I'm not sure about you, but I've sat behind my phone or my laptop on social media watching the youth climate marches, and the Extinction Rebellion protests with a mixture of gratitude, and awe, maybe a little bit of envy. And I've also curled up inside at the thought of going along myself. 
I feel like this stuff NEEDS to happen, that it's so important that we stand up and show the world, the government, business leaders and our friends and family that this matters. That this matters enough for us to get off our butts and take time out of our busy lives to literally stand up and be counted. But I've always felt like marching, and protesting, and waving placards was for other people. People braver than me, more extroverted, more out spoken. And I've felt a little bit ashamed that I haven't joined in.

When I heard about the Mothers Rise Up climate march, organised by an 'ordinary group of scared mums' I felt like maybe this was something I could join in with. Even as as someone who's not mad keen on crowds and hordes of strangers. Even if I had to go on my own.
So this Sunday I went. And now obviously feel suitably qualified to put together a little round up of tips for other first time introverts scared of the thought of marches too.

Enjoy!

• 4 things you can do to support the climate strike (if you're not the striking type) - blog post
• A beginners guide to plastic-free and eco-friendly periods - blog post
• Mothers Rise up
• Youth Climate Strike UK
• Extinction Rebellion
• The Sutainable(ish) FB group - your online tribe and a great place to find like-minded souls
  
• ​The link to sign up for the Sustainable(ish) Sunday newsletter

If you've not got time to listen to the podcast or read the whole post, scroll to the end for the 'take home' points!

When I was first approached to ask if I would be interested in interviewing the Susie Hewson, the founder of Natracare about their new safe to flush wipes my instant response was a resounding "No".
I felt quite strongly that we should be discouraging the use of single use wipes, and also that marketing a flushable wipe would confuse the message that is starting to filter down that wipes should very definitely NOT be flushed.
But I decided to do a bit of digging and a bit of research and it dawned on me that if I’m going to brand and label myself as ‘sustainanble(ish)' then these wipes are probably a very good example of that sustainable(ish) approach. 

We went cold turkey on baby wipes during our year buying nothing new and I haven’t used them for at least 6 years, so it can be done, and it can be done with young children in tow. The answer is reusable wipes and companies like Cheeky Wipes make it super easy now for people to make the switch. And remember that we’re not just talking baby wipes here, we’re talking make up wipes, cleaning wipes, pet wipes, you name it, there’s probably a wipe for it.  And for each of those scenarios, reusables will work just as well and in an ideal world disposable wipes wouldn’t be needed.
But I’m also a realist and I know that my little social media bubble, my FB group, is not representative of the vast majority of society and that the wipe genie is not going to go back into the bottle anytime soon. So actually, maybe there is a need for a better type of wipe – a wipe that doesn’t contain plastic (as all other wipes do) and that has been through a rigorous certification process and independently deemed by the water authorities to be safe to flush.
I would always encourage the use of reusable products over single use, but I also know that none of us is perfect. That there might be the odd occasion when we need to reach for a packet of wipes, whether we’re at a festival (if you’re much hipper and cooler than me), if you’re on holiday without any washing facilities and young messy kids, or maybe you're just getting started, you're a new mum and while you can just about get your head around resusable wipes at home, it all becomes a bit much when you start to think about leaving the house. Now at least there's a choice and a wipe that gives you an option other than to add another piece of plastic into the environment.

I’m fully expecting a bit of a backlash from putting this out there. To maybe be accused of not being ‘green enough'. For advocating disposable products. But please, before you write me an angry e-mail or leave a disparaging comment on social emdia, listen right to the end. I came away from my conversation with Susie with a changed mind and a respect for her and her brand and what they are tring to achieve. As Susie says, she set up Natracare to be a campaigning brand, one that drives standards up, shows what can be done  and invites the rest of the industry  to step up and do the same. We need more brands like this. Who are looking beyond profit and thinking carefully about their impact on the planet, and thinking about how to create better products for people are starting to think about sustainable(ish) changes they can make. 

So please do take a listen, with an open mind, and ideally a cuppa and a piece of cake. Enjoy. 

• Natracare
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
• Water UK's Fine to Flush accreditation
• Women's Environmental Network
• City to Sea's Plastic Free Periods campaign
• ​The link to sign up for the Sustainable(ish) Sunday newsletter

This is internet speak for "Too long, didn't listen" (it's usually TLDR - too long didn't read). I had to look it up.
In my mind you all eagerly await each new episode of the podcast and sit down in your favourite chair with a cuppa and a piece of cake in blissful peach and quiet to listen, or you're listening while you're out striding around some rugged landscape or other with your photogenic dog running along at your side.
In reality, we're all time poor and I concede that you might not have a free 45 minutes without extraneous noise at any point other than when you're asleep. So here are the take home nuggets:

- Conventional period products contain plastic - a typical sanitary towel can be up to 90% plastic, and a standard pack of sanitary towels contains the same amount of plastic as 4 carrier bags.
- Each DAY 700k panty liners, 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the loo in the UK. This is bad.
It costs the water companies millions of pounds each year to clear them from the water treatement plants and causes sewerage blockages. They can also end up being washed out to sea and cause problems for marine life, as well as being hugely unpleasant when one floats past you when you're paddling at the beach.
- Conventional wipes are made of plastic. They will not biodegrade or break downing the sewerage system. 
- The only things that should be flushed down the loo are the '3 Ps' - pee, poo and paper
- Early in 2019 Water UK introduced a new 'fine to flush' standard that has been developed by the water industry (who have a vested interest in these things as they are the ones forking out the cash to clear up the blockages) - the wipes industry had a bit of a paddy and said it would be impossible to create a wipe that would pass.
- Natracare's Safe to Flush wipes are the first (and only so far) wipes to pass this new standard - the wipes are made from paper and will break down fully in the sewerage system and are home compostable.
- I'm not on commission (as someone on FB suggested!) I just think that we need to provide people with choices. If people aren't ready for, or able to use, reusable wipes 100% of the time for whatever reason, up until now they had no choice but to reach for a plastic based wipe and add to the plastic pollution issues. Now there is a choice, and Natracare's aim is that it forces up the standards within the whole wipes industry.

