Sustainable(ish): Recent Episodes
Jen Gale
Hello and welcome to episode 184, and as it turns out, the last episode of the Sustainable(ish) podcast! I wanted to try and get to 200, and I’m annoyed not even to be ending on a nice round number like 185, but often in life things aren’t tied up in a nice neat bow. Long term listeners will know that at times the podcast has been very stop start, and the time has come for an intentional stop. For now at at least. I’m not going to say that it will never be back in some form, as I genuinely love having these conversations and will miss the opportunities that the podcast has given me to speak to so many extraordinary and inspiring people. However it’s reached the point where the joy of the conversations is starting to be outweighed by the work involved organising and scheduling everything, editing it all, creating the blog posts and the socials etc etc, so time to put this particular project to bed, for a while at least.
I am so delighted to be going out with such a bang and having the amazing opportunity to interview one of my absolute heroes, Clover Hogan.
Clover is a 24-year-old climate activist and the founding Executive Director of Force of Nature - the youth non-profit mobilising mindsets for climate action. She has worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability, consulted within the boardrooms of Fortune 50 companies, and counselled heads of state. Her TED talk, 'What to do when climate change feels unstoppable', has been viewed 2 million times. As we’ll hear in the chat, she started her activist journey at the age of just 11, and attended the instrumental Paris COP in 2015 at the age of just 15. She genuinely is a force of nature, and is the kind of person who you just want to be able to download everything that is in their head. We talk about her own journey, what we can do as parents to support our young people, and what we can do ourselves to move beyond individual action and to be a bit more activist. We discuss what the word activist even means, acknowledging that it’s an uncomfortable word for many, but that it encompasses such a wide range of things, and that an ‘in’ for many people is thinking about their workplace and what they might be able to to do to encourage their workplace on a sustainability journey.
I’m pretty sure it’s obvious from the chat, but this was a massive fan-girl moment for me, I loved this chat and totally want Clover to be my new BFF. Ooh and just a quick warning if you tend to listen with kids around, I do drop an F-bomb towards the end – apologies in advance.
Enjoy!
Clover Hogan
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Clover Hogan
- Website
- Instagram
- Linked In
- You Tube
- Twitter/X
* Forces of Nature
- Website
- Instagram
- Tiktok
- Twitter/X
- Linked In
- Podcast
- Season 1
- Season 2 - We need to talk about Eco Anxiety
- Season 3 - Confessions of a climate activist
- Climate Cafes
* An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
* Exxon Mobil wants you to feel responsible for climate change so it doesn't have to
* Katharine Hayhoe
* Global Action Plan - Bringing the values-perception gap to life
* Global Action Plan - United in compassion
* It's Not That Radical - Mikaela Loach
* Carbon Literacy training
Forces of Nature
Forces of Nature podcast
Has this episode sparked a few ideas for you? Or helped you to think a bit differently about what activism looks like for you? Do let me know in the comments, and I'd also love to hear about any of your own 'activism', big or small, do share! […]
In the spirit of London buses, ie nothing for ages and then two come along in close succession, this week’s episode is another foodie one, hot on the heels of Episode 180 - Food and climate change without the hot air with Professor Sarah Bridle. I’m chatting to Frank Holleman who is the co-founder of Fork Ranger, a platform and app that aims to help us to explore how to eat for the climate.
I was super aware of the recent food episode, and wanted to avoid simply repeating the same messages from that, so alongside diving into what Fork Ranger does, we also talked about climate communications, story telling and messaging, all of which Fork Ranger does incredibly well, and hopefully there’s a lot in this episode for all of us around how we talk about food and climate with friends, family and colleagues.
Enjoy!
Frank Holleman
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Fork Ranger
- Website
- Instagram
- Linked In
- You Tube
- App
- Frank on Linked In
* An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
* Project Drawdown
- Drawdown book
- The powerful role of household actions in solving climate change
* [180] - Food and climate change without the hot air
* Hooked by Nir Eyal
* Don't even think about it by George Marshall
* David Foster-Wallace - This is water (commencement speech)
* Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
I’d love to hear how you get on with the Fork Ranger app, any new facts you’ve learned, if you’ve tried out the recipes etc etc - do let me know below! […]
One of the things that frustrates many people, is a lack of action from governments around the world to protect nature and mitigate the worst impacts of the a warming and rapidly changing climate.
The UK government was one of the first to come up with a Net Zero target back in 2019, and declared a ‘climate emergency’ that same year. However the problem with both of these commitments is that they often don’t translate into the urgent and radical action that is needed. Apparently half of the world's population is heading the polls for elections in 2024, including the UK, making this a crucial year for climate action.
In this week’s episode I’m delighted to be chatting to Amy McDonnell and Oliver Sidorczuk, co-directors of Zero Hour, a campaign that is working to get a new bill, the Climate and Nature Bill, passed into law, which would ensure that UK government policies are in line with the latest science. With an election looming at some point this year, support for this bill in the run up to that, not only shows MPs and prospective MPs that this is an issue that the electorate care about, it will also mean that the campaign will have the momentum it needs to hit the ground running, when a new parliament sits after the election.
Studies repeatedly show that most people are concerned about the climate and nature crises, but especially when it comes to politics and elections, it can feel like we can make a difference, due to our electoral system. Supporting the Climate and Nature Bill is a brilliant (and very easy!) way make your voice heard by your local politicians, and we can amplify our own individual support by asking businesses and organisations that we’re involved with to support it to.
Dr Amy McDonnell
Oliver Sidorczuk
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Zero Hour
- Website
- Instgram
- Facebook
- Twitter/X
- Linked In
- Constituency pages
- Campaigner pack
- Crowdfunding campaign
* Amy McDonnell on Linked In
* Oliver Sidorczuk on Linked In
* The Big Ask campaign
* UK Climate Change Act
* UK Environment Act
* COP 15 - Paris Agreement
* Biodiversity COP 15
* [166] - Climate 101 with Dr Adam Levy
* Climate Change Committee
* [144] - Hunger strike for climate with Angus Rose
* Green Alliance - Working with MPs on climate change
* Citizens Assemblies
* UK Climate Assembly
* The People V Climate Change - on iPlayer
* Climate Majority Project
* [177] - The power of your vote with William Eccles from The Commitment
* The Commitment
* Greenpeace's Project Climate Vote
* [135] - The Local Electricity Bill with Steve Shaw
* Power for People - Local Electricity Bill
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
Zero Hour's 2024 Election Campaign
Ask your local politicians to support the Climate and Nature Bill!
Have you done it yet, have you done it yet, have you done it yet..?!!Please do head over to the Zero Hour website and show your support, and then have a think about who you could share this with.Do comment below if you've signed and if you've shared it with anyone else! […]
This week’s episode feels a little bit liking coming full circle on an episode from nearly 5 years ago!
If you’re a long-time listener, and have an excellent memory, you might remember, way back in 2019, I interviewed the wonderful Tillie Mabbutt who runs Frome Eco Party Kit, renting out a party kit of reusable plates, cups and bowls to avoid the waste associated with disposable partyware. At the time, Tillie was one of the first people in the UK to be running a reusable party kit and we dived into the idea, how it works, and how she got started.
Well… today’s guest Isabel was listenting to that episode, and not only started her own Party Kit off the back of it, but went on to create the Party Kit Network, which now has 360 kits listed in the UK, over 100 in Australia and is starting to branch out into North America too.
