As a health conscious, green-minded consumer I buy organic food whenever I can, but now I’m having a rethink, writes Julia Stephenson

Many small artisan farmers produce as high a standard of meat and foodstuffs as their organic counterparts yet have decided to eschew the bureaucracy and expense that acquiring organic certification entails.

Some farmers, such as Peter Greig, who runs the award-winning Pipers farm in Devon, argue that organic certification doesn’t necessarily guarantee high quality.  Here he explains why he and his wife have decided not to go organic.

Green guru, Donnachadh McCarthy, has come up with an original way of helping us all to slash our household bills and carbon footprint at the same time, writes Julia Stephenson

He has set up National Carbon Footprint Day http://www.nationalcarbonfootprintday.org on October 2, to encourage us to take a pledge to measure our carbon footprint, which will then be measured again the following year to see how people have become more 'green'.

Sarah Palin, the Republican Party's vice-president nominee, governs an oil-rich area that has seen some of the most dramatic effects of climate change.

The media have given her family the full soap opera treatment, but perhaps they should focus instead on her environmental record which is truly alarming. 'We need to drill, drill, drill,' she told the Wall Street Journal recently, and she is in the forefront of moves to exploit the long-protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Next weekend London’s Greenest homeowners will be opening their doors – don’t miss out! By Julia Stephenson

A growing number of homeowners have reduced their bills, increased their quality of life and slashed their carbon emissions by super-greening their homes. By employing exciting technologies like solar and wind power, as well as money-saving measures like insulation, rainwater harvesting and green building techniques,(some quite outré - anyone for hemp bricks, bamboo computers and marbleized kitchen surfaces made from recycled mobile phones?) they are leading the way.

Is it OK to buy goosedown or duckdown duvets and pillows?

By Leo Hickman

Down, the soft lining found under the exterior feathers of waterfowl such as ducks and geese, has been prized for centuries for its insulating properties and its softness, which makes it ideal for use in bedding. In theory, as the down moults naturally from these birds, they shouldn't mind if we take it. But the reality is that down is almost always the by product of keeping millions of birds around the world in battery-cage conditions for cheap meat, or foie gras.

Tights, tapes, towels ... What happens if there isn't a suitable recycling bin for your waste? Lucy Siegle thinks laterally

As a nation we're getting better at recycling the easy things, but what about the anomalies? While kerbside collection schemes seem to be getting simpler, if not necessarily more uniform, there is a host of every day objects missing a virtuous resting place. This column is dedicated to the recyclables that fall - rather literally - outside the box.