Summer is the prefect time for picnics, pretty much anywhere! On roof tops, in Central Park, at the beach, open air cinemas or the zoo, a good picnic is special. But how often do you make the effort and unleash your creativity to put together a delicious lunch or dinner in a box or basket?

Have you ever looked at a product the size of a pea wrapped in a layer of clear film, with a 20 page instruction booklet, vacuum packed in hard plastic, covered by another layer of cardboard and thought, "Why?!"? Well, you're not alone.

Image via: Algalita Marine Research Foundation

We must recognize that everything we create as a society has a future that we cannot see. Every product we make lives on after our brief interaction with it. Nowhere is that more apparent than the plastic legacy we are leaving in our oceans.

All images via www.methodlaundry.co.uk

Along with the great news that Method Laundry Detergent has just recently been launched in the UK (yes our clothes are already cleaner) we hear that Method's innovative pump action laundry detergent bottle has won the

Image from jp fire

Ontario, Canada's largest province by population, has introduced a new eco fee. The Ontario government has imposed this environmental fee on manufacturers and importers of goods that produce hazardous waste.

"This is what can happen when you order 8 plates, 4 large, 4 small." Photos by Rev Dan Cat

Recycling that does double duty. Ship a package and the recipient could plant 100 native trees from seeds embedded in The Life Box for a little woods of Hemlock, Sycamores and Birch trees.

Image by B. Alter

In Japan it is called furoshiki and they have been doing it for centuries. At Lush they call it knot-wrap and it has been a huge hit in the last few months since they introduced it. Instead of using wrapping paper, they have been packaging purchases in colourful fabric squares.

Image: Jo Swinson, MP

There is a law, but you wouldn't know it to look at the Easter displays.

Clementine Art supplies make you want to sing, "Oh My Darling."

Red cabbage, beets, yellow onions, turmeric powder, and grape juice. Yum. A weird salad? No, they're natural dyes for your free-range Easter eggs, as described on the Clementine Art blog.