I Could. Not. Love. This. More!
In this episode we dive into party kits, what they are, how they work, how to find one, as well as how to start one if you’d love to have near you and there isn’t one. We also talk more broadly about the sharing economy – so this is the idea of an economy based on renting and sharing things rather than the linear buy, use, dispose model we currently have. We explore some of the difficulties around trying to do business in a different and lets face it, conter cultural way and Isabel’s ambitions for the Party Kit Network.
I hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as I enjoyed recording it!
Isabel Mack
Check out Isabel's Party Kits stacked up behind her!
A party kit complete with decorations and Pass the Parcel bags! Image: Party Kit Network
Re-usable Pass the Parcel bags (these are genius!) Image: Party Kit Network
Re-usable paper pompoms Image: Party Kit Network
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Party Kit Network
- Website
- Find a Party Kit
- Facebook
- Party Kit Network Owner Facebook group
- Instagram
- Twitter/X
- Pinterest
- Annual Impact Report 2023
- Getting started guide
- How to ask for no gifts when hosting a kid's birthday party (Isabel's blog post)
* [037]- How and why to set up a reusable party kit for kids birthday parties with Tillie from Frome Eco Party Packages
* Who Gives a Crap toilet roll
* Brothers Make - plastic recycling
* Citizens by Jon Alexander
* Erin Rhoads aka The Rogue Ginger
* People Planet Pint
* Plastic-free(ish) party bags
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
The Party Kit Global Map!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one Had you heard of Party Kits before? Have you got one near you? Are you now going to rent one for your next party? Or are you tempted to start one if there isn’t one available locally? I would love the ripples to carry on and more party kits to pop up on the map after this episode.Let me know in the comments! […]
In this week's episode I'm chatting to Sarah Bridle, who is possibly our first Professor on the podcast! Professor Sarah Bridle is Chair in Food, Climate and Society at the University of York, researching environmental impacts of the food system and potential impacts of the environment on food availability. She is also the author of Food and Climate Change - Without the Hot Air, an accessible guide to how different foods contribute to climate change, a brilliant book which I would highly recommend!
Food is a big part of all of our lives. And it's a big part of the climate crisis too - around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food. When it comes to 'sustainable food' it very quickly gets very complicated - there are so many different things to think about, and often it feels very difficult to make the 'right' decision.
I loved hearing Sarah's personal story around her career pivot from Astrophysics to food and climate change, and how she has also had to navigate the difficulties of trying to change family diets and habits in her own household, so understands that what can sound like straightforward swaps on paper, are often more challenging!
We cover a LOT in the episode, and I'm very aware that we might have simply opened a whole can of worms and raised even more questions - do let me know if there's bits that you would love to hear more about and dive into a little more detail!
Sarah Bridle
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Sarah Bridle
- Linked In
- Twitter/X
- Food and climate change without the Hot Air
- Sarah at University of York
- TEDx talk - Eating our way out of climate change
- Take a Bit out of Climate Change
- Fix our Food
- UKRI Agri-Food for Net Zero Network+
- Climate Food Flashcards
- Planet Pizza - free downloadable activity for kids
* David MacKay - Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air
* River Wye chicken farm pollution
* Regenesis - George Monbiot
* How Bad are Bananas? - Mike Berners-Lee
* [134] - How eating seasonally can lower your carbon footprint - with Veg Power
* [095] - How to make veggie meals our kids might actually eat - with Rachel Boyett
* [077] - How your freezer can help fight food waste - with Kate Hall
* [074] - Sustainable Eating
* [047] - Fighting Food Waste - with Olio
* [041] - Use your phone to fight food waste - with CozZo
* National Food Strategy
* WWF Live Well
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
Any clearer about food and climate impacts? Or have we left you with even more questions?!Let me know in the comments! […]
In this week's episode I'm chatting to comedian Stuart Goldsmith. I'm a bit of a comedy fan, so I listen to Stuart's podcast, the Comedian's Comedian where he interviews other comedians about their work and he seems to pretty much be BFFs with everyone on the comedy circuit. It might seem a bit random to be interviewing a comedian on the podcast, but as you will hear, in the last few years Stuart has been 'bitten by the sustainability bug' and has started to explore how he can use his skillset as a comedian and a speaker to help tackle the climate crisis. And oh my goodness, I can't tell you how much I love this!
I think that one of the big problems we have when it comes to engaging people in all things climate and sustainability is that as human beings we love to put each other into boxes. So I'm assuming that in the eyes of my friends and family I'm very firmly in the crusty green box. Despite my lack of yoghurt weaving skills. And everyone else kind of feels like the greenies are over there doing their fun green hobby, but it's nothing to do with me. They know what they're expecting to hear from us, and probably in many cases, either avoid conversations with us, or start to zone out a little. So when someone 'normal', a non greenie comedian, starts to talk about climate it somehow has much more impact, as it's not the usual suspects talking about this stuff - and that's hugely powerful.
We didn't talk about even half of the things I wanted to dive into. I omitted the most obvious question - how do you make the climate crisis funny? But I really hope that you enjoy this conversation. Right at the very end, Stuart talks about how stepping into the climate space, and starting to talk about climate in his work, wasn't as scary as he thought it would be! Which I would love to be the take home message from this episode. We might not all be stand up comedians, or confident public speakers, but we do all have something we can do, a particular skill set, a superpower that we might not even realise we have, that we can use, to play our part in the tackling the climate crisis.
What's yours...?
Stuart Goldsmith
Stuart's climate comedy show Spoilers
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Stuart Goldsmith
- Website
- Climate stuff
- Spoilers - dates and tickets for Stuart's climate comedy show
- Podcast - The Comedian's Comedian
- I Need You Alive - You Tube Special
- Speaking
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter/X
- Linked In
* The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson
* Matt Winning - Climate scientist and comedian
- Hot Mess (a brilliant, and funny! climate book)
* Oblivia Coalmine - Olivia Coleman starring in a Make My Money Matter clip
* Climate Science Breakthrough
* Climate Fresk
* En-ROADS
* Sustainable(ish) Corporate Talks and Workshops
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
What's your superpower? How can you use it help tackle the climate crisis?Let me know in the comments! […]
In this week's episode I'm chatting to Misha Dhanak, CEO of Spacehive, the home of community fundraising. We're probably all familiar with the concept of crowdfunding and may have even funded products and projects on platforms like Kickstarter. Well Spacehive is a similar concept, it's a crowdfunding platform, but it's for community projects - so on there you will find things like a cricket club raising funds for new kit, or a town looking to create a rural arts hub. And as we will hear from Misha, there are a huge number of nature and climate projects too. Many of us might have ideas for projects that we would love to see happening in our local community - whether that's something like a regular repair cafe, solar panels on your kid's school, transforming a derelict bit of land into community garden, or something else entirely. But for most of us, those ideas stay in our heads as dreams, when the reality of trying to find the money to get it off the ground. This is where Spacehive comes in - they have helped to fund over 2000 projects, and raised over £30million for local projects, and they have they highest success rate of any crowdfunding platform with over 85% of their projects getting funded.
