Sustainable(ish)

I thought I knew a bit about sustainable fashion but this chat, and the book behind it all, Charity Shop World by Tansy Hoskins, blew me away.
There’s been quite a bit in the press in recent weeks and months about the impact of Vinted on both overall consumption levels of fast fashion, and on charity shops, but it turns out, that’s just scratching the surface. Listen to hear about the link between charity shops and austerity, the fashion industry and imperialism,  how many YEARS of human labour it takes to make one years worth of clothes, how we’re all being expertly manipulated by social media algorithms, and how, as with most (all?) things, it all comes down to industries who have a single goal, of making billionaires even richer.

USEFUL LINKS:

• Tansy Hoskins
  - Website
  - Instagram
  - Facebook
  - Linked In
• Tansy’s books:
  - Stitched Up
  - Footwork
  - The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion
  - Charity Shop World
• To Die For by Lucy Siegle
• Our clothes ending up in the Atacama Desert
• Your brain on fast fashion with Lucy Siegle (podcast episode of Your Brain on Climate)
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Extraction Fashion – War on Want
• Labour Behind the Label
• War on Want
• Fashion Revolution
• The True Cost Movie
• Not Buying It magazine (Substack)

SUSTAINABLE(ISH) STUFF:

• Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy courses
• Carbon Literacy Refresher course
• Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse – waiting list for November
  

Let me know your thoughts – leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts I’d love to see them, or drop me an email on [email protected].
Thank you so much for listening.

Today’s guest on the podcast is Damian Hall, ultra-marathon runner, co-founder of The Green Runners, and author of We Can't Run Away from This.
If you’re not a runner, don’t turn off! This episode is still for you – I think there are some great takeaways about we can bring sustainability into conversations for the things that we love doing. This example just happens to be running, but will apply to other sports, as well as, I don’t know, singing, or dancing, or even book clubs.

USEFUL LINKS:

• Damian Hall
  - Website
  - Instagram
  - Book: We Can’t Run Away from This
• The Green Runners
  - Website
  - Instagram
  - Facebook
  - BlueSky
• Preloved Sports CIC
• Rome to Rio
• Lakeland Trails
• Pair Ups trainer repair
• Jog On Trainer recycling
• Trees Not Tees
• Better Medals – wildflower plantable medals

SUSTAINABLE(ISH STUFF:

• Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse – waiting list for November
• Carbon Literacy Refresher course

Thank you so much for listening - do get in touch with any questions, comments, or requests/ideas for future guests. Email on [email protected] or leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts!

According to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, the most important thing we can do to fight climate change is talk about it.
But the reality, certainly for me, and if attendees on my Carbon Literacy courses are anything to do by, for others too, it isn’t easy. We worry that we don’t know all the facts and stats and maybe we’re going to get stuck in an argument with a climate denier. We worry that people will think we’re judging them, that they will think we’re a hypocrite if we’re not ‘perfect environmentalist’ (side note, there’s no such thing).

In this weeks episode, I'm chatting to Claire Brown, Deputy Director at Larger Us, and climate conversationalist extraordinaire! Claire shares her top tips, in a really practical and actionable way, that hopefully leaves us all feeling like (good) climate conversations are a bit more do-able.

USEFUL LINKS:

• Larger Us
  - Website
  - On Linked In
  - Let’s Talk Climate
• Claire Brown on Linked In
• Climate Outreach
  - Britain talks climate and nature
• More in Common
• Nicola Thorp on Instagram
• More Time to Think by Nancy Kline
• Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy training
• Fix the News
• Local Storytelling Exchange

Let me know your takeaways from this episode - leave a comment or a review wherever you get your podcasts, or drop me an email on [email protected].

Thanks so much for listening!

A solo episode from me, detailing my recent visit to my MP!
I talk about why MP engagement is so important, even if it can feel a teensy bit frustrating; how and why my MP visit came about; what happened during my visit; and my top tips for MP visits (because obviously I'm now officially an expert having done one..!)
If you're looking for tips and a bit of gently encouragement to engage with your MP on climate stuff, whether that's off the back of a People's Emergency Briefing, or something else, I hope this is helpful!

