Amy Harker Recommends...

Stylebible.com’s Green Bible editor inspires us with some of her best finds and ideas.

Favourite Journey

Hiring a house boat to cruise along the Veneto to Venice is the ideal way to spend a week wiling away the hours this spring. We picked up our boat from Le Boat, at Casier, a small town with not a great deal to enjoy but a fine starting point for the six hour cruise to Venice, that can easily be done in a leisurely couple of days (though you might like to stretch it out a little more if you want to take in the sights of local villages and towns). Cruising is a blissfully relaxing way to take in the Veneto, the only stresses coming in the form of locks, which, for a first time cruiser definitely saw the heart rate rising! Impressive Venetian summer villas of the Italian gentry line the river’s edge and there is plenty of wildlife to watch out for, in particular an abundance of bird life. As you near Venice the waters of the river Sile start to open out as you enter the lagoon and you instantly see a difference as the water stretches into the soft skyline and becomes dotted with folk. Here you will pass many more cruisers than you have to date, along with dodging the local’s boats and as you get nearer the city. We moored for most of our visit at Mazzorbo, which is attached to the stunning island of Burano. Famous for its lace industry and brightly coloured houses that line a miniature network of canals, Burano is picture perfect and a must on any visitor’s trail. It is supremely more beautiful and welcoming than its more famous neighbour Murano, home to traditional glass making. It is well worth spending as much time as you can exploring the striking sinking city of Venice before your journey home. This maze of a city has so many hidden secrets and delights it is incomprehensible. I defy you not to fall in love with Venice.Travel to Europe by train with Seat 61.

Most Thumbed Book

This month I’ve been thumbing through Rough Guide to Ethical Shopping in a bid to make sure that my new spring summer wardrobe is all fair trade and ethical as well as giving my food cupboards and make up tray a proper clean out. I’ve always been pretty good with my purchases but The Rough Guide to Ethical Shopping gave me further guidance and filled me in on a few details I didn’t know about. From coffee giants to sweatshops, eco energy suppliers to conflict diamonds and fair-trade make up to fair financing, this book is a one stop guide to the basic details of who to shop with and who not to go near! At only ’7.99 and pocket sized it’s cheap to buy and easy to carry around for guidance on the go and a must for anyone looking at giving their shopping habits a proper spring clean.

Best Beauty Buy

Absolutely loving everything bareEscentuals right now. Ok boys, this may not be one for you I am afraid, but you can always pick up a treat for your girlfriend. bareMinerals make up looks like a powder, feels like a cream and buffs on to your face like silk, leaving your skin glowing like heaven! Free of preservatives, talc, oil, fragrance and other nasty chemicals, bareMinerals is harmless for your skin and less abrasive to our environment. Amazingly it gives complete, yet light coverage, and the range of products is a treasure trove of delight! I love the Multi Tasking Minerals that, at £18, act as a soft eyeshadow bases and miracle concealers for your face, covering dark circles and imperfections. I also can’t get enough of their eye colours – the eye popping blue is my favourite!

Top Hotel

Not one for the claustrophobic the Das Park Hotel is a truly alternative place to stay. Made entirely from drain pipes the external dullness of the tubular rooms, belies the comfort within. By no stretch of the imagination are these rooms large but you can stand up straight and they accommodate a double bed, lamp and storage. Bed linen is also provided though you have to use public toilets. Not that you can complain, as the Das Park Hotel ask you to leave only what you can afford. Devised by Andreas Strauss, an Austrian art graduate, the concept is to utilise materials already in place and make simple, habitable pods for passing travellers to feel safe in. Upon booking you are given a pass code to let you in to one of the three rooms and you simply leave your payment in the room when you leave. The tubes are situated in lovely grassy surrounds in Ottensheim near Linz and nearby you can enjoy fine walks and canoeing, as well as visiting Linz, Austria’s third largest city.

Top Fashion Line

Right now I can’t get enough of Makepiece’s new spring summer 2010 collection. Makepiece is known for strikingly unique and sustainable knitwear designs that are made in England from a Pennine landscape and their very own sheep. They take natural yarns, raised sustainably, spin them as locally as possible, knit within a local community, using the minimum chemical processes possible to produce a finished product that can be treasured for years. And that they are. The spring summer 2010 collection brings strong silhouettes overlaid with romantic detail. Knitted in sheer translucent mohair, fine smooth woollen yarns create plaits, ruching, ruffles and lace-panelled felts for structure. Girls, this is the line to be seen it this season. Boys, I seem to have missed you out again, but don’t worry I’ve just bought my better half a gorgeous top from the new range at Howies, a long time favourite of mine! The sports and skate clothes line is all made form organic materials and the website is a definite must visit with all sorts of useful info and stats.

Amy Harker is the Green Editor of Stylebible.com and also writes for a number of other national and international publications. Her main passion is travel and she recently enjoyed the delights of traveling without flying on an overland journey to India. From fashion and beauty to travel and lifestyle Amy leads as sustainable a life as she can - she's not perfect but tries her best!