Organic September

It’s that time again: time to get our your muddy carrots and wave them around to celebrate The Soil Association’s Organic September. Why? Well, shopping organic means less chemicals in your system, a happier environment, better animal welfare, protected wildlife and no GMs. And you can’t say fairer than that. Here are EggMag’s picks for enjoying organic in all aspects of your life.

PLANET ORGANIC
Having just popped in to visit their new store in Devonshire Square, London, Planet Organic have indelibly inked themselves in as our favourite whole foods retailer. This new shoppy, in particular, tickles our fancy with its amazingly clean water bar courtesy of Pure H2O and it’s large selection of organic beers and wines. Try the Sam Smiths Organic Lager (£2.19 per bottle). They also have a large beauty section, selling such delights as John Masters hair care. (The Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo, £27 for 177ml is a dream for post-holiday hair). And, of course, you can peruse their large selection of food or have a meal from their astonishingly good lunch bar (hot and cold).

THE HARVEST COCOA CLUB POP-UP DINING CLUB
Niko B Organic Chocolates are hosting this desserts only pop-up dining experience. Teaming up with Stoke Newington’s Growing Communities Farmer’s Market, they will offer a four course, totally organic, locally-grown menu including such lip-lickers as Cocoa Cake and Chocolate and Raspberry Mint Truffle Cocktails. Wow. Click here for more.

LOVE LULA
This organic apothecary stocks all sorts of wonderful natural beauty, skin care and health products. You won’t go far wrong filling your bathroom cabinet up here. We love Evolve’s Mega Omega Moisture Cream (200ml for £12.99) and Dr Hauschka’s Volume Mascara (£19.95 for 10ml)

THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE
This is the UK’s only certified organic gastropub. Everything you buy here is organic and it’s a treat. Set in the residential backstreets of Islington (London) enjoy the large airy space, an incredible selection of natural drinks and a mouth-watering seasonal menu to boot. Find it here.

FASHION CONSCIENCE
Probably the biggest and best retailer specialising in ethical fashion, this online shop has plenty of pieces to choose from that are made with organic fabrics. From shirts to trousers via shoes and back, you name it, they stock it. We are loving this Mudd & Water organic cotton breton-style tee, £44.85.

For a list of UK-wide organic events taking place this month, click here.

 

How to drink water

Old habits die hard, and I’m afraid I may be about to upset one of yours.

Most of you will have water-drinking built firmly into in your daily routines, which is all well and good, if you are doing the right way. (As absurd as it may sound, there is a Right Way).

In my experience, there are five standard methods by which to drink water. These are:

• Buying a bottle of spring water and re-filling it with tap water daily for the next week or so
• Buying a new bottle of spring water every day
• Drinking tap water
• Drinking filtered tap water using a glass

Those of you who are nodding along the latter – give yourself a medal. This is The Right Way. For those nodding to the first three you may want to change your water-drinking habits. Let me explain…

Bottled water
As we all know, bottled water isn’t great. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s completely unnecessary. Firstly, it’s expensive. Secondly, its environmental impact is far bigger than that of tap water due to distribution (you can buy water from as far away as Fiji in the UK) and the manufacturing of bottles.

Not only is packaged spring water heavy-footed on nature, but it also brings with it potential nasty side-effects for those that drink it. BPA or Bisphenol A is a substance found in most plastic food and drink containers marked with recycle codes 3 and 7 – and even in the lining of drink cans. It has been a known estrogenic (i.e. having properties of / similar to an estrogen, the female sex hormone) since the 1930s, but this rather large problem appears to have escaped the conscience of the packaging-makers.

This is a bit heavy, but bear with me.

In 2010, Canada banned BPA as a toxic substance and there is a definite feeling of uneasiness about the chemical bubbling up elsewhere. Bisphenol A has been linked to heart disease, erectile dysfunction, miscarriage, immune system deficiency, obesity, ovarian dysfunction, problems with infant brain development and prostate and breast cancers. Crikey.

The effect causing most of a stir is the link between the substance and female reproductive health. A recent study found that BPA in the blood can increase levels of testosterone in women, increasing their risk of polycystic ovaries, a syndrome that can sometimes cause diabetes, infertility and heart disease.

Tap water

The ‘trusty’ stuff from the tap may start off relatively pure, but remember it has to go through various treatments using chemicals in order to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. In many areas of the UK, this means we all get a nice hit of Fluoride, which has been linked to nasties like cancer and depression. Our tap water must also travel through countless pipes (that may have been put in place by the Victorians) and can pick up toxic heavy metals like copper and lead, and pesticides along the way.

The Right Way to drink water

So, filtering your tap water, which knocks out most of the nasties (via ion exchange, reverse osmosis, distillation and carbon filtration) is the best all-round method. If you’re not already making use of that workplace social hub, the water machine, then here are some ideas to help you revamp your current drinking habits.

Brita make good filters that can be built into your kitchen sink and jugs with recyclable filters, which also help to reduce limescale build up incidentally – a tidy bonus for our kettles.

For on-the-hoof drinking, I’m a big fan of the BPA-free Water Bobble (left) with its built-in filter.

And for a wide selection of reusable bottles, all also BPA-free, visit Reusable Bottle.

If you are caught thirsty on the hop, try finding a bottle of One Water where at least 100% of profits go to help fund clean water projects in developing countries.

Parents can buy BPA free bottles for their nippers at Green Baby.

Ok, so they’re not about water, but while we’re talking BPA-free stuff, you can buy weaning containers from Babypotz on Amazon and grown-up sized BPA-free Snapware storage containers can also be found on Amazon.