Misha talks in the podcast about 'small but mighty' projects and you will probably be able to tell from my reaction that I just love this! Many of the projects on Spacehive are small, they're not going to change the world, but they are going to change their local community. And with governments around the world failing to take the ambitious actions that we need to protect nature and the climate, community action is vital. And so many of the projects come with additional co-benefits, so the original intention might be supporting wildlife, or installing solar panels, but the ripple effects might be improved physical and mental health, or financial savings, and all of them will be bringing people in the local community together, to make where they live a little bit better.
I would love to hear if you have any ideas for local sustainable(ish) projects you'd love to get off the ground, and if this episode has made you feel a little bit braver about it, and possibly even launch your project on Spacehive!
Enjoy!
Misha Dhanak
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Spacehive
- Website
- Make your Commitment
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter/X
- Linked In
* Loop Frome
* Knepp Estate
* Going Wild in Holtwhistle
* Active Travel Festival Chester
* The Flower Bank
* Cirencester Open Air Pool Solar Panels
* Solar Energy for Fulham Good Neighbours
* Margate Crab Museum
* The Commitment
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
What 'small but mighty' project would you love to see happening in your local community?Could you make it happen with Spacehive? Let me know in the comments! […]
In this week's episode I'm chatting to William Eccles from The Commitment.
The Commitment is a campaign asking us to commit to voting for a healthy planet. You do this by heading to their website, hitting the "make the commitment" button, and ticking the box that says “ I commit to vote only for politicians who work for urgent action on the climate and nature.”.
We discuss in the episode just why that is so important, and the really clever ways that they’re using your commitment to engage with MPs and give them a mandate to be braver in their calls and support for action on climate and nature.
As you’ll hear in the episode, when I came across the Commitment earlier this year, I stopped what I was doing and did just that. And then I shared it on social media asking other people to do the same. And the team at the Commitment were able to track the fact that me sharing meant other people stopped what they were doing and made their own commitment. But they know that lots of people get distracted in between hearing about something and actually doing it, so that number could have been so much higher.
I would LOVE it if this episode resulted in another 'mini surge' of commitments. There’s a point in the podcast where William invites you to pause the podcast and go and do it.
Last time I shared they had 27 people sign up – let’s see if we can smash that!
Enjoy!
William Eccles
GOOD NEWS!
In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:
- EVs have outsold diesel cars in the EU for the first time (Positive News on Instagram)
- More UK universities cutting ties with fossil fuel industry (The Guardian)
- And much closer to home... Libby in The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse shared what she described as ‘not a big win', but I would beg to differ! Libby says: "Yesterday a local business offered out 3 bike racks on my Freecycle site and I quickly bagsied them (I assume they were replacing them with something better). A few messages and emails later and 2 local businesses will have these new (old) bike racks allowing their staff and customers cycle to them instead of driving." Absolutely loving this Libby!
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* The Commitment
- Website
- Make your Commitment
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter/X
- Linked In
- TikTok
* William Eccles
- Linked In
* An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore
* The Uninhabitable Earth - David Wallace-Wells
* UN Biodiversity COPs
* Hope for the Future
* Green Alliance
* Climate Change - a very short introduction - Mark Maslin
* Outrage + Optimism - Moments of truth
* Environmental Voter Project
* Vote Climate
* Greenpeace's Project Climate Vote
* [086] - All things politics with Sian Berry
* Outrage + Optimism - COP28: The outcome is a signal
* Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts podcast
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
* Crap-free Christmas course
The Commitment
Have you done it, have you done it, have you done it?!!Do let me know in the comments! […]
Advertising.
It's all around us. Persuading us to buy stuff we didn't know we wanted, telling us how much happier/more popular/better our lives will be with the latest/newest whatever it is.
Most of think that we're immune to it, but studies show just how insidious and manipulative it is, and how it influences our brains at a deep level. Which perhaps wouldn't really matter if we weren't in the grips of climate and ecological emergencies driven by our consumption of the very stuff being advertised to us.
Leo Murray is the co-founder and director of innovation at climate charity Possible, and the co-author of Badvertising - a book that is "raising the alarm on an industry that is making us both unhealthy and unhappy, and that is driving the planet to the precipice of environmental collapse in the process."
I've only read the first chapter of the book but already it's eye opening and shocking - Jeremy Vine's review of the book says "..if you thought your brain was being gently warmed by the advertising industry, read this book and you'll realise it's being fried'.
Leo is amazing and there is so much I wanted to chat to him about, as you can probably tell from the interview! We veered from chatting about some of the work that Possible is doing, to Badvertising and back again, so apologies in advance for my inability to keep on track - I hope you'll find it all interesting stuff!
Leo Murray
GOOD NEWS!
In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:
- The USA (finally) agreed to quit coal (Positive News)
- Wales puts bugs on the map (Positive News)
- And much closer to home...
I spent Monday in Weston-Super-Mare with 200 other people at the biggest ever in-person Carbon Literacy training. The day was organised by North Somerset Council, and I was blown away not only by their ambition to do it, AND their ability to pull it off! I was asked to do a guest speaker slot and it was an amazing experience, seeing so many people in one place, from all kinds of different businesses and organisations of all sizes, gathered together to learn and to take action. And this training was part of a wider 'Carbon Literacy Action Day' which saw over 1000 people taking part in Carbon Literacy training all around the world. It was incredible to be a part of, and a reminder that there are so many people and businesses out there taking really positive steps to reduce their emissions and be part of the solution!
(If you're interested in Carbon Literacy training for 2024 - there are dates on the website here)
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Leo Murray
- On Twitter
- On Linked In
* Possible
- Website
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Twitter
- Frequent flyer levy campaign
* Badvertising
- Website
- Book (shown on Wob as a more ethical alternative to Amazon!)
- Write to your local council
* First transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel
* Nearly half the flights we take are unnecessary
* Climate equality: A planet for the 99%
* Advertising Standards Authority Green Claims Code
* SUV ad banned
* Bite Back
* Ad Free Cities
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
* Crap-free Christmas course
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one.Has this made you more aware of the advertising around you and how it might be affecting you, your family and community, and the wider world?Will you be signing the Frequent Flyer Levy petition, or e-mailing your council?Do let me know in the comments! […]
Climate and play might not be two things that we naturally put together. And even less so, climate and 'playfulness'. Climate change is a huge, overwhelming, complext issue and i couldn't be more important. So we need to take this seriously and absolutely need to be bringing our best game, there's no room for messing around, right?
Maybe not!
I loved this chat with the brilliant Lucy Hawthorne, founder of Climate Play who is "making it safe, light and fun to face climate change". Lucy runs a range of workshops and programmes that help people work through emotions, information and actions associated with climate change. In this episode we discuss playfulness as a mindset and why that's so important when it comes to tackling big, serious issues like climate change.
You might think that Climate Play workshops, especially ones involving Lego are aimed at children, but that's very much not the case here - Lucy's workshops are for grown ups, and often grown ups working in proper grown up jobs in proper grown up companies. We talk about the importance of play, especially for adults - how it expands our minds, and puts us into a great, positive frame of mind, meaning we're at our best when attempting to tackle such big and complex issues as climate change.
