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Cordless vacuum cleaners: Gtech AirRam Mk2

We tested the original Gtech cordless vacuum cleaner soon after it was launched (when back when in 2013!) and as we said at the time, it's a good machine for quick clean-ups. On the downside it was noisy, didn't get close in to the edges of skirting boards and kick plates and I also felt it was better on carpet than on hard floors.

Nonetheless I wasn't expecting any significant changes when we were given the Mk2 upright and the hand-held Gtech Multi to test...possibly a bit of new styling, a little more horsepower so to speak.

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Wilko extends in-store facemask recycling scheme

If we dump our facemasks in the bin, they'll end up in landfill, contributing to the formation of greenhouse gases. So we're all being urged to dispose of masks carefully and one easy way is to drop them off at a recycling point in a wilko store.

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Be a more eco traveller

It’s inate in us to travel and over the past 40 years more of us have done so, thanks in no small part to the jumbo 737 and 747. Last year more than 1.2 billion tourists worldwide traveled to foreign countries, which according to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) was an increase of 3.9 per cent, or 46 million more travellers, on 2015.

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Salvage and reclamation - it's a woman's world

Using salvaged and reclaimed products is an inherently eco friendly way of doing up a house because you're using what's already there, even if it does have to be sanded, polished or painted. Choose reclaimed bricks for construction projects, while reclaimed baths, radiators, lighting and garden furniture are all readily available. Check out Retrouvius, Lassco, Masco, Skinflint Design and Trainspotters - the latter two do reclaimed lighting.

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Planted: new zero-waste design show

Planted, the first contemporary design show aimed at reconnecting people and spaces with nature, promises an impressive line-up of sustainable brands to sit alongside programme of inspiring talks, so if you like design and you care about the environment, well don't miss this show if you're in London between 23-26 September.

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Jungle in Town: pop-up plants for Londoners

Jungle in Town brings pop up plants sales to big cities including London.

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B&Q announces Gardener of the Year competition

The first B&Q Gardener of the Year competition should come as a relief to everyone who's lamenting the postponement of the 2021 Chelsea Flower Show until September. Gardening has proved a godsend to many over the past year and the country is benefiting from this industriousness in the form of many spruced up front and back gardens, plus the addition of millions of very beautiful window boxes that make our streets look so much more tempting.

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Salad days with Acqua Tower

Interest in gardening, or more particularly interest in helping people with limited space to garden, is, thankfully growing as fast as grass and ivy do in summer.

Whether it’s prettier pots for indoor and outdoor plants, herbs for the windowsill or hydroponic LED kits so you can grow herbs and salad leaves on your kitchen table, it’s good to see that the garden sector is acknowledging that far more of us have little to no outside space than have rolling lawns and abundant herbaceous borders at our disposal.