A curated edit of the eco-friendly, sustainable, ethical and/or vegan items and brands I’m loving right now!
Ok, this stuff gets top spot because I am crushing on Jem so hard right now. Their butters are amazing. I am obsessed with anything chocolate hazelnut, sadly a lot of mainstream goodies contain milk. This doesn't sit well with anyone adopting plant-based living, like me. I've been hunting high and low for a Nutella type replacement and ta-dah! Here it is, in all its glory! BONUS: Jem is stored in a glass jar :D Happy Chelsea, happy planet!
I also tried their Cashew Cardamom and Superberry Almond Butter! Neither is to be overlooked, both making great toast and fruit toppers!
I wish every company was like Ethical Bean. Regular readers will know I favour tea. However, My husband, Tom, is the ultimate coffee lover. While I stock the cupboard with a huge variety of tea, he has all manor of coffee brewing equipment. So why are we making a fuss over ethical bean? First off, the beans are traceable! Each packet has a QR code that can be scanned for information about the very beans you've purchased. Another winning quality of Ethical Bean... all the beans are organic and fair trade, meaning not only is what we're consuming good for us, but good for the people who helped process it. And... Yes it gets better, they are a certified B corporation, which is the ultimate ethical and sustainable tag a company can have IMO.
Mellow, an easy-going coffee that holds similar vibes to the types you find in hipster cafes, but with a darker roast and less complexity.
Classic, which has spot on naming! This one is the darker side of medium roast and works well when made Italian style.
Overall, the roasts are heavier than is typical, so try light roast first then work through. Other than that, Ethical Bean is an amazing product for its price point and well worth it to buy Fair Trade.
On lots of days, I believe I have something between mental health issues and hangry" Deborah Frances-White on The Guilty Feminist. There are very few things that cure hunger induced anger AND down days... but chocolate could well be the cure all snack food. I don't mean to poke fun at mental health issues, but this is so true. I am the WORST person when I'm hungry, so a solution is to ALWAYS carry snacks. This month I've been gobbling down brownies... They do the trick and give me my much needed chocolate fix.
We try to watch TV as little as possible, get out and do things together. A few months ago we went to a few clay wheel workshops, with a local artist, and now we finally our finished products! It feels so organic, and personal to be able to fill our home with things that we made ourselves! We have a small planter, a vase/cup, trinket plate, and a few bowls for serving dips or even for matcha!
I wrote about these on the blog a little while back, and I know its the height of summer BUT... can you ever go wrong with a chai? No... The correct answer is no. I've been boiling these up the traditional way after yoga sessions and they are a reet treat! Full review on ingredients and flavour profile can be found here, but long and short of it is each one is delicious and amazing.
If you don't believe me, you can grab a FREE sample and see for yourself!
I struggle with anxiety and it tends to hit pretty hard right before I go to bed. I use a variety of techniques to help with this; not drinking caffeine after 4pm, making lists of everything I'm worried about, drinking a relaxing herbal tea, etc. Adding a relaxing mist is another step in the process, but it seems to works wonders.
Lavender is traditionally used as a relaxant, so a couple of sprays of this onto the bed sheets, or in the air, creates a lulling aroma. I tend to takes long deep breaths, drawing the scent in and calming my body. It's worked really well for me as part of my nightly routine, so I'd recommend this for anyone else who has trouble getting to sleep.
I've also used it to freshen up the house, spraying it on basically every fabric product in the house; sofa, cushions, blinds, wardrobe. Nothing can escape my trigger happy fingers.
OK... Ramble time... Because of acute anxiety I've developed fears. For a little while I got scared to wear tampons in case I got TSS. I'm always careful and have used tampons for over a decade, so I know it's a mostly irrational fear. But whatever, I couldn't bring myself to use them. I ordered a menstrual cup and it should have arrived in time, but I ended up riding the crimson wave ten days early. I ran (not literally, I never run anywhere FYI) to the shop in a panic and picked up the most sustainable pads I could find at a glance. Once secure and back at home, I checked the box over and was more than happy with my purchase because the pads were more than I could have hoped for.
Did Someone Say Pumpkin Latte?