There was a phrase that Lucy used at one point during the conversation - something like using play to 'put a softer edges on things to be able to have the harder conversations' that really struck me. I know that I can get very caught up in the importance of this work and the pressure I put on myself to get it right, because so much is at stake. That can mean that I'm potentially pretty intense when I attempt any conversations around climate change and climate action! Allowing ourselves (myself) to experiment and be more playful with what works and what doesn't, letting go of a fear of failure, because we can't fail as we're just experimenting and trying some stuff out, is such an important mindset shift, and one that I'm going to try and embrace. Along with the idea of embracing and doing more of the things that bring us joy, and thinking about how we can do more of what we do with a (genuine!) smile on our faces.
And speaking of big mindset shifts, look out for the brilliant one right at the end, where Lucy shares the power of simply swapping one simple word in our vocabulary, and how that can make us "more motivated, more likely to carry on doing it (climate action), and more likely to be smiling while I'm doing it."
Lucy Hawthorne
GOOD NEWS!
In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:
- Environment secretary to reconsider mandatory food waste reporting for businesses (Ends Report)
- Second UK company appoints nature to the board (Positive News)
- And much closer to home - some lovely feedback on Linked In on my Carbon Literacy course.
Nicola says "Proud of this one. Thank you to Jen at Sustainable(ish) for taking what I find to be a minefield and distilling it down to the individual level and how we can actually make a difference, with some small (or big) adjustments to our thinking and lifestyles. One of my pledges was to commit to one meat free meal a week, I initially thought I would struggle with this, but a few months down the line it has not been as bad as I was expecting. With this one act I'm helping to save nearly 100kgs of CO2 across the year. If, like me you find the climate situation we are facing a challenge to get your head around and you have the opportunity to undertake carbon literacy training, I highly recommend that you take it."
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:* Climate Play
- Website
- Linked In
- Climate Play meet-up
* Lucy Hawthorne on Linked In
* Lego Serious Play
* Talking about climate change video
* Climate equality: a planet for the 99%
* Bananas Game - Dr Emma Fieldhouse
* Play by Stuart Brown
* Climate Change Coaching by Charly Cox and Sarah Flynn
* Carbon Literacy training
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
* Crap-free Christmas course
What do you think?What does play mean to you? How can you use this in the climate space to bring more curiosity and joy, and to help you to let go of any fear of failure?How can you be more playful and curious in your approach to climate action whether that's at home, work, or in your community?Do let me know in the comments! […]
This week we're talking schools and climate action!I'm chatting to Jo Pettifer who part of a growing team of Climate Action Advisors from climate charity Let's Go Zero, which is working to help schools in the UK to take climate action, with the ambitious goal of becoming carbon zero by 2030.Jo shares in our chat […]
This week we’re diving into all things digital with Matt and Will from an organisation called Carbon Fingerprint.For many of us, the planetary impact of our online lives maybe isn’t something that we give much thought to – the cloud is this ethereal thing that none of us quite understand, and I personally can’t even […]
"If you own a tent you can be a member of Tentshare. If you don't own a tent, you can be a member of Tentshare."Love this quote from Rebecca Heaps, founder of Tentshare -'the Air BnB for tents'!On the surface, camping feels like a pretty eco-friendly option for a cheaper holiday. And it is. However […]
Podcast episode wise it was only 7 episodes ago, but time wise, almost a year has passed since I chatted to Annie Pickering from Climate Emergency UK about their Council Climate Scorecards.In that chat we talked about why climate action from Local Authorities are important,. The operational carbon footprint of most local authroties might not […]
Tash Acres is the founder of Earth Runs, an organistaion that rewards activity by planting trees! As you will hear, Tash’s approach to running and physical activity is so similar to my approach to sustainability – anything is better than nothing, it all counts, celebrating the successes no matter how small, and so much more! […]
In this episode we’re talking money, and how we can make our money a bit greener.I’m chatting to Dan Sherrard-Smith, who is the founder and CEO of MotherTree – a platform that helps us all to get better informed about the impact of our money when it’s in our current accounts, savings, and pensions, and […]
This week’s episode starts with a confession!This episode was recorded a whole year ago, it was edited, intros were put onto it, it was all ready to go, and I somehow failed miserably to hit publish! I genuinely even thought I had published it until I had an e-mail from Heather earlier on this year […]
Following on from last week's episode looking into some of the basics of climate science with Dr Adam Levy, this week I'm chatting to another climate scientist, Dr Ella Gilbert, and this time we're diving into the murky world of climate denial!Here's some of the misinformation that Ella addresses for us, using actual science:Climate scientists […]
It's only taken 165 episodes, but I decided that it was about time we did a climate change back to basics type episode, going over the basic science of climate change. Talking about climate change is one of the most important things we can do (check out the brilliant Katharine Hayhoe for a great TED […]
After a slightly longer (9 months..!) than intended break, the podcast is back!No guest today - just a short solo episode to say hello, apologise for my absence and let you know to stand by your beds ready for some new episodes with some fabulous guests!GOOD NEWS!There's also a new Good News section, sharing some […]
Most of us limit our interactions with our local authority to whingeing about our bin collections and paying our council tax BUT did you know that they have a whole lot of carbon emissions within their influence and therefore a whole lot of potential for a positive planetary impact?
But how do we know what our council are doing? And if their plans are any good? And how they compare to the county next door, or at the other end of the country?
This is where today’s guest comes in!
I’m chatting to Annie Pickering from Climate Emergency UK, a not for profit who are supporting local authorities to achieve faster emissions reductions. Last year they assessed the climate action plans of all the local authroties in the UK and ranked them in a set of council climate plan scorecards – I use these regularly in my Carbon Literacy training and also in my talks when I’m talking about spheres of influence and the role we can play as citizens – these scorecards are a great ‘hook’ to get in touch with your local authority and start a conversation about climate action.
This year they’re going a step further and are assessing and ranking local authorities on their actual climate actions, rather than their plans, and this is where we come in!
Not only can we use these tools (the current one now and the new one when it’s available in Autumn of 2023) to engage with our councils around climate action, but if anyone has been looking for climate volunteering opportunities that they can do from the comfort of their homes, then this could be the one for you!
Climate Emergency UK are looking to recruit a small army of volunteers to help them to assess the CA plans of all the local authorities in the UK – a somewhat mammoth undertaking! They’ll provide full training for you and it looks like a brilliant opportunity to get involved in something that really is having a meaningful impact – you’ll hear in our chat about some of the impact that the plan scorecards have already had, so it’s exciting to think about what the action scorecards will achieve!
I’ve already signed up – if you’re interested, here's the link.
Enjoy!
PS. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast this year, please do give me a Christmas pressie of a rating and review whether you get your podcasts – it really does help the podcast to grown and reach more people!
LISTEN...
CHECK OUT...* Climate Emergency UK
- Website
- Facebook
-Instagram
- Twitter
* Council Climate Scorecards
- New methodology for assessing actions
- Register your interest in volunteering to help assess council's actions
* Talking Climate - The Sustainable(ish) accredited Carbon Literacy course
* The Sustainable(ish) Facebook group
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
Let me know your thoughts on this one!And if you enjoyed this episode, please do leave a review and/or comment wherever you get your podcasts! […]
In this episode we take a deep dive into the carbon footprint of Christmas.
Which feels a bit weird right?
Christmas is a time to let go a little, and not be so hung up on the consequences of our actions (hence the number of mince pies I may have already eaten..). I feel a bit guilty for flagging up the fact that our Christmas excesses still have an impact.
