Episodes

Today is another cracker of an episode and is about something that we haven’t really dived into before on the podcast – eco anxiety.I’m chatting to Megan Kennedy Woodard, a coaching psychologist, and one half of Climate Psychologists, alongside her husband Patrick. Together they have co-authored Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety, a brilliant book wth the tagline “Sustainable action for your mental health and the planet”It’s a pretty safe bet that if you’re listening to this podcast then you will ...

Today we're talking all things reuse and renew with Daniel Carolan and Samantha Carty from SUEZ. SUEZ are a waste management company here in the UK, and are responsible for the collection and sorting of household waste in many areas around the country, including Greater Manchester Combined Authority, where they're spearheading a super exciting project - a Renew Hub!The Hub and the donation containers at recycling centres across Greater Manchester divert people's unwanted but still usable or fixa...

Those of you who have been following for a loooooong time might remember that my 'journey' into all things Sustainable(ish) started with My Make Do and Mend Year - a year of buying nothing new with my family.2022 marks the TEN YEAR anniversary of that life changing (I know it's a cliche, but it genuinely has changed my life!) year, which feels absolutely bonkers.10 years ago our kids were 4 and 1, and I remember saying at the time that it would undoubtedly be a whole different experience with ol...

In today’s episode we’re discussing 'IRL' (in real life!) Sustainable(ish) Christmas’s in all their glorious imperfections and with all the compromises that come with trying to keep everyone happy whilst trying to simultaneously save the planet.With this episode I wanted to hear from real people, people like you and me, who are trying really hard to do the right thing, but at the same time feel that push pull of consumerism and family and societal demands at this time of the year. To hopefully a...

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

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

So then.....COP26 is all done and dusted, and the circus has moved on out of town.There was a LOT of coverage (at least there was in my little social media bubble!) and it was amazing to see climate issues as headline news nearly every day through out the fortnight.And there were a helluva a lot of opinion pieces written, tweeted and spoken - many of them contradictory, and at times (all the time?) it felt hard to really get a sense of what happened and where that leaves us.Luckily for us, the a...

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

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

Here in the UK we get through around 2.5 BILLION disposable cups a year – 1 million trees are felled just for coffee cups, and a typical cup uses around 05 litre of water in being made. And sadly, disposable coffee cups are very hard to recycle – a 2017 study found that only around 1:400 are recycled – due to the difficulty in recycling the plastic coated paper, and also I would imagine to the large amount of contamination that must occur when trying to collect them as a waste stream.The billio...

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

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

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

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

In this episode I’m chatting to James Murray, editor of Business Green, and contributor to a recently publish book How to raise a global citizen – a book with the tagline "For the parents of the children who will save the world".We chat about why we’re both not really very keen on that tagline, the pressure that is on parents in our rapidly changing world, what it means to raise a global citizen, and share some thoughts and ideas for how we might start to do just that.As always, if you enjoy 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 climate action in our local communities. LISTEN... CHECK OUT...Friends of the Earth UK- Website- Facebook- Twitter- Instagram- Postcode locator- Take Climate Action (find a climate action group ne...

This episode was recorded live at Timber Festival over the summer and was my first every experience of a live podcast recording - I think it went ok! Timber Festival is an annual festival in the National Forest in the middle of England, that this year happened at the beginning of July - there was a brilliant line up of talks, music, food and everything else you would expect from a festival (including rain..!). Because I'm a total geek I was particularly excited by the reusable cups, reusable wr...

Earth Overshoot DayHave you heard of it? You may have seen a post or two on social media telling you that today is Earth Overshoot Day, and you may well be wondering what on earth that is! Which is a great question. Here's the official definition:"Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year." Any clearer? Me neither.Tune in as I explain a little more, about what Earth Overshoot D...

Weird weather.We’re all feeling it aren’t we?We've had some of the hottest temperatures recorded in the UK, on the back of a cold cold May. And do you remember the really hot spring we had the year before? And a couple of years ago when it hit 20C in February and everyone was wondering around in t-shirts eating ice creams? I think most people have noticed the weird weather, but maybe not everyone has joined the dots just yet and realised that this is it – this is the climate changing. We can no...

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 (one of my faves). Which sounds easy peasy - we're all grown ups right?But I think for lots of us it can feel pretty scary - I know I had a degree of anxiety my 'first time'.- What if I hav...

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 marine environments, and is the world record holder for the longest voyage made out of a boat made from plastic bottles!As well as being an advocate of personal changes, she’s also focussed on the big sys...

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 doesn’t demonstrate the power of just one person wanting to make a difference, I'm not sure what does. I wanted to do a little solo episode to kick of Plastic Free July, and was trying to thi...

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 Festival earlier on this year. Nancy has got a book out called Clean and Green, and we were paired up for a talk on Eco Tips for your Home and Family.I wanted to chat more to Nancy about her book, and about all thi...

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 brimming over with motivation and determination to do our bit, but then we get up the next morning and life happens, and nothing changes.Or we see a load of litter at o...