For What It’s Earth

With billionaires blasting off to spend a few minutes on the edge of space, some of us who are destined never to leave earth are asking 'Hey, do you really need to do that? Can't we fix some of the problems down here first?' We're exploring the environmental issues of commercial space tourism, and of scientific space travel, and looking at some of the options for making the industry slightly less...

What does bitcoin have to do with climate change? Can anyone mine this made-up-seeming digital money? What even IS cryptocurrency? We're tackling the big questions today after lovey listener McKenna from Ohio sent us in a request to explore the environmental impact of cryptocurrency.    Get in touch Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? Get in touch with us on  I...

Can we plant our way out of trouble? What’s the best way to plant trees in our gardens or get involved in planting projects? And, more simply, why are trees COOL? Joe joins us to answer all our burning questions about trees, and about their role in the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis solutions    Things we mentioned: Emma and Joe exploring an ancient woodland and new tree plantation with Wo...

What is it? How does it work? Can we sequester ourselves out of the climate crisis? All this and plenty more in this episode of For What It's Earth, including a celebration of wonderful listener 'one good thing for the planet' submissions and a bit of a general life catch up with Emma and Lloyd.   Get in touch Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? Get in touch wi...

How can we make sure that the 'green' energy we think we're buying isn't actually 'brown'? What the heck is a smart home? How can kids shape the future of green electricity in the UK? All this and a good deal more in this episode, where. we speak to the wonderful Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy and host of Great Green Questions podcast.   Get in touch Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for anot...

Have you had a neat eco-business idea recently? We're joined by James Thirwall from Animall Tea, a speciality tea company that source all their produce from organically and sustainable growers, and who spend their profits supporting conservation charities, about starting a business which is good for the planet, not just for investor's pockets. James has also offered YOU, our lovely, wonderful list...

A few years ago, one breeding pair of beavers were released into an enclosure in Cornwall. Now an entire family of beavers thrives in a biodiverse wetland that they have created, supporting insect and birdlife, mitigating flooding and drought events, and even storing carbon! Join Emma as she tours the wetland, site of the Cornwall Beaver Project, and sits down on a fallen tree trunk with the propr...

Have you ever wanted to grow your own grub? Even with only a small space, growing food is a fantastic thing to do for you, and for the planet. This episode is all about getting the most out of the space you have in terms of yield, because growing your own food is a great potentially eco-friendly thing to do, AND is also about doing so in the best way for the environment that you can.   Oh, and paw...

Here’s your daily paws for thought... This week we’re discussing PETS. Our furry little sidekicks hold special places in our hearts, so it’s not easy to face up to their collective environmental pawprint. Don’t get your backs up though, because we’re here to offer some helpful tips to do right by the planet without making your dog eat tofu. Warning: we say the word ‘poo’ a lot. PLUS we talk to Rya...

HOT DRINKS, WE'RE COMING FOR YA! That's right, we're putting the nation's favourite beverages under our environmental impact microscope in this week's episode, 'Tea and Coffee'. Pop the kettle on, grab your eco-milk of choice and settle down with a brew to listen.   Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us on  Instagr...

HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR US? This week we're looking at the problem of anthropogenic noise, or human sound pollution, and how it creates real predicaments for our wildlife both above and below the waves. A significant problem that can be solved as simply as it started, but is there enough drive from policy makers? Can animals adapt their mating calls and find food in a human-dominated soundscape? Can f...

It's World Wetlands Day and we're chatting about BOGS; a habitat which the IUCN calls the largest natural terrestrial carbon store. So, why are these underrated habitats so gosh darn cool, and what makes them so good at storing carbon? Pop this episode in your ears to find out all about things bogs, peat, mires and permafrost. Plus, we introduce a section called 'Listener Corner' where we discuss...

What's going on with the air that we breathe? Well, quite a lot, it seems. We're chatting today about the causes of air pollution, the problems it can cause for our own health and things like farming and our food supply, and we explore some of the possible solutions.   Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us on  Inst...