But unfortunately we can't bury our heads in the sand. And fortunately, there are LOTS of things we can do to tweak our Christmas' to make them a bit more sustainable(ish), without having to give up all the bits we love and enjoy.
However, I think we can all relate to the fact that creating change, at any time of year, can be hard. And making different choices at Christmas can feel nigh on impossible.
So it's important to think about what's in your control (do some of these things!) and what isn't (try and let these go..).
Tune in to hear more about the carbon footprint of Christmas, and how to reduce your stress levels (hopefully!) by figuring out what are the things you might be able to change, and what are the things that other people are in control of, where you just have to go with the flow.
LISTEN...
CHECK OUT...* How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee
* [159] - Carbon Literacy with Phil Korbel
* [071] - A beginners guide to carbon footprints with Jo Hand at Giki Zero
* Christmassy podcast episodes:
- [125] - Sustainable(ish) Christmas confessions!
- [084] - The carbon footprint of Christmas and what we can do about it with Terra Neutra
- [081] - Making a start on a sustainable(ish) Christmas
- [052] - Conscious gift giving with Buy Me Once
- [029] - The end of toybox clutter with Whirli
- [019] - 12 not so fun festive facts
* Christmassy blog posts:
- 12 not so fun festive facts
- The beginners guide to a crap-free Christmas
- 12 easy ideas for a Sustainable(ish) Christmas
- How we (just about) survived Christmas buying nothing new (and how you can too)
- Sustainable(ish) options for nativity costumes
- Mincemeat cupcakes with marzipan buttercream
- The (festive) waste hierarchy
- 12 gifts for kids that aren't stuff
- Plastic-free(ish) stocking fillers
- Books for super-hero kids who want to save the world
- Books for super-hero grown ups who want to save the world
- 10 last minute tips for an eco-friendly Christmas
- Eco-friendly and plastic-free crackers
- Confessions of a knackered mums eco(ish) Christmas
- What is the carbon footprint of Christmas?
- The carbon footprint of Christmas and 12 ways to reduce it
* Crap-free Christmas course
* Talking Climate - The Sustainable(ish) accredited Carbon Literacy course
* The Sustainable(ish) Facebook group
* The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse
Let me know your thoughts on this one!And if you enjoyed this episode, please do leave a review and/or comment wherever you get your podcasts! INTRODUCING THE CRAP-FREE CHRISTMAS COURSE!Packed with hints, tips, ideas and links for a Christmas with less waste and less impact on the planet, one imperfect step at a time!
This is an online self-paced course, meaning you can dip in and out at your own pace and pick and choose what you want to focus on.
MORE INFO […]
COP 27...What happened?What didn't happen?And why?For those of us in the UK, COP26 in Glasgow last year felt like a BIG deal - it was everywhere in the media while it was running, and schools, businesses and organisations were all keen to get involved.This year's COP (COP27) has felt very different. And I found myself […]
You might not want to hear this but...Christmas is coming!We’re about to enter silly season for consumption with Black Friday and then the Christmas shopping, so what better time to take a pause and think about the impact of what we’re buying, and how we might be able to make our money do good stuff […]
Wouldn’t it be great if everything we bought had a label on it telling us what it’s carbon footprint it? Then we would be able to make informed choices about the things we were buying and the impact they had.Today I’m chatting to Charlie Cotton from ecollective about exactly that – what is a carbon […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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. […]
"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 […]
DID YOU KNOW..?There are over 40 million cars parked on our roads and driveways in the UKOn average, vehicles in the UK sit idle 96% of the timeFor every 1 car shared, we can take 14 off the roadA 2% switch to car sharing could see CO₂ emissions drop by 620,000 tonnesWhich all sounds awesome, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
DID YOU KNOW?We have lost over a million acres of wild landscapes in the UK since the end of WW2The total garden space in the UK is greater than all the nature reserves!Our gardens have huge potential to be havens for wildlife and pollinatorsI'm very much not a gardener, but I'm super aware that our […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 - […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
While we're all hopefully pretty on top of using our own water bottles now, the next step if you're looking to increase your refill repertoire (do you like that?!) is to check out your local refill shop for all kinds of things from washing up liquid and shampoo, through to pasta and chocolate covered raisins […]
In this episode I’m chatting to Jo Royle, founder and CEO of Common Seas – an organisation on a mission to quickly and significantly reduce the amount of plastic produced and stop it polluting our rivers and seas. As a former sailor Jo was very aware of the issues that plastic is causing to our […]
Plastic free July is a campaign that started in Australia as small, local campaign – the brain child of Rebecca Prince-Ruiz. Now in it’s 10th year it is a truly global and hugely impactful campaign, - in July 2020 over 300 million people took part in the challenge from over 170 different countries. If this […]
I’m still having to pinch myself a little but I got to spend an hour hanging out and having a chinwag with a past winer of the Great British Bake Off! I met Nancy Birtwhistle, the 2014 winner of my very favourite TV show, virtually, for an event we did together for Glasgow's Aye Write […]
We all often have the very best intentions – whether it’s getting fitter, losing weight, saving money, or being a bit greener. We have all the good intentions, but they don’t always translate into action.There’s often a gap, or a mis-match, between our intentions and our actions.We might watch the latest David Attenborough and be […]
Trees.We all love them right?But how much difference can they actually make? Are we all just being conned into feeling like everything will be ok if we just plant a few more trees? And how do we as individuals and families living in your average 3 bed semi plant enough trees to make a difference?Come […]
In the Knackered Mums Eco Clubhouse, lovely Julia recently posted this:"Just wondering how you all cope with not doing it all and not all at once. I get so overwhelmed with the differing things I could be doing it seems like nothing actually gets done."Oh wow. I can relate to this - can you?I'm super […]
Today we're talking palm oil...The viral banned (too political apparently!) Iceland advert of Christmas 2018 highlighting the impact of palm oil on rainforests and the wildlife that live there really thrust palm oil into the spotlight, and I think we’re all aware now of the issue, but knowing what’s the best thing to do is […]
I talk a LOT about the changes we can make as individuals and the power that we have to create real, meaningful change. I talk about the power of our choices, and the power of our voices. But during a recent chat with a brilliant lady called Sandra Sydow from Climate Pitch, she talked about […]
Episode 100!How did that happen?I’m the least planny ahead planning type person, so it only occurred to me to start thinking about what to do for this episode a week or so ago. Short of having Greta or Sir David Attenborough on, I was short on ideas for what I could do to mark the […]
Episode 99! How did that happen? And what on earth should I do to celebrate/mark the occasion? Get in touch to let me know what you’d love to hear for the big 100 – drop me an e-mail on jen@sustainableish.co.ukToday’s episode is an absolute cracker. Whoever knew composting could be so interesting?!It’s genuinely like magic. […]
To celebrate and mark the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting, my new book, coming out this week, there's a little flurry of five parenting(ish) podcasts coming your way this week!Check out episode 93 for some more info about the book, Monday's episode with Ellie Jackson from Wild Tribe Heroes, and Tuesday's episode […]
To celebrate and mark the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting, my new book, coming out this week, there's a little flurry of five parenting(ish) podcasts coming your way this week!Check out episode 93 for some more info about the book, Monday's episode with Ellie Jackson from Wild Tribe Heroes, and Tuesday's episode […]
