Green (Living) Review: Lakeland

Showing posts with label Lakeland. Show all posts

Lakeland Garden 2012 Catalog – Preview

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

If it hasn't happened already then in the next couple of days or so the Lakeland Garden 2012 Catalog will be dropping through people's letterboxes.

This years catalog is, probably, the best Garden Catalog from Lakeland today and it is full to the brim with interesting products for those wishing to grow and produce their own food, grow a great flower garden and utilize their garden as a outdoor room.

The catalog this Spring comes with a free packet of Basil Sweet Green seeds from Thompson & Morgan and this is definitely one herb I hope will grow and stay with me. I don't seem to have too much luck with growing herbs – don't ask me why – especially those of the woody variety such as sage, etc.

The new and most interesting, in my opinion, additions to the Garden Catalog and those that got my interest are quite a few and, in fact, more really than those that I have listed below.

However, let's get started...

On page 3 we find the ZIGG ZAGG range of planters which even to me are entirely new.

Page 5 presents us with one of the best tools, besides your own hands, for the backyard potato grower during harvest in the form of the Burgon & Ball “Potato Harvester”. This is the same that we have reviewed here on the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW a while back.

The Easy 2 Grow Kit on page 6 is also another product that is very much a new one to me and one that looks ideal for anyone wishing to grow tomatoes, for instance, in a small space. Not that I will be bothering with tomatoes again as for the last number of years my tomatoes all died of death for some reason or other though mainly due to the blight.

For growing fresh herbs on your window sill in your kitchen the Self-Watering Herb Pot on page 10 appears to be another great product.

And on goes the list with Seed Rolls on page 11 and the Omlet Eglu on page 12. The latter is for anyone considering having some hens for eggs in the back garden. Not that the coop and all are cheap but they are easy care rather than the wooden hen houses which tend to harbor mites and other nasties.

A plant food maker we find on page 16 of the catalog followed immediately by a wormery on the next page. All great for making food for your plants.

This year Lakeland are also offering young plants of all kinds including sweet potatoes and we certainly don't see those, in plant form, very often in catalogs. A number of fruit trees are also available in this catalog including the rather new apple variety “Redlove” which, if I am not mistaken, was only launched in summer last year by Sutton Seeds on the RHS shows in the London area. This can be grown in a container on the patio and is again something for those who do not have a large garden.

This is only a very small selection of what is featured in this years Lakeland Garden Catalog and it is all worth a look at least.

I am sure everyone will find something in their that he or she would wish to acquire.

Right, now it's time to get into the garden and actually do something...

You will be astonished

Astonish Pro Cleaning Paste (from Lakeland – Product Review

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Astonish Multi-Use Cleaning Paste

Astonishingly versatile, this gentle yet effective cleaning paste contains essential oils of tea tree and eucalyptus plus powerful antibacterial properties to produce stunning results on glass, enamel, ceramic, granite, stainless steel, UPVC windows and more. Tough on stains and germs, it comes with an applicator and a sponge.

(Not suitable for highly polished stainless steel, silver, copper or brass.)

Lakeland Ref #23456

500g.

Astonish, the natural cleaning paste, is not, per se, a new product; not by a long shot of one's imagination. In fact, it has been around for a fairly long time, decades if not more. This pro version, on the other hand, does appear to be new, though.

Astonish is natural cleaning cream or paste par excellence, and will tackle the toughest of cleaning jobs with the addition of a little elbow grease.

It should be noted though that the product is slightly abrasive, containing silica sand, and thus best not be used on surfaces that are and are to remain mirror polished.

For all other jobs Astonish is safe to use including cups, plates, and other utensils that are used with food as there, so it states, are no harmful ingredients in the product.

I have been using Astonish before, the old version, and a copy of it called “Revive”, for many, many years, and have certainly suffered no ill effects and the product is doing an absolutely astonishing job.

Astonish can even be used on your hands to wash off grease, oil, garden grime, and such like. It works wonders in that department too.

This is a great product that can very much and wholeheartedly recommend. Natural and good for the Planet.

Lakeland Stainless Steel Universal Steamer – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Turn any 18 or 20cm saucepan into a steamer, or use with the Pasta Pot to steam veg whilst cooking pasta below.

