Sustainable(ish)

Awareness of the climate crisis feels like it is at an all-time high. All the studies tell us that 75-80% of people are worried about it, but we're still not really talking about it, and lots of people aren't really sure what they can do about it. There are lots of reasons behind this, but sometimes feeling like we don't have the knowledge or expertise to start conversations, and like we don't kno...

Often one of the first ways that young people start to express themselves is via fashion, but fashion comes with a considerable environmental footprint. Textile production accounts for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and uses 1.5 trillion litres of water annually. And we all wear clothes. In today's episode I'm chatting to someone who is on a mission to get young people engaged with...

In this episode I’m chatting to Parisa Wright, who is an absolute powerhouse of positive change – to the extent that I felt the need for a nap after speaking to her! I am in absolute awe of her passion, her energy and her absolute commitment to creating a greener and cleaner world for all our of children and for future generations. Parisa’s journey starts in the same way that many of ours will hav...

Football – I have to confess I’m not really a fan, and it’s certainly not an area I would usually associate with sustainability. And if we’re not afraid of stereotyping, then I wouldn’t have pegged football fans as big eco types either. Today’s guest is part of an organisation looking to change that , and to harness the power of sport in general, and football in particular to drive sustainable cha...

What's the best climate charity to donate to? How do I know that my money is actually being used for good stuff and not swallowed up in admin? What sorts of things might charities be funding when it comes to helping the climate crisis? When I think about donating to a climate charity, whether that's a personal donation, or if I'm thinking about running some kind of fundraiser, I find it hard to kn...

I know that I’m not alone in occasionally feeling a little bit "what’s the point?" Do my actions really make a difference? Will it really make any odds in the grand scheme of things if I take recycle this bottle, buy this new pair of jeans, or even take that flight? Our individual actions can feel inconsequential in the face of the overwhelming enormity of the climate crisis and the scales of the...

Today's guest has been on my podcast guest bucket list literally since it began, so there may be a small element of 'fan-girling' in this episode..! Hermione Taylor is the Co-Founder and Director and DoNation - "a platform helping organisations to inspire their communities to create long lasting change."She has such a great 'founder's story', involving a bike ride to Morocco (as you do!), and this...

The podcast is back after the summer break! And I'm kicking off with a solo episode from to celebrate and reflect on 10 years since we as a family embarked on a year buying nothing new. I didn't know it at the time, but that year, that slightly naive challenge, would change my life (cliche klaxon!).It changed not just how and where we shop, but also how I see my place in the world. I was left with...

I hope you’re enjoying this little trip down memory lane while the podcast takes a break for the summer. This time we’re re-visiting my chat with the brilliant Lauren from Wear 'em Out  pads. I did a little listener survey recently and this came out as one of the firm faves – I think largely because Lauren is so down to earth and real about her experiences and her own journey. This is so refreshin...

The podcast is having a bit of a break over the summer, so we’re re-running some of the fun and I’m picking some of my fave episodes from the last 140 odd. It’s been a tough job choosing, but also really lovely to browse through the back catalogue and remember all the wonderful people and organisations I’ve been lucky enough to get to chat to! Today’s ‘re-run the fun’ episode is Episode 50 – Every...

The podcast is having a break over the summer, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to re-visit some of my favourite episodes from the archives. A few years ago there was an article on the BBC website about a school PTA who had set up a reusable party kit to rent out for kid's parties and to raise some funds for the school. The idea was super simple - provide an affordable reusable alternat...

The podcast is having a break over the summer, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to re-visit some of my favourite episodes from the archives. I thought this episode was a good one to listen again to over the summer, as in it I'm chatting to Martin Dorey , founder of the #2MinuteBeachClean and the  #2MinuteFoundation . I figured lots of us might be visiting beaches over the holidays, and...

The podcast is having a break over the summer, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to re-visit some of my favourite episodes from the archives. This episode with Chris Hellawell from The Edinburgh Tool Library  was one of the very first episodes published , but that's not the only reason I love it so much. What Chris and his team have achieved up in Edinburgh is just brilliant. Tool Librar...