To celebrate and mark the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting, my new book, coming out this week, there's a little flurry of five parenting(ish) podcasts coming your way this week!Check out episode 93 for some more info about the book, Monday's episode with Ellie Jackson from Wild Tribe Heroes, and yesterday's episode […]
To celebrate and mark the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting, my new book, coming out this week, there's a little flurry of five parenting(ish) podcasts coming your way this week!Check out episode 93 for some more info about the book, and yesterday's episode with Ellie Jackson from Wild Tribe Heroes.Today I’m delighted […]
To celebrate and mark the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting, my new book, coming out this week, there's a little flurry of five parenting(ish) podcasts coming your way this week!Kicking off with this chat with Ellie Jackson, who is the author of The Wild Tribe Heroes series of children’s books. I’ve been […]
GAH! I think this episode might actually be one of the most terrifying ones (for me!) yet...What could be so terrifying?Am I interviewing Greta? Or Sir David Attenborough?Sadly no. I'm actually interviewing myself. About book number two - The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting - which is out on March 18th. I was going to […]
It’s starting to feel like spring is springing isn’t it?We’re into March, I’ve seen daffodils poking out when we're out on our daily walks, and I even went out without a coat on the other day – wild times...!And with the longer days and warmer weather, many of us will be looking forwards to spending […]
We’re talking pensions! I know! Exciting stuff right!!I never imagined that I would get excited about pensions but this episode has proved me wrong. Don’t get me wrong, pensions are still pretty high up on the boring adult-ing scale of things but the potential that our pensions have to create a better world has blown […]
You'll be relived to hear we have a guest! So you don’t have to listen to me rambling on endlessly. And it’s a cracker of a guest!I’ve been stalking Zoe on line for years, after first coming across her annual Me Made May challenge online, and I was SO excited to find out that she’s […]
Another solo episode from me this week, as I haven’t been able to conjure up any extra time or headspace for getting guests organised – I’ve been super busy getting ready for The Knackered Mums heading back on out on Eco Tour – this is my FREE 5 day eco challenge that’s kicking off on […]
Episode 88 of the podcast is a solo episode!I’d love to pretend that this was planned, but the reality is that my already poor organisational and forwards planning skills have taken a bit of a battering whilst attempting the home schooling/keeping a business afloat/saving the planet juggle and I’m not going to lie, I failed […]
In this episode I have a treat in store for you if you're looking around the world and feeling a little....erm....despairing?! If you're looking at your kids and wondering what their future will hold, and worried that when they're old enough to understand what's going on that they'll be viewing their own futures with trepidation […]
Hmmm politics....I don't know about you but I think it's pretty easy to feel disengaged from politics - lots of (mostly) white, (mostly) men, working things for their own advantage and dragging their heels on stuff that would and could make a real difference. When it comes to the climate especially it feels like there's […]
Happy New Year!Although 2021 clearly didn’t get the memo, and is looking suspiciously like 2020 at the moment – how are you coping with it all? I have to say that I’m realising there’s a very good reason, in fact lots of very good reasons, why I’m not a teacher, and we’ll just leave that […]
Christmas is coming! In fact, it's kind of here as we're currently just two weeks away from 'the Big Day'...There’s a lot to think about Christmas isn’t there? The food, the gifts, the cards, the wrapping paper, the relatives, the stockings – it goes on and on. And while some of us might be giving […]
This week’s episode is a great chat with Ric Casale from Carbon Copy, an online hub that connects local communities, councils and companies who share the goal of a carbon zero future. Their aim is to help more people in taking local climate action and collectively in building something better.Now, I don’t know about you, […]
After last week's solo episode, I've got something a little different for you again this week! Because more change and uncertainty is what we all need right now yes..?!!This week’s episode is a live recording done from the virtual podcast stage at Future Fest, an amazing online event from Pebble Magazine that happened at the […]
Today I’ve got a solo episode for you – I’d like to try and pretend it was planned, but the reality is obviously that I failed spectacularly to plan ahead enough to have a guest for this week.Sooooooooo, I’m diving right on into the C-word.No, not corona virus. No, not that one, go and wash […]
I am SO excited for this episode! Last month I was aimlessly scrolling through Twitter waiting for the kettle to boil and stumbled across a tweet about a project called Count Us In - which is aiming to get a BILLION people taking climate action!!DID YOU KNOW:Individual lifestyles actually make up more than 65% of the […]
There's an awful lot that's wrong with the world right now. In fact, some would say, there's a lot that feels broken.So how about some inspiration and practical ways you can mend just a teeny tiny bit of the world?Today’s episode is all about mending and repair!DID YOU KNOW..?Keeping clothes in use for just an […]
Today we’re talking all things plogging!"What is plogging?" I hear you ask... ...Well, it’s picking up litter, while you jog (or walk!) and it’s a very brilliant thing to do indeed. Litter isn't just an eyesore, it's also a real risk to wildlife both on land and in our waterways who might mistake it for food, […]
If you’ve been listening along for a little while, you might have heard me banging on about food waste in previous episodes – I talk to Ann Storr about meal planning in Episode 66, to Tessa from Olio, the food sharing app, in Episode 47 and to Ivor from CozZo which is a food inventory […]
Lots of us are becoming increasingly aware of some the many issues for both people and planet that are created by the fast fashion industry. But how many of us think much about the impact of our shoes?DID YOU KNOW?25 BILLION pairs of shoes are made globally each year90% of them will end up in […]
I'm delighted to be working with Organic UK* for a mini-series of podcast episodes to mark Organic September - an annual month long awareness campaign by the Soil Association In collaboration with the Organic Trade Board.Now I’ve been buying organic food for a while now – we get a weekly Riverford veg box, and I […]
I'm delighted to be working with Organic UK* for a mini-series of podcast episodes to mark Organic September - an annual month long awareness campaign by the Soil Association In collaboration with the Organic Trade Board.In the same way that 'sustainability' and 'sustainable living' mean different things to different people, 'sustainable eating' will too. With […]
I'm delighted to be working with Organic UK* for a mini-series of podcast episodes to mark Organic September - an annual month long awareness campaign by the Soil Association In collaboration with the Organic Trade Board.Most of us are now quite familiar with the concept of organic food, and maybe even organic textiles, but (and […]
I'm delighted to be working with Organic UK* for a mini-series of podcast episodes to mark Organic September - an annual month long awareness campaign by the Soil Association In collaboration with the Organic Trade Board.We'll be diving into all things organic - what the term actually means, how we know if something is organic, […]
Carbon footprints - we've probably all heard the term, but what exactly is a carbon footprint? And why does it matter?Do I have a carbon footprint?How do I know what it is?How do I reduce it?What do I need to reduce it to?ALL the questions about carbon footprints!Luckily in this episode I'm chatting to Jo […]
Once upon a time (I'm looking at you 1990's) we were told that all we needed to do to be green was to do our recycling. And although it might have taken a while to catch on, most of us now diligently sort our rubbish out into a gazillion different bins and boxes each week, […]
Who doesn't love a bunch of flowers?Well.....it turns out the planet might not be too chuffed with them if you buy a bunch of imported flowers.I don't know about you but I'd never really given much thought to the impact of flowers on the planet, other than to think that they're probably a good thing […]