Lakeland Ref: 15182

Size: 28.5 x 21 x 17cm H. (11¼" x 8¼" x 6¾").

This is a well-made stainless steel steamer insert, with glass lid, that will fit onto an ordinary saucepan (18cm and 20cm) turning it into a two-tier steamer. Thus, this insert eliminates the need for a dedicated, multi-tiered steamer.

The Lakeland Universal Steamer is ideal for the single person household, and also for two, where a bigger multi-tier steamer would be a waste as far as capacity and size goes. It also will do a great service as an extra steamer that may be required if more things are to be cooked in that way for a meal.

This steamer insert is made of high-quality stainless steel, is well constructed, and equals in quality many much more expensive “pots”, for lack of a better word.

Steaming food, as we discussed in a previous article, is probably one of the best way of preparing food – aside from eating your vegetables all raw – and one that retains most of the flavors and, I am told, nutrients.

The suggestion of cooking pasta in the pot below while steaming vegetables, as was suggested on Lakeland's website, had not, as yet, entered my head but, hey, what a great idea. Let's get steaming...

Another great product from Lakeland.

Lakeland 2lb Oblong Silicone Cake Pan – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Silicone as a cooking concept has been embraced by professional chefs and home bakers alike – an amazing material, it makes baking so much easier. Thanks to its amazing non-stick properties, the results simply pop out.

Conducting heat better than metal, your cakes will cook quicker, and they're so easy to store, squish 'em, squash 'em, roll 'em and fold 'em, they'll spring back into shape instantly.

Microwave and freezer safe.
Won't absorb flavours or odours.
Non-stick and easy to clean.
Won't crack or distort – heat resistant up to 240°C.

29 x 14 x 8cm H. (11½" x 5½" x 3")

Lakeland Catalog Ref #13294

The pan is made from what appears to be very high quality food grade silicone and performs well but one should use it for baking cakes only, as is intended.

I would – note to self – suggest not to use it for baking bread, as I tried, as the dough during the proving, when it is rising, will push out the sides of the pan, resulting in a misshapen loaf.

With cakes that do not – and most don't – require yeast things are a different story altogether here and the pan should perform well and as intended. I guess that it's why it says “cake pan” and not “bread pan” or “-tin”.

Removal of the trial loaf that I did bake in the silicone pan, however, was the easiest I have ever experienced without the use of parchment paper.

Using parchment paper in my heavy (duty) metal bread tin make also for a very clean and quick release and removal of the loaf without a problem.

As they say, it is “horses for courses”.

To recap: Great product for the intended purpose; don't use for bread.

Lakeland Spring 2012 “around the home” catalog – Preview

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The latest Spring 2012 catalog from Lakeland is about to drop thought your letterboxes. As a writer I have had the privilege to get mine earlier than the rest for a sneak preview.

This catalog is, primarily, geared up to one of the main annual tasks around the home in Spring, namely that of “Spring Cleaning”.

This is – once again – a catalog jam-packed full with great ideas and tools, with a fair few, once again too, falling in one way or the other under the “green” and “eco” label; at least as far as I am concerned.

Cleaning is not a task that most people – aside from, maybe, professional cleaners – relish and spring cleaning, the big clean, definitely falls into that category of not relished tasks. Therefore anything that can make that task and that of daily cleaning easier, less arduous and more fun is, I am sure, most welcome by all.

As said, every aspect of cleaning is covered, as are related tasks, from floor and carpet sweeping and cleaning, and keeping them all clean, via furniture care, dish washing to laundry and more.

On the “green” side we find – on page 11 – help with our daily floor and carpet sweeping tasks in the form of the Bissell® Natural Sweep manual carpet sweeper, as well as in the form of the Gtech® EcoCharge Floor Sweeper, the SW20, reviewed some time late last year in the “pages” of this here Blog.

On page 18 and 19 you will find some great looking brushes made from natural materials, that is to say goats' hair, and real wood in two out of three instance, whether it is for dusting your Venetian blinds, your radiators or for remopving cobwebs.

Micofiber cloths are everywhere and the E-Cloth range, which seems to be expanding further each and every time (or is that just me?) can be found on page 26 and 27 of the catalog.

