DaisyGreenMagazine.co.uk, the leading women's ethically focussed e-zine, and GlobalCool.org, an online green lifestyle magazine, are thrilled to announce they will be partnering and collaborating on editorial and commercial projects.

As well as content collaboration, Daisy Green and Global Cool will work together on sponsorship, advertising and competition packages, providing a platform that will enable businesses to reach an audience of trendsetting fashionistas who are highly engaged with the content and ethos of these two growing online lifestyle destinations.

For over three years the Daisy Green Magazine team have been described as a cross between Sex and The City and The Good Life! Their aim is a simple one: to act as role models for women who wish to live a more ethical and sustainable life, but without preaching.

Global Cool's ethos is exactly the same. They make sustainable living fun, sexy and aspirational by entertaining their audience with a lively mix of fashion news, lifestyle tips and celebrity gossip - all a far cry from the worthy guilt-tripping of most green campaigns.

With a shared belief that even the smallest changes add up to help protect the planet, these two green trendsetters are now aiming to take their Cool Green message farther and wider than ever before.

Nicola Alexander, founder of Daisy Green, said:

"It makes so much sense to collaborate with another brilliant, likeminded business. Our message is really simple: 'It's Cool to be Green' and so easy to make a difference. And for all those brands wishing to spread their green love, there is no better place to start than via Daisy Green and Global Cool."

Chris Deary, Editorial Director of Global Cool, added:

"We've long been admirers of Daisy Green. With their focus on fashion and beauty conscious females and our audience of celebrity culture vultures there's a tremendous amount of crossover between the two sites. By collaborating we believe we can engage even more people with green living, whilst also creating a powerful platform for brands to communicate via."

About Daisy Green

Daisy Green Magazine was founded over 3 years ago by Nicola Alexander as a means to bring ethical living to a wider mainstream audience showcasing brands that are produced with thought and integrity for both those who make them and the local environments in which they are made.
A bit more about Global Cool!

Global Cool is run by the Global Cool Foundation, a not-for-profit that specialises in communicating sustainability to the mainstream. Since 2007 they have worked with celebrities, the entertainment industry and a number of major brands to promote green living to trendsetters, who hold the key to mass behaviour change and yet have been largely unreached by most green campaigns.

Two years ago the Global Cool website was transformed into an online lifestyle magazine designed to make green living fun, easy and desirable.

Contact Details

For more information please contact Nicola Alexander, founder of Daisy Green - Nicola@daisygreenmagazine.co.uk; or Chris Deary, Editorial Director of Global Cool - chris.deary@globalcool.org, +44 (0) 8444 410 003

Over 40 stall local stall holders booked to attend the first ever Shipley Art Musem Christmas Fair within the first week of the date being released!

A truly eclectic mix of hand made presents, food, treats, clothing, homeware and gifts will be on sale.

The Daisy Green team will be handing out goodie bags to all who attend including the first ever handbag size printed copy of Daisy Green Magazine.

There'll be raffle, a gift wrapping service and much more. And it's FREE entry too!

Date: Saturday 12 November, 10 - 4pm

Nicola Little keeps baby Eveline Constance safe and snugly

The importance of skin to skin contact was impressed on me during antenatal classes, so when I saw the Kangawrap advertised in the hospital I thought what better way to keep baby close and warm than with this!

Unlike some of the other baby slings on the market the kangawrap has no buckles or straps: it is a single piece of fabric which you 'wrap' around you and baby sits snugly inside.

The wrap is manufactured in association with Trade4Life, a non profit organisation set up to help communities in the third world, and is made from organic cotton so it's super soft to the touch - perfect for baby to cuddle up in!

I have to admit that the first time I tried the wrap I got a little frustrated as it's such a long piece of material and I got myself all muddled with the instructions (I would have to blame baby brain for this as they are perfectly clear!), but I persevered and the more I used it the easier it got, so that now we use it all the time.

My little girl loves it too and soon nods off when she's put in it, making it perfect not only for when we're out and about, but an excellent soother for her fretful days - which means I can get all my jobs done around the house!

At £39.99 I think it really is a marvellous buy!

The Daisy Green gals are always up to something to help their community, whether it be supporting local businesses at events, saving clothes from landfill or raising much needed funds for great charitable causes.

