organic soap

Slip a cake of this soap into your beefcake’s stocking. It is a warming soap with a masculine edge! Made with 100% natural ingredients including tea tree, comfrey and cedarwood. It’s calming, spicy and earthy.

It is made by Simply Soaps in the wild woods in Norfolk and is 100% vegan.

£2.99 from Nigel’s EcoStore.

Drumstick Pencils

These are the perfect stockingfiller for type of person that picks up a pair of office pencils and does an impromptu drum solo, like they’re playing to a crowd of thousands- not a water cooler and the photocopier. Pander to their fantasy with these perfectly formed drumstick pencils! Pretty self explanatory, you can keep writing and drum away to your hearts content whenever the moment takes you. Excellent for musical kids or adults who haven’t grown out of the rock star dream.

You may wonder what these are doing on the list, so I’ll tell you. They’re made of FSC certified wood.

Supplied as a pair. £4.99 from Nigel’s EcoStore.