New in Lakeland's range in this catalog is the Astonish® cleaning paste which, so I understand, does a great job in cleaning while being gentle to hands and the environment. This can be found on page 32.

This is but a small selection of what caught my attention and only a very tiny selection of what can be found in the catalog.

Along with that catalog arrived a Spring 2012 Gift Ideas catalog and there will be lots of it in there that, I am sure, will make you smile.

One things that caught my attention in that catalog as to green and eco if the Power 'N Go S-200 Solar Panel on page 28. I shall try to endeavor to get my hands on an example as sample for a review. So keep a look out for that.

Lakeland Spring 2012 Catalog – Preview

Another great catalog jam-packed with great ideas, many of them falling within the categories of the GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The latest catalog from the great folks of Lakeland, up there in the Cumbrian Lake District, the one for Spring 2012, covers probably all bases for sure.

Starting with baking it travels via breakfast and cooking to preparation and food storage. Absolutely everything is, as I have said, covered.

The Silicone Bakeware looks something absolutely fantastic, especially for those of us who hate having their cakes or bread stick to the pan. The Perfobake is also something that is entirely new to me and I am almost convinced that it is to most folks.

The other incredibly good sounding bakeware range is the Bakegenius one. Here we have silicone coated metal surfaces. Another great, if not to say brilliant, idea, so it would seem.

On page 40, within the baking section, we then come to the bread baking department, so to speak, and here the Ceramic Bread Maker looks to me to be a very handy bread pan.

Ii have used a deep ceramic roasting dish, about the depth and size of a 2lb loaf tin, for baking bread before and it works a treat. The ease with which the bread comes out without little mess is what I really like.

Pages 98 to 100 inclusive then give us some great innovative pots and pans and utensils for cooking in the microwave oven, which is one of the most energy efficient ways of cook food.

Some people believe, falsely, as far as I and many others are concerned, that cooking in the microwave oven is bad and that microwave ovens are a health risk and that foods cooked in them but the speed of cooking in the microwave via the heat generated in the food by the radio waves, for that is all that microwaves are, make for sealed-in flavors and nutrition. (More about that in an article to come).

On the food storage front – and proper storage of food is ever so vital and important if we wish to avoid waste – there are also loads of things to chose from.

The Lakeland exclusive Potato Bag, which I have reviewed here a year or more back and which, I would like to add, is still performing great service in my home, is a must to keep potatoes fresher for longer.

In addition the Stayfresh Longer Bags also are a must have in any kitchen. I have found those bags to also perform a great services as to keeping my home-baked bread fresh.

Another great selection from Lakeland...

Radius® 3-Piece Tool Set from Lakeland – Product Review

Radius® 3-Piece Tool Set
Lakeland Ref 51729
Price: £26.99
not available in store

The set comprises cultivator, weeder and transplanter (trowel).

Curvaceously comfortable, the patented handles are ergonomically designed to work with the natural position of your wrist, maximising power while minimising stress. With aluminium blades that are both lightweight and strong, this set includes everything you’ll need to make tending to your flowerbeds a pleasure rather than a chore.

While I must say that I am not the greatest of friends of aluminium for use with garden tools in this case I may just make and exception. The one problem I can see with aluminium, however, is that that metal wears down faster often in comparison to steel. The other side of the coin, however, is that you can wash the tools and don't have to worry about whether or not they are 100% dry when you hang them up – the best way to store any garden tool – or not, as aluminium does not rust nor in any other way corrode.

The tools perform and handle well, are well balanced, and the half-moon, sort of, shaped handle allows for a much more natural holding and handling of the tools than do the straight handles of ordinary garden hand tools, be they trowels, cultivators, or what have you.

The proof of the pudding as to the strain reduction certainly will be in a prolonged use of the tools, especially in a more-or-less professional setting, but from what I have seen so far using the trowel (transplanter), and the weeder, they handle very well indeed.

The weeder I have found to be a very useful tool for the removal of weeds from the crack in paving. It actually has a lip on the underside designed to get into the groves in the paving and cleanly cut off the weeds.

Oh, did I say that I like the tools? Well, I do and very much so.

