1. Rail and Ride in Amsterdam

With a new high speed link from Brussels to Amsterdam it now only takes four hours to get to the Dutch capital from London.  Hire a bike once your there and stay in a barge along the river for a truly unique trip.  www.raileurope.co.uk

2. Yurt Camping in France

If you enjoy camping but appreciate a few luxuries then camping in a yurt may be your ideal solution. With proper beds and furniture, this really is posh camping and you can chose your location to be as isolated or as central as you like. The choice is yours! www.lecamp.co.uk

3. Luxury Hide Away in The Bahamas

If you are looking for something a little more luxurious then this green hotel in the Bahamas should be perfect.  Set next to the third largest barrier reef in the world this is the ideal place to truly relax and get a way from it all. Everything about this hotel is green from the biodegradable soap to the solar power. www.tiamoresorts.com

4. Bio Hotel in Turkey

If it is a truly restful and healthy holiday that you are after then this is the holiday for you.  Set in the hills of Bodrum, this hotel is a real gem. The Antik Zeytin Hotel is built from entirely natural materials, produces it own olive oil and serves local organic food.  www.organicholidays.co.uk

5. Eco Barns in Pembrokeshire

If you are looking for something a little closer to home then these Asheston eco barns in Wales may be perfect.  Using a combination of renewable energy sources; solar heated water, ground source heating, wind turbines and water harvesting systems, these barns are only 4 miles away from one of Britain’s best beaches.  www.ecobarns.co.uk

6. Eco Barge Holiday in France

Fancy a more adventurous holiday then take a trip down the Canal Du Midi in an Eco Friendly barge. You can either captain the boat yourself of hire a crew member for a truly memorable holiday.  With a solar heated shower and hot water this is a real winner in environmental terms.  www.greentraveller.co.uk

7. Community Owned and Run Safari Lodges in Kenya

This is the ideal way to gain the knowledge of the locals by going on Safari to a community run lodge.  These lodges benefit the local community by offering long term employment opportunities while allowing you as the visitor to enjoy gain local knowledge and give something back to the community you’re visiting.  www.ilngwesi.com

8. Take the train to Marrakech

Take the leisurely way down and see some sites on route.  Plan your trip to stay at any number of European cities such as Paris and Madrid, catch the ferry over to Morocco and then train the rest of the way to Marrakech.  This is not only a very civilised way to travel but also saves your carbon footprint. Visit www.seat61.com for information

9. Organic Farm B&B in Somerset

Stay at a real working farm in Somerset and enjoy all the hospitality and a local breakfast with fresh from the farm organic eggs.  And if you get really inspired, you can even take a bee keeping lesson in the village.  Huntstile Organic Farm offers B&B, self catering and camping so all options are covered.  www.huntstileorganicfarm.co.uk

10. Ski Holiday in The USA

If you’re planning further ahead and skiing is your thing, then look into Hotel Terra is Jackson Hole.  This is a truly green hotel – building materials are all recycled and the hotel’s energy is provided through a mixture of solar power, micro hydro power and wind power.  www.hotelterrajacksonhole.com

Whatever your ideal holiday, it is now easy to be ethical with a selection of different options to suit every taste and budget.  Remember that if your flying you can easily offset your carbon footprint using a number of schemes (most airlines offer their own schemes) or you can plant your own trees!  When away ensure you carry out your usual practices – don’t leave lights on, use as little water as possible and only use the air conditioning when really needed.  The most important aspect of a holiday is to enjoy it so whatever your style, make sure you have as much fun as possible!

This May, Myakka will be supporting World Fair Trade Day.  World fair trade day is designed to encourage us all to buy more fair trade products so we can make a real difference to the lives of millions of producers across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

On the 8^th May 2010, World Fair Trade Day will be celebrated across the world from the USA to Austria and Thailand to Brazil.  Events will take many different shapes from music and dancing to tea drinking and information sharing, but all will share the same message – that we all have the ability to change the lives of farmers, small producers and artisans around the world through our actions.  

Fair trade is an essential part of the Myakka ethos and we’re confident that more than 90% of the products we offer are fair trade.

Make sure you support world fair trade day on the 8^th May 2010!

SKSN is a charitable school based in Jodhpur, northern India which provides care and education to around 500 physically challenged children.  The cushions are made at the Vocational Training Centre in the school by older students who have completed their studies.  Myakka has been working alongside the VTC for the last 18 months to help develop the production.  This fair trade project helps to give the students an opportunity to gain meaningful employment as well as develop skills and confidence for self-sufficiency in the future.  The centre also makes clothes and accessories which are sold locally.   

The fabrics for the new cushions were chosen by Georgie and Alexandra from the markets in Jodhpur on their last visit to the School in October 2009 and the design was finalised before they left for home.  The first batch of cushions arrived to Myakka this month ready for sale, exclusively from Myakka.

The new cushions are available to view online now along with the whole range of cushions from SKSN School Vocational Training Centre.  The charitable school relies entirely on support from local and international donors – to find out more about the fantastic work of SKSN or to donate funds, please visit www.sksn.org

Here at Myakka we always try and make sure that we are being as kind to the environment as possible and because of this we are supporting WWF Earth Hour.

