With Charles our music editor off on a four day break in Glastonbury, I thought this would be the ideal time to talk about an email I received from a guy called Nigel who was promoting his online eco store and range of ‘eco friendly festival and camping survival products’. An illustration at the top of the page showed a man waving with an arm which had unintentionally been drawn on back-to-front. I found this so incredibly amusing that I just had to click onto Nigel’s website to see what else he had to offer. Not expecting very much, I have to admit the range of inventive yet very useful eco-friendly treasures impressed me. Nigel’s store is a like a 30 year old mans idea of paradise - full of interesting little gadgets that you wonder how you ever lived without.

Picture this – you arrive at Glastonbury full of anticipation for the festival ahead of you. The weather has miraculously been holding up well recently, so you ditch the wellies and opt for a pair of Nigel’s fair-trade, 100% cotton Ethletic trainers, which, I must add, are available in plain black, pink, turquoise, green and white. After setting up tent (I’m afraid there’s no clever Nigel alternatives for that), the first thing for any festival goer is to check out the bands on stage. However this time there’s no need to worry about your camera running low on battery as Nigel’ store has the Freeloader portable solar charger, which can power everything from mobile phones to game machines – apparently!

Eddi Reader not quite up to scratch, fancy a bite to eat, but a little strapped for cash? Why not bring your food along in one of Nigel’s eco mini fridges, which doesn’t use any refrigerant and consumes only a mere 33 watts. While you’re chomping down on your fresh salad and chilled beers, you can make your own fun with the Babylis wind up and solar powered radio. Not only does it include a built in phone charger – random I know – but it doesn’t require one of those annoying external antennas that you have to spend half and hour fussing around with.

Other eco friendly delights include a brilliant toothpaste free toothbrush and a wind up Mp3 player.

Now - perhaps I’ve exaggerated a wee bit in terms of the usefulness of these little bits and bobs, but I definitely recommend you check out Nigel’s online eco store. I guarantee you, there isn’t one person who reads this bog who wont find something on there that makes them say ‘ooh – that’s good!’.