That might have been TLDR but hopefully you get the essence!

How do you feel when you open your bin to throw something away? Or after you've done your weekly shop? Smug and self-congratulatory at just how little single use plastic there is? Or like most of us, guilty and overwhelmed by quite how much there is?

Teresa Walters was faced with a whole bin full of unrecyclable plastic after Christmas in 2017 and decided that enough was enough and that she was going to do something about it. She roped in her sister Mary, and together they embarked on a competition between the two families to see who could reduce their plastic waste by the most over the course of 2018.

This episode is packed with loads of really actionable tips and if it doesn’t inspire you to make a start on reducing your single use plastic, then I'm genuinely not sure what will! The energy that Teresa and Mary have really comes across during our chat, and I love the way that they’ve teamed up (albeit in competition) to make change happen, and I think it’s easy to see how by working together they’ve been able to bouy each other up and achieve far more than either of them probably would have been able to on their own.

So grab and pencil and a piece of scrap paper to make some notes and then sit back and enjoy!

• Sisters Against Plastic
  - ​Facebook page
  - ​​On Twitter
  - Buying Group
• Plastic Free July 
• Faith in Nature
• Ecoegg
• Wyatt and Jack - inflatable amnesty
• Clean Bin Project film
• Sodastream (I got ours secondhand from eBay so do take a look for a 'preloved' one first!
• [009] - 4 easy ways to reduce your plastic footprint (podcast)
• [007] - Shopping plastic-free without a local zero waste store (podcast)
• [006] - Plastic-free living with the Zero Waste Chef (podcast)
• Plastic-free(ish) party bags (blog post)
• 9 top tips for shopping plastic- free(ish) at the supermarket (blog post)
• Plastic-free(ish) pets (blog post)
• Re-usable alternatives to clingfilm (blog post)
• The Essential Guide to a Plastic-free(ish) Home (e-guide)
• ​The link to sign up for the Sustainable(ish) Sunday newsletter

HOW TO MAKE LIQUID SOAP FROM A BAR (from the Sisters Against Plastic FB page)

1: Pop 2.5 litres of water with 1 table spoon of coconut oil on the hob to boil. 
2: Grate one bar of ordinary soap (don’t use Dove) and add it to water. Gently heat whilst stirring and bring to the boil. 
3: You can add a tablespoon of glycerine at this point if you would like your soap to be thicker than we have made ours. 
3: Customise your soap with food colourings / essential oils / honey (great to add moisturiser) 
4: Pour into bottles and let cool overnight.

Did you know that on average kids in the UK receive around £350 of toys a year?

I was pretty shocked when I read this, and indignantly though to the myself "there’s no way that applies to my kids", especially as we buy the vast majority of their toys secondhand. But when I stopped and thought about Christmas and birthdays and those times when they drag me into the toy shop and my resistance levels are at an all time low, then it’s easy to see how it can all add up. And when I look around the clutter and the mess in my kid's rooms (actually more accurately spread around their floors waiting to trip me up) and the toys abandoned halfway up the stairs, in the kitchen, in the lounge… I start to feel a little bit overwhelmed.
I try my best to keep on top of it, and have recently instigated a 'one in, one out' policy, but as any parent of small kids will tell you, the instant you put a long forgotten toy into the charity shop box it becomes their favourite toy ever that they could never even consider parting with, and you’re a heartless meanbag for even thinking about it.
All of which is why I’m so excited about today’s episode. I’m chatting to Nigel Phan, founder of a website and start up called Whirli. Whirli is an online toy subcscription service where your kids can literally swap til they drop!

There’s a brilliant range of stuff on there, from rattles for babies through to nerf guns for bigger kids. And larger items too like ride on toys for toddlers through to scooters and balance bikes – a great way to see if your kids likes and/or gets on with a toy before making a bigger investment. And actually if they really like it, you have the option to keep any of the toys!

So settle back, ingmore the messy bedrooms and playroom for a minute, grab a cuppa and listen in.
Enjoy. 

• ​Whirli
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Instagram
• ​The link to sign up for the Sustainable(ish) Sunday newsletter

In today’s episode I'm chatting to Tara Button, the founder and CEO of Buy Me Once, and author of A Life Less Throwaway.
After receiving a Le Crueset saucepan as a gift, Tara set out to look for a website that sold "the Le Crueset of everything" - meaning products that are made to last, and that will be cherished and are capable of being passed on to our kids and grandkids. When she couldn't find one, and the idea just wouldn't leave her alone, Tara founded Buy Me Once, a website selling only products that are built to last. 
After starting out small, the site went viral after a journalist wrote about it, and it's had praise from Ashton Kutcher and Caitlin Moran amongst others, and led to Tara being asked to write a book about her philosophy. A Life Less Throwaway is a brilliant book for anyone struggling to buy less - it dives into some of the ways we're constantly being manipulated by advertisers to buy more, and to upgrade, and is packed with practical advice to help you find your style, and resist that urge to impulse buy. 

I could have chatted to Tara for hours, and there's so many great gems of advice and information in this episode - enjoy.

• Buy Me Once
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
• A Life Less Throwaway - Tara's book
• The Clothes Doctor
• Ikea's plans for renting out furniture
• ​Buy Me Once's #makeitlast campaign
• The link to sign up for the Sustainable(ish) Sunday newsletter