Sustainable(ish)
If you feel like you're drowning in plastic and need to use a small child to jump up and down on top of your black bin each fortnight to get the lid to shut, or you want to save the planet but you're exhausted at the very idea, then this is the podcast for you! Sustianable(ish) isn't about austerity, or deprivation, or needing to live off grid in a yurt (although if that's your bag you're also very welcome!) - it's about you, and me, and the power of our actions. The small tweaks we can make, the baby...
[184] How to be more activist with Clover Hogan
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 genu...
[183] Climate Comms that Lead to Action with Frank Holleman from Fork Ranger
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...
[182] The Climate and Nature Bill (and how to make your voice heard in a crucial election year) with Zero Hour
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...
[181] The Party Kit Network (ripples in action!) with Isabel Mack
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...
[180] Food and Climate Change without the Hot Air with Sarah Bridle
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...
[179] Climate Comedy with Stuart Goldsmith
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...
[178] Small but mighty projects (and how to fund them!) with Misha Dhanak from Spacehive
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 o...
[177] The power of your vote – with William Eccles from The Commitment
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...
[176] Badvertising – with Leo Murray
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...
[175] Climate play – with Lucy Hawthorne
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...
[174] Climate action help (and hand holding!)for schools – with Jo Pettifer from Let’s Go Zero
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 […]
[173] Digital footprints and carbon fingerprints – with Matt and Will from Carbon Fingerprint
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 […]
[172] The forgotten joy of sharing – with Rebecca Heaps from Tentshare
"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 […]
[171] Your Council and Climate Action – an update! With Annie Pickering from Climate Emergency UK
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 […]
[170] Active(ish) for Earth – With Tash Acres from Earth Runs
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! […]
[169] How Green is Your Money? With Dan Sherrard-Smith from MotherTree
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 […]
[168] Keeping outdoor kit in action for longer with Re-action
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 […]
[167] Debunking (some) climate myths with Dr Ella Gilbert
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 […]
[166] Climate science 101 with Dr Adam Levy (aka Climate Adam)
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 […]
[165] The podcast is back!
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 […]
[164] Your council and climate action – with Annie Pickering
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 […]
[163] The Carbon Footprint of Christmas and what’s in your control
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 […]
[162] COP27 Explainer – what happened, what didn’t happen, and why? With Laura Young
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 […]
[161] Shop Ethical Instead – with Sian Conway-Wood
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 […]
[160] Carbon Labelling 101 – with Charlie Cotton
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 […]
[159] Carbon Literacy – with Phil Korbel
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 […]
[158] Engaging young people with slow fashion – with Tze Ching Yeung
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 […]
[157] Creating a Greener and Cleaner future – with Parisa Wright
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 […]
[156] Harnessing the power of football – with Rich Holmes at Planet League
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 […]
[155] Donating money to climate charities – how do we work out which ones to choose? With Olly Tapper at the Global Returns Project
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, […]
[154] Leading by example – does it work? With Steve Westlake
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 […]
[153] Unlocking the Power of Workplace Communities – with Hermione Taylor from DoNation
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 […]
[152] My 10 year ‘greeniversary’..!
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 […]
[151] Re-run the fun…With Episode 065 – Wear ’em Out Pads
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 […]
[150] Re-run the fun…With Episode 050 – Everything Electric Cars
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 […]
[149] Re-run the fun…With Episode 037 – Reusable Party Kits
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 […]
[148] Re-run the fun…With Episode 010 – #2MinuteBeachClean
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 […]
[147] Re-run the fun…With Episode 002 – Edinburgh Tool Library
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. […]
[146] GET READY FOR THE GREAT BIG GREEN WEEK!
"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 […]
[145] HOW CAR SHARING CAN HELP FIGHT THE CLIMATE CRISIS – WITH ANDY HIBBERT FROM KARSHARE
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, […]