Science and Tech YouTuber & Content Creator Tom Carroll joins the podcast to chat about using TikTok to save the rainforest, why wind farms are moving further offshore and what’s so exciting about 3D printing coral reefs (and also to catch up with us, as we're also old uni chums).   Find Tom on YouTube and Instagram .   Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter and by email...

This week, literally moments after the big covid-bans-holiday-fun announcement, we recorded a festive episode answering your questions! We can't promise you Pulitzer Prize-winning green journalism, but you can unwrap 40 bonus minutes of our voices, as we meander through some serious eco q's and some not-so-serious silly inquiries, which you sent in this week! PLUS... The long-awaited return of Llo...

Pandemic, what? 2020 has been the year of THE BEAVER. One native rodent with the natural ability to engineer wetland landscapes that support an incredible diversity of life, and which can even help us combat the effects of climate change. What's not to love?  Sophie Pavelle and Eva Bishop from Beaver Trust join Emma to chat all things Castor fiber from orange teeth and second lips to beaver boobs...

Why are fungi cool? What happens to British birds in the winter? We sit down for a natter with Nature Nerd Lucy Hodson (AKA Lucy Lapwing) to find out what it is about wildlife in Britain that has driven her life-long love affair with nature.   Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter and by email forwhatitsearthpod@gmail.com .   Don't forget to leave us a shiny review on your c...

It's been a record-breaking (-ly bad) year for sea ice. So why does that matter? The changing of the seasons is pretty reliable … or it used to be. Arctic ice loss has been in the news constantly for at least a decade, but just last month it was confirmed that 2020 is the second-worst year on record for it. If you thought it was problem that didn’t affect you, well, you’d be wrong about that. So,...

It’s fair to say that, since its announcement nearly a decade ago, the ‘High Speed Rail 2’ project has been in the UK news A LOT. With construction starting on the massive infrastructure project recently, we took a look at the likely environmental impact of this highly-contentious undertaking. Could projects like this ever have a positive environmental swing? Does simply uprooting and moving a who...

What happens when you take a scorpion into a hotel? What’s the best material to make a puffin from? This week we sat down with Wildlife Television presenter and Biologist Lizzie Daly to discuss human-wildlife ‘conflict’ (or more optimistically, coexistence) and her own research with Kenyan elephants, as well as explore her frankly ridiculously cool career. This is a fun one - plug in, get a cup of...

After our rivers episode earlier in the season, we realised that we’d barely gone beneath the surface of this vast topic. Enter: Stephanie, a specialist in aquatic ecosystems and research fellow at Swansea University! Not only do we unpick some key environmental issues in the form of freshwater obstructions (culverts are, perhaps, the unsung villain of our riverine world), but also look at Steph’s...

We're talking about the UK's most iconic monochrome, stripy nocturnal creatures and the threats they face: roads, pesticides, and the 'C' word - culling.   Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter and by email forwhatitsearthpod@gmail.com. Oh, and please do leave us a cute little five-star review so we can achieve our dream of world dominance (and actually stand a chance at bei...

With untreated sewage, fertiliser nutrients, agriculture chemicals and ALL SORTS ending up in our rivers in the UK through a variety of ways, we turn our attention to some of our beautiful freshwater habitats. Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter and by email forwhatitsearthpod@gmail.com. Oh, and please do leave us a cute little five-star review so we can achieve our dream...

Yussef Rafik, host of BUG FACE on BBC Earth, joins us to share his love for insects, and to chat about insect decline and the things we can do to save the planet's most important but underrated creatures. The Wildlife Trusts' Action for Insects campaign and advice booklets: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/take-action-insects Get in touch with us on  Instagram ,  Facebook  and  Twitter and by email...

Emerging from lockdown, eyes blinking in the sunlight and masks firmly on, Emma and Lloyd ARE BACK! In this episode, we talk about COVID and the environment. We’ve all seen the amazing stories of dolphins in Venetian canals, goats wandering the streets of Llandudno (Emma can’t pronounce this) and clear skies over our busiest of megacities, but has the perceived environmental benefit been as signif...