For What It’s Earth

We are going to take a little break from podcasting for a while, so in a bid to stop our great podcast algorithm overlords from burying For What It’s Earth, we're going to share a few oldies but goodies with you over the coming weeks. Episodes that we enjoyed making for you at some point in the last few years, which perhaps you might enjoy again or if you’re new here, you might not have heard the...

Sophie's debut book, Forget Me Not, has landed on our shelves, chronicling her low-carbon journeys around the UK searching for 10 charismatic species that are being impacted by climate change. She joins Emma for a chat about her adventures, about the role of JOY when communicating climate science and nature connection, and also a little bit about the Kardashians (it makes sense if you've read the...

Nature connectedness; what is it, why is it important, and can we boost it? Researcher Sam Gandy joins us in this episode to explore the concept of nature connectedness, which is s key predictor of us taking actions that are good for the planet and is also of huge benefit for our mental health and wellbeing. His research takes us to some fascinating places, including the research looking at the ro...

You might be wondering why we’ve popped an episode in your feed on a Sunday instead of a Wednesday, so I’m here to clear that up. Today is actually world bog day, a day in which we all celebrate the awesomeness of this underrated habitat, which is fantastic at quietly getting on with an immense amount of carbon sequestration as well as supporting its own army of specialist plants and animals. Abou...

Many of us feel an existential sense of doom and dread when we think about the state of the environment. (Record-smashing temperatures of 40oC in the UK this week, anyone?) It can wreak havoc with our mental health, and be hard to deal with. In fact, feeling eco anxiety is a perfectly normal reaction to being told that we're in a climate crisis. In this episode we explore some of the causes of eco...

The White Continent (and the southern seas around it) is an incredibly important place for wildlife, for the regulation of global ocean currents, and for reflecting a huge amount of the sun's heat back out of our atmosphere (known as the Albedo effect). But Antarctica faces plenty of threats, which we'll take a dive into. You're in for a treat, too, as this week Emma is joined by Ryan Dalton from...

From football and F1, to deciding which trainers to run your next half-marathon in, we're attempting something of an episode heptathlon this week as we explore whether both our big sporting events and our personal sporting ventures can be made more planet-positive.   Things we spoke about: Trainer recycling: https://www.runnersneed.com/about-us/recyclemyrun.html Allbirds sustainable trainers: http...

Take a dive with us into one of the most exciting marine habitats on the planet - and it's often found just a few splashes away from the coast. Seagrass is thought to capture carbon 35 TIMES faster than tropical rainforests, yet it covers less than 1% of the seafloor and we're losing it globally, rapidly. They're also vital habitats for marine life and provide more ecosystem services than we can c...

Oh, it's a sexy subject and a half this episode. Concrete is one of the most widely-used building materials in the world, so we're exploring its environmental impact with Adam Gittins from Cemfree. The manufacture of traditional cement, a key component of concrete, accounts for up to 8% of GLOBAL carbon emissions. But, there are innovative ways to reduce this - from creating ultra low-carbon types...

Far more than mysterious nighttime creatures of folklore, we dig into why macro bats and micro bats (like this brown long-eared bat here) are fascinating AND important, and what can be done to stop the loss of them from our countryside in the UK.   Get in touch Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook , and  Twitter or...

This week Emma takes a dive into something she knows very little about; fish in UK rivers, the threats they're under and the fascinating projects working to restore their populations. Joining her to head upstream is wildlife cameraman, author, and podcaster (and almost one of the dullest men in Britain...), Jack Perks! Plus, plenty of fantastic advice for anyone keen to put a pond in their garden...

Join us to chat with e-NGO filmmaking superstar, Nina Constable, who is well known and loved for her beautiful movies highlighting issues that wildlife face and the conservation efforts underway to support them. Watch Nina's latest film, Unlocking The Severn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsePWhmkeK0   Listen to Beaver Trust's Podcast, The Lodge Cast: https://bit.ly/LodgeCast   Get in touch Enjo...