We were recently introduced to the fabulous Chevyside Consortium, a small group of businesses who collectively want to help develop a local community building to provide facilities that are currently non-existent.

The Consortium have launched a project to refurbish an old middle school, Chevyside, located right in the heart of a housing estate in the West End, Newcastle.

Currently housed in the building is a fabulous company who support the community, training adult learners.

However, the building is in disrepair, half of it's empty and it needs some serious TLC if it's ever going to be used to its full potential.

Daisy Green are looking to collaborate with the Consortium to help raise funding to improve the facilities, ensuring the building is self-sustainable and that the companies housed within can provide employment opportunities for all.

Our current aspirations include:

A café, 'Sow, Grow and Sell' vegetable garden, adult training centre, offices for community focused businesses, a community run shop, advisory service to help get women back into employment, sexual health advice for teenagers and young adults, events hub, a partner to the local primary school and so much more

The Funding opportunity

Those lovely people over at Friends of the Earth and River Cottage have teamed up with British Gas to allocate £500,000 to projects across the UK to develop sustainable buildings using renewable energy.

How you can help

You can support our campaign by:

1. Clicking on the Energy Share website www.energyshare.com
2. Sign up to register for an account. They will send you an email to confirm you are a real person
3. Click back on that confirmation link from your email account and log-in
4. Finally, click on the groups tab, find our group Changing-Chevyside and click to support us.

I recently was asked to be a guest speaker at a fab event in Newcastle covering what could be thought of as a very dry subject - Corporate Social Responsibility.

The thing is, if a small company like Daisy Green Magazine can be mindful of adhering to environmental policies, I am sure the big boys can too. I know, I know, multi million pound businesses have all sorts of things to consider.

But indulge me.

Simple actions such as turning the lights and computers off at the end of the day saves money. Using both sides of paper when printing saves money. Not printing at all unless absolutely necessary saves money. (And it goes without saying they are all good for the environment).

And lets face it, multi million pound companies have the resources to make change and want to save money as much as small businesses.

Ethics in a company, in my opinion, need to be demonstrated from the very top. At Daisy Green, corporate social responsibility is at the very heart of our business. And its not a dry subject. We have loads of fun!

Running events that give women the opportunity to recycle clothing whilst getting something back for themselves or supporting small local businesses at our fairs and certainly donating bags of left over clothing to local charities is all a great big part of what we do every week.

Recycling, donating, promoting fair trade & organic and rescuing textiles from landfill is what we do. And it makes us feel great.

Hoorah for CSR!

It's a well known fact that the country is in the middle of a recession - but really there's no reason why us girls can't still have some fun!

And fun is exactly what you'll have at the DaisyGreenEvents.co.uk Big Swish. With plenty of clothes and accessories to choose from in the beautiful Frangipani Room downstairs at As You Like It and the bar on the floor above, what more could you need for a girly night out.

For those of you who are new to the 'swishing' phenomenon, the way it works is pretty simple;

1. Choose up to 15 items of your best clothing and as many accessories as you want that you no longer wear and donate them to the clothing swish.
2. Once you have been given your receipt, you go order a glass of wine in the bar upstairs while the Daisy Green team size and display all items.
3. Return for the 7:45 for the prize draw
4. When the swish begins, pick up whatever you find that you like and take it home with you making sure that you show your receipt as you leave.

In the past we have had some gorgeous items, so if you want to take home more than you brought, then that's fine. All we ask is for a minimum donation of £2.50 goes to local charities.

If you don't find as many items as you donated, then don't worry, because it the charities who benefit as we donate all the left over clothing.

For one swish, and one swish only, we will also accept any unwanted Christmas presents provided that they are unopened and unused.

What's more, because its January we're giving you the opportunity to take advantage of the fantastic BOGOF [buy one get one free] offer if you book in advance from the website.

Tickets are £5 on the door or £4 if you have a valid NUS card.

Where: As You Like It, Archibald Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 1DB
Time: Clothes can be dropped off from 5pm-7pm
Start time: 7:45pm.
Date: 20 Jan 2011

Book your half price tickets

I don't know about you, but with these dark morning's and sub zero temperatures I've hardly got an ounce of spare energy, let alone optimism.

