Our first meal from the organic delivery.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I did the figures on how much we spend on fresh produce at the supermarket on a weekly basis, and based on our findings, we decided that it was high-time to take the plunge – to commit to a regular organic fruit and vegetable delivery.

The commitment isn’t just financial of course – it’s about making the most of every box of leafies that arrives at our door – learning how to prepare the plants we aren’t familiar with – finding new favourites – and, yes – eating out a little less.

To talk bald figures – we knew that if we committed to an organic delivery that cost $250 a week or less (the fruit and veg portion of our standard shopping budget), whose contents could make meals for the entire week, we would be saving a stack of cash (note: for two people, we eat a shit-ton of vegetables. That metric is no exaggeration). Plus – the value would in fact be far greater, because we tend to only really be able to find decent conventionally farmed fare at our local super.

We decided to go with Organic Empire. We’ve experimented with fruit and veg delivery companies before, but I have to say that this so far trumps our experience with the others. I met Angela the owner briefly, at a business event, and ran into her again at her stall on World Vegan Day in Melbourne last year. She’s doing amazing things – she really is – including growing a lot of the business’ own produce.

Please find pictured our first delivery. No – seriously. Each subsequent arrival has been nothing less than as spectacular as this. And you want to know how much moolah we part with on a weekly basis to get this magnificent harvest? Between $105 – $125. Which literally means we save over a hundred bucks on supermarket shopping each week to get what we need to feed (and juicify) us – and often more.

I know that people often feel a little hesitant when thinking about taking the plunge with organics (I know that I certainly did). There are a lot of fears that the produce will be full of bugs or soil or… well, you know – other random organic matter – but to speak with utter honesty, the quality of the produce we’ve received from Organic Empire has surpassed that of the conventional crap we buy at supermarkets – and has all been clean, well washed upon arrival and has kept gorgeously all the way through until the 7th day of the week (when we toss all the vegetables we have left over into a big pot and make a hearty stew or soup).

I’ve been recommending Organic Empire to my friends (a lot) lately and don’t hesitate to recommend them to you, too – they’re a good business with stellar service and a truly great product.

- MZ. x

Peppermint Magazine (pictured) does a great li’l writeup of this insanely healthy bevvie in their latest and greatest issue yet (imho) – Autumn 2012. I had the pleasure of meeting Pep’s Deputy Editor, Tess Curran the other evening and I have to say that I’m really rather excited the previously mostly-Brisbane-based publication going to be corresponding now from Melbourne, Australia. No matter where you are, howevs – if you’re not into Peppermint Mag yet, go there. It’s a leading voice in sustainable style – zero BS.

- MZ.

We trotted along the Merri Creek Trail to Ceres for brunch yesterday. It’s like going on a secret hike through the wilderness (lite) to get there, and I love having to climb up the bank like a little otter (or platypus) and pass through the bike workshop to arrive at the café.

They’ve got to do something about the wait times for food on weekends there, but it’s a nice little sojourn if you’re not in a big hurry. And the green veg & tofu soba salad (not to mention the Australian bush-spice chai) was really worth it. Really.

- MZ.

Thursday evening was KORA & Tom Organic‘s first fabulous collaborative event From The Inside Out (celebrating holistic wellbeing on International Women’s Day) and the exquisite takeaway goodie bags were replete with extraordinary loot – including Forage Cereal.

None of that low-fat, fake-sugar, taste-free, zero-nutrient bollocks. Forage actually contains real food: real whole cereals (gluten free, baby), nuts, seeds and dried cranberries for a wee bit of vitamin-zing.

I had it post-green juice this morning and it didn’t weigh me down or give me a sugar hangover – plus it comes in a very pretty bag. I’m excited to say that this is one cereal that’ll get a second brekkie out of me.

- Ming-Zhu.

It’s an incredible new opportunity to help grow an amazing publication, business and community, and it’s buoyed only further by the fact that I work in the same building as a bunch of other amazing businesses whose social and ethical heart is whole and vibrantly beating.

And of course, the other (seriously super) ethical business that lives under this roof that couldn’t be closer to my heart – or should I say, vagina (and yes, I did) – is TOM Organic.

Aimee Marks is obsessed with tampons.
I should know, my office is next door to hers, and she has the things everywhere. She’s the sparklingly gorgeous and visionary CEO of TOM, and has been irrationally obsessed with the objects we use to plug our boxes with at that “Time of Month” for years. And to be honest, I couldn’t be more grateful.