Full Circle "Reach" Bottle Brush - Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Full Circle Reach Bottle Brush

This is a very uniquely designed bottle brush, allowing you to clean the inside of the bottle and the outside in one go. Simply place the longer end inside the bottle, squeeze the handle and presto – you are cleaning both the inside and outside at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking.

The Reach Bottle Brush is recycled plastic, recycled stainless steel and particulars are as follows:

Handle and bristles are made with recycled plastic
Wire is made from recycled stainless steel
Hangs on faucet to dry
Ergonomic, flexible handle
10" tall to reach to the bottom!
Great for reusable water bottles, travel coffee mugs, baby bottles and more!
Patent Pending

Aside from the fact that the Reach Bottle Brush woks well it looks good and, better still, it is rather green, though its real color is orange. While a bio-plast for the handle might still have been better rather than just recycled plastic, and other products of the Full Circle range indeed have parts that are from bio-plast it still pushes a lot of the right buttons, methinks.

I find the brush a great tool for cleaning bottles and glass jars and I love the ease with which the task is accomplished. In addition to that I love the fact that it can just be hung to dry while also looking good in the kitchen.

The Full Circle Reach Bottle Brush is now available in the UK also via Lakeland under the catalog reference #23055 and, I assume, will also be available in their various store outlets that Lakeland now have around the country.

Potato Grow Pot from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Potato Grow Pot

Manufactured by Alagra Products

Made in Britain

Lakeland Ref 51841

Not available in Lakeland stores, mail order only.

Price: £19.99

The Potato Grow Pot is a durable plastic multi-storey grow pot system for, well, spuds!

With a space-saving design so even the tiniest gardens, a patio or even balcony, can reap rewards. Just plant your tubers in the base pot and, as they grow, you can stack a second then third ‘collar’ and add more compost to increase the pot’s yield.

Providing the ideal growing conditions for a maximum crop of potatoes, the air circulates freely into the compost and, because each collar also has an external trough, watering and feeding each level can be accurate and precise. Made from what is said to be “durable” plastic.

The good thing is that you don't have to – and ideally shouldn't – leave the pots outside during the harshest parts of winter; some plastics certainly do not like too much on the frost front. When you have harvested your spuds you carefully dismantle the pot into its parts, clean everything and then store it all safely in your shed or garage, or wherever safe.

The Potato Grow Pot comes with full instructions and a PDF of them is also available to download from the website at www.alagraproducts.co.uk.

Each ‘collar’ has a diameter of 43cm, that is17 inches in old money, and is 23cm, that is to say 9 inches, tall. The total height is 61cm (24 inches) and the overall capacity 60 litres.

I have used a number of different types of containers in which to grow spuds – and other vegetables for that matter – and all require digging for the taters. The Potato Grow Pot does away with that in that, come harvest time, you simply take it down section by section and collect the potatoes from the soil. Simple.

Although maybe just a little early seeing it is just the first week of March I have started my first lot of potatoes now in the Potato Grow Pot and we shall see how things progress. If the grow or not will have little to do with the pot but everything to do with the elements, pests and diseases and my care of them, and pollinators also help.

The Potato Grow Pot, as said already, is great to have on the patio and at the price you might as well get two or three of them. The more spuds the merrier. But then again I love potatoes.

Wooden Cold Frame from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Cold frame with double-skin walls and hinged lid.

Lakeland Ref 51434

A home from home for hardening off greenhouse plants ready for planting out, or over-wintering garden pot plants, our cold frame has double-skin polycarbonate walls to prevent Jack Frost getting in, and the hinged lid locks open at varying angles for adjustable ventilation and easy access.

The sturdy wooden frame has been specially coated with a weatherproof spray to give years of service whether on a patio or in your beds. Self-assembly.

This product is not available in the Lakeland stores and can only be bought from the catalog.

Dimensions: 1m x 66 x 40cm H. (39" x 26" x 15").

Taking the cold frame out of the box, going through the instructions and then putting it together took about three quarters of an hour, give or take, and that included me having to look for some suitable screws to complete the project as the manufacturers had left out one packet of screws. Just a packing error and those, as all of those that have ever dealt with flat pack furniture, ala IKEA, know well enough.

