For What It’s Earth

It’s a fun one this week as we explore some of the most interesting and unusual sustainability solutions and environment-saving action plans the internet has to offer! We’re talking about robot-bees, plastics made from fish waste, bicycles and towers which suck smog out from the air, toilets which convert urine into electricity, shower curtains which grow spikes to kick you out and save water… aaannd all kinds of other things!
If you’ve heard of any cool climate or sustainability solutions recently, let us know! We LOVE hearing about them. Find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review - it helps new listeners find the podcast!
 
Things we spoke about:
- Marinatex plastic made from organic fish waste: https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/2019/project/marinatex/
- Spiky shower curtain: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/spiky-shower-curtain-gets-you-out-of-hot-water-to-help-save-the-environment_n_55b65012e4b0224d8832caeb?ri18n=true
- Tokyo Electricity Forecast: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/forecast/html/index-e.html
- Smog-free bicycles:https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smog-free-bicycle
- Beijing smog-sucking tower: https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smog-free-tower
https://www.fastcompany.com/40421177/this-giant-smog-vacuum-cleaner-in-china-actually-works
- Building underneath glaciers and ice sheets: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/20/build-walls-on-seafloor-to-stop-glaciers-melting-scientists-say
- Harvard's Robo-Bees:https://wyss.harvard.edu/technology/robobees-autonomous-flying-microrobots/
- Nigeria Plastic Bottle Houses:
https://www.dw.com/en/doing-your-bit-nigerias-houses-made-from-plastic-bottles/av-48013059
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14722179
 
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Wonderful theme music by Mark Skinner Sound 

This week we're exploring the topic of wildfires. As immense wildfires currently blaze across huge areas of Australia and both California and Siberia have also experienced vast fires in recent years, we look at the causes of wildfires, the impact they can have on biodiversity and the natural environment, how fires fit into nature's usual cycles and the role that climate change is having on the increased frequency and severity of wildfires.
We also speak to Professor Stefan Doerr from the University of Swansea about understanding how climatic conditions have influenced the severity of the fires, and the best ways to handle living in fire-prone natural environments.
 
Some of the things we've spoken about:
8 things everyone should know about Australia’s wildfire disaster: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/8/21055228/australia-fires-map-animals-koalas-wildlife-smoke-donate
Australia Wildfires: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/01/world/australia/fires.html
How wildfires work: https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/wildfire3.htm
Biodiversity at risk in Australia: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/04/ecologists-warn-silent-death-australia-bushfires-endangered-species-extinction
Australia Wildfires: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia-fires-explainer-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
California wildfires: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/us/fires-california.html
California wildfire causes: https://www.wired.com/story/californias-wildfires-are-the-doom-of-our-own-making/
Prof Stefan Doerr:https://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/science/geography/s.doerr/
Donate to the Australian Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org.au/campaigns/disaster-relief-and-recovery-donate
Registered Bushfire Charities: https://www.pmc.gov.au/registered-bushfire-charities
 
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review - it helps new listeners find the podcast!
We have merch! Get yourself a sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Wonderful theme music by Mark Skinner Sound 

With lots of information about overfishing and depleted wild fish stocks in the news, it can be hard to know what fish or seafood we should and shouldn't be eating. This week Emma joins Charlotte Coombes from the Marine Conservation Society to talk about their Good Fish Guide, a handy tool for finding out which species and which fishing styles are 'red-listed' and to be avoided, and which species or sustainable practices we can choose to buy and support!
MCS' Good Fish Guide: https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/search
Thanks to Charlotte for joining us this week, and to the Marine Conservation Society, who you can also find on Instagram and Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review - it helps new listeners find the podcast!
We have merch! Get yourself a sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Wonderful theme music by Mark Skinner Sound.

This week we're talking about that time of the month. Half of the world menstruates at some point during their lives and often the sanitary products used are single-use and contain significant quantities of plastic. City to Sea estimates that a regular pack of pads contains as much plastic as five plastic bags and that 2.5 million tampons are flushed in the UK every year, and the Marine Conservation Society have seen huge numbers of sanitary products wash up on our beaches every year. The things we use for just a matter of hours can outlive even us when discarded, causing huge issues in the environment. We're exploring the issues with conventional pads, tampons and applicators, and sharing some of the best solutions currently available to make periods friendly on the environment as well as you, from organic and plastic-free pads and tampons to reusable pads and absorbent period pads!
Things we spoke about:
Modibodi re-usable period underwear: https://www.modibodi.co.uk/
Mondays organic period product subscription: https://organicmondays.com/
City to Sea plastic-free periods campaign: https://www.citytosea.org.uk/plasticfreeperiods-2/
Freedom 4 Girls charity tackling period poverty: https://www.freedom4girls.co.uk/
10 of the best menstrual cups: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/g23117116/menstrual-cups/
 
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review - it helps new listeners find the podcast!
We have merch! Get yourself a sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Wonderful theme music by Mark Skinner Sound.