So bring on the good news. Here are five ways to go green that will actually make life easier, not harder. Excellent.

1. Get your milk and veg delivered by your local, organic supplier. No need to leave the house and a lower carbon footprint. Check out my last blog for more

2. If you must vacate your bed to go shopping, pop a folded reusable organic shopper in your bag before you leave. Or even better, take a wheelie trolley, then you won't even have to carry the load at all - just tug gently.

3. Keep a little watering can on the windowsill. If you have water left over (like last night's drink or unused stale kettle water) just pour it in the can instead of down the sink. Then, when it comes to watering the house plants, you don't have to bother to fill it up.

4. Buy a dishwasher. Great news! Research shows that using a dishwasher is more eco friendly than washing up by hand. Just make sure it's an 'A' rated one and it's full before you put it on.

5. Get a draught excluder sausage dog. Stick it under the closed door to keep the chills out then save more energy by crashing out on the sofa with some fair-trade organic chocolate and a good book.

For more fun eco inspiration for girls, go to www.daisygreenmagazine.co.uk.

This isn't a post about my propensity to open the door to tradesmen dressed only in flimsy nightie, pink fluffy slippers and a coquettish smile.*

I admit working from home can get lonely sometimes but this has nothing to do with my milkman.

My milkman reminds me of a cantankerous badger. He has unruly silver facial hair, a baggy silhouette and he doesn't speak, he growls. But I love him.

Every morning, even in this most inclement weather, he brings me something so beautiful in its symmetry that it gives me a little thrill.

Of course he brings me milk. But this is not just any milk.

This is locally sourced organic milk in glass bottles.

Every night I get another little thrill when I put out the empties knowing they're going to be washed and used again.

This is the next best thing to having a cow in my garden. It is a concept so simple and so wonderful I might shout it from the streets like some crazy religious fanatic.

Having a milkman makes me feel a bit more like a member of the human race. It brings me one step closer to the rest of the community, a sensation that can be pretty hard to evoke these days.

You might be thinking that I am a bit sad getting so excited about a grocery delivery. If you ask me, it's these little things that make all the difference and if my milkman ever leaves I will be bereft.

My milk comes from the Acorn Dairy in Darlington and is delivered by B&P Dairymen. You can call the Dairymen on 01670 590060. More eco musings at daisygreenmagazine.co.uk

*I don't do this. Nobody does except Barbara Windsor in Carry On films.

Green as I am, it never really occurred to me that 'eco friendly glasses' could be an option.

So I was intrigued to hear more about the Eco MODO specs range from Vision Express. There's only a teensy bit of plastic or metal on your frames - would it really make any difference, or was this another high street chain applying greenwash?

On closer inspection, it seems not. Vision Express have paid a great deal of attention to detail resulting in a range that certainly appears to be ethical through and through.

As well as the frames being 95% recycled, a tree is planted in developing countries for every pair sold.

The glasses case is just a cardboard box (initially I thought this wouldn't adequately protect my new specs, then it occurred to me how many old glasses cases I had knocking around the house I could use - a predicament I probably share with most fellow specs wearers).

A cloth bag is provided to keep your specs clean. It's made of organic cotton.

Finally, the current deal is, if you hand over your old specs, you get £60 off the new range and they send your old ones to Vision Aid Overseas to help people with poor vision in developing countries around the world.

All well and good but I'm a bit vain about the way I look and wouldn't want to compromise on style. But I needn't have worried. The range is huge with 24 frames to choose from which are bang on trend, tapping into the current craze for 'geek chic'.

Pricewise, they're not the cheapest NHS issue but are placed in the very affordable 'mid-range' price bracket (prices for frames start at £99). And with it being Vision Express, your new specs should be ready within the hour and with 320 branches in the UK (including in Newcastle and Gateshead) you probably won't need to travel far either.

Now I don't want this review to sound like Vision Express have paid for it (they haven't) but I'm really bowled over by the Eco MODO range and I really hope customers are far sighted enough to favour them.

More green fashion recommendations at daisygreenmagazine.co.uk

If you are a woman who hates being preached at and showered with negativity then Daisy Green Magazine (and this blog) is for you.

If you have no interest in green issues but love to read about fashion, beauty and feeling good then this is for you.

If you are already fully engaged in saving the world then this is for you too.