COP26!

 

COP26!  Good Morning Everyone, Happy Diwali and Halloween! I do hope that you are blooming and enjoying a nice cup of tea and a slice of toast? The GD and I are doing just that, but in-bed today as it seemed like a well-deserved luxury after the stresses of moving this week! The furniture is in storage, the Sevenoaks apartment has a new resident and we now have two weeks in London to prepare for our own 'escape to the country' as we finally exchanged contracts on the cottage on Monday! I swear I have grey hairs - as the GD attests "we are never moving again". Having decided to dedicate the newsletter to COP26 (which begins tomorrow), I would like to mention that, had I been consulted on the title of this event, I would have come up with a far snappier (and appropriate!) acronym! The 26th Conference Of the Parties is not very inspiring, and COP26 sounds like a crime drama from the US! I shall be writing to the United Nations shortly to proffer my services ! Joking aside, this is a pivotal moment for our planet and I am very proud that we are hosting and appear to be taking a lead role in reducing our carbon emissions - let's hope that all the talking translates into action! The GD and I will most certainly be applying for a 'Heat Pump grant' next year and are looking into solar panels for the roof of the 'eco garden office' that we plan to build. It's actually incredibly interesting, and technology is moving so fast that it is hard to keep up, but we are enjoying the research! I must say that my new, hybrid vehicle is absolutely incredible on fuel consumption. I drove to Eastbourne (over 80 miles) last w/e and the fuel dial didn't move as it was electric almost all of the way! The silence in the car is also quite unexpected - the engine occasionally makes a whirring sound that is uncannily like the Star Trek 'Transporter'.......but sadly, Scotty has failed to "beam me up"! I am, by nature, an optimist, and so when it comes to the many threats facing our planet, my mantra is that we must do what we can. If everyone does a little, then the impact on the whole will be enormous. It will only work if we all join in and I truly believe that the outcome will make our lives richer. There are even reports of a new 'golden age' where our soils are restored, the planet re-forested, and we can grow enough food to feed everyone so that starvation will be consigned to the history books. So exciting and worth striving for! This week I would like to celebrate the brands that are helping to change the retail landscape. At Roullier White, we are very keen to select products that either have a low carbon footprint, recycle waste to help keep the planet spick and span or otherwise lessen our impact. Innovation is coming-on in leaps and bounds, so each time we visit design shows there is another technology that helps remove waste from the environment, or reduces pressure on the ecosystem a little. Although it is relatively early days, I think that ideas will snowball and intend to be ready to embrace them - 'from tiny acorns' ! Shop Now - Recycled P.E.T - Placemat - £10.00 Shop Now - Recycled P.E.T - Round Coaster - £2.00 I had been trying to find the perfect placemat for years before discovering recycled plastic designs in Paris. I have absolutely no idea how they can turn plastic bottles into a fabric that feels like wool felt but I am delighted that they can. These are the best coasters and placemats that I have ever owned - and that is putting their eco-credentials aside - because they look fantastic, feel warm and can be thrown in the washing machine on a low temperature and emerge as good as new. We have been unable to stain these babies no matter how much red wine or curry we drop on them! Although this kind of innovation is certainly a case of necessity being the mother of invention, the invention is actually superior to that which came before! Shop Now - Woven Belt - £29.95 Our woven belts are also made from recycled plastic bottles. I adore these as they remind me of the Côte D'Azur, where the most stylish members of le Jet-Set wear this style of belt. In practical terms too they are peerless as there are no punched holes like in leather belts, instead one can simply thread the buckle through the fabric wherever it is most comfortable. This is also most useful when it comes the decision of whether or not to have second helpings! Shop Now - Recycled Glass Grape Lamps - From £299.00 Syrian lamps - not only are our grape lamps made from recycled glass, but that glass is waste from Europe. I like the concept of our waste returning to us in another form and of course this collection has a double feelgood factor as the proceeds from the sales have kept 10 families together throughout the war in Syria and the pandemic! These gifted artisans have managed to stay in situ south of Damascus and this is a project very close to my heart. We have just placed an order for their latest pieces and these should arrive from Paris in December. If you are looking for something specific in terms of colour, we can always request and are happy to reserve lamps as they sell out very quickly and it takes a long time to receive replacements. Shop Now - Bamboo Socks - £9.95 Shop Now - Bamboo Boxers - £15.00 Bamboo is a miraculous plant. The fibre can be made into almost anything and bamboo grows incredibly quickly and does not need watering or pesticides so it is superior to any other vegetal fabric in terms of sustainability. Our socks and men's underwear are made from Bamboo, with a percentage of sales donated to help the Giant Panda - so pants really do save pandas! Another double whammy! Shop Now - Bamboo Soap Dish - £6.99 Also Bamboo-tiful is our simple soap dish ! Shop Now - Men's Organic Cotton Socks - £7.00 Shop Now - Double Brushed Organic Cotton Pyjamas For Men & Women £65.00 If one is to purchase cotton, then it must be organic as cotton production accounts for 