Its been a super busy week with a lot of projects going on during the recycle week. For those who were unaware it was recycle week last week and H&M was one of the big brands getting involved to spread awareness and boosting their recycle scheme. Here in this post I review the scheme and remind you that this scheme is NOT only for recycling week but runs at all times. 
So lets jumo right into it! 

STEP 1 
Find some of your old clothes that aren't deemed for charity, reselling or swapping. Ie things with stains, holes, rips and etc. Find a bag and fill it up. 

Step 2 
Find the closest H&M store and go to the till and present the bag you're holding and say that you wish to donate this to their recycling box. Most of the time the box will be right next to the till. 

​Step 3
Once you told the shop assistant that you have donated the bag of clothes you will be given one of these vouchers which offers you 5 pounds off your next shop! So you give some and get some as well as get that little encouragement to actually drag a bag of old clothes out. 

Proud of Scandinavian H&M initiative and putting once again the bench mark high up for big businesses and their contribution to sustainable awareness. 

We live in an age of fast fashion. Trends are changing quicker than ever before thanks to social media platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. High street brands update their stock not seasonally but monthly to keep interest as more and more online stores are being set up. Its so competitive that their prices are dropping whilst production is increasing. However to keep production costs low there are unfortunately some dodgy deals happening behind closed doors. That is why its good to know that there are still some exceptions where sustainable business is still important. Drum roll please for Nobodyschild.com !

This is a fast fashion online brand that gives you quality for a good price as well as a peace of mind for their ethics. They own their own factories controlling all aspects of their production from design to threading ensuring its all done as sustainable as possible without compromising anyones rights. Now the good people at nobody's child offered to send me an item of clothing of my choice to review for my readers. I chose this stripy dress thats a perfect seasons transitional piece. 

My first impression of this piece was how thick the jersey material is. Sometimes when I order clothes online especially regards to the lower priced ones the material tends to be flimsy and only look good in pictures. As a fabric snob this was a pleasant surprise. The second thing I noticed was the towel texture on the inside of the dress making it one of the most comfortable dresses I own.

The dress as seen above, fits oversize with pockets making it easy to just throw on for an effortless look. I think I will use mine the most for flights during the summer as its comfortable yet keeps you from looking sloppy. All in all very pleased with the order which I highly recommend for everyone to check out. 

​I finally had the change to pop into Rabbit this weekend, the new hot spot of Chelsea where the adventurous takes on British food is served in tapas style portions in a rustic barnyard environment. The food is also organic and sustainably farmed swell as the zero waste ethics of the restaurant. So this place was right up my alley and before I went to actually test the food I asked one of the co-owners some of the vital questions about their sustainability approach for research purposes. Here are my questions and answers from Richard Gladwin.


Q: how sustainable is rabbit as a restaurant and is that something that is important to you? 
A: Sustainability is very important to us! We have recently been awarded 3 star champions from the SRA and come in the top 2% of London restaurants for our sustainability. Running a sustainable business is a long term project but if we can get best practice for sourcing, society and environment then our business will be more profitable and better run in the long term, we already see the benefits of this.
 
Q: Do you have vegan options on the menu? 
A: We do, each week our menu is briefed into the team and each week we train our front of house team into what is vegan and what needs to be changed to become vegan, although we don’t advertise ourselves as vegan we have been voted one of the best Vegan restaurant in London by time out.
 
Q: Is the food organic? 
A: The vegetables we source from market and farms in Sussex are, however our farm is not. Gregory Gladwin works to high well fair standards and is incentivised not to use any antibiotics in his cattle unless absolutely necessary. He feels this is a more realistic approach to farming for a living.

For the actual experience I brought my trustee other half who is a tough food critic but also includes all meat in his diet ( where as I have no cut out all meat except chicken and fish as a part of being a flexiterian ) to review the things I couldn't eat.

We started off our meal with the bread muffin and whipped butter and two of the "mouthful options" which on this day had the mushroom eclairs. We then had the scallop, veal balls, leek heart salad, the hen in a bowl and the honey roasted goat cheese. All the dishes had different explosions of taste with rich textures. The eclairs were my favourite dish even though they were the smallest of them all as I had never seen anything like it before. The hen in a bowl was interesting as it was a fried egg in a bowl of stocking and the sweet taste of the goat cheese was a good round up at the end. The veal balls were also reported as a hit. Although I must add that despite it being exciting that they are being creative with farm food, sometimes the flavours were overwhelming and the mixes clashed from dish to dish.
I do want to go back to try their infamous Sunday roast which I think is probably better in order to get one flavoursome dish thats more filling. I think some more time they will find a balance of the dishes and eliminate the popular choices from the less popular ones eventually as the menu is changed daily as of yet. 

Highlight : The eclairs and the fact that its sustainable and zero waste managed which is still very rare in London. 

Lowlight: The Leek heart salad tasted a little off and the two seater table was at times too small to hold all the plates. 

Rabbit is at 172 Kings Road
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​For bookings call 02037500172

I just spent a long weekend in Sweden visiting some friends in Stockholm and then my family in the second largest city Gothenburg.
I have always known that Sweden is substantially environmental aware from a young age we were taught the importance of not only recycling but also things such as how taking bike or even public transport is a lot better than taking a car. Scandinavian countries have always been setting a bar for the rest of the western cultures to follow when it comes to being sustainable but even though I grew up there I was pleasantly surprised by how fast they had adapted to not only the dangers of harming the planet but also the importance of looking after ourselves with the right type of food. For an instance when I was on the train from Stockholm to Gothenburg, the national train company SJ offered only organic food in their onboard bistro which was launched in november 2015.

It didn’t stop there though as I checked into my hotel during my stay at the Elite Plaza, I noticed that the wine that was complimentary in the room was also organic wine! Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to try it so I can’t really tell you if it tasted as good as my regular go to red wines. This is one of the many reasons I want to partake in the green evolution in the UK. I feel that the ideas that are already implemented in Scandinavian countries can be brought to the UK and the rest of the world.

​ Another contributing fact is my families business. If you by any chance live in or visit Gothenburg and want to buy organic, vegan and sustainable food and products or to have a vegan lunch then you have to visit my mums store EcoMelo (Karl Johansgatan 80, Göteborg) . It its a zero waste store and restaurant with a great ambience with rustic and white decor. Its through her store I have the opportunity to try out new products to review and if there is anything i get recommended I can order it to the store for both the public to try out as well as myself to do a review on. Keep stopping by as I have an array of natural products reviews coming up through following me on instagram @sustainabilityiscool.