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Quelle bonne idee

Free TV message lets people show family they care

Old books scheme raises millions for French charities

Quelle Bonne Idée!

French inventor helps dyslexic people read with lamp

A lamp that allows dyslexic people to read more easily has been developed in France.

French trainers made of sea-dumped plastic

Two friends, shocked at the amount of plastic dumped in the Mediterranean off Marseille, have set up a business – turning bottles into trainers.

Stubbing out unsightly litter

A group of French teenagers have prompted a global effort to pick up discarded cigarette butts by creating the hashtag #fillthebottle on Twitter.

Combining personal health and the planet’s wellbeing

Our zeitgeist column looks at the success of a simple French Facebook idea that caught the eye of founder Mark Zuckerberg

Hair today... fertiliser tomorrow

Chances are, you have never considered what happens to the cut hair you leave behind at the salon after a visit – but one hairdresser has.

Buy your electronic goods cheaper

... and create jobs in France

Stickers lend hand to good neighbours

If you do not use it, lend it... this could be the motto of a service which provides free letterbox stickers for people to “advertise” household items, such as tools or games, which they are happy to share (for free) with neighbours.

Good food, good company with these French 'canteens'

If you have ever felt nostalgic for school dinners but yearn for something better than turkey twizzlers, Les Petites Cantines could be for you.

France sees come back for refundable glass bottles

An old trend is coming back – returning glass drink bottles to receive a deposit or discount.

Throwaway paper cup is blooming good idea

Jobless young people have designed a paper cup that degrades in damp soil, releasing hidden wild plant seeds which then start to grow.

Optician sees a new future for old frames

Why accept a copy when you can have the real thing? For optician Dan Alcabès, the question never gave him pause.

Smiles as care home residents train a guide dog

Residents in care homes may be used to having guide dogs around or seeing a “retired” dog taken in for companionship... but one home has gone further. Residents and staff are training a young guide dog.

Julie finds fringe benefit for cancer sufferers

When is a wig not a wig? When it is a fringe...

Flat deal for students in return for after-school aid

Around 600 students in total currently benefit from such schemes

City’s signs tell you where to go ... in how long

New signs make tourist trips easier

Art library lets you ‘borrow’ pictures

Did you know you can ‘borrow’ French art to display at your home or office just as you borrow a book from a library?

Cigarette butts turned into ashtrays

Tarn town leads way in recycling of cigarette ends

Coastal clean-up groups also help to trace polluters

Volunteers regularly clean up debris from France’s beaches along the Channel and Atlantic coasts but several also try to trace the origin of the tonnes of rubbish and, perhaps, work to stop it.

Treasure game opens up region’s hidden secrets

More than 100 tourist offices in Nouvelle-Aquitaine have joined a huge smartphone treasure hunt that allows residents and visitors to explore the region and discover many of its secrets – and there is an English version.

Heat from computer servers warms homes

Why spend money cooling giant computer servers when it can give residents hot water instead?

Free solar radios are lifeline for homeless people

A homeless charity has transformed the lives of thousands of street sleepers... by handing out free radios to fight loneliness and isolation.

Recycling bins turn your plastic bottles into cash

Only one in two plastic bottles is recycled in France but the recycling firm Réco-France aims to boost this with new-style recycling bins that give cash vouchers in return for bottles.

Pedal-powered pop-up cinema

Movie-loving cyclists can take to pedal power to screen a film at a pop-up cinema in Saint-Malo in August.

Cut your hair short for cancer charity

If you have long hair and want to get it cut short you could donate your locks to an association which helps cancer sufferers on low incomes buy attractive, comfortable wigs after chemotherapy.

Railway station Gar’den lays platform for permaculture

Right next to the station building in Aix-en-Provence is a surprising sight – a little garden with calendulas, giant sunflowers and amaranthus and, later, tomatoes, courgettes and raspberries.

Ethical vending machines love small change

A French company has developed a vending machine which accepts those 1, 2 and 5 centime coins – known as pièces rouges - which we all collect but which seem to have no value.

Quelle bonne idee

Free TV message lets people show family they care

Old books scheme raises millions for French charities

French inventor helps dyslexic people read with lamp

French company makes glasses from unwanted seashells

French App in Focus: Yuka

Glowing plants will help us to see in the dark

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Too angry, too fast, too close: French drivers confess their bad habits

UK/France border plans 'completely unsatisfactory' ministers told

Rules to know if someone lives with you for free in France

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