Sustainable(ish)

Pets can bring a huge amount of joy into our lives, but as with everything, they have an environmental impact, and in this episode we're going to dive into where that impact comes from and what we can do to reduce it. Now I'm very aware that 'sustainability' can sometimes look like being told that all of the things that you love doing, or having, are bad, and that to be truly 'sustainable' you hav...

This is Part 2, or a 'double header' episode with the brilliant Sara Grimes from Bath and West Community Energy. Part 1 is all about community energy, and takes a bit of a dive into solar and heat pumps, as well as things like the governments's Warm Homes Plan (it's honestly more fun than it sounds if you haven't already listened to it!)And this is Part 2, where we talking about all things home re...

This week's episode is the first ever two parter! This was supposed to be an episode on home retrofit, and I'm chatting to SaraG Grimes from Bath and West Community Energy about some of the brilliant work that they're doing, and what people can do in their own homes. This first part is looking bigger picture and is quite a wide ranging chat! We cover community energy generally, as well as hearing...

If you were to google 'how to be more sustainable' you would get a slew of posts sharing 'ten top things to do to cut your carbon footprint' or similar. Very few (if any) mention the huge potential influence that we can all have, by sharing the things that we're doing, talking to other people, voting etc etc. Which is why when I first came across a paper called ' Choices for climate action: a revi...

Football and sport don't perhaps at first glance seem like a natural 'in' for climate action. But did you know..?- Over 100,000 grassroots football matches are cancelled every year due to bad weather such as flooding- Over 80% of football fans want are concerned about climate change- 65% of football fans want their clubs to take more climate action It was such a joy to get the opportunity to chat...

To change the world, you've got to throw a better party than those destroying it". This is a quote from Louisa Ziane at Toast ale, and is one of my faves, and something I try and keep front of mind. 'Sustainability' has an image problem and is very often seem as something that is dull and dry and bleak, and for the keen greenies over there wearing lots of hemp, or for the lone Sustainability Manag...

I can't wait for you to dive into this week's episode with Samantha Drury Shore who is the Chair of Sustainable Devizes, not too far from me in Wiltshire, and who has spear-headed their brilliant swap events that now run on a regular basis. Sam shares with us how they got started with their first event and shares her experiences of what works for these kind of events, and the nitty gritty of the l...

Is AI bad for the planet? Should I feel guilty if I use ChatGPT?What is the carbon and water footprint of an AI search? These were some of the questions I was looking for answers for when I posted on Linked In a while back. I got a lot of great replies, and it turns out there's a LOT of information out there. But oh my goodness it's confusing! In this episode I'm chatting to Tam Hussey, who has a...

I think we're all pretty familiar with the term carbon footprint, but there's a new kid on the block when it comes to talking about the full impact of the actions that we take when you come together. Isabelle Sparrow is Head of Comms, and the podcast host, at Carbon Copy - a platform that champions collective action, and the power it has to help turn our individual concern about the climate into a...

Today we are diving into all things plastic, and specifically counting plastic with Daniel Webb, founder of Everyday Plastic and the drive behind The Big Plastic Count . Longer term listeners might have noticed that I am mildy obsessed with people's back stories and one of my first questions is always 'how did you get here'. I'm genuinely fascinated to hear the journey that people go on to get to...

Could you really explain climate change to your kids, or to your nana if you needed to? By and large, I think the vast majority of people are aware of climate change, understand that it means the planet is warming and that it's bad, but if pushed for detail beyond that, we might struggle. Climate Fresk is an interactive card based workshop that invites participants to uncover the science of climat...

Money makes the world go around, or so the saying goes. But did you know that YOUR money, might be making fossil fuel companies go round (aka fund them!), without you knowing? Do you want a few bonkers stats?- The “Big 5” UK high-street banks – Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Lloyds andNatWest – have financed the fossil fuel industry with more than $556 billion between 2016 and 2023 (1)- In 2023 alone,...

In this episode, I'm chatting to Charlotte Mason-Curl, who is the founder of No Crap Parties and the Kids Party Pact campaign. Charlotte has a background in marketing and comms, and not only does this help to explain how she's done such a bloody great job with getting her message out there, also means she's written herself a really good bio. I had to write myself a bio when The Sustainable(ish) Li...