The assembly of the frame is and was straightforward though I, personally, would have preferred written instructions rather than the now way too common hieroglyphics. A combination of pictures with some good instructional text wold be better. This is not, by any means, meant to be criticism for the product itself but as to general practice. Why we are being given hieroglyphics nowadays as instructions still is strange to me.

This is a real good-looking little cold frame that is not just practical but also enhances the visual appearance of your garden or allotment.

The frame is made of softwood of the conifer family and the “glass” panels are horticultural double-skin polycarbonate sheets. The lid can be arrested in different open positions for ventilation by means of a brass slider on both sides that is held by a wing nut and this seems to work very effectively.

As the frame, even though it is wooden framed, is rather light anchoring it to the ground will be very important. Using anchor pegs such as used for tents, I do not think, will suffice, even tough people will be tempted to do just that. However, I have had a bad experience with a cold frame of a similar nature – from a different source – having taken off in strong winds and ending up destroyed.

I have been thinking of fixing this cold frame to a wooden base, such as an old pallet, at the same time reusing that one, and may still do so. Presently, however, I have anchored the wooden cold frame using four paving bricks and this should be sufficient for all but the strongest of gales.

Anchoring the frame is very important so as to prevent it from taking a flight during strong winds, and this can happened quickly when the lid is open and a gust catches it. Such anchoring, in lieu of my thought of affixing it to a base, could be accomplished by placing a brick on each of the metal corner pieces on the inside of the frame. The weight of the bricks should be sufficient as anchors.

I do not know whether, especially of one would consider one's own time as cost, one could build a frame such as this for less than the purchase cost of this wooden cold frame from Lakeland, except, maybe, if the lumber, for instance, would b e sourced for free.

Unlike an “ordinary” and more stationary cold frame this wooden cold frame can be due to their lightness and the fact that they can be simply anchored to the ground, also b e used as to cloche of sorts. A very nice touch.

The above means that the cold frame can be used to bring on crops and when established the frame can then be moved to another area to bring on other seeds.

Thingamadig Hand Hoe from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The Thingamadig Hand Hoe

A Multi-purpose hoe-like tool. Polished stainless steel with a rubber handle.

Based on the popularity of the scoop Thingamadig (Lakeland Ref 50555), here’s a handy hoe version which we think you’ll love too. It will slice through weeds with ease, as its offset stainless steel blade allows you to get at the weeds in closely planted borders, without damaging the plants you want to keep. With a soft-grip handle for comfort.

Lakeland Ref 51302
41cm (16") in length
Price: 7.99 GBP

The Thingamadig “multi-purpose” hand hoe is, as the manufacturer states, a unique and versatile garden tool, based on a traditional Japanese hand hoe design.

It weeds, digs, chops, furrows, cuts and hoes and is thus quite a utility tool for the gardener.

This is a tool that will be especially valued by the backyard food grower who uses raised beds, tubs and planters of all kinds in which to grow his produce.

The Thingamadig Hoe, like its cousin, the Trowel, is part of the range of tool and things of Dalson of Australia and imported into the UK by Lakeland. The Hoe has the same trademarked Dalson Comfort Grip, as has the Trowel, which is very comfortable to use and equally well suited to right- or left-handed operation.

The Thingamadig Hoe is a tool that takes the hard work out of digging and through raised beds here, in my opinion, especially.

Based on a traditional Japanese hand hoe design, it has a pointed head that makes it ideal for weeding, digging and furrowing. Its offset blade helps protect roots whilst digging around plants and allows you to get in real close too your plants without causing damage.

The Thingamadig Hoe is manufactured from quality, stainless steel for optimal strength and durability. A beauty to behold and a beauty to use.

Soda Bottle Bird Feeder from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Soda Bottle Bird Feeder
Made in the USA by McNaughton Inc. Minneapolis, MN
Imported into the UK by Lakeland Ltd, Cumbria
Lakeland Ref 51368

I must say that I do love those little devices of one kind or other that then turn those otherwise horrible plastic (Soda) bottles into something useful and usable and the Soda Bottle Bird Feeder is no exception here.

The Soda Bottle Bird Feeder turns soda bottles and bottled water containers easily into effective all-year-round (if you so desire) bird feeder.

