Building Sustainability Podcast

In this month's 'Building Sustainability' podcast, we talk with Rob Hopkins. A massive thanks to Rob for being such a wonderful guest... even if Google Maps tried to sabotage our meeting!

Rob Hopkins is a cofounder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, and the author of The Power of Just Doing Stuff, The Transition Handbook, and The Transition Companion. In 2012, he was voted one of the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists and was on Nesta and the Observer’s list of Britain’s 50 New Radicals.

The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it’s more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it.

In these times of deep division and deeper despair, if there is a consensus about anything in the world, it is that the future is going to be awful. There is an epidemic of loneliness, an epidemic of anxiety, a mental health crisis of vast proportions, especially among young people. There’s a rise in extremist movements and governments. Catastrophic climate change. Biodiversity loss. Food insecurity. The fracturing of ecosystems and communities beyond, it seems, repair. The future—to say nothing of the present—looks grim.

But as Transition movement cofounder Rob Hopkins tells us, there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly—for the better. He has seen it happen around the world and in his own town of Totnes, England, where the community is becoming its own housing developer, energy company, enterprise incubator, and local food network—with cascading benefits to the community that extend far beyond the projects themselves.

Support this podcast:
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Show links 

• Buy 'What is to What If' - publisher link - https://tinyurl.com/25nvoz3u
• Rob Hopkins Podcast - Research interviews for the book
• The Totnes Pound / Wikipedia
• 13 Minutes to the moon - podcast
• Naomi Klein
• Torrance test for creativity
• The Transition Network  - A movement of communities coming together to reimag

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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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Flo Hamer lives in a tiny house, it measures 4.8m x 2.4m - It contains everything she needs - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and lounge. It's a normal house, but tiny.

For images check out her instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flostinyhouse/

Her house is a tiny house on wheels (THOW) meaning it's built on a trailer and it towable to new locations.

Tiny houses have become quite the movement, especially in the US, New Zealand and Australia.

Flo designed and built her tiny house and now lives in it.

We discuss her reasons for doing so, how she did it and how it's changed her way of life.

Connect with me
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
Facebook - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
LinkedIn - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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Adrian Leaman from wholewoods.co.uk talks to us about his journey into the world of roundwood timber framing and green woodworking in general. We go off some wonderful tangents and end up with Adrian discussing his natural building gripes! 

Topics covered include:

• Adrian's journey from hands on education, to desk job and back again
• How permaculture has affected Adrian's life
• Working on Ben Law's renowned woodland home
• The hidden depths of processing your raw materials

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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In this month's Building Sustainability podcast we talk with Kiko Denzer.
Kiko is perhaps best known as the author of ' Build Your Own Earth Oven' - https://tinyurl.com/2bu6xj7t (A book that made it into our favourite books list). 

The interview is a meandering discussion featuring such topics as:

• Spoon carving
• Natural Building
• Christopher Alexander
• Bill Coperthwaite

.....And a whole lot more!

It was a really joyous time spent with Kiko, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
Facebook - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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Natural builder, Bee Rowan talks to us about Ecococoon straw bale panels. These prefabricated panels are load bearing and highly insulating - the result is being able to build the entirety of your eco home in 2 days!

We also talk about Bee's background, and how she ended up involved in straw bale building.

Finally Bee talks about her work in Pakistan stabilising earth bricks with locally available lime to make them flood proof.

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
Facebook - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
LinkedIn - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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In this episode we talk to architect, Noel Isherwood.

The discussion is largely based around Poundbury, which is the expansion of Dorchester. It was designed for humans and community, not cars.

We talk about some of the ideas which made Poundbury ground breaking, elements that worked and what didn't and how it has been received by others.

Click here for more information on Poundbury (includes images of the architecture and planning details)

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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This month sees us talking to Judith Thornton from Aberystwyth University. 
 
Judith is looking at alternative natural insulators that can be grown. She has a particular interest in how we stop biodegradable materials biodegrading.  

Judith was just involved in building the world's first miscanthus insulated house. The Miscanthus was baled up like a regular straw bale and the house was build in the same way that a regular straw bale house would be.

Why does she want to improve on current straw bale materials?

• She is looking for plants that are perennials, which are therefore better for soil quality and require less intensive farming. 
• She is looking for plants that have a higher resistance to biodegrading should there be a moisture issue in a house, or freak plumbing accident.   

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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In this episode of Building Sustainability I talk with Dave ‘The Bodger’ Cockroft about the hidden benefits of craft. We talk specifically about spoons and chairs of which Dave is an exceptionally talented maker.

We start off with some tool chat, then find out what a ‘Bodger’ is and how the term has been changed over the year. There is a fair amount of spoon carving chat, as well as a lot about chairs and Dave’s particular style.

A theme we talk a lot on is the benefits gained by concentrating on something that uses your hands and brain. How it calms the brain and allows you to think.

In this chat with chairmaker and spoon carver Dave Cockroft we discuss the simple hidden pleasures of working with your hands. We also delve into Dave’s spoon collection and I admire his tools and chairs.

** Apologies for the tired ramble intro at the beginning of this months’ podcast – Jeffrey was utterly shattered… skip to about 8 minutes to skip straight to Dave’s Interview!**

Support this podcast:
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Dave Cockroft’s Website
Dave The Bodger – Instagram

Makers featured in this podcast

https://instagram.com/barnthespoon
https://www.instagram.com/wpwoodcraft/
https://instagram.com/lampshade_ink
https://www.instagram.com/lucy_q_spoons
https://instagram.com/turnaleg
https://instagram.com/onjourneyk
https://www.instagram.com/woodmungler
https://www.instagram.com/alex_yerks/
https://www.instagram.com/adamhawker1/

Podcast Preamble

In this month’s preamble, an utterly exhausted Jeffrey rambles on about the show garden that Hartwyn just build for RHS Malvern. The garden, designed by Jessica Makins, won a prestigious gold medal and people’s choice award. We are extremely proud of the garden, which showcases natural materials externally and internally in a contemporary way.

Stephanie Tudor
Old M

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Connect with me:
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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Emma Appleton has drawn up a list of 100 ways to make an anti capitalist building site. We discuss some of the issues that exist on current building sites and the larger effects, then we delve more deeply into Emma's list to better understand how we can create a more harmonious building culture.

Links to Emma work
Emma's Website - http://emmaappleton.co.uk/
Emma Appleton TEDx Talk - Building sites without patriarchal capitalism

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
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Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

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One Planet Development is a welsh planning policy which enables those wishing to live off the land to buy agricultural land and build a house. Chris Vernon has not only just done this, but also runs the One Planet Council to give advice and assistance to those wanting to do the same. 

In this episode we discuss:

• The One Planet Development policy, what it entails and how it's unique. 
• Chris' particular piece of land and how they are meeting the requirements for the policy.
• The straw bale house that Chris and his family have built for themselves
• The One Planet Council and the excellent work they do

www.oneplanetcouncil.org.uk/

Support this podcast:
https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Connect with me:
IG - @jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Twitter - @JNaturalBuilder
Facebook - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
LinkedIn - Jeffreythenaturalbuilder
Support this podcast - https://www.patreon.com/buildingsustainability

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.