Book of Leaves

Simon Berrow is the CEO and founder of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group . This charity does phenomenal work researching the abundant marine life we have in our coastal waters. Make sure to get involved with them in any capacity you can, and stay up to date with them on Instagram @theirishwhaleanddolphingroup . Click here for the sample letter & TD email addresse s - email BEFORE JULY 8TH 2026...

Lorna Anne is an activist, environmentalist and fellow vegan. The projects she set up along her journey of activism like @earthy_cailini made her a brilliant business networker, and now she's co-founded an online resource called Our Earthy Collective . Everything she does is rooted in preserving the precious life we have on Earth by reconnecting with the land and each other. Stay up to date with h...

Anne Fennell recently set up a new business called Kindred Sorting , where she specialises in compassionately clearing out the homes of loved ones who passed away, and making sure as many items as possible find a new loving home. She also helps with regular organising and clearing out spaces, and here she shares loads of tips if you're hoping to do the same. Check out her website www.kindredsortin...

Along the Wild Atlantic Way, nestled in the Kerry countryside, Billy Jo works year round growing organic vegetables on her small patch of land. Leagh Farms is 100% certified organic which I learned in this chat is no easy accomplishment! Make sure to support your local veg and fruit growers in supermarkets and at farmers' markets, and you can stay up to date with Billy Jo's farm directly on Instag...

Welcome back to Book of Leaves! I'm kicking off season 7 and episode 136 with renowned wildlife rescuer Pearse Stokes . He volunteers with Kildare Wildlife Rescue who I've had on the podcast before - I recommend going back to give that one a listen too to find out more about how the charity works! In this chat we delve deeper into systemic and social changes that need to happen to strengthen wildl...

Peter Gregory is the founder of Green Bubble , a business that saves bubble wrap and other packaging waste from going straight to the bin after use. He's now branched out other forms of waste like cardboard boxes. We generate so much waste, the work he does can't be appreciated enough! Check out his website www.green-bubble.ie or stay up to date with him on LinkedIn or Instagram @greenbubble.ie ....

Suzanne Martin is an animal rights activist and vegan who set up SAFRI, a group campaigning to end animal testing in Ireland. She is also a member of NARA so we decided to have a chat about their recent pig and turkey farm investigations and share some tips on having a vegan christmas. You can stay up to date with them on Instagram via @safrireland. And DON'T FORGET to get in touch with your TDs a...

Rupa Marya is a physician, musician and writer. Her work mainly centres around food as medicine and doing away with colonial captilalist practices in favour of community. She was recently fired for speaking up against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and thus found herself moving to Ireland where she is doing phenomenal work. We are very lucky to have her!   As always, don't forget to follow Boo...

Malú Colorín is an artist and facilitator, specializing in natural dyeing and textiles through her business Talú . She also works for Fibreshed Ireland who are trying to re-localise the textile industry in Ireland, supporting wool, flax and hemp farmers. She organises brilliant workshops and events - you can stay up to date with her on Instagram via @talu.earth or @malu_colorin . As always, don't...

Abi O'Callaghan Platt is a campaign manager and environmental researcher at VOICE Ireland. Although VOICE has loads of great initiatives on reducing waste of all kind and encouraging more thoughtful use of resources, in this chat we focus on just one of their projects, MENSY . MENSY aims to train youth leaders to empower young people with knowledge around periods and menstrutaion. In a previous ep...

Gobnait Ní Néill is another legend in the community activism space. Her initiative, The Grassroots Guild , is one that empowers people to take impactful actions for biodiversity. She specialises in mini-ponds and her workshops on how to make them are just so much fun! You can stay up to date with her on Instagram @thegrassrootsguild or Facebook. As always, don't forget to follow Book of Leaves on...

Niamh Roche works for Bat Conservation Ireland so naturally, we delved into the 9 species of bats that call Ireland home. These winged neighbours of ours are so important for our ecosystem, but also for our sanity as they consume thousands of midges and mosquitos per night! Check out the conservation's website for loads of resources on helping bats, or stay up to date with them in Instagram @batco...

Tom Popple is the founder of the independent advisory comapny for nature and climate - Be Impactful . He also volunteers his time organising frequent Climate Cocktail Clubs and the upcoming Climate Cocktail Carnival ! Stay up to date with them on instagram at @climatecocktailclub .   [02:30] Tom introduces himself and his love of geography! [06:30] How Be Impactful works and the benefit of lo...

