The importance of using sustainable reusable packaging
Inspirational Quote - “we delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty” - Maya Angelou
May is probably my favourite month of the year, for all the fresh leaves, floral scents, bustling of nature with the birds nesting, young mammals everywhere. It truly is a delight and one that we must enjoy. How can we help our wildlife and insects flourish so that they too enjoy May. To spend a day planting for the oncoming summer allows your stresses and worries to be left in the house. To have your hands in the soil makes me happy. I love the noises, smells and expectations that gardening brings, but we must take care to garden for both ourselves and nature. Here are our Ten Tips to garden organically:
Always choose organic, peat-free soil. Try and find a spot to make your own compost, this way you restore the soil with your garden’s own natural bacterial, this helps to keep your soil healthy. I don’t know about you but I am tired of finding big chunks of plastic, sticks, even brick waste in the peat free compost., there’s something lovely about knowing what went into the compost. Plus you never know, you may find grass snakes cuddled up, if so please don’t disturb them. If you worry about attracting rats, don’t put kitchen waste, food waste in your bin. You can read about making a compost bin here
Love worms, we need every single little worm as they are the workhorses of our soil. Without healthy soil, our garden will not grow.
Never use pesticides or slug pellets, these kill insects, birds and hedgehogs. There is no need for them and lets hope this year they are banned. Learn to love slugs, the big ones only eat decaying material and the little ones which eat your lettuce, well does it matter really. What’s an odd hole between friends and if you encourage frogs, toads, hedgehogs into your garden, they will eat them for you.
Dont be too tidy. Create a rough natural patch at the back of your borders or down the bottom of your garden allows nature to breathe. Areas of nettles are ideal for butterflies to lay eggs. Logs for insects, beetles and hedgehogs to live. wild flowers to grow to supply nectar to bees. A weed is only a plant in the wrong place afterall.
Make sure there’s lots of fresh water available, even wasps need to drink. Wasps by the way help to eat the greenfly off roses, they are not my favourite but they do have a purpose, honestly.
Try and leave mowing your lawn for 4-6 weeks then if possible only mow a path through. Sowing wildflower seeds is a wonderful easy way to bring flowers into your garden. Do you remember as children making daisy chains, I do x
Learn to love dandelions & lawn daisies. They are major sources of nectar for bees and hoverflies and you can easily control them by removing the seed heads before they disperse.
Adopt a no-dig policy for your soil. The structure is complex and regular digging damages this structure so it needs more water and loses nutrients quicker. Simply mulch every spring with your nutritious compost and leave the leaves in autumn on top of your soil, our friendly worms will drag the leaves underground to feed your soil.
Look after birds by creating hidden nesting and roosting sites. Build bee houses for solitary bees and bumblebees. Find places for butterflies to eat, plants, oranges will all give them food.
Add a garden pond so that newts, frogs, and dragonflies have a place to breed. It’s so lovely watching birds come to the pond for a bath and drink.
If you need some more inspiration, at the end of May is the National Garden Wildlife Week, have a look at this website and see what you can do to help and attract more wildlife into your garden
“feel fresh as a daisy”
reed diffuser 250ml
The importance of using sustainable reusable packaging
From an early age, I have been interested in the environment, nature and, our beautiful wildlife. So it was no surprise that Helpmeorganics had to be an ethical company where the focus is on using packaging that can be reused and recycled. We all know that too much waste ends up in landfill. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down causing toxins to leach out into the soil, never mind the pollution during manufacture. The best remedy for this is to use materials that can be reused or added to your compost bin.
It can be done.
By using cardboard that has been made from recycled paper, packaging chips made from potato starch that are compostable and packaging tape that can stay on the cardboard box when it is finally recycled, or reused to line the veg beds, we can reduce our waste.
Simple measures will ensure that we send minimal rubbish to landfill, that has to be good for our carbon emissions. How wonderful, that during "lockdown", the air quality improved so much that you could see the stars easier, the sky was bluer and the hole in the artic ozone layer had begun to close. This was due to a reduction in air pollution.
At Helpmeorganics, we try to use small local businesses as much as we can, we feel its important to build a good relationship and also to know where the material has come from.
We use UK suppliers that have the same ethics as us, it is important to support the UK economy.
