Go shopping!

For advice on making your shopping basket work harder and how to shop organic for less, have a read of our guides to buying organic on a budget. Switch one of your everyday beauty products to organic or buy an item of clothing made from UK organic wool or organic cotton.

There are lots of things that you can do as an individual or as part of a community, to help to reduce part of the environmental impact of your food and to support your local food economy. Shopping at farmers' markets, buying direct from producers via box schemes or joining a community supported agriculture scheme for example are all great ways of driving change through your buying decisions.

While many of us associate organic with food, there is also a growing market in organic textiles and health and beauty products. Because organic describes the underlying system of agricultural production buying organic products helps to support the climate-friendly farming that is going to be so important as we face up to the environmental challenges of the 21st century.

"Buying organic doesn't always cost more. Where you find a price difference - you are paying for the extra special care placed on improving animal welfare, protecting wildlifeand caring for the environment" Nicky Brown, Mother of two, Swansea

You can find information in this section on finding a local box scheme or farmers market and discover more about organic textiles and health and beauty products. And for those of us who worry about the extra cost of buying organic we've got a guide to buying organic on a budget or setting up an organic buying group to help you save money.

• Organic on a budget
• Buy from farmers
• Health and beauty
• Textiles