Sustainababble

The instant we were allowed out again we covered everything in rubbish: plastic and cans and humous packets and, er, cool boxes and chairs. Why? Has four months of lockdown made us all beserkers, or is this just what it's always like and we'd forgotten? Who's doing the littering anyway? And what even IS litter? We investigate. Also, the Government's promising to give us cash to insulate our homes, which sounds like a good thing. And governments doing good things make us very suspicious indeed. Links to some of the things we talked about: Kirsty McNeil's piece talking about activism after coronavirus Chris Rose's investigation into the 'Crying Indian' advert Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

"Smash capitalism" is among the least helpful answers people like Dave and Ol give when asked "So what should *I* do to help the planet?". But for most campaignery types, individual lifestyle change plays second or third fiddle to political action and corporate restraint. And - if we're completely honest - we're also luke-warm about personal behaviour change because so many of its proponents are such... hard work. You know, people who tilt their heads to one side and pity the poor soul yet to discover the wonders of £50 biodynamic toothpaste made from upcycled cow shit.HOWEVER, two things are also true: 1) the above question is one we get asked *a lot* and therefore feel like we should answer, and 2) Lianne Bell, entrepreneur and author of 'How on Earth can I be eco-friendly?', a new book on this subject, is very much not of the holier than thou eco-mould. Just listen to the workout she gives the bleep machine in this episode, for a start.We ask Lianne what our priorities, as individuals, should be, whether it's OK to go to a supermarket, why on earth so many breakfast condiments seem to end up on her face, and whether the mob should be in charge of recycling.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Modern footballers eh? Spoilt, obscenely rich, carbon-guzzling narcissists who couldn't spell planet, let alone save it. They're an open goal for moralising and high-handery, or at least must have seemed so to the UK Health Secretary when he pooh-poohed players' high pay at the pandemic's outset (omitting, accidentally no doubt, to pass comment on the wages of hedge fund managers or the like).Well, we in Babble towers don't buy that. We're unapologetic disciples of the beautiful game, for all its flaws, and we can't help noticing that, far from conforming to (stereo)type, high profile stars of both the men's and women's game have led from the front on all manner of social issues of late, not least the environment.So this week we pick our starting 11* of poverty-tackling, environment-defending, racism-clattering footie heroes and ask: might they be rather better at campaigning than the 'professionals' are?Also in today's episode, a belching bumful of macro-inhofery from the 'natural' gas industry, and some world-beating sustainababble from the world's richest man.*In fact, we only had time for a five-a-side team, but do check out this Global Citizen piece detailing more players doing excellent things.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

If you've taken so much as a passing interest in environmentalism in the UK, you'll have doubtless encountered the campaigner and writer Jonathon Porritt.Since the '70s he's been at the forefront of the wider green movement: prominent in the Ecology party (what became the Green party), running Friends of the Earth, advising the UK Govt and the likes of Kelloggs & Unilever how not to be gits, and now working with the school strikers.Raising eyebrows in the process, he also had a crack at persuading oil companies to see the light, before publicly concluding that they basically don't want to.Now, with his new book out - Hope In Hell: A Decade to Confront The Climate Emergency - Jonathon takes on his biggest challenge yet: 40 minutes of Paxman-esque grilling by the Babble. We think he just about survives the interrogation, but judge for yourselves.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

You asked, so we filibustered, obfuscated and prevaricated. That's right, just 177 episodes in we've dared to switch from 'broadcast' to 'dialogue' with the babble army, actively soliciting questions from our band of wise and forgiving listeners.We've hand-picked a tasting menu of succulent enquiries from the smörgåsbord submitted. Some are silly, some serious, but all are certified 100% free from sustainababble or inhofery. We're confident your bouche will be amused.Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in questions. Terrificly bigly big up to Julia, Anna, Simon, Claire, Shannon, Emma and Kayleigh, whose Qs we attempt to address in the show. Enjoy!Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Poor wee infants can't help it but they *do* produce an awful lot of poo and wee. Ol should know, he's got two of the little, er, darlings. Problem is, said effluvia ends up in nappies (diapers), overwhelmingly 'disposable' ones - thousands of them per child. And the nappies end up in the ground, or being burned to make noxious air for us all to breathe. Yuck. What's a sleep-deprived tree-hugging parent to do? Fresh from his 1,045th day without enough sleep, Ol takes Dave slowly through the basics of why it's so hard to green his babies' bottoms, and why it probably isn't a good idea to apply a nappy in the way Dave thinks it should be applied. In other news, Dave's finally watched that controversial Michael Moore film everyone's losing their temper about - and he has Views on it. And it's the return of Sustainababble of the Week, courtesy of a supermarket with some very odd opinions on how its customers grill sausages. Show notes this week: shout out to Bambino Mio eco-nappies, who gave us the idea for the show in the first place; to @MilesKing10 on Twitter for exposing Tesco's peculiar thoughts; and to Dr Chris Newman for his splendid rap - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnmfuKZdQkI . Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella (who we forgot to thank this week, oops). Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Swifts: bloody 'ell. The weight of a Creme Egg, Apus Apus spend their entire lives in flight; eating, sleeping and shagging on the wing before popping 6,000 miles north to a European roof for a rest and a spot of breeding.As evocative of British summers as drunk men fighting, screeching Swifts have returned to our skies and are bloody noisy - unless and until Ol gets his microphone out, of course.So with World Swift Day coming up (7 June) we get straightforwardly misty-eyed about these avian superstars, and only momentarily distracted by Kanye West.Special thanks to Gavin Gamble for his wonderful blog that inspired this episode. Big up to Patrick Aberg for swifts sounds scattered throughout. Kudos to Ruth Everett for the splendid swift drawing. And check out the RSPB's guide to making your own swift box if you'd like to help them not be dead.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

A car-free future is hurtling our way faster than even the most ardent greenies dared dream, pre-Covid.Backed into a corner by a pandemic that simply refuses to stop being a dick, mayors throughout Europe are rapidly closing major roads to cars and building cycling infrastructure quicker than you can say “Eddy Merckz ate my chamois cream”.So momentous is this development that Dave even went out on his bike to see the transformation taking place in the city formerly known as Stinky London, and got all emosh in the process. Bless.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

What the world needs in these troubled times is someone to blame. A scapegoat or, in this instance, a scapepangolin.For it turns out everyone's favourite curly, scaley, insect-snuffling-y, heavily trafficked nature weirdos are very much in the dock for unleashing Covid-19 on the world. But is all as it seems? Dave has read some SCIENCE, and reveals all.Also this week, an absolute thug of a plant. If you encounter Giant Hogweed, for pete's sake just give it whatever it wants and back away quietly.Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].

Central to British cultural life, if not quite as dominant as it once was, the Beeb still solicits widespread affection, a refuge of familiarity in these strange times.But many a spleen is vented over Auntie's perceived leftyness or rightyness, and its impartial, 'balanced' editorial stance in news reporting is frequently the subject of attack or riducule, not least in coverage of climageddon.So what really goes on when an angry man in a shed complains, and how exactly does celebrity climate denier Nigel Lawson get a platform on the Today programme? To find out, we speak to Richard Black, 25 years a BBC journalist and long-time environment correspondent.Richard currently runs the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit and is the author of Denied: The Rise and Fall of Climate Contrarianism.This episode contains a clip of "I'm proud of the BBC" by Mitch Benn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3q2iZuU5WM Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble.MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.comAvailable on iTunes, Spotify, Acast & all those types of things, or at sustainababble.fish. Visit us at @thebabblewagon and at Facebook.com/sustainababble. Email us at [email protected].