Tampons can be hella toxic.

Why? Well, apparently the average tampon-using woman will go through roughly 12,000 of the things in her lifetime. If you’re using your standard gaudily-packaged conventional tampon, that’s 12,000 acts of slipping something of a toxic cocktail of nasties up your vee-jay. This can lead to all sorts of complications, reactions and just a general bucket-load of rank toxicity. Do you want to take a gamble in one of the absolutely most sensitive and delicate parts of your body, ladies? Well, now I’ve schooled myself up on it, I certainly don’t.

TOM Organic on the other hand are the first 100% Australian Certified Organic tampon in the world (sing it, sister), don’t have any added crap or chemicals (did you know that most cotton crops are sprayed to buggery?) and TOM Organics are also totally unbleached and/or dyed. They’re biodegradable (thank goodness) and you know what? They do exactly the same great job as every other period-plugger out there on the planet. Beautifully, and far, far, far more healthily. Oh – and did I mention that the packaging is absolutely friggin gorgeous?

The other thing I love about Aimee’s awesome business is that they are wildly proud supporters of the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation – and I really don’t need to tell you just how important that work and research is to men and women alike. Their support (ergo: your support when you invest in “detoxing your box”) gets women vaccinated against cervical cancer. Hell, yes.

Real men buy tampons.

It’s true. They do. My husband is about as real-man-ish as they come, and monthly (like clockwork) he can be found standing in the toiletry aisle of the supermarket on the phone to me (chocolate-and-hot-water-bottled on the other end) asking whether I need mini, regular or super. I don’t have to tell him anymore to reach for TOM. He gets the value of organic tampons. What man wouldn’t want his lady to treat her vagina with the utmost tender, loving care? Seriously, now.

But if your fella’s squeamish?

Or if you’re the kind of gal who finds she’s caught without more often than not? TOM has the most bloody (oh, pardon that pun) brilliant solution for both of you: Tampon subscriptions. You can choose between 3, 6 and 12 month rolling subscriptions of your preferred TOM tampon, and they’re delivered right to your door. In serious style. I can’t believe we’re not all doing this.

Get up-close & personal.

If you’re in Melbourne on Tuesday the 8th March, I recommend checking out From the Inside Out, a special event hosted by KORA (Miranda Kerr’s Organics range), and TOM Organic. It’s going to be a phenomenal evening with amazing women from the health, beauty, ethical and wellbeing sphere, sharing secrets about holistic – and stunning – healthy living. Click here for more information. In fact, TOM are giving away two free tickets to this extraordinary, one-off event to one très lucky tampon subscriber who signs-on before the 4th March.

Oh, did someone say “Tampon Giveaway”?

Ça alors! Twice in one week? Yes, but this one is for the Australians. TOM are generously giving one reader the opportunity to win a three-month supply of tampons. All you gotta do to be in the running is share with us in the comments below why you want to go organic (or why you want your gorgeous girl to) when it comes to what you use at that time of the month. The winner will be announced in next week’s newsletter, so put your email address in the box below to make sure you’re on the list.

In some moist and Heavenly place
We will set it out to grow.

– Edna St Vincent Millay, from “The Blue-Flag in The Bog”

A place where nothing grows usually means bad news. A toxic environment certainly, if nothing natural can survive. So this should have been a dire warning to me when I moved in to a basement flat three years ago, and none of my house plants survived to the next months rent payment.

Being a lover of nature, I was dismayed not to have any greenery in my living environment. I tried my best with the courtyard garden – a rarity in Central London and the reason for taking the flat in the first place – but with only four hours direct sunlight a day at best, it was only dense, forest plants like ferns that flourished in that garden. Fuschias withered before they had a chance to be popped; a stack of basil plants  produced enough leaves for only a few tablespoons of pesto. It was a garden where plants came to die.

The situation has, thankfully, improved.   Having endured over two years of the basement flat of dodgy wiring, scary neighbours and no sun, we now have a beautiful home in the country with a living room that gets all day sun, ideal for cultivating a little family of house plants.

Me and My Plant is a campaign currently running in the UK to encourage people to consider getting a house plant for the amazing benefits they provide. Here’s just a few of them:

A house plant is your personal detoxifier.

Most plants have the ability to absorb some of the harmful chemicals from your work or home environment. Most of us spend a fair amount of our time indoors, and toxins emanate from printers, air conditioning, photocopiers, computers, cleaning solutions, even carpets and paint. Popping a few plants about the place actually can improve the quality of the air you breathe.