Assembly is straightforward and the removable “plug” in the bottom of the device makes refilling of the feeder as easy as pie.

The Soda Bottle Bird Feeder is made with a recycled and reused material contents, the full percentage amount of which, however, has not been given.

The packaging is simple card and no plastic blister, which is ever so nice to see.

This is a real nice way of reusing those pesky plastic bottles rather than sending them to landfill or for recycling to China,

I just wish there would be more products on the market for the conversion of plastic bottles, of all kinds and sizes, into useful things.

My thanks to Lakeland for bringing this product into the UK.

Parasene Longrow Super Cloche from Lakeland – Product Review,

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Longrow Super Cloche

Lakeland Ref: 51152

UV-protected, corrugated plastic protection for your plants. Galvanised steel frame.

Protect your precious plants from the elements and give them a head start with the Super Cloche. Featuring a tall roof system and generous depth, your dwarf beans, strawberries and salads, will thank you for their uv-protected, corrugated plastic shelter. Circular panels at either end turn easily for adjustable ventilation.

Dimensions are 1.11m x 47 x 38cm high or 43¾" x 18½" x 15" for those who think Imperial.
Price: £33.99

Please note: the workable height of this product is 25cm. The height stated above is before the legs are planted into the ground.

The assembly of the cloche as per instructions are not as straightforward as would would assume, unfortunately.

The corrugated PVC panels are extremely tight fitting into the frame and in the process I, in fact, managed to break the corner of one of the panels.

Because of this extreme tight fit it is nigh impossible to fit the two ventilated end pieces which, per instructions, are supposed to be fitted after the corrugated PVC panels have been put in.

I would, therefore, strongly advise to put in the end pieces prior to the corrugated panels – as I did in the end. Once the procedure is thus reversed I found fitting to be a lot easier.

This is not he first self-assembly product where I have found that I have had to reinvent the instructions.

Once assembled, which, I must say, took me a while and a helper could come in most handy, putting the cloche upon a raised bed into the soil was very easy. All that is required is a gentle downward push on both metal hoops – DO NOT push down on the central bar.

Hoops and central bar of the cloche are of galvanized steel; much better than the aluminium frames so often used in similar products such as mini cold frames.

Tools required for the assembly of the cloche are a cross-head (Phillips) screwdriver and an 8mm spanner or better still a socket with driver. A pair of additional hands could come is useful too.

Paper Potter from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Paper Potter
Lakeland Ref 51484
Makes pots of approx. 4cm (1½") in diameter
Price: £9.99

The season is upon us gardeners yet again where it means to prepare for the new year and this means sowing seeds.

As we all like to be as environmentally friendly when we do that what better way than to make your own plug pots, and bio-degradable ones at that, from waste materials, in this case old newspaper.

The Paper Potter is very easy to use and makes very nice little pots that can be planted straight into the soil with the plug plant, degrading into the earth while the plant grows. Much better than buying compostable pots, the latter which are often made from peat.

Use this ingenious device, made from hand-turned FSC oak, to make little newspaper pots, and when hardened off, transplant your young plants, pot and all, without damaging their delicate roots.

Making pots with the Paper Potter is extremely easy and the pots turn out well as long as, and this is important, you do not wrap the paper around the Potter part too tight. When the instruction says “loosely” it means just that. The rest is just as easy as pie.

Once you have made you paper pot you then simply fill it with soil, add the seed of your choice and let nature do its job. When the plant has become big enough – the second leaf stage – you can then plant them out straight away or grow then further to a stronger plug stage in the pot.

Aside from working extremely well and turning out great little pots it also looks great and, in a way, far too nice too be put into the potting shed.

Personally I cannot wait to get started making and using those little pots or my plants this year.

The Paper Potter will live, however, during its breaks, on my desk, as it looks so nice and a real piece of beauty, and also in order to keep it dry. Always important with wooden products.

The best thing about the Paper Potter is the pots it makes are recycled and will recycled back into the soil as they will completely biodegrade and I can definitely recommend the Paper Potter from that aspect.

Crush-A-Can from Lakeland – Product Review

Brilliant can crushing device available from Lakeland in the UK

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Want to recycle cans, aluminum or steel, but have never enough for all of them in your can recycling bin? If so then the “Crush-A-Can” can crusher from Lakeland the answer.