This episode is going out at the start of July, and in the eco world, July is all about plastic, thanks to the brilliant Plastic Free July campaign that started in Australia and has since gained traction all over the globe.It’s also a time when more of us might be contemplating a return to work […]
Welcome back to the Sustainable(ish) podcast!My goodness it’s been a while! I thought I’d have a little break after doing 12 podcasts in 12 days for the book launch, and then a month or two passed, and then a global pandemic hit. And now here we are 6 months down the line!How are you? How […]
Well.... What can I say?We are living in unprecedented times - it feels surreal, scary, overwhelming, all of the emotions. And this is going out the day after the UK government announced that schools will be closed until further notice. I'm not going to dwell here on the c-word - I think we're all probably getting […]
Yay! The podcast is BACK for series FOUR!!I intended to only take a short break in the New Year and now suddenly it's March - I'd like to say I have no idea how that happened, but the reality is that it turns out launching a book into the world is quite time consuming, and […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the distillation of the Sustainable(ish) […]
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG....!It is with HUGE excitement that I bring you this very special mini-series of the Sustainable(ish) podcast to celebrate, and to count down to, the launch of The Sustainable(ish) Living Guide - everything you need to know to make small changes that make a big difference.This book is pretty much the […]
This episode is going out in the 1st week of December - the Christmas songs are on the radio, the shops are rammed with All The Things, and the pressure is on buy presents for friends and family. And not just to buy presents, to buy the right presents - we all love to gift, […]
This episode is hitting the airways just a couple of days before Black Friday 2019. If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard of Black Friday, it’s another delightful American import that has made it’s way over here, and is basically where retailers and manufacturers slash their prices in a bid to get […]
Electric cars - my god it's confusing isn't it?Even just the terminology - EVs, ICE, PHEV... what does it all mean? How do I charge it? Doesn't it take hours to charge? How do I find charge points? What if I haven't got a drive?ALL the questions! Well never fear, in this episode I'm chatting to […]
** This episode is supported by Little Freddie, the UKs leading sustainable baby food brand. Parenting is bloody hard work isn't it?When you're up to your eyeballs in dirty nappies, sleep deprivation and anxiety around keeping your very own small person fed, entertained, educated, stimulated and everything else we're apparently supposed to be doing, adding in […]
DID YOU KNOW?The UK is one of Europe's least wooded countries - the average woodland cover for EU countries is 37%. Here in the UK we're lagging massively behind at around 13%If we are to limit climate change to below 1.5C by 2050, an extra 2.4 BILLION acres of trees needs to be plantedReforesting the […]
DID YOU KNOW?A land mass larger than China is used to grow food that is never eaten25% of humanity's water is used on food that is never eatenFood waste accounts for around 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions (2-4x greater than aviation)If food waste were a country it would be the third biggest emitter of […]
In an ideal world, when it comes to the weekly food shop, we’d all have a local zero waste shop, and have the time to visit our local greengrocers, butchers and bakers. BUT for most of us, the reality is either a mad dash round the supermarket while the kids are whinging at us, or […]
Of the six highest impact things we can do as individuals and households, switching to a renewable energy tariff comes in at number four, behind have one less child (I am unclear how this actually works..), going entirely car-free, or taking one less transatlantic flight. And ahead of going vegan or switching to an electric […]
When we see lists of things we can do to help the planet, one of the most important is often missing, and it's this - campaign. Make your voice heard. It's one of the most powerful things we can do, but I think for lots of us (myself included), the idea of 'campaigning' sounds a […]
DID YOU KNOW...?Buying green energy for your home or business is one of THE most impactful things we can all do to help the climate crisis?Switching to a renewable tariff for electricity and carbon offset gas could save up to 3.5tonnes CO2 per yearThe average person's carbon footprint living in the UK is around 13.5 […]
It seems somewhat fitting as we approach August, the traditional holiday month here in the UK, to have a little look at flying…DID YOU KNOW:2-5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of aviationYet only around 5% of the global population actually use aeroplanesMeaning that as consumers, a plane ticket is about the […]
This episode is published in collaboration with CozZo* There’s a BIG focus at the moment on plastic pollution isn’t there?Since Blue Planet II aired it feels like it’s an issue that has really caught people’s attention and is something that we’re all wanting to do something about. Which is obviously great, but plastic pollution is just […]
So today’s episode is all about period pants. "What are period pants?" I hear you ask! Well, they do exactly what they say on the tin – they’re pants you wear when you’re on your period – they have an absorbent gusset (I'm totally still immature enough to snigger at the word 'gusset' #sorrynotsorry) and […]
If you're anything like us the kids start to clamour for a paddling pool as soon as the weather gets above 18C and we have one sunny day, we get one, spend hours (and use lots of precious water) filling it, they play in it for about three seconds, and decide it's too cold, or […]
DID YOU KNOW?We only have around 30- 40 years of fertile soil left in the UK? And golabally optimistic estimates are around 60 years. The problem is that modern agricultural practices take out more from the soil than they put back in, leaving it depleted of the nutrient that plants need to grown. And as […]
I had the great pleasure of chatting to Tillie Mabbutt recently for Episode 37 of the Sustainable(ish) podcast, where she shared with us her amazing business Frome Eco Party Packages, and her top tips for anyone wanting to start up a similar thing near them. She's very kindly helped me to collate this little "How […]
Kids birthday parties can be a nightmare when it comes to the waste and plastic tat that they generate. Yet we all want our little darlings to have a fun and memorable party don't we? And ideally we want to do it with the least amount of stress and work! I’m sure we’re all familiar with […]
Today I’m chatting to Helen and Joe, co-founders of EcoTales, who have been friends since meeting each other at school at the age of 12. EcoTales is a podcast for primary school children that aims to share nature knowledge and inspire future generations to love and defend the planet. And it does it brilliantly through […]
In this episode I’m chatting to Celia Pool one of the co-founders of DAME – a sustainable self-care brand on a mission to turn our bathrooms green.Did you know that globally we throw away 100 billion sanitary products every year? Which is enough to circle the globe 250 times. Plastic tampon applicators are a big […]
Every year an estimated 300,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK.In the UK we buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe.It takes over 2000 litres of water to make one single cotton t-shirt.17% of young people said they wouldn’t wear an outfit again if it had been […]
If you've not got time to listen to the podcast or read the whole post, scroll to the end for the 'take home' points! Ecobricks. Plastic bottles packed with clean and dry plastic that can then be used literally as building bricks for a whole variety of structures. They seem to the the marmite of […]
I'm not sure about you, but I've sat behind my phone or my laptop on social media watching the youth climate marches, and the Extinction Rebellion protests with a mixture of gratitude, and awe, maybe a little bit of envy. And I've also curled up inside at the thought of going along myself. I feel like […]
If you've not got time to listen to the podcast or read the whole post, scroll to the end for the 'take home' points! When I was first approached to ask if I would be interested in interviewing the Susie Hewson, the founder of Natracare about their new safe to flush wipes my instant response […]
How do you feel when you open your bin to throw something away? Or after you've done your weekly shop? Smug and self-congratulatory at just how little single use plastic there is? Or like most of us, guilty and overwhelmed by quite how much there is?Teresa Walters was faced with a whole bin full of […]
