Sustainable(ish)

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...

Now this is a cracker of an episode...I ummed and ahhed about whether to publish  this one now (in the run up to Christmas), or to wait until the New Year, but decided to go with now. Because this episode is all about shopping, or rather stopping shopping, and it feels like now might be a time when we’re all perhaps uber aware of just how much extra we’re buying at the moment. The intention is not...

I talk a lot on this podcast about changes that we can make as individuals, and as households but possibly don’t talk enough about the other spheres of influence we have where we can create change.  Businesses and government have big roles to play too, but whilst most of us are unlikely to have the ear of our MP or the PM, the majority of us have some kind of connection with businesses – whether w...

So then.....COP26 is all done and dusted, and the circus has moved on out of town. There was a LOT of coverage (at least there was in my little social media bubble!) and it was amazing to see climate issues as headline news nearly every day through out the fortnight. And there were a helluva a lot of opinion pieces written, tweeted and spoken - many of them contradictory, and at times (all the tim...

At first glance, healthcare and the NHS might not seem to be linked to the climate crisis. And doesn't the NHS have enough on it's plate at the moment without being expected to 'green' itself? Tune in to this great episode with GPs Dr Fran Cundill and Dr Matthew Sawyer discussing how sustainability and healthcare and inter-linked and how they impact each other, with climate action leading to healt...

So then. How are you feeling? It’s coming up to the end of COP and two weeks of intense negotiation and shenanigans. Someone asked me this morning how I was feeling about it all, and my answer was confused. Or should that be COPfused – see what I did there…And I get a sense that I’m not the only one. My social media feeds have been full of posts – lots of them contradicting each other. On the one...

Here in the UK we get through around 2.5 BILLION disposable cups a year – 1 million trees are felled just for coffee cups, and a typical cup uses around 05 litre of water in being made. And sadly, disposable coffee cups are very hard to recycle – a 2017 study found that only around 1:400 are recycled – due to the difficulty in recycling the plastic coated paper, and also I would imagine to the lar...

COP 26. You can’t fail to have heard about it – my social media feeds are full of it, and even though these are very definitely skewed for eco stuff, it’s been all over the mainstream news and there’s been lots of great TV programming around it. But, erm, what is it? Hopefully I’m not alone in not really knowing – or having a kind of idea, but not really feeling like I could explain it very well t...

Today we’re talking education, specifically eco-education. For me it feels like schools are a really big part of the jigsaw when it comes to changing hearts and minds, and to educating and empowering us all around the changes that we can make, both individually and collectively. More and more schools are running eco clubs, and hosting Green Days or Green Weeks, but ‘sustainability’ is a huge topic...

Gas prices are going through the roof, energy bills are soaring, and energy companies are dropping like flies. Why is this happening, and what is the best thing for us to do as consumers, for our household budget and for the planet? Tune in to this episode with Jon Fletcher from green energy comparison site Big Clean Switch, where I ask him 'all the questions' about exactly what is happening, and...

Strap yourself in, this episode is all about emotions and feelings - specifically emotions and feelings related to the climate crisis and the teensy matter of the planet burning and us all going to hell in a handcart. That kind of stuff. Before we dive in, hopefully it goes without saying that I’m not a therapist, or a psychologist, or in any way qualified to give actual advice about any of this s...

In this episode I’m chatting to James Murray, editor of Business Green, and contributor to a recently publish book How to raise a global citizen – a book with the tagline "For the parents of the children who will save the world".We chat about why we’re both not really very keen on that tagline, the pressure that is on parents in our rapidly changing world, what it means to raise a global citizen,...

I'm still not quite sure how this happened, but in this episode I'm chatting to the co-CEO's of Friends of the Earth! Listen in as I chat to Miriam Turner and Hugh Knowles about their roles as co-CEOs, Friends of the Earth's 50th anniversary, and how Friends of the Earth can help to support us taking climate action in our local communities. LISTEN... CHECK OUT... Friends of the Earth UK- Website -...

This episode was recorded live at Timber Festival over the summer and was my first every experience of a live podcast recording - I think it went ok! Timber Festival is an annual festival in the National Forest in the middle of England, that this year happened at the beginning of July - there was  a brilliant line up of talks, music, food and everything else you would expect from a festival (inclu...

Earth Overshoot DayHave you heard of it? You may have seen a post or two on social media telling you that today is Earth Overshoot Day, and you may well be wondering what on earth that is! Which is a great question. Here's the official definition:"Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in tha...

Weird weather. We’re all feeling it aren’t we? We've had some of the hottest temperatures recorded in the UK, on the back of a cold cold May. And do you remember the really hot spring we had the year before? And a couple of years ago when it hit 20C in February and everyone was wondering around in t-shirts eating ice creams? I think most people have noticed the weird weather, but maybe not everyon...