Crush-A-Can can crusher
Lakeland Ref 3094
Size 10 x 8 x 33cm (4" x 3" x 13")
Price: £14.59

Crush-A-Can is a pedal-style can crusher, with non-slip feet and flattens bulky aluminum and steel cans of up to 475ml.

Show your support for the environment... by using your feet.

With the Crush-A-Can can crusher it is easy to flatten bulky aluminum and steel cans safely ready for recycling.

The Crush-A-Can can crusher is easy to operate and reduces the size of the cans to be recycled b y a large percentage and it only takes literally seconds to do so and flatten a can.

One little word of warning of sorts. Do not use your hand to try and flatten the cans with the Crush-A-Can. It can be painful. I tried, just too experiment, and regretted it.

While being simple to use and the operation is a matter of common sense the device, nevertheless, could have done with some little instructions, especially as to the reason and use of that bolt the position of which can be switched. That, however, is my only complaint, thus far.

Hide ID from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Concerned about your address data when sending paper to recycling? No more worries. Hide ID stamp takes care of it. For less than a tenner you get ID protection second to none.

Hide ID stamp

Lakeland Ref 22155

Hide ID is a handheld stamp that prints over your personal details on important papers. Ink pad refills are also available from this supplier.

When it comes to recycling, we all want to do our bit for the environment, but nobody wants to recycle paper containing personal information.

Hide ID will help ‘stamp out’ the threat of identity theft by printing a ‘gobbledygook’ of symbols on top of your personal details, to leave them completely illegible, even when held up to the light, so you can happily recycle all your documents without risk.

This is a brilliant, simple little gadget that does away with the business of tearing out all address panels, etc. in your post bundles and then getting rid off them prior too sending the letters too be recycled. It covers completely, depending on the paper used, either in one or at the most two stamps. But even three stamps would not make it difficult now, would it.

I like simple devices and this certainly falls into that category. The only problem I can see is with the shiny coated paper kind where the ink might be wiped off after a while. By that time, however, the stuff should be safely recycled.

Personally, when it comes to recycling paper I shred all mine that are of a non-coated variety and send them into my composter and I dare anyone to get any data from that stuff after a week or so even, let alone a month or three.

However, there is always that kind of paper and material that is not suitable to be recycled in such way and the HIDE ID stamp takes care of any of the personal information on those things.

Another great product from Lakeland.

Bissel Rubber-bladed Sweeper from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

I must admit that I love the green power of human-powered devices such as this one.

Bissell® Rubber Bladed Sweeper
Electrostatic rubber bladed sweeper
112cm (44") high
Lakeland Ref 21240

I have read a somewhat negative customer review of this device on Lakeland's website but must say that my take on this sweeper is entirely different.

While it is true that a handle does tend to “fall apart” when each section if not connected home properly once that has been firmly done there is no further problem there.

The sweeper picks up well, on carpet as well as bare floor, and does not have a spillage problem, which also had been indicated by the same customer review.

However, one simply has to watch the window of the sweeper and, having used similar sweepers before, it is a well known factor that they need frequent emptying – unlike a vacuum cleaner with its large reservoir.

When it comes to picking up, in my opinion, this human-powered sweeper from Bissel is superior to many an ordinary vacuum cleaner, which tend to have problems with some stuffs, such as sewing fluff and pet hairs.

Usually, I must admit, I left it for a number of days before I would succumb and put the Hoover together to get the rugs and carpets swept for I tend to bring in a lot of “dust” from the outside what with living surrounded by woods and having livestock too and a garden.

So, the Bissel sweeper is something that lives in the downstairs area now and is in daily use, keeping carpets, rugs and floors somewhat clean.

In my opinion, a great green product. Green as far as it is not powered by electricity or any such but entirely by human energy and mechanics.

At the cost of just under £30 it is not expensive either and can be but recommended.

Bento Box from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Bento Lunch Box
made by Aladdin
Lakeland Ref: 14302_13403

“Bring your own lunch” (BYOL) in the same way are BYOB (Bring your own bags) sure is a green way to go and neither of them are new. People used to bring their own shopping bags to trips to the stores before the advent of the paper or plastic carrier bag. The same was the case with lunch.