16% of pesticides used in the world - more than any other single crop! We do need to look for certification here as, like the word 'organic', some less scrupulous brands have used the term inappropriately. We are delighted to stock  both organic cotton socks and unisex pj's - both proudly certified. Shop Now - Can-to-Pan - Recycled Aluminium Saucepan - From £33.00 Shop Now - Can-to-Pan - Recycled Non Stick Frying Pan - From £29.00 Our saucepans are now made from recycled cans  (the 'Can To Pan' collection) and I can substantiate their superior, non-stick slippiness. Historically, the chemicals used on non-stick surfaces have been very bad for the planet, permeating into water courses and polluting drinking water around factories. I am very pleased to note that legislation has put paid to the worst culprits, however I will still only stock ceramic-lined pans as these are people and planet-friendly. Shop Now - Natural Fibre Washing Up Brush - £4.50 Shop Now - Vegetable Brush - £3.00 It really is about keeping an eye on the little things that will make the difference - for example, our washing up brushes and even our vegetable scrubbing brushes are wooden with natural bristles - so no non-biodegradable plastics. We also have shampoo bars which again save a plastic bottle every month! Shop Now - Mrs White's Collection I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our own 'Mrs White's' collection of 100% natural cleaning and bath products. Our founder, Lawrence, created this innovative range over a decade ago with the aim of creating a non-toxic home environment for our customers, which in turn translates to less harmful chemicals in the wider world. We have complete control over what goes into each and every one, so we can be absolutely sure of the provenance of the ingredients and we also make them in the UK so that the carbon footprint is reduced. I am extremely proud of this part of our business (and of Lawrence for his vision all those years ago) and would use nothing else at home. It may sound odd, but I  truly believe that they make cleaning enjoyable! The results speak for themselves and these products smell so wonderful that one can't wait to have another spritz! If you are local to RW, we also provide a refill service on our best sellers at a discount. Every little helps! Shop Now - Monk-made - Sanctuary Skin Cream - £7.50 Shop Now - Monk-made - Sanctuary Lip Balm - £3.50 Also in our bath and body offer is the 'Sanctuary' collection of skin creams and lip balms, made for us by Father John and his Benedictine brothers in Surrey. Again, these use natural ingredients including beeswax from the Monasteries apiary. My skin is hyper-sensitive and I adore them, as they are rich and nourishing, smell heavenly (well they would!) and are gentle and soothing. I am addicted to the Rose and Honey, which is a clever combination as rose is a great skin balancer and honey a natural humectant. Shop Now - Natural Sea Sponge - From £20.00 Our natural sponges are farmed. This means that each sponge is given a 'haircut' but the animal is not harmed and continues to grow, so the marine environment is not damaged. They also squish down and are light as a feather so we get them posted! Natural sponges are biodegradable, whilst man-made sponges are not! They are also softer, nicer to use and infinitely more glamorous! There, just a few of my favourites and I do hope that I have inspired a little! We must all do our bit and find joy in doing so. I for one want to do better and better!  It's great to learn too - on the radio I was listening to a wonderful ecologist from the Himalayas, where they are introducing new farming methods that have revolutionised the way that food production there impacts the eco-system. They grow 7 different kinds of rice, biodiversity has doubled, pollinators are now abundant and basically this is a beacon of light to illustrate just what can be done quickly to change things for the better. Apparently, the new thinking is that we should no-longer plough the soil! Controversial, but the science was really gripping! I hope that this week is full of positivity, bold ideas and examples of success stories as well as the doom-laden warnings - I think that we all respond to success and hope so much better! Shop Now - Etched Crystal Glass Coupe 22cl - £20.00 Regretfully I must leave you now as I am scheduled at the store today and have yet to make myself presentable. Ce soir, we are entertaining some dear friends, but the GD is in control of the menu (vegan) so I have only the table to accessorise (my favourite bit obviously!). I am thinking candles, cocktails and etched-glass - a 'shimmering' evening ! As it is Halloween and I am of a literary bent I think that Ernest Hemingway's 'Death In The Afternoon' cocktail might be perfect ! His advice was to "drink 3-5 of these slowly"  but, as they are a mix of absinthe and Champagne, I think it safer if we ignore him! We shall drink from the etched glasses that have just returned to our shelves - particularly fitting, as hidden among the tendrils are some tiny fairies and absinthe, as we know, is referred to as the 'green fairy'! My words of advice to my guests are that if you can find the fairies you are sober, if you cannot, it is time to switch to water!  The food will be spectacular as there is a slightly competitive frisson in the wind, with the GD and the lovely Alison vying for culinary supremacy! The gifted cooks enjoy the preparation and their partners enjoy the consuming (and of course we are the real winners!) Tomorrow we shop for a refrigerator, which is very exciting, although we are currently at an impasse as I wish to place a freezer in the shed at the bottom of the garden and the Good Doctor is pushing for 'integral'. I have prepared my case (with slides!) but we may still need an independent adjudicator! I shall let you know....... Wishing everyone a dreamy w/e of R&R! Michael x