Did you know that on average kids in the UK receive around £350 of toys a year? I was pretty shocked when I read this, and indignantly though to the myself "there’s no way that applies to my kids", especially as we buy the vast majority of their toys secondhand. But when I stopped and […]
In today’s episode I'm chatting to Tara Button, the founder and CEO of Buy Me Once, and author of A Life Less Throwaway. After receiving a Le Crueset saucepan as a gift, Tara set out to look for a website that sold "the Le Crueset of everything" - meaning products that are made to last, […]
Welcome back to Sustainable(ish)!Today I’ve got an interview lined up for you with Tom Neish who is the founder and head honcho of Yora pet food, a new pet food brand that claim to be the world’s most sustainable pet food.So what makes them so sustainable I hear you ask? Well I’m glad you asked. It’s […]
It's pancake day - hurray! Which means it's the start of Lent tomorrow - traditionally 40 days and 40 nights of fasting before Easter to remember Jesus' time in the wilderness.Now I’ve never really done Lent, but it’s a time of year when some people choose to take on a challenge and give up something they […]
Today’s episode is all about Growing Your Own. It’s the stereotypical image of sustainable living isn’t it? The kind of Good Life image of being self sufficient in veg, and the temptation is to go all out right from the start, take on a huge allotment plot, and then before we know it it’s taken […]
It's half-term here in my corner of the UK, so I'm sharing with you some ideas for easy swaps and tips to help make your days out more sustainable(fish). Please do still listen if you're kid free, as most of the tips apply to grown ups too (maybe not the tantrums in the gift shop. […]
In this episode of the podcast I've got another 5(ish) minute guide for you - this time with some tips and ideas creating new, more sustainable(ish) habits. It's very easy to have all good intentions, and to WANT to do things differently, but when we're busy and frazzled, those good intentions can all too easily […]
Georgina Wilson-Powell is the founder and editor of Pebble - an online magazine and brand for 'stylish, sustainable living' that aims to empower people to make more ethical everyday decisions. In this episode I chat to her about all things sustainable (including finding a more exciting word for 'sustainable'!), hear about the projects that Pebble […]
Welcome back to the Sustainable(ish) podcast and to Season 2!This season I've got some cracking guest lined up to inspire us all as well as some bite sized "5(ish) minute guides" where I'll try and to help you out with a sustainable(ish) problem in just 5(ish) minutes (the 'ish' is important here, as I'm discovering […]
The kids are back to school and now there is no denying that we're on the downhill slope to Christmas and the biggest consumer festival of the year.Which brings with it not only a dose of magic and goodwill to all (hopefully) but also the stress, the overwhelm and All The Stuff.In this episode I […]
The kids are back to school and now there is no denying that we're on the downhill slope to Christmas and the biggest consumer festival of the year.Which brings with it not only a dose of magic and goodwill to all (hopefully) but also the stress, the overwhelm and All The Stuff.In this episode I […]
Wednesday 24th October is International Climate Action Day - Yay!But wait, hold on. What the hell is climate action? And what does it mean to regular people like you and me?Surely 'climate action' is something for governments and big business to be concerned with? Not for me to have to worry about in between school runs and […]
Travel.We all want to do it- whether it's to experience the world and different cultures, or simply to get some R&R in the sunshine away from the gloom of the British winter or the fickle nature of English summers.But for most of us on the sustainable(ish) spectrum, it probably comes with a good smattering of […]
This is the first in a new series for the podcast of commentary type episodes, some might even say rants, about some of the big sustainable issues we're facing right now.I hope you enjoy!I couldn't sleep last night, and I got to thinking, and then to worrying, and then to freaking out, about climate change.The […]
In this episode I'm chatting to Amy Robinson who is the business development manager at Triodos bank.For those of you who haven’t heard of them, Triodos are the UK’s most ethical bank and have a tagline that is “money as a force for good" which I totally love!The banking industry as a whole isn’t one […]
I don't know about you but when I think about a 'green family' or a family living 'sustainably', I would expect to see lots of muted colours, wooden toys, maybe one of those bikes with a trailer, and the odd dreadlock or two. I know, I like to buy into stereotypes...But do you know what? […]
This is another 're-purposed' interview from last year that I recorded with Lisa Stanley, co-founder of Good with Money - a website about "helping you become good with money while doing good with money too". I don't know about you, but it took me far longer than it should have done to realise that the […]
This is an interview I recorded with Rachelle, the founder of Zero Waste Week in 2017, just before the 10th annual Zero Waste Week. In it Rachelle shares how she got started on her own zero waste journey, as well as 'fessing up to the fact that her own bin is possibly not be as […]
In this solo episode I'm talking all things recycling. Or rather NOT recycling. We're digging into the 'waste hierarchy' (yes, I am aware this is the most dull sounding precise of a podcast ever - I promise it's not that bad! You might even giggle a bit...) to find out all the things we can do […]
As this episode goes live, we're right in the middle of Plastic Free July, a global movement to encourage people to reduce their consumption of single use plastics. Since Blue Planet II it feels like the world is finally waking up to the impact of plastic pollution on our planet, which is fabulous, but it […]
Plastic is big news right now as we are waking up to the environmental impact of plastic pollution and our addiction to single use plastics. In this episode we're looking at ‘The Big 4’ plastic polluters: water bottles; coffee cups; plastic bags; and straws, and the impact YOU can make by choosing to refuse single use […]
Renewable energy seems to really have the bit between it's teeth now, which is fabulous news. It has gone from contributing 9% of our electricity mix in 2009, to 25% in 2018 and in 2017 more renewable energy was added to the 'global grid' than energy from fossil fuels.In this episode I'm chatting to Tom […]
In this episode of the Sustainable Life podcast I’m chatting to Kim Tew, the founder of Plastic Free Pantry which is the UK’s first plastic free online food shop. […]
In this episode I'm SO excited to be chatting to Anne Marie Bonneau, aka the Zero Waste Chef.Anne Marie shares the story of how she got started on her Zero Waste journey, and her top tips for cutting out single use plastic. Useful linksAnne Marie's blog - Zero Waste Chef Anne Marie on Instagram Anne Marie on Facebook Anne […]
In this episode we look at what Sustainable Living even means, and how to get started when it might be feeling really overwhelming. Useful linksEpisode 003 – Start with WhyEpisode 002 – with Chris Hellawell, founder of the Edinburgh Tool LibraryMy ‘Sustainable 2018’ webinar – I talk in here about goal setting and chunking things […]
Before we start – a little heads up about the background noise on this one – Sara works in an incredibly hip co-working space surrounded by trendy millenials and moustache wax, who can be heard getting themselves a skinnydoubleshotdecaffavocado latte in the background..! Sara Venn is one of the first people I thought of when I […]
In this episode, I share why I think it’s so important for us all to get really clear on WHY it’s so important to us that we make sustainable changes in our lives.It may well be something you’ve never really thought about, but if you can spend a few minutes giving your ‘why’ some thought, […]
Tool libraries are a brilliantly simple concept, and are a pretty popular thing over in North America, but up until a couple of years ago, we didn’t have even one here in the UK.All that changed in 2015 when Chris Hellawell started up The Edinburgh Tool Library. It’s an inspirational story of one man with a […]
Yes, that’s right, a podcast!I’m SO excited to get this out there – it feels like this podcast been a long time coming, and I can’t wait to get on some of my sustainable living heroes as guests, and to chat with you each week about all things sustainable living and hopefully inspire and motivate […]