However, in the case of lunch this would mean a cold lunch consisting of a sandwich or two and anything else cold. Or it was soup in a thermos flask. In India lunch pails have been in use for a very long time, made of stainless steel (nowadays) that have different sections for the likes of Dahl, and other such foods as are the staple foods in India; the only disadvantage being that, if you want your lunch hot, and you do not have a wife to bring it out to your place of work for you, as is the case in India, you need a way of heating up the lunch.

So, are you fed up with sandwiches or want something more substantial now autumn is drawing in? Then let us introduce you to the Bento Box. Be it chilli and rice or chunky home-made soup, you can transport your lunch to work and it will stay lovely and hot for up to five hours. And if your lunch-hour is later than that, you can even pop it straight in the microwave for a quick heat up.

Aladdin has combined the principle of the Indian lunch pail with a means of keeping the food hot for about five hours in the Bento Lunch Box and made it into a very pleasing package.

With two separate sections and double-wall insulation, the Bento Boxes will also keep contents cold for up to four hours.

15cm (6") Dia. x 19cm (7½") H.

Another great products via the people in the English Lake District.

Lakeland Slow Cooker – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Lakeland Slow Cooker
Lakeland Ref 12921

If the thought of coming home at the end of the day to a tasty casserole of tender meat, wholesome beans or flavorsome vegetables has already got your taste buds tingling, then slow cooking is for you.

Creating beautiful home-cooked meals from scratch with the minimum of effort, it will make rushed ready-meals a thing of the past and that is both good fore you and the environment.

This slow cooker which is exclusive to Lakeland and produced for and imported by Lakeland – made in the PRC – is simple to operate with three heat settings:

LOW for simmering and slow cooking
HIGH for faster cooking and
AUTO which keeps food at serving temperature.

The cooker has an oval brushed chrome body with cool touch handles that houses an element that encircles the crock for even cooking.

The pot is a 3.5 liter earthenware crock with a glass lid, so you can see what's going on with the meal during the cooking without having to lift the lid all the time and letting out the heat. The crock can be removed to take to the table and for cleaning.

The small manual that comes with the crock pot (slow cooker) included four recipes to get you started.

Slow cookers can also be used to slow cook a joint of meat for instance and I have found meat cooked in that way to be very delicious indeed.

The only one single negative comment that I could make about this slow cooker – and this could probably apply to most, if not indeed all, modern ones – and that is that the outer body is metal and is connected to the inside “element” and hence the outside gets rather hot.

Crock pots of the older generation had different outsides, some earthenware themselves, just like the inside crock, others had plastics that remained cool to the touch.

Other than that this crock pot that is exclusive to Lakeland is a great slow cooker and does what it says on the box, so to speak, and will grace any kitchen and table, as you can, as previously mentioned, take the pot to the table for serving.

Chef'n Veggiechop from Lakeland – Product Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Chef'n Veggiechop
Lakeland Ref 12617
Price: GBP 24.49

Why a review of a kitchen gadget in a green magazine? The answer is simple in this case; it is human powered.

I could, theoretically, start and close the review with one single word: brilliant but that wold not do the little device justice.

The Veggiechop is made in China for the Chef'n company in the USA and available in Britain through Lakeland.

At GBP 24.49 this is not a cheap kitchen gadget but for that you get a quality device that does what is says on the tin – even though it comes in a cardboard box – and the results are great. No more cutting of finger trying to finely chop and onion or other vegetable.

As someone who likes cooking and also someone who is interested in not using too much energy needlessly in the kitchen human-powered devices such as this rank high on my list.

Having, previously, used a gadget that required thumping a plunger on the top to chop, say, onions the Chef'n Veggiechop so much better. In the former device it was also difficult to properly clean the blades while with the Chef'n Veggiechop this is a doddle. A couple of pulls and an onion is chopped fine enough for any purpose and depending on the amount of times you pull the cord the finer or coarser the chopped bits.

I have to admit that I have fallen in love with this device being someone who loves cooking and who loves good tools and gear in the kitchen and would not like to part with it again.

Another great product by the folks from Windermere in the English Lake District.

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