USEFUL LINKS:

• My posts on Linked In:
  - Plea for tips and experiences
  - MP visit Pt 1
  - MP visit Pt 2
• Climate Barometer
• Hope for the Future
• National Emergency Briefing
  - Website
  - Expert briefings (with link to download key points)
  - MP dialogue
• Carbon Brief
• Simon Evans' thread on BlueSky re the sale of the licenses
• [204] – Hosting a People’s Emergency Briefing
• [186] – The National Emergency Briefing with Nick Oldridge
• [208] – Climate Citizens (and how to be a good one) with Rebecca Willis

THE SUSTAINABLE(ISH) CLUBHOUSE
Come and join me in the Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse - the doors are open for October, where we'll be diving into all things Sustainable(ish) Fashion 👗. There's more info here.

Have you ever written to, or visited, your MP? Does this episode give you encouragement? Or scare the pants off you?
Do let me know! Email me on [email protected] or leave a comment wherever you get your podcasts.

And please do rate and review the podcast 🌟

In the UK we buy 37 million toys a year! And 80% of them end up in landfill, incinerators, or the oceans.

In this episode I'm welcoming Charlotte Mason-Curl, founder of No Crap Parties back to the podcast. In a bid to try and keep some of these toys in use for longer, Charlotte is running The Big Toy Swap this November and has a goal of 50 Toy Swaps happening all around the country. We dive into the nitty gritty and hopefully answer all your questions about hosting a toy swap and make it feel super do-able! And if you’re like me and have older kids, or maybe don’t have any kids at all, that doesn’t let you off the hook–we talk about ways to hook up with schools or brownie or scout groups, to run a Toy Swap in your local community.
AND we’ve got the first ever podcast giveaway!
I’ve got two ‘rescue’ copies of Charlotte’s book Elf Chloe’s Surprise to give away. To enter, either come and find me on Instagram (@Sustainableish) and comment 'Elf Chloes Surprise' on the post, or leave a comment that includes the phrase 'Elf Chloe's Surprise' wherever you get your podcasts.

USEFUL LINKS:

• No Crap Parties
  - Website
  - Instagram
  - Facebook
• Big Toy Swap
  - Find a Toy Swap
• Elf Chloe's Surprise - website (where you can get a fragile copy) or Amazon
• Crowdfunder - Planet Friendly Party Resource for schools: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/planet-friendly-present-pack
• Connect with Charlotte:
  - Instagram
  - Linked In
  - See Charlotte at TedX Worthing (20% Off tickets with TedXSpeakerMate) 
• Episode 187 - No Crap Parties with Charlotte Mason Curl
• Episode 193 - The Power of Swapping with Sam Drury Shore
• Loved Before

SUSTAINABLE(ISH) STUFF

• Join the Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse for October!
• Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy courses
• Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy refresher courses

Thanks so much for listening!

In this episode I'm chatting to Polly Turton, Head of Climate Action and Public Health Shade the UK, an organisation who have a vision and a mission of "zero deaths from overheating and a UK where everyone can live, work and thrive in hot weather."
We dive into:
- How hot was this summer?
- What about 1976?
- Is the new 'normal' (or abnormal)
- The health impacts of heat on different groups within our societies
- Why heat is a climate justice issue, and 'cooling poverty' is now a growing concern for summer months
- Shouldn't we just install air con?
- Changes that are needed to help our towns and cities adapt to a warming climate
- Changes we can look to make in our own homes, from DIY measures, to more permanent retrofit

USEFUL LINKS:

Shade the UK
- Website
- Instagram
- Linked In
- Overheating adaptation guides

• Polly Turton on Linked In
• Andy Love (Shade the UK founder) on Linked In
• Summer 2026 hottest on record for the UK – Met Office
• Summer 1976 – 2026 – Met Office
• Cooling Roadmap for London
• Heat mortality monitoring report 2022
• Excess deaths May and June 2026

Let me know your thoughts on this one - drop me an email on [email protected], or leave a comment wherever you're listening to this. Please do share this episode with anyone you think would be interested or would find it useful, and leave a rating and a review on your podcast platform of choice.

Thanks for listening!

This episode is a solo episode from me, all about bins! Specifically my bins and how we only put out bin out once every 9-12 months.
It’s Zero Waste Week this week, so whilst I would very much not consider us a ‘zero waste’ household, I wanted to share some tips to help us all be ‘zero-waste(ish)’, ie produce less waste, rather that’s recycling or waste destinted for landfill or incineration.

