Sustainable(ish)

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 -...

Today we’re talking food. Specifically vegetables. But maybe not in the way that you might expect. We’re all increasingly familiar with the narrative that we need to eat more veggies, and less meat and dairy, both for our own health, and also for the health of the planet. But today we’re talking about specifically about eating vegetables that are in season – why that’s important, and how we can ac...

We've had a few episodes on the podcast exploring 'climate education' where I've chatted to various people about the brilliant projects they're involved in to encourage and facilitate education around climate issues in schools. But we haven't heard from any of the young people currently in the education system! This episode hopefully helps to rectify that as I'm chatting to not just one young pers...

I was very excited towards the end of last year asking if I would like to chat to anyone about Earthshot - a book that addresses the challenges facing the planet and that explores some of the best solutions that exist to turn the tide on the environmental crisis. Many of you might have heard of the Earthshot Prize - which is an idea that came from Prince William, to encourage innovation and fundin...

I was delighted to finally get the chance to chat to Sophie Unwin after literally years of following each other online! Sophie is the director and founder of the Remade Network - a Glasgow based social enterprise with a mission to build a repair economy from the ground up through the creation of a  network of repair social enterprises that create jobs, tackle climate change and reduce inequality -...

The more I hear about and read about 'climate education' the more I think that this is such a vital part of the jigsaw, and how we're really doing our children and young people a huge disservice by not a) educating them about the world around them and how it's changing, and b) empowering them to recognise and realise the power and agency that they have to create positive change. I've previously ch...

In this episode I’m chatting to Ben and Petra who are both trustees of Zero Carbon Guildford which is one of a growing number of Climate Emergency Centres that are starting up all over the UK. Zero has an amazing community space in the centre of Guildford where they have a zero waste shop and a vegan café , and  and also host a brilliant array of projects from a baby clothes library through to cli...

Today is another cracker of an episode and is about something that we haven’t really dived into before on the podcast – eco anxiety. I’m chatting to Megan Kennedy Woodard, a coaching psychologist, and one half of Climate Psychologists , alongside her husband Patrick. Together they have co-authored Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety , a brilliant book wth the tagline “Sustainable action for your ment...

Today we're talking all things reuse and renew with Daniel Carolan and Samantha Carty from SUEZ. SUEZ are a waste management company here in the UK, and are responsible for the collection and sorting of household waste in many areas around the country, including Greater Manchester Combined Authority, where they're spearheading a super exciting project - a Renew Hub! The Hub and the donation contai...

Those of you who have been following for a loooooong time might remember that my 'journey' into all things Sustainable(ish) started with  My Make Do and Mend Year  - a year of buying nothing new with my family.2022 marks the TEN YEAR anniversary of that life changing (I know it's a cliche, but it genuinely has changed my life!) year, which feels absolutely bonkers.10 years ago our kids were 4 and...

In today’s episode we’re discussing 'IRL' (in real life!) Sustainable(ish) Christmas’s in all their glorious imperfections and with all the compromises that come with trying to keep everyone happy whilst trying to simultaneously save the planet. With this episode I wanted to hear from real people, people like you and me, who are trying really hard to do the right thing, but at the same time feel t...