Every decision is an ethical/eco conscious one these days. It's tough sometimes but worth it given the long-term benefits to our planet and our families. Christmas trees are no exception. In the past it's been about taste - some like it perfectly plastic other like it pine-scented and potted; now it's about eco preference - which one is better for the environment? Here are a few pros and cons to help you make the decision.

Artificial Trees
* Alternative to asthmas and allergy sufferers
* Lasts many Christmases
* Generally cheaper as you can use them more than once
* Easy to maintain (no watering or sourcing soil and pots)
* No scent
* Full of petrochemicals, steel, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE) which are not biodegradable Massive carbon footprint with many trees made these day in China

Free Cut
* Fresh aroma of the outdoors, indoors
* Can be messy - getting into house and to dispose of
* Costly year in year out
* If you don't get to the tree man early you risk ending up with a bonky shaped tree which the kids could potentially give you a lot of grief for
* Makes for a friendlier, warmer, Family Ties feel to your home

An alternative to both? Buy a small tree. Pot it or plant it. Look after it. Watch it grow Christmas after Christmas until it gets too big for your living room and you have to take it to the country field where old Christmas trees are put to pasture to live out the rest of their green merry lives in glitter free paradise.

We've come up with an updated version of the old favourite gift song '12 Days of Christmas' to help you choose Christmas gifts that will hopefully reduce your credit crunch and environmental worries.

Over the next twelve days/blogs we'll provide some beautiful ideas for your loved ones - gifts that at least one of our team have chosen as a chrissy present this year for a friend or family member (shhhh no telling).

The 12 Days of Christmas gifts will all be selected from the So Organic range as we believe we are an ethically, socially and eco conscious company. And though economic times are hard and consumerism is rife Christmas is one of those times where we take a break from the worries of the world and celebrate abundance in our lives. So, when spending your pennies this festive season we put out the call to spend it with companies that are working towards a cleaner, fairer earth for all.

In addition to the 12 Days of Christmas gifts we will also be giving you some fantastic eco friendly, ethical and other organic ideas outside of our product offerings just in case you'd like to pamper your mum but send your dad on an organic gardening course!

To reduce postage carbon emission and your postage costs we ask you to try to only order once. And one last reminder: to avoid the busy Christmas rush place your order as early as possible to ensure you get your gifts before the 24th of December for after the 17th the So Organic Santa will be mid air delivering his presents!

May the Organic Christmas bustle and cheer begin!

We're quite excited at So Organic that our Greenwich store will be participating in the live advent windows calendar happening from the 1st to the 24th of December. Our job is to brainstorm, create and prepare a surprise festive shop window decorated with anything we wish, under the theme Dark and Light. Each window is prepared by volunteers and we are one of them. The idea is one window will be unveiled each evening in the lead up to Christmas. It will take approximately two hours to wonder to all 24 of the advent windows.

We will be unveiling our window at 6.30pm on the 3rd of December at our store in Greenwich, 7 Turnpin Lane. It will be an evening of discount shopping and free gift-wrapping. We'll even have delicious homemade mince pies and mulled wine for all!



We can't tell you what we'll be doing but we can give you a clue to what we have been dreaming up. Our window is titled Tread Lightly upon the Earth and here's a clue... childhood play and eco dreams collide.

You can download a map and find details of all members taking part in the live advent calendar on the special website set up for this fabulous community-spirited Christmas activity.

Windows will be on display until the 5th of January 2009.

Eco Baby: A Green Guide to Parenting covers all things a parent with an eco-friendly mindset would need in the first year of an infant's life. Sally J Hall is the author and eco mum behind this book. Her advice and eco tips cover some of the biggest issues facing modern society (climate change, ethical and fairtrade companies, organic and sustainable living) and new mothers (feeding, nappies, toiletries, toys) today.

The book has a resource section to help you find support services and suppliers (SoOrganic included) of the products Sally mentions throughout the book. There's also an index, which is useful for quick reference when deliberating over a particular green area of your baby's life.

Sally's advice is practical, clear and not the least bit overwhelming for the already eager green beaver. She does have some straight up facts that are hard to avoid especially if you were hoping to take the easy path down greenville. Facts like ‘each baby is capable of filling 160 black plastic bin bags with used nappies by the time it is potty-trained' make you thoroughly consider the choices you have for your baby and the world you're bringing them into.

According to the Nicolas Stern Report for the UK Government on the Economics of Climate Change, deforestation accounts for a fifth of CO2 emissions globally. That's more than all vehicles - yes, that's ALL vehicles running today - which is phenomenal when you think about those smoky exhaust fumes you swallow every time you cross the road.

So we've got to save them right? For anyone not making a profit from cutting trees down, the answer is naturally yes. But some people, in places like the Republic of Congo, there is little option but to exploit their land's timber and other land resources (like oil and natural gas) in order to support themselves. These people want to help the planet as much as you and I but external influences and enticements from large international corporations can be difficult to turn down when you've got a family of ten to feed and the benefits outweigh anything else on offer.

This is why it's so important we work together as a global community to protect our forests. It's important that those people dependant on selling their lands resources are subsidised or given extra support in return for preserving their native forestlands.

Organisations like the World Land Trust, The Rainforest Foundation and The Woodland Trust are doing a lot in this area. They each offer unique and fun ways to help support the forest guardians of the world. Get involved so that we can all work together on protecting our home planet.