“The future is still up for grabs.” In this episode, Emma is joined by Professor Steve Simpson, marine biologist, lecturer and science communicator, to take a dive into the issues that our oceans are facing. We explore the effects of noise pollution on our coral reef communities, discuss harnessing our eco grief to fuel finding innovative solutions, and, given that Steve was part of the influentia...

How is climate change impacting plant communities? Are there any winners among the losers? Why are plants just as cool as (if not, cooler) than animals? And how does a broken car actually HELP when you're writing a book? Emma is joined this week by botanist and author Leif Bersweden, who has just announced that he's got another book due out in 2022; Where The Wildflowers Grow.  For more from Leif:...

We’re digging in to the state of nature in the UK and how the concept of rewilding - restoring land to allow nature to recover and for biodiversity to flourish - could be the key to combating the climate and ecological crisis. In the hot seat this week and bringing a wealth of knowledge with him, is Harvey Tweats, an ecologist passionate about rewinding and one of the founders of Celtic Reptile an...

🎧 ✨  Conservation in Africa! 🐘 🐆  In the first episode of 2022, Emma travels south (virtually) to find out what it's really like to live in the African bush and work as a conservationist protecting and restoring areas of land in protected national parks.   What does 'rewilding' look like in Malawi? What is the issue with colonialism in conservation? How does the conservation sector differ in t...

Why are the predators of the sky one of the coolest parts of our ecosystem? How are they being impacted by climate change, habitat loss, bird flu, and persecution? And just what can we, and conservation organisations do to help? To chat all things 'bird of prey,' we are joined by Tom Morath, bird of prey expert, Fundraising Events Manager at The Hawk Conservancy, host of Nature’s a Hoot Podcast, a...

Two years ago, in a pre-pandemic world (remember that?) we sat in the same room to record a Christmas episode and explored ways that we could all make the upcoming festive season a better one for the environment. Instead of doing another episode on the same topic this year, as a bonus pressie, we're pulling this one down from the loft with the Christmas decorations and dusting it off in the hope t...

What was the role of climate change in the intense ‘Black Summer’ bushfires in Australia in 2019/20, and what can Australia, do to change the increasingly-unstable direction that we’re currently heading in?  As her award-winning climate change documentary, BURNING, is released on Prime Video, Eva Orner joins Emma for a fascinating conversation about how the climate crisis is playing out in Austral...

What's up with the proposed new oil and gas field exploration off the coast of Scotland? Here's our hot take.   Write to your MP: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-mp-to-stop-cambo Friends of the Earth letter to parliament: https://act.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/tell-government-reject-plans-oil-extraction-cambo-field Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/joe...

PUMPKINS! Costumes! Party decorations! Trick or treat snacks! One of the scariest things about All Hallow's Eve is how wasteful the haunting holiday is, so we're diving into some of the classic components of Halloween to try and make them a bit kinder to the planet.   Get in touch Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Faceboo...

We’re turning our attention today to a kind of pollution that you can’t just pick up and pop in the bin. Light pollution can occur in many forms and can, of course, have a great many impacts on all that it touches - including our plant and animal chums. Join us to find out how our artificial illuminations are impacting moths, bats, and trees, why we’re second-guessing switching street lights to en...

Join us this week to get down and dirty in the world of SOIL, dirtiness, earthworms, and carbon being burped from our land when we don’t look after it. Soil is important for food production, for water storage and filtering, for improving both our own and our ecosystems’ resilience to climate change, AND HEALTHY SOILS STORE HEAPS OF CARBON. What can we do to a) make soil sexy and b) save our soils?...

Helpful podcast about sprucing up your home while keeping the planet in mind, or therapy session for Emma and Lloyd in the middle of their own home renovation projects? You decide….   Some of the links that we mentioned: https://www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk/ https://localtools.org/ https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/grants   https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/esbest/home-garden/best-eco-paints...

Did you know that changing your pension provider is one of the biggest ways to slash your carbon footprint?   With over £2.6 trillion in the UK tied up in pension funds, which are often invested by banks in industries like fossil fuels or tobacco, Kenneth and Holly join us from Make Money Matter to explain the power you have by being able to switch your pension to one that invests in a sustainable...