"The Great Big Green Week is the UK's biggest every celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. And everyone's invited."Sounds pretty good right? That's because it is! 2021 saw the inaugural Great Big Green Week (GBGW), from The Climate Coalition , host over 5000 events up and down the country, from bat walks to school assemblies, football matches, clothes swaps, r...

DID YOU KNOW..? There are over 40 million cars parked on our roads and driveways in the UK On average, vehicles in the UK sit idle 96% of the time For every 1 car shared, we can take 14 off the road A 2% switch to car sharing could see CO₂ emissions drop by 620,000 tonnes Which all sounds awesome, and even the big car manufacturers are gearing themselves up for a shift towards a more shared owners...

Wow, wow, wow. What a conversation. And what an incredible human being Angus Rose is. Some of you may have seen Angus in the news earlier on this year when he embarked upon a hunger strike to ask that all MPs receive a scientific briefing about the science of climate change and it's impacts on the UK.Angus was on hunger strike for 37 days, and is very clear that he was prepared to die to have his...

Can a travel editor travel flight free? Can they still do their job without setting foot on an aeroplane? And why would they want to? Listen in to this chat with Helen Coffey, travel editor for the Independent newspaper, and author of Zero Altitude to find out the answers! We chat about: Helen's 'ecopiphany' - what was the point for her where she started to worry about the impact of the flights sh...

Clothes - we all wear them, and we're getting through clothes at a faster rate than ever before. Clothing production has doubled globally between 2000 and 2015, and it's estimated that fashion accounts for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (for context, aviation is around 2-5%). Some of these clothes are only worn a handful of times (some even just once, or maybe even never) before bei...

As individuals, a lot of the changes that we need to make to lower our environmental impact involve behavioural change and developing new habits. Which can be hard! Much of the time we develop habits, good or bad, unintentionally. We do things because they are the quickest, the easiest, the most enjoyable. They become habits as we repeat them, and once they're habits we don't have to think about t...

I originally got in touch with Cass after signing up for a webinar she did with Creative Mornings called How to talk about the climate crisis without losing your friends, which I thought was such a brilliant title for a session. Cass is a freelance climate communicator and editor of The Green Fix - a weekly newsletter aimed at "bridging the gap between systemic change for a green and just future a...

As Covid restriction ease and borders open up again, many of us are desperate to escape the unpredictability of the British weather and experience some sunnier climes. However travel, or certainly international travel, feels pretty synonymous with flying and with the associated hefty carbon footprint that comes with that. Having resigned myself to damp summer holidays in our caravan in an effort t...

It's very very easy to feel despondent about the climate crisis and the state of the planet. And it's very very easy (and I think very natural) to feel overwhelmed and powerless to make a difference to such a big and complex issue. Those of you who have been following for a while and paying attention(!) will know that I bang on a LOT about individual actions and the power that we have to make a di...

DID YOU KNOW? We have lost over a million acres of wild landscapes in the UK since the end of WW2 The total garden space in the UK is greater than all the nature reserves! Our gardens have huge potential to be havens for wildlife and pollinators I'm very much not a gardener, but I'm super aware that our garden could be working harder for nature and wildlife. So it was great to get to chat to Paul...

There's a LOT of information out there isn't there? On the internet, on the radio, in our newspapers, on the tel-box. And a helluva lots of opinions too. About everything, including climate stuff. So how do we know who to trust? How can we tell when we're reading what is essentially an opinion piece from a journalist or a publication with an agenda, and what is actual climate science? It's hard ri...

In this episode I'm chatting to Steve Shaw who is the Director of Power for People , a not for profit organisation campaigning for the UK to rapidly transition to 100% clean energy and for this to benefit local communities. Steve has been on the podcast before, way back in Episode 44, talking about how to get your MP to take action on the climate crisis. If you haven't listened to it already, do -...