Jenny Southan recommends a range of products which can help turn that annual resolution into a reality.
Save the planet (and your pocket)
WATTSON 01
Keeping your electricity bill to a minimum is as good for your bank balance as it is for the environment so this ingenious little gadget is doubly useful, as well as being pure eco eye-candy. Produced by independent design collective DIY Kyoto, the Wattson 01 is a wireless energy monitor for the home or office. The unit communicates with a transmitter attached to your electricity metre or fuse box and displays how much energy your family or colleagues are using in watts or pounds on its colourful display. Wattson can also remember up to four weeks’ worth of data, which you can download to Holmes software (Mac and PC-compatible) so you can clearly see your usage in graph and chart format, and get money-saving tips. The monitor can even measure how much energy you are generating if your house is fitted with solar panels, for example.
The Wattson 01 costs £99.95 and is available online or at stores throughout the UK. Visit diykyoto.com for more details.
Cut out alcohol
TEA STAR
If 2008 has been one long hangover, then now’s the time to put a cork in that bottle and have a brew. Philosophical tea company Today Was Fun is selling a selection of its organic loose-leaf tea bags in a star-shaped pack containing individual pyramid boxes – leaving it to you to decide whether you prefer Love (rose buds and petals, coriander and liquorice root) or Friendship (marigold flowers and hawthorn berries). And not only do they make a guilt-free substitute to booze, they will help you detox too. Each star contains eight tea bags of four varieties.
Available from Harvey Nichols for £9.99. Visit todaywasfun.com.
Take more exercise
NSD POWERBALL
If joining a gym is a bit too ambitious, an NSD Powerball is a great way of building strength in your arms, wrists, fingers and shoulders, without leaving your sofa or desk. This tennis ball-sized globe weighs around 250g and contains a gyroscope which, when set in motion with a zip cord, will start spinning. The idea is to clutch the ball in the palm of your hand and, once the rotor is turning, rotate your wrist in a smooth circular motion to build up momentum. As the speed of the rotor increases, so will the pressure acting on your wrist and arm. Once mastered, you can achieve speeds in excess of 15,000 revolutions per minute – that’s around 18kg of force. Powerballs are available in a range of models with everything from neon flashing lights inside to “screamers” (not suitable for an office environment). And for those who like to track their progress, the premium models feature a display which measures your strength and shows how many revolutions you have achieved in a session.
Available at nsdball.com, prices start at £13.99.
Spend less on going out
LEON COOKBOOK
As the economic crisis begins to bite, more and more of us are cutting back on eating out – but that shouldn’t mean giving up on delicious food. Allegra McEvedy, co-founder of London’s Leon restaurant chain, has brought out a cookbook based on the company’s philosophy of “tasty food which does you good”, and with straightforward recipes written in a chatty style, even people lacking in time and confidence will want to have a go. The book is divided into two sections – ingredients and recipes – and is packed with mouth-watering photos, humorous illustrations, foldout maps and charts, and even a page of stickers at the back. Whether you prefer the sound of Egyptian aubergine and tamarind stew, or Janka’s Mum’s goulash, there’s plenty for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike, including breakfast smoothies, mezze platters, soups, salads, sauces, cakes and cocktails.
Price £20 from amazon.co.uk or £16 from any Leon restaurant, visit leonrestaurants.co.uk.
Learn a new language
ROSETTA STONE
Another year has gone by, and countless business trips to foreign parts, and you still haven’t found the time to learn a new language. But if your resolution for 2009 is to pick up a bit of Russian to impress your clients or to brush up on your German, Rosetta Stone’s language-learning software offers a fun, addictive way of realising it. The programme employs a unique way of teaching without translation, showing the meaning of words by their connection to images and sounds, and by games of trial and error – just the way we learn our mother tongue. There are 31 languages to choose from and, for the really dedicated, the company has now launched box sets with all three levels, as well as a headset for voice-recognition exercises to test your pronunciation.
Rosetta Stone is available on CD-ROM (Mac and PC compatible) or online, sets costs from £139. Visit rosettastone.com.
Quit smoking
SUPER SMOKER
Let’s face it, smoking is bad and giving up is a drag – but the new Super Smoker “Blue” alternative cigarette has to beat every other substitute out there. Not only does it light up at the end when you suck on it, it allows you to inhale “real” smoke (water vapour) which resembles the taste of tobacco (or menthol if you prefer), and can be used in bars, clubs, restaurants and even on planes. The rechargeable battery-powered Super Smoker weighs a little more than a real cigarette, but looks almost the same. It comes with disposable filters and cartridges which you plug in the end – these are either nicotine-free, or available in a range of strengths offering a light, medium or normal hit. Eight puffs is the equivalent of smoking one cigarette and, to prevent poisoning, the device automatically cuts out if you have more than 15 inhalations in a row.
Super Smoker packs are available online for £79, and boxes of additional filters and cartridges cost £7.95. Visit supersmokershop.co.uk.