A house plant can help you keep your cool, and recover faster.

Research at the University of Surrey has found that having plants in your place of work can reduce stress. Another study compared patients who had had gall bladder operations. One group had a view of gardens and trees while recovering, the other had a view of a solid grey wall. The first group were discharged from hospital earlier and had less post operative complications.

A house plant tells you how healthy your environment is.

The health of your house plant is an excellent measure of how humid or draughty your environment is. If the air is too humid, it creates perfect breeding ground for bacteria and mould. If your plant is thriving and looking healthy, that’s a good sign that you’ve got the balance right.  What’s good for your plants is also good for you.

A house plant absorbs sound.

I didn’t know this but plants process sound waves by catching them in their leaves and bouncing them back. In spaces with hard surfaces (cement floors, stone walls or glass partitions) plants are particularly effective at absorbing sound. This can make it easier to concentrate amid the usual office symphony of noises, or any trams, trains or construction work that might be going on near your home.

A house plant makes your home or desk beautiful.

I think it goes without saying that a place that you spend a lot of time in should be….well, a pleasure to spend time in. When you make that space – be it at home or in the office – as pleasing to you as possible, good energy will flow through it. Having a plant, a living thing, thriving in that space helps generate that good energy. Bonus if they have pretty leaves and flowers, and smell nice!

Me and My Plant have an online questionnaire to help you determine the best plant match for you. Not all plants are the same – there are social divas, quiet and shy retiring types, and little Miss Independents, all of which have different varieties, different sun and water needs, and different soil and climate requirements. Like all relationships, you and your plant have to be well suited for things to work!

Surprise, surprise: my quiz result netted in me receiving Peter the Phalaenopsis, a butterfly orchid with beautiful flowers that loves company. After nearly three weeks in my living room in a sunny position, Peter appears to be thriving. He likes being talked to, and he loves music.  I’ve discovered he likes a bit of Chopin, but responds very well to The Piano soundtrack, Brian Eno, Pink Floyd and Kate Bush too. He really doesn’t like being left on his own though!  On a day my husband Tom and I spent all day in Milton Keynes buying our new car, Peter spent the day alone, with no music, no company and no light (it had been snowing that day!) and it took him a few days to recover!

Prior to welcoming Peter to the house, we had needed a de-humidifier on in the living room most evenings to rebalance the humidity, as we have a mould problem in some rooms. Since he arrived, he has been a better indicator of the temperature and we’ve been able to nip any mould problems in the bud (no pun intended there!) and hence have hardly needed the dehumidifier. I’m amazed, to say the least.

But most of all, he’s a very attractive plant….and I think he knows it!

Since doing a bit of research into his social nature, I got Peter a friend – a hyacinth…aptly named Hyacinth…who is scenting the house beautifully at the moment but who has a short shelf life. Peter’s next companion I hope will be a peace lily, whose toxin-combating virtues are impressive.

As all house plant carers will know, your plants are working hard for you and they need, like all living things, to be looked after. Me and My Plant are giving away free copies of their excellent book on plant care every day via their web site: it’s a jargon-free and friendly guide to caring for your plants and covers everything from watering to position for the best sun, from plant feng shui, to pruning, and helping your leafy friend recover from a fungi attack.

So if you’re looking for an easy way to green up your office or home, literally and figuratively, bring in some plants!

Give-away time!

Me and My Plant are offering one lucky UK Superethique reader a chance to win their very own plant.  If you’re the lucky winner you’ll receive a Kalanchoe, a flowering succulent which has been used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation and rheumatism. I’ve even seen recipes for a foot soak using its leaves! As well as its healing properties, Kalanchoes are very pretty plants that brighten up your office or home.

If you would like to be in the running to win one, all you have to do is sign up for the Superethique newsletter!

Kalanchoe doesn’t have a visa to get in to Australia, sorry folks! As Steve Irwin said, quarantine matters BUT we encourage Aussie readers to get on the house plant bandwagon too. Peace lilies, chrysanthemums and cacti are available in Oz and all of them are fantastic benzene beaters! Also, think about habitat gardening and what plants naturally thrive in your local area.

UK readers, you lucky things, make sure you sign up for the newsletter by February 29th (ooh, leap year!) to be in the chance to start greening up your indoor space.

Two (green) thumbs up from me!

 - Phil. xx