We are an organic company, we must use ingredients grown with no impact on the soil, insects, wildlife, and wild spaces. In the last few months, with a lot of people working remotely from home, we have noticed a big increase in customers actively searching for a more "planet-friendly" alternative so as small businesses we must keep this trend alive and help customers live a more sustainable lifestyle. Will you join us to become NetZero?
"So why are we so passionate about this? Changing your packaging to an eco alternative, looking for UK suppliers to reduce your carbon footprint or even just making a conscious effort to not waste as much paper can make a huge difference. How can your household be more eco?" Here are a couple of ways…
Do a survey of your rubbish. Can you reduce the amount of waste brought into the house? Take pots to the supermarket to replace the plastic bag. Or use the local market, they are an amazing source of local veg
Install water butts in your garden to catch rain water. Plants and your pond will love it, saves you money to!
Use chemical free alternatives to clean your home. Install a filter on your washing machine to catch the micro fibres.
Make a pledge to change your energy supplier to one that uses “green energy”. As consumers, we have the power to force these big global companies to change.
Tell your council to stop spraying weedkiller on the pavements outside your home. They want to save money so weed it by hand so they don’t have to.
“help me feel fresh as a daisy” handpoured soy candle made with organic essential oils
SCENT OF THE MONTH - “help me feel fresh as a daisy”
This scent blend is perfect to fill your home during May. We have blended uplifting essential oils of Rosemary, Sweet Orange, Frankincense and Cedarwood. Lets shake off winter and encourage our energy to rise so that we can enjoy all that this has to offer.
Rosemary is used to stimulate your circulation and may help with memory, mental clarity. It has properties to reduce muscle aches and pains and is used in hair rinses to add that shine we all want. We have blended Sweet orange to further enhance the “feel-good” benefits. A recent study found that rosemary and sweet orange essential oils helped to reduce levels of stress by corticosterone levels and increased the levels of dopamine and serantonin in the brain (the hormones responsible for us feeling happy).
Frankincense is a powerful anti-depressant. Its active compound, Boswellic acid, has been scientifically found to have anti-inflammatory properties and when inhaled, the oil encourages feelings of peace and relaxation. The final essential oil is this scent blend is Cedarwood, reknown for easing feeling of stress and improving your mood.
All together, the blend of organic essential oils will help you to feel happy, calm and relaxed. Perfect for Spring!
The best gift you can give is to make someone feel happy
DAYS OF AWARENESS FOR MAY:
Make May the month you…..
meet someone for a cuppa even in the garden or local park
catch up with a new mum. When you ve just had a baby, your hormones are all over the place and its easy to feel overwhelmed and a little isolated. Send a text, write a brief note and listen to them
get out walking, best exercise for the whole of your body & mind, why not do some littler picking at the same time and meet up with your family & friends.
Write a story. It doesnt have to be the next Roald Dahl or Beatrix Potter novel. When my daughter was little, I made up stories that I fully intend to write down one day for my future grandchildren
I think we have all been more aware of our lung health, breathing and too many people struggle with asthma everyday. So bake cakes and have a Cake Sale in aid of the Big Asthma Bake Sale and help them raise money for research
Finally, if you or your partner have a mole that concerns you, May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Finding out early makes the treatment much quicker so don’t delay. Being aware of UV sunlight affects on our skin is important, read a little more here
As a vegetarian, I love promoting eating a plant based diet. Join in with all the fun during National Vegetarian Week, (May 8 - 11th), have a look at The Vegetarian Society’s website
Celebrate your garden on May 9th with Garden Day and upload an image of how you enjoy spending time to their social media. We love our gardens so lets share our passion!
May 21st is World Meditation Day - we think you should try and spend time EVERY day quietly allowing your thoughts to soften, calm and heal but how lovely to highlight the benefits of meditation.
If you grow vegetable plants and have any spare, why not ask your local primary and junior schools, gardening is on the curriculum and they will be delighted to accept your plants. What better way to connect children with the natural world than by gardening with nature in mind.
OUR NEWS!
We are very busy putting the finishing touches to some new Gift Boxes, they will be available from June 1st
“help me say hello to summer” soy candle, reed diffuser will be available from June 1st, we are very excited that there will also be a room spray and essential oil blend on our website too!
When you spend over £50 on our website, we will include a FREE GIFT with your order until 31st May 2021. One free gift per order and only available on our website. no code needed
Natural products designed by us
made with organic ingredients
““We may think we are nurturing our garden but really it is our garden that is nurturing us” - Jenny Uglow”