A few months ago, a year 6 class at Mendip Green Primary School sat down to do a writing exercise; they wrote us letters on the topic of plastic pollution! Today we're sharing a few of these fantastic letters, which range from issues they've researched in-depth to some fantastic creative writing exercises. What happens to Rodrigo The Eager Sea Hampster, and why did Alfred clamber onto the oak table to stamp his foot, you ask? Listen to probably our most heart-warming episode so far to find out!
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review on whichever platform you're using - it really helps new listeners find the podcast!
Get yourself a sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Wonderful theme music by Mark Skinner Sound.

This week Emma's chatting to Dr Nancy Grimm @DrNitrogen from Arizona State University about sustainable architecture, and her research and role in designing our cities to better prepare them (and us) to handle climate change, which is bringing more frequent and extreme weather events.
Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and keep in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
Get yourself an organic cotton, sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com The very tiny proceeds of which go towards helping us keep producing this podcast for free and allow us to travel to speak to brilliant individuals.
Thanks also to Mark Skinner for our intro and outro music.

Happy Christmas! This week we're kicking off the festive season by sharing some of our favourite ideas for making this Christmas a real hoot without it being hard on the environment.
Links we mentioned:
Recycle Now's local Christmas tree recycling finder: https://www.recyclenow.com/local-recycling?rlw-initial-path=places/all%3Fmaterials%3D97
Furoshiki Japanese Fabric Wrapping: https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/how-furoshiki-japanese-fabric-wrapping/
Seedboms: https://kabloom.co.uk/ (Head over to our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for your chance to win two!)
Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and keep in touch with us on social media.
Get yourself an organic cotton, sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com The very tiny proceeds of which go towards helping us keep producing this podcast for free and allow us to travel to speak to brilliant individuals.
Thanks also to Mark Skinner for our intro and outro music.

Every year, millions of items of litter wash up on our shores, from crisp packets and plastic bottles to cigarette stubs and microplastics, and every year hundreds of volunteers join the Marine Conservation Society's Great British Beach Clean weekend. Volunteers get to be citizen scientists, picking up all the litter found on a 100m stretch of their local beach, recording what they find and sending the data off to MCS, who use the results to inform policy and ask for government change. Today, MCS is releasing the results of their 2019 clean up, so this week Emma has had a chat with Lizzie Prior, the Beachwatch Officer at MCS, to find out more about the scheme, why it's important and how we can get involved! 
Thanks to Lizzie for joining us this week, and to the Marine Conservation Society, who you can also find on Instagram and Twitter. Read the full report here.
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review!
Get your organic cotton FWIE podcast tee here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Thanks also to Mark Skinner for our intro and outro music.

This week we're wandering through the topics of rewilding and reforestation! We find out how many trees we would need to help the UK become 'carbon neutral', learn about some of the amazing projects in Scotland, Yosemite and Mauritius in which fantastic teams of conservationists are restoring whole ecosystems and reintroducing species, and explore the ways in which taking inspiration from Mother Nature herself could help us save the world. Oh, and did you know that planting trees can sometimes be a bad thing? You'll have to listen to find out why!
If you'd like to support the podcast, you can get a sustainable FWIE teeshirt here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review!
Thanks to Mark Skinner Sound for our brilliant intro and outro music.

This week Lloyd speaks to the completely lovely Dan Rouse, ornithologist and wildlife presenter! Find out more about how to look after our birdlife, how to make your garden super wildlife-friendly, how to get the best from bird boxes, and how fulmars use vomiting to protect their chicks. This is the first in our efforts this series to sprinkle more interviews and interesting chats with brilliant people. This one was recorded in the park earlier this summer, so you can hear more birdsong than you would in our usual studio.
Get your organic cotton FWIE podcast tee here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review!
Thanks to Mark Skinner for our intro and outro music.
 

Emma and Lloyd are back for season two of For What It's Earth! To kick off our next batch of sustainability podcasts, we're celebrating Greta Thunberg's sail across the Atlantic to raise awareness the need for us to reduce our carbon emissions, and, because trans-Atlantic boat journeys aren't always feasible, we're exploring other ways that we can make our travels more sustainable.
We're also dead chuffed to now be working with Teemill to produce some snazzy, organic cotton sustainable teeshirts, the very tiny proceeds of which go towards helping us keep producing this podcast for free. Get yours here: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com
 
Don't forget to subscribe, find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and leave us a review!
 
Thanks to Mark Skinner for our intro and outro music.

Hello from the Arctic! In this cheeky bonus episode, we're sharing an episode of one of the podcasts that Emma has been working on in northern Sweden this summer, for the Climate Impacts Research Centre.
She's joining Ryan and Lottie from Imperial College London for a day out on the mountain, catching and recording Arctic bumblebees! 
Click here for more episodes of Field Notes on Climate Change, and here for more information on the Climate Impacts Research Centre.
 
Keep in touch and let us know what you want to hear in season two:
Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast
Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth
Twitter @WhatEarthPod
 
Theme music by Mark Skinner.