USEFUL LINKS:
Zero Waste Week

Simpler Recycling: household recycling in England
Podcast ep – The Big Plastic Count with Daniel Webb

Wholly Shrink

Terracycle zero waste box

Green Johanna

Green Cone
Local Council discounts

Loop Frome – Frome food waste recycling scheme

Generation Soil – Bristol food waste recycling scheme

Keep Britain Tidy Waste Hierarchy

Find a Repair Café

Buyerarchy of Needs – Sarah Lazarovic

Come and join me on the Sustainable(ish) Talking Climate Carbon Literacy course!

If you enjoyed this episode, please do subscribe or follow if you aren’t already, share it on your socials, and leave a comment, rating, or review wherever you get your podcasts.
Thanks so much for listening!

In this episode we take a dive into climate anxiety, and I’m chatting to Linda Aspey who amongst many other roles is Director of Psychology at the People’s Emergency Briefing and a board member of the Climate Psychology Alliance.

We explore:
- what is climate anxiety?
-why do some people have it and some don’t?
- why for some people it tips into something that starts to disturb their ability to do the things they want and need to
- some of the things that can help.

Linda mentions some sources of support in the episode, and I’ve linked to them below - if you’re really struggling with your mental health, then please do reach out for support. You’re not on your own. There is support out there, lots of which can be accessed at very low or no cost.

USEFUL LINKS

• Linda Aspey
  - Website
  - Linked In
• National Emergency Briefing
  - Host a screening - register to host and you'll get a resource pack with links to facilitator workshops
• Climate Psychology Alliance
  - Website
  - Climate Café Listening circles
  - CPA therapeutic support
• A Barrister for the Earth by Monica Feria-Tinta
• Solastalgia
• Adrian Lambert on Substack
• Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety by Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Patrick Kennedy-Williams

Related Sustainable(ish) podcast episodes:

• How to be more activist with Clover Hogan
• Turn the tide on climate anxiety with Megan Kennedy Woodard

Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy Training

Follow Sustainable(ish) on Instagram.
Email jen on [email protected]

This week I’m joined by Dan Tipney, a former airline pilot who co-founded Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers and enthusiasts, working together to figure out what it might look like to have a world where aviation flourishes, in harmony with nature.
This episode isn’t an episode in flight shaming anyone, and absolutely doesn’t have the intention of making anyone feel bad about the choices they’re making. We obviously talk about the impact of flying, because coming to terms with the cold hard facts around that is a key part of Dan’s story. But this episode is more about the power of story-telling and conversations, about how two things can be true at the same time, and about how learning to recognise that and sit with the discomfort that it can bring, could help us all to have better climate conversations.

USEFUL LINKS:

•  Dan Tipney on Linked In

 Safe Landing

-              Website

-              Linked In

-              Instagram

• Charlie Cotton’s post on Linked In about flight efficiencies vs flight numbers
• Jon Richardon and The Futurenauts – The Future of Life After Oil
• Larger Us
• Climate Fresk
• Episode 189 – Climate Fresk (and friends) with Ash Goddard
• Charlie Gardner
• Ayana Elizbeth Johnson – Climate Venn Diagram

Do come and join us in the Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse for September!

And please do leave a rating and a review wherever you get your podcasts 🌟

This week I’m joined by Dan Edelstyn, artist and documentary film maker whose latest film Power Station with his partner Hilary Powell, documents their attempts to turn the street where they live in Walthamstow in London, into a power station, by putting solar on the roofs of the houses.

USEFUL LINKS:

• Dan on Linked In
• Power Station
  - Website
  - Watch the film

  - (Free) membership community – including access to a How-to Guide

  - Instagram

  - Facebook

  - You Tube

• Dan and Hilary’s previous films:

  - Bank Job

  - How to Re-establish a Vodka Empire

• Ann Pettifor
• You Tube video of guy dancing on his own at a festival and starting a dance party!
• Episode 188 – Money Money Money with Lisa Stanley Mann
• We the Hated – film about Just Stop Oil protestors
• POP Energy – supporting communities to install solar

 
SUSTAINABLE(ISH) STUFF YOU MIGHT LIKE!

• Come and join the Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse!
• Join the Sustainable(ish) Carbon Literacy Course in September

Thanks for listening!
Please do leave a rating and a review wherever you get your podcasts, and get in touch on [email protected]