British supermarket chain Waitrose dates back to the early 1900s, when bicycle and horse and cart were its chosen methods of delivery. Now—proving once again the old adage that everything that goes around comes around—much the same methods have returned as part of the company's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

Waitrose has already appeared on our pages once before for its customer-directed giving program, and earlier this year it launched a series of new green initiatives that include eco-minded handcarts and bicycles for use delivering groceries to local consumers. At the store in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, for example, eco-handcarts have been added as a way to help boost the number of delivery slots available to customers without increasing the number of vans on the road. The specially designed carts are intended for use delivering to customers who live within a mile of the store, and can keep products frozen and chilled for up to two hours. Waitrose branches in Lichfield, Parkstone and Droitwich, meanwhile, have also introduced eco-bicycles following a successful trial last year at Waitrose Cambridge. The eco-bicycles are electric bikes with a maximum distance charge of 30 miles, and are intended for delivery to customers who live within 15 miles of the store. Finally, in a bid to help consumers adopt greener habits themselves, Waitrose has also introduced cycle trailers for loan at 36 of its stores. The trailers are loaned out free of charge to any customers who wish to use them, the company says.

It's no longer unusual to see smaller stores using bicycles for delivery, but for a large national chain like Waitrose to embrace such methods is a testament to the growing demand for greener deliveries. Other grocers around the world: turn off your engines! ;-) (Related: Cargo bikes for greener business deliveries — Bicycle trailers on loan at IKEA — Local produce, delivered by bicycle.)

Website: www.waitrose.com
Contact: customer_service@waitrose.co.uk

Spotted by: Raymond Kollau

We've written about 'curated consumption' on several occasions before, including such contenders as Ranking, Ranqueen and Stack. A new entrant in the area recently caught our eye, however, not least because its hand-picked offerings are sold through an upscale vending machine.

U*tique bills itself as the world’s first interactive, automated luxury store for “life’s little emergencies and indulgences." Currently debuting at Los Angeles retailer Fred Segal, U*tique lets consumers learn about select luxury and personal-care products and have them conveniently dispensed to them with a swipe of the credit card. Only 50 products are available at any given time, and all have been handpicked by product specialists with backgrounds in global beauty, trend-hunting and innovation. Customers wanting to learn more about any of them can use U*tique to access ingredient lists, try samples or watch short videos for product explanations and demonstrations. The technology features an original touch-screen interface, interactive LED lighting design, and a behind-the-scenes robot that delivers products from secure storage into consumers' hands. Design help for U*tique came from Russell Greenberg, director of NYC-based studio RUX. Current brand partners, meanwhile, include industry icons Lancome, Bliss, C.O. Bigelow, Lancaster and Vosges Haut Chocolat, as well as rising stars such as Hourglass Cosmetics, David Kirsch Wellness, Lipstick Queen and Ketty Sean.

U*tique CEO Mara Segal explains: "I wanted to help simplify the shopping experience for customers. Our store is like an interactive gallery, each item is hand selected and celebrated. Consumers can experience that wonderful kid-in-candy-store feeling—their eye is delighted, their desires are met, the only difficult part is choosing which treat to buy.”

Segal hopes to install more U*tique automated stores in upscale nightclubs, hotel lobbies, locker rooms, shopping malls and airports over the next two years, according to a report in Trendhunter. One to get in on early....? (Related: Vending machine dispenses free samples.)

Website: www.utiqueshop.com
Contact: info@utiqueshop.com

Spotted by: Trendhunter via Raymond Kollau

Handing over the car keys to a teen is probably one of the most terrifying acts a parent must perform, but next in line on the anxiety scale is surely handing over a credit card. Aiming to provide a safer alternative, BillMyParents gives parents the power to approve or deny any purchases by their teens before they're made.

Unlike facecard, which we wrote about last summer, BillMyParents is not simply a prepaid shopping card. Rather, it's a payment method that puts control in parents' hands. Teens do their online shopping at a participating online retail website—currently, only gift cards can be purchased, as the service is still being launched. When they check out using BillMyParents, their parents are notified of their requested purchase. Parents who approve of the purchase can then enter their credit card information to complete the transaction; otherwise, they can deny it and their teen will be automatically notified. Children never get access to their parents' credit card information, and control remains squarely in parents' hands.

Offered by San Diego-based Socialwise, BillMyParents charges USD 0.50 per transaction—a small price to pay, one could argue, for a little peace of mind. Currently, however, it's aimed only at US consumers. One to localize for your part of the world? (Related: Prepaid cab card: get home free.)

Website: www.billmyparents.com
Contact: info@billmyparents.com

Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz

Over the past few years, there's been a surge of interest in urban beekeeping, mostly on a small scale by amateur beekeepers. Fortnum & Mason is now taking the practice to a new level—the famous London retailer has placed four hives on the roof of its 181 Piccadilly building. From where, as Fortnum's describes, the bees are able to "fly high above Mayfair, visiting the grounds, gardens and squares of the best addresses in London, gathering rather superior nectar." (The colony was previously housed by Fortnum's in Shropshire and Oxfordshire.)

Pollen from chestnut and lime trees, as well as a wide variety of other flowering plants, is expected to make for a delicate urban honey, which will be on sale from May 2009. A 227g jar of Piccadilly Honey will be priced at GBP 10. Completing the picture, Fortnum & Mason offers an upclose view of the palatial beehives via two webcams.

It's a wonderful example of a retailer and food brand taking an uber-local approach to food production, and creating a still-made-here story that consumers won't be able to resist ;-) (Related: Honey without the mess — Sweet snobmoddity.)

Website: www.fortnumandmason.com/Fortnums-Bees/Home.aspx

Spotted by: @ktmonkey

In these budget-minded times, companies aplenty have begun offering cash or trade-ins in exchange for unwanted electronics, gift cards and gold. Now, from none other than Amazon, comes a program to offer gift cards in exchange for second-hand video games.

To be eligible, games must be in good condition and include the original manual, cover art and case. Amazon's Video Game Trade-In site lists a wide variety of games it will accept, along with their trade-in values. For Wii, for example, "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" is valued at USD 6, "Winter Sports the Ultimate Challenge" brings in USD 6.50 and "Super Paper Mario" is valued at USD 15.50. On Xbox 360, on the other hand, "Call of Duty: World at War" brings in USD 24.25. For shipments valued at USD 10 or more, Amazon even gives consumers a way to ship them for free. Upon receipt, Amazon deposits an Amazon.com Gift Card into the consumer's account. The games, meanwhile, are ultimately purchased by a third-party merchant. While trade-in prices might not be as high as a seller can get on eBay, there's no denying that Amazon's service is the more convenient option.

Until economic conditions begin to improve, consumers will continue to seek out recession-busting strategies to make their hard-won dollars, euros and yen go further. Help them do that, and you just may be able to do some recession-busting yourself! ;-)

Website: www.amazon.com/Video-Games-Trade-In/b/ref=amb_link_83819451_2?ie=UTF8&node=979418011
Contact: www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html

Spotted by: Bjorn Verbrugghe