Notes on Nature

Welcome back to Culture Forager, the roundup of stuff that’s grabbed our attention lately. Now that spring’s on its way, Nature’s putting on a stunning display. We’ve picked out some wonderful things to do in the great outdoors – and a few for indoors, in case of spring showers.

Spring is in the air, which means lots of lovely new things appearing in Nature. And this spring, we’re delighted to announce a lovely new thing that our customers have been asking for.

Today we’re throwing our Indie Spotlight on something a little different: a mobile zero waste shop. Based in Bristol, Oat Float is a colourful vintage milk float that delivers plastic-free refill products directly to customers’ doors (and containers!). We caught owner Matt on a break from his busy rounds to find out more about his brilliant business.

Hair masks have the pampering power to pep up locks in need of some extra TLC. But what is the difference between a hair mask and conditioner? And how often should you use a hair mask? We’re here to answer these questions and more. 

We love independent health shops. They’re where our founder Rivka started the business way back in 1974. Which is why we’re especially proud of our new partnership with Health Stores UK.

Everyone knows that roses smell good. Rose oil, made from the petals of the flowers, has been used in beauty remedies for centuries. Beyond its elegant aroma, what are the benefits of rose oil? We asked our founder and renowned and qualified aromatherapist Rivka Rose (yes that really is her surname!) to tell us more.

Take a birds’ eye view of one of our 400ml bottles and you’ll notice a special embossed message: ‘Recycling is good, refilling is better.’ But what exactly does refilling entail? And how does it help Nature?

A month after she visited COP15 in Montreal, Alexandra Pimor was at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  Ally is Director of Global Nature Governance at Earth Law Centre, as well as being one of the proxies for Nature on our board. We caught up with her to find out what it was like to represent Nature at a conference of world leaders and billionaires.

Our Marketing Director, Hannah Whittaker, recently had the honour of delivering the opening speech at the inaugural Better Business Summit. The one-day conference, held at MMU, brought businesses together to discuss how to create a better future for people and the planet. We were there to connect with like-minded businesses, inspire, be inspired – and hand out lots of bars of our lovely soap!

In recent years, how often or how thoroughly we wash our hands has shifted to the front of our collective conscience. Washing our hands is something we do many times a day, without a second thought, often leaving our hands parched in the process. Here’s how natural hand wash can switch up this dull (and even drying) part of your routine – and help Nature.

Every time you place an order with us, we plant a tree. Or the brilliant people at TreeSisters do. In just over a year, we’ve helped them plant an incredible 33,515 saplings. But where are all these trees? And who puts them in the ground? Here we share more about TreeSisters’ amazing work – and the real difference all those trees make.

We were thrilled to be represented at COP15 in Montreal last month by Ally Pimor, Director of Corporate Governance at Earth Law Center and Representative of Nature on our board. Ally was talking about Nature Rights, sharing the experience of having Nature on our board and inviting others to do the same. In light of the conference, we spoke to Ally about the conference and Nature’s Rights.