In this episode, I'm chatting to Nick Oldridge, founder of Climate Science Breakthrough, and co-founder of the National Emergency Briefing. What Nick has done with both of those projects, as you will here, is incredible, but I'm also really fascinated in his back story and his journey to where he is now (side note, really think I need to do an episode on insurance as a lever for climate action!).I...

Well this is exciting isn’t it? As it turns out I was wise to say never say never when I said back in April 24 that that was probably the last ever Sustsainable(ish) podcast episode, because I’m back! And in this first episode back after a looong old break, I’m answering a pretty fundamental question… is it all just bollocks? Does individual action really matter, or is it, in the words of Green pa...

Hello and welcome to episode 184, and as it turns out, the last episode of the Sustainable(ish) podcast! I wanted to try and get to 200, and I’m annoyed not even to be ending on a nice round number like 185, but often in life things aren’t tied up in a nice neat bow. Long term listeners will know that at times the podcast has been very stop start, and the time has come for an intentional stop. For...

In the spirit of London buses, ie nothing for ages and then two come along in close succession, this week’s episode is another foodie one, hot on the heels of Episode 180 - Food and climate change without the hot air with Professor Sarah Bridle. I’m chatting to Frank Holleman who is the co-founder of Fork Ranger , a platform and app that aims to help us to explore how to eat for the climate. I was...

One of the things that frustrates many people, is a lack of action from governments around the world to protect nature and mitigate the worst impacts of the a warming and rapidly changing climate. The UK government was one of the first to come up with a Net Zero target back in 2019, and declared a ‘climate emergency’ that same year. However the problem with both of these commitments is that they o...

This week’s episode feels a little bit liking coming full circle on an episode from nearly 5 years ago! If you’re a long-time listener, and have an excellent memory, you might remember, way back in 2019, I interviewed the wonderful Tillie Mabbutt who runs Frome Eco Party Kit , renting out a party kit of reusable plates, cups and bowls to avoid the waste associated with disposable partyware. At the...

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Sarah Bridle, who is possibly our first Professor on the podcast! Professor Sarah Bridle is Chair in Food, Climate and Society at the University of York, researching environmental impacts of the food system and potential impacts of the environment on food availability. She is also the author of Food and Climate Change - Without the Hot Air, an accessible guid...

In this week's episode I'm chatting to comedian Stuart Goldsmith . I'm a bit of a comedy fan, so I listen to Stuart's podcast, the Comedian's Comedian where he interviews other comedians about their work and he seems to pretty much be BFFs with everyone on the comedy circuit. It might seem a bit random to be interviewing a comedian on the podcast, but as you will hear, in the last few years Stuart...

In this week's episode I'm chatting to Misha Dhanak, CEO of  Spacehive , the home of community fundraising. We're probably all familiar with the concept of crowdfunding and may have even funded products and projects on platforms like Kickstarter. Well Spacehive is a similar concept, it's a crowdfunding platform, but it's for community projects - so on there you will find things like a cricket club...

In this week's episode I'm chatting to William Eccles from The Commitment. The Commitment is a campaign asking us to commit to voting for a healthy planet. You do this by heading to their website , hitting the "make the commitment" button, and ticking the box that says “ I commit to vote only for politicians who work for urgent action on the climate and nature.”. We discuss in the episode just why...

Advertising. It's all around us. Persuading us to buy stuff we didn't know we wanted, telling us how much happier/more popular/better our lives will be with the latest/newest whatever it is. Most of think that we're immune to it, but studies show just how insidious and manipulative it is, and how it influences our brains at a deep level. Which perhaps wouldn't really matter if we weren't in the gr...

Climate and play might not be two things that we naturally put together. And even less so, climate and 'playfulness'. Climate change is a huge, overwhelming, complext issue and i couldn't be more important. So we need to take this seriously and absolutely need to be bringing our best game, there's no room for messing around, right? Maybe not! I loved this chat with the brilliant Lucy Hawthorne, fo...