Rachel Loughrey is a fellow climate activist (and friend!) and founder of Architects Climate Action Network / ACAN . She also shares some of her journey as an ecological architect on the Instagram account @eco_hun_ . You can reach out to her on rachel.loughrey@gmail.com with all your cuilding queries too!   As always, don't forget to follow Book of Leaves on Instagram , Blue Sky or Facebook ,...

Feljin Jose is a Councillor for Phibsborough, Glasnevin, Drumcondra, Cabra & Ashtown in Dublin and a member of the Green Party. He has a special interest in all things public transport but is also passionate about tackling the housing crisis. Stay up to date with him on Instagram @feljin_jose or LinkedIn . As always, don't forget to follow Book of Leaves on Instagram , Blue Sky or Faceboo...

Eoghan Connaughton is the founder of The Gaelic Woodland Project, a people-powered wildlife restoration project. They're not only focused on fundraising to buy land to return to wilderness in perpetuity, they truly value community and skill sharing and getting in touch with our land again. It really is a brilliant initiative and you can find ways to support them here or follow them on Instagram @g...

Nicola Connolly is the founder of Nunaia , an eco skincare brand that's made from plants grown by families in Equador. She's thought about the impact of the brand at every stage,I truly loved this chat! Follow Nunaia on Instagram @nunaiabeauty or Facebook As always, don't forget to follow Book of Leaves on Instagram , Blue Sky or Facebook , leave us a review, and share with a friend. Find my depop...

David Lawlor is an entrepeuner who has found the perfect way to incorporate his busniess with his love of the sea. He and his wife Marguerite run Green Ocean Coffiee which helps to fund the Green Ocean Foundation, an initiative utilising the wonders of oysters to restore our Irish waters. Keep an eye on their website for upcoming updates, or follow them on Instagram @greenoceancoffeeireland . As a...

Ciarán Hughes is the CEO of Ethico , Ireland's only ethical finance advising company. Irish pensions are worth billions of euro, a chunk of which is used to invest in fossil fuels and other unethical businesses like weapons etc. We have the power as pension customers to move our pensions away from negative investments to positive ones, and as you'll learn in the episode, there's often no differenc...

Hannah Gallagher is one volunteer behind the Save Lough Neagh campaign. Lough Neagh is the largest body of water in Ireland and provides drinking water for 40% of the population in Northern Ireland, yet it is being decimated by pollution for a multitude of reasons. But awareness of this has been steadily growing thanks to efforts from collaborating volunteer groups in NI. They could always use mor...

Colin Baker is a tech specialist who often frequents morning TV shows giving gadget advice, but I found him when I went into his shop Back From The Future in need of a refurbished laptop. The advice he had on keeping my laptop in good condition made me think he'd be a good guest on the podcast! You can pop into one of his shops in Dublin, check out his website, or stay up to date with him on Insta...

Niall Collins is the CEO of the Institue of Sustainability Studies, a centre that provides self-paced courses for staff on all aspects of being green to from waste to energy to being more circular. Whether you're in management, working on the floor or thinking of starting a business of your own, there's courses they have than can empower you to make changes where you work. Check out their website...

Sadhbh O'Sullivan , or better known by her stage name Sive, is a musician, singer, writer and activist. Her work has a lot of environmentalism and social justice woven through it, not just in the songs she writes, but the workshops she hosts. Since Octover 2023 she has become and avid activist for the P@l3stine cause as well. I hope you enjoy listening to the episode. It was less of an interview a...

I think there's no better way to end season 6, before I hibernate for 3 months, than with an interview all about caring for the planet in death. The Western way of grandiose everything has seeped into our burial habits and our bodies no longer go back to the soil as they should. Colin McAteer is the owner of greencoffins.ie and Woodbrook Natural Burial Ground in Wexford. There's no better person t...

Alice Bassie is the co-founder of Circular Costume Ireland , a not-for-profit organisation that's working to tackle the stream of waste created by the costume department on film sets. Stay up to date with them on Instagram @circularcostumeireland and keep an eye on their website for second hand stock that they're selling! As always, don't forget to follow Book of Leaves on Instagram , Twitter or F...