Honest Bring their Honest Garden to London’s South Bank

Last week I went to a really lovely event in London with Honest. Honest created a lovely pop-up area on the Southbank for a few days over the weekend and I was invited to attend the launch with Julia Bradbury.

Honest Teas are crafted with brewed herbal tea enhanced with a touch of natural fruit juice and sweetened with organic cane sugar. There are three flavours to choose from: pomegranate and blueberry, orange and mango, and lemon herbal tea with honey. The Teas are naturally organic and they are so tasty. I’m quite fussy when it comes to soft drinks as I don’t like anything too sweet, but founder Seth Goldman wanted to create a drink that was ‘just a tad sweet’ and that is exactly what they have done. The Pomegranate and Blueberry is my favourite. The cold drinks were perfect to enjoy on the red hot day of the event!

The cold herbal tea drinks are low in calories, certified organic, contain no preservatives or artificial flavours of sweetness and come in a plantbottle. A plantbottle is made partially from renewable plant material made from sugar cane.

The mission of Honest is to seek to create and promote great tasting organic beverages. They strive to grow their business with the same honesty and integrity they use to craft their products, with transparency and great tasting drinks, and I love that about them.

The pop-up event on the South Bank, was there to give Londoners an opportunity to try refreshing experiences including Yoga, Salad lunches and Terrarium-making, in an immersive green sanctuary right next to the River Thames. Honest have partnered with environmental charity Groundwork to transform urban spaces into community gardens. They want to champion green spaces in London which includes the transformation of urban areas into thriving community gardens. You can find out more and get involved, by going to www.groundwork.org.uk. Honest and Groundwork want to encourage everyone to spend more time outdoors, connecting with nature, and living a healthier life, hence ‘The Honest Garden’.

Julia Bradbury told us about new research that shows how the nation wants to go back to the good life, and spend more time in nature, and then Groundwork explained how it is transforming urban spaces into community gardens, which is super cool. Honest want to encourage Londoners to feel the benefits of connecting with nature, through urban gardening. This could be growing something at home on a balcony or window box or by getting involved in community garden projects.

There are so many benefits of gardening including the physical exercise, fresh air, the social aspect as well as the reward of growing your own organic plants, and I think it’s great that Honest and Groundwork are championing this together.

Eco artist Sarah Turner showed us how to make small planters by upcycling Honest Tea bottles. Even uncrafty old me made one (with a bit of help from Sarah) and it’s now hanging prettily in my dining room. It was brilliant hearing about how and what Sarah upcycles and the massive projects she has worked on that help the environment.

Agamemnon Otero, who is cofounder at Energy Garden LDN spoke to us about his background and his personal story of overcoming cancer at a young age and why he takes his health so seriously now. He talked about how they have finally been given permission to put solar panels at Overground stations in London, which is brilliant. Agamemnon works to provide practical solutions to social, environmental & economic crisis, such as this.

We then had a little demo from Youtuber ‘Food Busker‘ who showed us how quick and easy (and healthy!) a homemade granola could be. He talked about the importance of growing your own organic ingredients too. The granola was so tasty and I really want to make it myself at home.

Eco artist Sarah Turner showed us how to make small planters by upcycling Honest Tea bottles. Even uncrafty old me made one (with a bit of help from Sarah) and it’s now hanging prettily in my dining room.

With the lovely Franca from A Moment With Franca

I had a lovely morning spent in the sunshine on the banks of the River Thames in the Honest Garden. It was really interesting and inspiring to find out more about how Honest is working with Groundwork and how they want to encourage people to get outside and connect more with nature. It’s so important when we’re all leading busy and stressful lifestyles, and I think it’s great that Honest want to give something back.

I was invited to check out the Honest Garden, and this is a collaborative post with Honest, but all words and opinions are my own.