I’ve just been trawling through the 50 websites that TIME.com are calling the “Best Websites of 2008″ and am struck by the lack of green websites on that list. Considering that climate change is probably the biggest threat we as the human race face, and that we in the West are by now quite aware that it’s our way of conducting our lives that is causing the problem, it’s pretty astounding that there just aren’t more great websites out there that are guiding and helping us in an effort to change our ways. Or are there?

TIME.com included CarbonRally.com and Apartment Therapy as the only green sites worthy of a mention in their “50 Best”. Afrigadget.com was another site that could fall into this category, but that, according to TIME.com was the limit to great sustainability sites in 2008.

Move over TIME.com, here are EcoStreet’s “Best Websites of 2008″, an eclectic mix of sites old and new, and they’re a far greener best than yours. I’m adding another 7 sites to TIME.com’s 3 to make it a Top 10.

Global Warming: Early Warning Signs

If you think that global warming hasn’t already started, think again. Global Warming: Early Warning Signs provides hard evidence of how the earth’s climate is already changing.
Click here to read more…

When I posted about the Green Festival Kit competition some weeks back we were contacted by Patently Obvious because they have a product that would fit very well into just such a kit, an anti-bacterial hand sanitiser, and they wanted us to try it. So I threw the small pump bottle of hand sanitiser into my Fairtrade handbag, and off I went. While I haven’t been to any festivals lately, my antibacterial hand sanitiser has seen a fair bit of action while I’ve been travelling and on days out with my two children.

What I like about this product, apart from how handy it is when you’re out and about, using toilets where soap isn’t available to wash hands, or before eating after engaging in one mucky activity or other, is that it’s the most eco-friendly version that I’ve come across. The formula doesn’t contain any SLES, parabens, triclosan or alcohol and it’s pump bottle is made of recycled plastic (and can be recycled again). As I found out last summer while using festival toilets that provided an alcohol hand sanitiser instead of soap and water, it takes getting used to, not actually using water to wash germs off your hands, but rather to kill them in situ. But it’s a much better option to eating with dubiously clean hands and ending up with a bought of the squits while camping.

My EcoStreet partner Nikki was responsible for trying out some of the other Patently Obvious products. Here’s what she had to say:

The Raspberry & Pomegranate hand wash is suitable for those who prefer stronger fragrances, while the Mint & Lime fragrance would suit those with a more sensitive nose. The product itself is great, but what is really special, and you can tell that a lot of thought has gone into it, is the packaging. In so many hand washes the pump dispenser squirts out far too much for a single hand wash. With the Patently Obvious hand washes, you only get as much as you need for the one hand wash, so the product lasts longer.

The Rosemary & Lavender shower gel is divine, and again, the packaging is so well thought out. You don’t end up with an enormous blob of shower gel on your sponge, but rather a sensible amount that means you aren’t wasting the product time and time again.

All in all we liked these products a lot, and although we don’t think that the name Patently Obvious makes it all that obvious what the products are, we do like the products themselves and their well though out packaging. You can buy Patently Obvious products from Boots and get more information about the products here.

For the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of testing some of Beyond’s range of organic skincare products on my tired winter skin. My skin was a challenge for the products, but they’ve worked wonders and I’m very pleased with the dewy results.

All of Beyond’s products are completely organic and certified with the Biodynamic Agricultural Association. The ingredients that they use are organic, wild-crafted, fair traded and environmentally sustainable. No parabens, nothing unnatural. Packaged in glass rather than plastic. Skincare like this doesn’t come along every day.

The signature ingredient in the Beyond range is Sea Buckthorn which has been shown to promote cell generation, great for helping skin stay fresh and new looking, and even for healing wounds. Perfect for my thirty-something skin.

Here are the products that I’ve been using:

Rose & Almond Organic Moisturising Day Cream
The cream was light and non-greasy, disappearing quickly but leaving my skin feeling moisturised all day, even when I was out in the weather. It smells good too. So good in fact that my husband kept coming closer to catch a whiff of it, a benefit that Beyond doesn’t mention on their website.

Cocoa & Mallow Organic Regenerating Night Cream
This cream was very rich without being greasy, and although I wasn’t all that taken with the fragrance, the results were very pleasing. My skin was dewy fresh each morning.

Sea Buckthorn and Rosehip Organic Rejuvenating Serum
I applied this every night under the Cocoa & Mallow Night Cream. I’ve been a fan of Rosehip oil for years, so I was sure that this was good stuff before I even tried it. Combined with the Sea Buckthorn, it certainly packed a punch.

Calendula & Propolis Organic Rescue Salve
This worked so well on healing little rough patches on the edges of my lips. I have been fortunate enough not to have had any other reasons for needing to use it, but I’ve got it handy just in case my daughter’s eczema flares up.

All round I liked Beyond’s organic skincare products very much. They were a real treat for my skin, which was feeling a bit weather beaten. Thumbs up!