Taking part is simple; all you have to do is turn your lights off for just one hour on Saturday 27^th March at 8.30pm. This global event is organised by the WWF every year to try and curb the effect of climate change. The aim is to get a billion people around the world to turn their lights off for one hour at the same time. Last year famous landmarks round the world joined and homes and businesses switched off their lights in support.

We’re always trying to reduce our carbon footprint and we think this is a great way to help.  You can register your participation on the WWF website  where they have tips and ideas on what to do in your hour without lights. The Myakka team are all keen to support Earth Hour and will all be spending an hour on Saturday night with our lights off.  Make sure you get involved and make a difference!

We have been truly overwhelmed with more than 550 people sending in over 5,500 carrier bags.  We’re in the process of sending out hundreds of fair trade jute bags in return so if you haven’t received your jute bag yet please be patient it should be with you shortly!  Please do make sure you register your swap on the online ‘swap-o-metre’ to help reach the nationwide target of one million and one swaps – click here to visit the Fair Trade Foundation website.

Because of the success of our Big Bag Swap and all those lovely Myakka bags in use around the country, our customer service expert Heather had an excellent idea… to ask you to submit a picture of yourself with your Myakka bag in the most exciting / exotic / unusual / interesting place possible. 

We’d love to see all the good uses that our bags are put to, so please use your imagination and take a picture of yourself (or ask a nice person to take it for you) with your Myakka jute bag and send it competition@myakka.co.uk  Our trusty dog Floe has a very artistic eye and will select a winner each month who will receive a £50 Myakka voucher to spend as they choose on our great selection of fair trade Sheesham & Acacia furniture, home accessories and giftware.  We will post the winning picture (along with any close contenders) on our blog each month for everyone to see – the first judging session will be on 31^st March so get snapping!

This was the first visit of 2010 after our two successful visits in 2009.  These regular trips help us to sustain our excellent relationship with our suppliers as well as oversee the development of our new lines.  We also use the visits to monitor production techniques for our hard wood furniture, visit sub contractors premises and improve quality control measures.  Simon was also lucky enough to lend a hand in loading one of our latest furniture shipments being prepared to leave the factory!

During the visit to SKSN School, we pledged our next donation of £5,700, which will help cover the cost of shoes and socks for all pupils, toiletries, six months medical supplies and 10 days food supplies.   Our continued involvement with the school started in 2008 and is two-fold, offering direct donations from our company profits and also working to set up long-term trade links to provide a future earning capacity for the children of SKSN.  Follow this link to see our new Kota Cushions  – just one of the great ranges of cushions in production at the vocational training centre at SKSN School.

It wasn’t all hard work though and Simon was lucky enough to be in Jodhpur to celebrate Holi, the festival of colour, with the SKSN crowd who got him well and truly decorated…we’re not sure how quickly that pink paint is going to wash off!

To hear about the arrival of our great new lines and get more of the latest news and promotions, please register for the Myakka newsletter on our homepage – click here to sign up.

We’re once again supporting Fair Trade Fortnight, an annual event co-ordinated by the Fair Trade Foundation.  Running between 22^nd February and 7^th March this year’s Fair Trade Fortnight centres on a campaign called ‘The Big Swap’.

Myakka are supporting the Fair Trade Foundation’s big swap by encouraging customer’s to swap their plastic carrier bags for reusable, fair trade jute shopping bags.  For every ten plastic bags sent in, we will send customers a brand new, hard-wearing jute shopper completely free of charge.  All the plastic bags collected will be sent for recycling.

“It’s not quite as easy to swap your furniture for a fair trade option as it is your tea, coffee or chocolate but we wanted to show support for this increasingly important annual event co-ordinated by the Fair Trade Foundation and came up with the ‘big bag swap’ as a way of taking part,”  commented Simon, director of Myakka.    

To claim your FREE jute shopper, simply send ten carrier bags with a return address to: 

Myakka Ltd, Tythings Commercial Centre, Wincanton, Somerset, BA9 9EQ  

You will then be sent a reusable, fair trade jute bag completely free of charge – we would just ask that you register your swap with the Fair Trade Foundation’s online “swap-o-meter” at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/thebigswap.  This year’s ‘Big Swap’ is aiming to generate over one million and one swaps over the two week period and change the lives of millions of suppliers around the World.

Last year, Myakka’s team were part of the record breaking fair trade banana eating campaign which took place between 6^th and 7^th March 2009. Over 380,000 campaigners each ate a fair trade banana during the 24 hour period, smashing the previous record.

Georgie concluded, “Most people associate the fair trade label with tea, coffee and chocolate production.  There are many more items produced following fair trade principles which help to offer the people involved what we in the UK take for granted.  Fair Trade Fortnight and ‘The Big Swap’ campaign is a great opportunity to raise awareness of this.”

This offer has now expired. We would like to thank everyone who took part!

At Myakka we have approached this in a different way which has proved so popular that for 2010 we have developed our popular Thakat Elephant Cupboard into a more extensive collection of lines.

