The Food for Life Partnership (backed by the Soil Association, the Focus on Food Health Education Trust, the Local Authority Caterers Association, Caroline Walker Trust and Sustain - so many it must be worthwhile!) is campaigning to the Government to transform the food culture of UK schools to address child obesity and climate change. By changing the eating habits of children and educating them on how to grow and prepare their own food we can contribute to an altogether more holistic generation of pupils. A healthier diet allows the brain to function more efficiently helping kids to concentrate better and for longer through the duration of the school day.

The partnership is pushing for the government to implement policies such as children to be involved in at least twelve hours of cooking lessons a year up to key stage 3 by 2011 and ‘every pupil to have direct experience of food growing and production, in school gardens and on farms, by 2011.'

Schools are encouraged to enroll with the Food for Life Partnership Award Scheme and join others in the network attempting to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold Marks with marks reflecting how healthy the food and food culture is at a school.

A Gold mark requires school meals to be at least 75% freshly prepared 50% local and 30% organic. Parents and the wider community are actively involved in cooking and growing produce and 70% of students choose to eat school meals. Kids are also active in the growing process and have the opportunity to contribute to a local farm.

Though the bar seems quite high, the gold mark is an ideal most parents, teachers and pupils would be proud to reach.

To enroll your school, visit the Food For Life website.

Now here's a diet that has bigger things than your waistline in mind. The 100 Mile Diet is one for the environment. It's all about reducing the number of food miles (distance our food travels from ground to plate) by consuming only locally grown food. That is, food which has been grown within 100 miles (160km) of your home - your house not your city!

Canadian couple, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, conceived the idea to reduce food mileage and take advantage of the power of their consumer choice. On their website, 100 Mile Diet, they tell tales of the challenges they have faced finding certain foods, particularly local organic food in woollier regions of the world like their hometown on the west coast of Canada.

They advise people to start slowly - try to plan one meal first and gradually learn about the local food system from there. It's easy to get discouraged on day one when there's not a single grain farmer listed in the yellow pages! It seems patience and persistence are two vital virtues when on this diet. It took Smith and MacKinnon nine months to find a local wheat farmer, at which point they spent the next three scoffing their favourite breaky pancakes (all good and well if you live in maple syrup country!).

If you're a coffee drinker or have a highly processed food like crème filled biscuits you favour, this diet might be a little hard. The good news for those of us in the UK is that 70% of organic food is now grown onshore. Also, the National Farmers' Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) in the UK effectively does the work for you as the farmers' must be within 30 miles (or 100 miles for London farmer's markets) to sell at the local market.

The best bit about this diet is you know exactly where everything on your dinner plate has come from. Plus direct contact with growers and producers means you can ask them all sorts of interesting questions, like the one I've been looking for an appropriate answer to for a very long time... why did that chicken ever cross the road?

According to New Consumer magazine the average teenager gets a new mobile phone every eleven months. Of this largest mobile phone market, only 15% recycle their phones. That's a lot of WEEE (the charming little acronym for waste from electronic and electric equipment).

Some of us get our kicks out of new gadgets and upgrades, whilst others are quite happy to use what they've got until it lasts no longer. Every mobile phone I've ever owned has died a slow and awkward death. Only after months, sometimes years of random spasmodic crashes and a final dramatic eternal blankness, will I send it to junkyard heaven. The good news for me is there are usually at least a few people in my life who have a few old style but perfectly workable phones waiting idly for a new ear it call its home. And these are always upgrades to me.

Unfortunately most WEEE contains hazardous chemicals and it is difficult to separate parts for recycling. Lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium are just some of the toxic chemicals found in electrical and electronic equipment which when dumped can contaminate our land.

The good news is there are mobile phone manufacture's experimenting with biodegradable plastics and most are also working on improving the recyclability of their products.

An EU law passed a few years ago now requires manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their life. This further encourages companies to develop more environmentally safe ways to dispose of their goods. It also may incentivise them to approach design upgrades with a more eco-friendly mindset.

So when you're thinking of replacing your mobile you can either return it or send it to a charity like Christian Aid who is given £3 per mobile by Green Solutions, a mobile recycling organisation. This money goes towards feeding and vaccinating children in poverty. Other charities involved in mobile recycling programmes include Oxfam, British Red Cross and Age Concern.

The organic health and beauty industry naturally (pardon the pun) contributes to the protection of our environment by virtue of safer, more eco conscious practices and standards. As consumers we also have the power to help create a more eco-savvy society by refining our beauty routine and choosing our products wisely.Here's a couple of tips to set you on your beautiful greeny way:

The obvious one from our point of view is to choose products with organic ingredients. Organic farming practices are less intensive on the land. Plus chemical free is better for you, better for the earth.

Use a little less of everything. I'm one to talk in this area. I adore how my cleanser leaves my skin - so clean particularly on a grimy day, say if I've been out for a night with more eye makeup on than usual or cycled in heavy traffic. I wash my face once in the morning and twice in the evening on these days. I figure it's ok every now and then especially if for general use you're not overly lavish.

Divide your cotton pads in half - that way you can cleanse your pores with four clean sides of material rather than two. Even better use a muslin cloth instead. Their washable so you can be reused many times.

All-in-one products are great. Lavera offer a 2 in 1 cleanser / eye makeup remover that is certified by BDIH. Trilogy have a moisturiser which is aptly titled Everything Balm and is great for all skin types including baby skin. It can be used as a massage oil, body moisturiser, lip balm and nail cuticle softener. Balm Balm is another multipurpose product that can be used all over the body (a famous songstress apparently uses it to shine her hair).

There are now more eco fashion brands on the market than you can poke an organic cotton bush stick at. SeaSalt, Howies, Enamore, Green Knickers, Amana, People Tree, Traidcraft and Katherine E Hamnett are but a few who create and make beautiful, trendy garments with the ethical and green ticks of approval. Our throw away culture supported by the cheap, flimsy garments available these days do nothing to inspire people to repair or recycle their clothes. If you're one of the guilty try to remember someone, somewhere is likely to be suffering your wear once, throwaway shopping habits (not to mention the purging of Earth's resources) for the sake of a little instant gratification.

You could opt for an organic cotton t from the high street shops dipping their manicured toes in the water but these efforts tend to be small rather than creating an entire season's range based on ethical, eco principles. Doing a ‘little bit of good' is a start for sure however with so many wholly earth friendly brands doing good in all areas of operation and production, why not favour them - especially if their clothes are super strong, super ethical and super cool.

Look for garments made from organic cotton, hemp (or at least part so), Lyocell (woodpulp) and PLA (corn). Avoid petroleum based synthetics and non-biodegradable fabrics. Polyester takes 200 years to break down - it is not classified as biodegradable. Patagonia actually makes fleeces from recycled plastic bottles - great way to divert non biodegradable materials from landfill.

If your good with a sewing machine and enjoy creating your own fashions try to find fabrics coloured with azo-free dyes, free from heavy metals and toxins. Try Loop Fabric who provide fabrics made from sustainable, biodegradable and/or certified organic fibres. Near Sea Naturals is another supplier with more natural colours and patters. They also take care with workers rights ensuring high labour standards during production.

Adopting a make do and mend attitude rather than chucking clothes away serves the fashionable earth cause. But if you've turned your old dress into a top into a scarf too many times already and are a bit tired of the pattern, why not organise a clothes swap party - you'd might be surprised what treasures your friends have buried in the depth of their wardrobe.

An environmentally conscious attitude when creating or shopping for your next outfit means opting for handmade, organic, British made or Fairtrade brands and fabrics.

Be progressive - dress fashionably the earth friendly way.