A recent supplement enclosed in Country Walking magazine has got me thinking..... how green is our outdoor gear?
I must confess that when I am buying outdoor kit for myself I am more influenced by performance than the environmental impact of my kit. I doubt I am alone in this but it did get me wondering about the environmental impact of the kids gear we sell at http://www.littlwideworld.co.uk.
After all, products that pollute, companies that exploit the environment, manufacturers that abuse their workers.... do not contribute to the kind of world I want my children to inherit.
As a parent I make active choices when buying my groceries that I hope will help make a small difference to the way the planet is managed - I look for fairtrade, organic, free range when I buy food and household products so I should be applying the same criteria to all my purchases. Therefore, as a retailer I should be expecting other parents to ask the same questions of the products I sell as I ask of other reatilers when making a purchase.
Where was it made? What is it made of? Who made it? Can it be recycled? Will it last a reasonable time period?
I believe that everything we sell in our online store lives up to quality expectations, I hope our customers agree. I select products that I have used myself or have been recommended to me and have been satisfied that the items I have personally used have lasted longer than they fitted my children - many of the items I have road tested have been used by both my children and then sold on ebay or freecylced for other children to use.
I am looking in to the environmental policies of the manufacturers that supply our stock to see how their green credentials stack up and will post my findings on our facebook fan page; http://www.facebook.com/CampingKidz
Friday 18 December 2009
Monday 14 December 2009
Festival Memories
I went to see a band on Saturday night - a rarity these days! Echo and the Bunnymen at the O2 Academy in Oxford. I felt like the youngest person in the audience, being one of only six people under 40.
The last time I saw Echo & The Bunnymen was at Reading Festival circa 4 BC (4 years Before Children). Then I felt that, at over 25, I was one of the oldest people in the audience. That was my only experience of Reading Festival, having been to Glastonbury Festival several times as a teenager it gave me the urge to re-try Glastonbury the following year.
My first festival experience was when I was 18, the day I left school. My friends and I returned our books to the sixth form centre and officially left full time education. We left with an air of anticipation and bussed our way first to Oxford, then Bristol, Shepton Mallet and on to the shuttle bus to the festival site. We met up with friends who had travelled variously from Cambridge and London at the entrance to the main camping field and found our pitches - not too near the toilets, half way up the field on a relatively level patch of ground. We pitched five tents - four to house us and an ancient Force 10 to stash our kit in. The space between tents was astonishing compared to festivals now - as my photo shows (Matt will kill me for posting that one but you can;t see the tents in my other pictures!). We then reccied the camping field, acquired fire wood (to be stored in the Force 10) and set off to find beer. It was a baking hot weekend and many an hour was spent watching the circus performances, dancing badly to the Orb and visiting Joe Bananas Blanket stall on the way to see a late night showing of Bladerunner at the outdoor cinema (that was just a bit cold).
My festival kit
, all packed badly in to my bright purple rucksack, included my Dad's old army sleeping bag - it was cosy but weighed more than I did, my tent - a cheap two man tent from Millets, shampoo and deoderent, clean underwear and a bucket to wash in - standards are to be maintained at all times, as you can see Matt even shaved every morning!.
It was with idillic memories that I booked my ticket for Glastonbury in 3 BC (3 years Before Children). I knew I wasn't going to be able to rough it as I had ten years before so packed my gloriously warm and light Marmot sleeping bag, Vaude self inflating sleeping mat, enough clothes to see me through any weather conditions, food and camping stove, baby wipes, and anything else I thought I might need.
This time we drove to the site, parked and tried to call friends we were meeting on our mobiles - the entire network was, of course, over loaded so we made our way, along with 17 million other people to the camping field.
Chaos is the only way I can describe it. We found enough space to pitch two tents and got one of them up. Then searched for our friends, who had pitched their tent in a swamp in the next field. Now we learned the beauty of a dome tent - we unpegged it and between three of us lifted it over our heads and carried it through the crowds to repitch it next to my tent. The way the tents were packed in, practically on top of each other worried me, it was nearly impossible to get from tent to path without tripping on guy ropes or standing on somebody's tent.
Glastonbury Festival had changed a lot in 10 years; queueing was now the main order for the weekend. Toilets, queues, beer. queues, music, queues, even the circus tent had a queue! It just seemed as if there were about ten thousand too many people on site. My first festival experiences were lazy days in the sun, my last was hectic, full on and claustrophobic.
I have decided I'm just too old for big festivals. I might try one of the smaller ones with my kids in a couple of years, but until then I'm sticking to quiet family camp sites for my canvas trips.
