The repurcussions of ingredients

At Naturebotts we've always been open about the ingredients in the products we sell, listing the ingredients of all the skincare products on our website.

These skincare ranges - Earth Friendly Baby & Kids, Organic Blue for Men, Green People, Mother Earth and Yaoh suncare - are all free from the unnecessary chemicals that can be found in everyday skincare products, such as synthetic preservatives, colours & perfumes, SLS, parabens etc.

They are also free from palm oil.

We have recently received a newsletter from Greenpeace highlighting the problems of the use of palm oil in soaps and other products, particularly by Unilever who manufacture Dove soap.

This is not because of the effect it may have on sensitive skin, but because of the effect is DOES have on rainforests of Indonesia and the habitat of organg-utans.

Here is what Greenpeace has to say about the situation:

"These rainforests are being destroyed faster than any other in the world, in large part because of the demand for this oil. And the situation is set to get even worse.

Compared to levels in 2000, demand for palm oil is predicted to more than double by 2030 and to triple by 2050. Meeting this demand could well mean the destruction of Indonesia's remaining rainforests and all that lives within them.

This unique and precious habitat is home to some of the planet's most threatened species, such as the Sumatran tiger, the Javan rhinoceros and the endangered orang-utan.

But that's not all - the forests also play a vital role in preventing climate change.

Some of the land that is being destroyed for palm oil is peatland rainforest. Peatland stores huge amounts of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when it is cleared and burned.

Because of this, Indonesia's peatlands are responsible for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions despite covering less than 0.1% of the Earth's surface.

The consequences are too great to let the destruction continue. Palm oil is the biggest driver of this destruction, devastating the orang-utan's remaining habitat and releasing dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Yet Unilever - the makers of Dove soap - continue to trade with companies who destroy the rainforests to make way for their palm oil plantations."

Visit the Greenpeace website where you can take action and support them in halting the destruction of this delicate & vital part of our planet.

And rather than buying Dove soap (even though we have to admit that their adverts using real women are refreshing), take a look at what Naturebotts has to offer and think before you buy.

Happy Easter Chocolate

It's been a while since the supermarkets filled their shelves with Easter chocolates - probably just after New Year and certainly since Valentine's day.

Before you load up your trolley (real or online) with piles of Easter eggs, take a minute to think about the environmental impact of what you are buying.

Firstly, the packaging.

Admittedly, chocolate Easter eggs are delicate but there is no need for the copious amounts of packaging that most come with - cellophane layer, cardboard box, plastic inner layers, foil wrapper and all sorts of unnecessary layers.

Try to choose an egg with minimal packaging - they will probably look far more stylish anyway!

Secondly, take a minute to think about where the chocolate actually comes from.

Up to as much as 40% of the worlds cocoa today comes from West Africa where some
plantations, particularly on the Ivory Coast, still use slave labour. Children as young as six are sold for US$30 or stolen from the streets to work on cocoa plantations. Many of them die from illness and savage beatings and never see their families
again

The entire chocolate industry could eliminate slavery from their supply chains – they admitted
as much by signing the failed Harkin-Engel Protocol in 2001 – but they simply don’t want to cut
into their profits.

The key, then, is to make using slavery less profitable than not using it. Only a boycott can do
that. By dropping sales only a few percentage points, we could force the industry to end
chocolate slavery forever.

There are many companies all over the world that use fair trade and Organic cocoa. These
companies aspire to stick to World Health and trade standards that monitor the plantations
and quality of the products.

Have a look what our favorites are offering this Easter and enjoy your chocolate & your Easter with a clearer conscience.

www.greenandblacksdirect.com
www.montezumas.co.uk
www.divinechocolate.com
www.alotofchocolate.co.uk

Thirdly, think of your waistline!

Wishing you all a happy Easter.

(Thanks to Mamaheaven for the information and inspiration for this article.)

Why Buy Expensive Toys?

This came to us at Naturebotts and it is gorgeous and infectious!

I was crying with laughter watching. Just so sweet and a good reminder that piles of plastic toys just aren't needed when you have a baby like this!

Forever Angels...

At Naturebotts we have been collecting donations towards essential baby products for the awe-inspiring Forever Angels baby home in Tanzania.

This is a picture of Pascal who was just nine days old when he arrived to live at the orphanage - what a little angel. His 24 year old mother died the day after she gave birth to him and his young father was unable to cope.

Pascal is now a chubby 17 month old and is best friends with Molly. His father often visits and, with his new wife, hopes to have Pascal living with him again when he is a bit older.

This is just one of many heart wrenching stories from this amazing baby home which was set up just over a year ago and is run by UK citizens Amy & Ben Hathaway, who themselves have adopted 3 gorgeous Tanzanian children.

Here is a note from Amy listing roughly what essentials they get through every week:

"To save money we use washable nappies during the day and disposible nappies at night or when a child is sick. Currently I have 25 babies - so we use about 200 disposible nappies every week!

* We use about 100 nappy sacks every week.

* We go through about 4 bottles of shampoo every week

* We use about 3 bags of cotton wool every week.

* We use a LOT of nappy liners - probably about 700 per week!

* We use about one and a half packets of wet wipes each day - so about 10 packets per week!"

Through donations on our website from our WONDERFUL customers we have today sent £221-worth of (cost price) products to the UK based secretary of the charity (Amy's mum, actually...) which should keep them going for a little while. This amount was donated over just 2 months.

We would like to say THANK YOU to anyone who has made a donation with their order through the Naturebotts website as the money really will make a difference to Amy and her volunteer staff, and, of course, all the gorgeous babies being beautifully cared for there.