The way we meet with our stringent quality control and still add hand carved details into pieces is through the clever integration of man and machine. By using the machines in the production of the furniture carcases we can guarantee consistency in the dimensions of the pieces. The hand carved elements are then brought into places where they are focal, rather than structural.

This is an example of how we at Myakka have employed excellence in design to help keep the traditional crafting skills of our Indian supplier’s employees alive. The key to our success with these pieces is how they have been specifically designed for the UK market with strict levels of quality control whilst maintaining the charms of the Indian hardwood and traditional hand crafting skills.

Our Thakat Elephant Cupboard is our most popular example with the doors featuring six hand carved elephants. The elephants are chiselled by eye into blocks of solid Sheesham wood and add a real focal point to the finished piece of furniture which combines beautifully with the natural pattern of the timber. We have managed to create furniture that is consistent in quality and operation whilst focusing the eye on the unique hand carved elements of the piece.

You can view the Thakat Elephant Cupboard in production in our short video posted on the Myakka YouTube Channel.  To watch the video please select play in the window below.

Please check back on the Myakka News Blog for more videos in the future.

Once the samples are unpacked and cross referenced with the design notes for accuracy, we get on with the task of photographing them so they can take pride of place in our next catalogue.  We have been using the services of our catalogue photographer Simon de Glanville for over four years and the shoots are always a lot of fun, if a little challenging.  Every detail counts and a single shot has been known to take the team several hours to get just right.

Our challenge this year was creating a Springtime feel in the depths of winter.  Luckily we had a couple of lovely sunny days and with the assistance of a few frozen apples, we managed a fantastic shot of our brand new Elephant range which will be complementing the ever-popular Elephant Cupboard.  The new lines are now in production in India for stock to be ready for the launch of our first ever Spring Catalogue in early March – sign up to our email newsletter to make sure you are one of the first to hear about their arrival!

We were also delighted to hear that the sample of our new Mallani Corner Bookcase, which was loaned to friends, may even be appearing in The Telegraph over the next few weeks.

Starting off the list at number 10 is the Christmas Turkey! James feels an ethical Christmas Turkey should be free range, organic, produced in the UK and have had a happy life… See: Copas Turkeys

At number 9 is Alexandra’s top tip passed down through the generations. When the children are asleep and Santa is visiting, join him and help eat up the mince pie and the reindeer’s carrot, but make sure you leave a few crumbs and the carrot stalk as evidence of his visit in the night!

At number 8 Heather adds one of the oldest surviving features of the traditional English Christmas: Mummer’s Plays. If you would prefer to watch the entertainment this year, look up your local pantomime. Wholesome fun entertainment for all the family: Big Panto Guide

For number 7 Corinna is recommending recycled Christmas cards. You don’t have to blow your budget to go green as these can also be some of the lowest cost cards!  Show your friends and family you care for them, and the environment. See Recycled Christmas Cards

Number 6 is Simon’s top tip for getting the children to bed on Christmas Eve. Rather than letting them stay up in front of the TV sneak outside, hide and ring a bell that can be heard indoors. Then have your partner shout “quick kids, I can here Santa’s sleigh bells, hurry up to bed”!

At number 5 are Brussels sprouts! Claire adds that generally people either love or hate Brussels sprouts, but either way locally grown organic sprouts are definitely the way forward. In fact if you are embracing the ethical and organic stance why not have an ethical Christmas dinner and place an order at your local farm shop. Find your local farm shop

For number 4 Ian reminds us all of the importance of kissing under the mistletoe! A traditional Christmas custom, you may not be aware that with the decline of apple orchards in the UK most mistletoe is now imported from France. For your ethical Christmas buy local English sustainably grown mistletoe this year. See English Mistletoe

And entering the top 3 Rich adds another traditional top Christmas tip for catching evidence of Santa Clause’s visit… If there isn’t any snow sprinkle icing sugar or flour where Santa and the reindeer will land and they will leave foot and hoof prints in the night!  Here is a link to a video: Reindeer hoof prints

Feeling flush this Christmas, hire your own reindeer: Reindeer for hire

At number 2 we have low energy fairy lights. Cherry loves her Christmas lights and recommends investing in highly energy efficient LED lights this year. These low voltage lights are 90% more efficient than your regular twinklers and last 1000’s of hours longer. See: LED Christmas Fairy Lights

And at number 1 for Christmas 2009; Georgie recommends a Fair Trade Christmas Tree. Brand new to the UK for 2009 and surely the most ethical Christmas Trees available!?

See: Fair Trade Christmas Trees

So in summary for your perfect ethical Christmas:

10. Free Range, English Christmas Turkeys

9. Top Tip: Remnants of Santa’s midnight feast

8. Pantomime / Mummer’s Plays

7. Recycled Christmas cards

6. Top Tip: Santa’s sleigh bells to get the children to bed

5. Organic Brussels sprouts

4. Sustainably grown English Mistletoe

3. Top Tip: Hoof prints of visiting Reindeer

2. LED Christmas Lights

1. Fair Trade Christmas Trees 

We hope you have a Happy Ethical Christmas.