The last time I saw Echo & The Bunnymen was at Reading Festival circa 4 BC (4 years Before Children). Then I felt that, at over 25, I was one of the oldest people in the audience. That was my only experience of Reading Festival, having been to Glastonbury Festival several times as a teenager it gave me the urge to re-try Glastonbury the following year.
My first festival experience was when I was 18, the day I left school. My friends and I returned our books to the sixth form centre and officially left full time education. We left with an air of anticipation and bussed our way first to Oxford, then Bristol, Shepton Mallet and on to the shuttle bus to the festival site. We met up with friends who had travelled variously from Cambridge and London at the entrance to the main camping field and found our pitches - not too near the toilets, half way up the field on a relatively level patch of ground. We pitched five tents - four to house us and an ancient Force 10 to stash our kit in. The space between tents was astonishing compared to festivals now - as my photo shows (Matt will kill me for posting that one but you can;t see the tents in my other pictures!). We then reccied the camping field, acquired fire wood (to be stored in the Force 10) and set off to find beer. It was a baking hot weekend and many an hour was spent watching the circus performances, dancing badly to the Orb and visiting Joe Bananas Blanket stall on the way to see a late night showing of Bladerunner at the outdoor cinema (that was just a bit cold).
My festival kit
, all packed badly in to my bright purple rucksack, included my Dad's old army sleeping bag - it was cosy but weighed more than I did, my tent - a cheap two man tent from Millets, shampoo and deoderent, clean underwear and a bucket to wash in - standards are to be maintained at all times, as you can see Matt even shaved every morning!.It was with idillic memories that I booked my ticket for Glastonbury in 3 BC (3 years Before Children). I knew I wasn't going to be able to rough it as I had ten years before so packed my gloriously warm and light Marmot sleeping bag, Vaude self inflating sleeping mat, enough clothes to see me through any weather conditions, food and camping stove, baby wipes, and anything else I thought I might need.
This time we drove to the site, parked and tried to call friends we were meeting on our mobiles - the entire network was, of course, over loaded so we made our way, along with 17 million other people to the camping field.
Chaos is the only way I can describe it. We found enough space to pitch two tents and got one of them up. Then searched for our friends, who had pitched their tent in a swamp in the next field. Now we learned the beauty of a dome tent - we unpegged it and between three of us lifted it over our heads and carried it through the crowds to repitch it next to my tent. The way the tents were packed in, practically on top of each other worried me, it was nearly impossible to get from tent to path without tripping on guy ropes or standing on somebody's tent.
Glastonbury Festival had changed a lot in 10 years; queueing was now the main order for the weekend. Toilets, queues, beer. queues, music, queues, even the circus tent had a queue! It just seemed as if there were about ten thousand too many people on site. My first festival experiences were lazy days in the sun, my last was hectic, full on and claustrophobic.
I have decided I'm just too old for big festivals. I might try one of the smaller ones with my kids in a couple of years, but until then I'm sticking to quiet family camp sites for my canvas trips.
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Ski and Camp?
At this time of year my thoughts turn to planning our trips for next year. Whilst scanning through a campsite guide I noticed a number of sites are open all year round, a site we have camped on in previous years stays open all year for people to ski and camp! Whilst camping in the snow doesn't appeal to me personally I wondered if there were many people out there that do winter camping (or is it only something to try with a caravan?).
If you're a winter camper I'd love to hear from you...
Do you heat your tent and if so how?
Is it just a case of artfull layering for warmth at night?
Do you cook your meals at camp or escape to the warmth of a restaraunt or pub?
The thought of getting cold and not being able to warm up puts me off camping passed October half term but people survive much colder temperatures than we get here so I guess it's just down to good planning. Either way I am yet to be convinced that it's for me.
Meanwhile, at http://www.littlewideworld.co.uk we have stocked up on fleece hats and mittens and have some fabulous fleece all-in-ones for toddlers to wear under snow suits. If you are taking your kids skiing this winter check out the sunglasses we have at the online store - these have a thick neoprene strap so don't fall off and are optician approved so you don't need to worry about your kid's eyes in the snowy glare.
Last order date for Christmas delivery is the 18th December (stock levels permitting). I am updating the site regularly to try and ensure all items currently on the site are in stock but occassionaly an item will go out of stock and we cannot guarentee delivery dates. If you are buying as a Christmas gift you can email me at campingkidz@littlewideworld.co.uk and I can check stock levels or give me a call on 01844 202622.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)