For What It’s Earth

15: How can we travel more sustainably?

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.

14: BONUS episode! Arctic bumblebees & climate change

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.

13: Listener Q&A!

And that’s a wrap for season one of For What It’s Earth! This week, to celebrate making it this far, we’ve been answering your questions, from finding the most impactful environmentally-friendly actions we can make from our own home and exploring whether we can travel the world sustainably, to finding environmentally-friendly earplugs and wondering whether the series has changed our own attitudes towards sustainability.

Thanks for listening this far, we’ll be back bigger and better than ever in the autumn with season two!

 

Things we chatted about:

 

Offset your flights and choose routes with lower-impact airlines and more sustainable fuel mixes: https://flygrn.com/

Cambridge Centre for Climate Science: https://www.climatescience.cam.ac.uk/

 

100% renewable energy providers in the UK:

Bulb: https://bulb.co.uk/

Octopus: https://octopus.energy/

Good Energy: https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/

 

Zao Organic Makeup: https://www.zaoorganicmakeup.com/

 

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

12: Climate emergency: What does that even mean?

Children have gone on strike from schools, Extinction Rebellion has occupied our headlines and our cities, and now the UK has declared a Climate Emergency, as have many individual towns, cities and communities - Universities, even! 

But what has the Greta-effect actually had on the UK, and what does declaring a very official sounding (but not actually very officially-binding) Climate Emergency even mean?

Things we chatted about:

WWF Climate Emergency Demand Action Petition: https://www.wwf.org.uk/fight-climate-change

Friend's of the Earth's to-do list for the UK Government to address climate change: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/climate-emergency-plan?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz6PnBRCPARIsANOtCw1k4RA1FFWRIuMw9O-PIw07hXL4QRiu90QFsUuWWXPsU-0l78IzG-YaAnbyEALw_wcB

The Guardian, 'We must mobilise for the climate emergency like we do in wartime. Where is the climate minister?': https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2019/jun/03/we-must-mobilise-for-the-climate-emergency-like-we-do-in-war-time-where-is-the-climate-minister

 

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

 

Sound mixed by Mark Skinner

11: Libby Bowles: Marine conservation, plastics, and bamboo bicycle trips

Marine conservationist and educator, Libby Bowles, joins us to chat about her journey across New Zealand on a bamboo bicycle, discussed why she's dedicated her time to educating kids about plastic pollution and shared her wisdom on how to live a more sustainable life in a genuinely helpful, less 'I'm doing this for Instagram' kind of a way!

We featured a few minutes of her interview on our 'Plastics - What Can We Do?' episode, but as all of her stories are packed full of inspiration and advice, this bonus episode consists of the whole chat.

You can find out more from Libby on Instagram (@treadlighterlib) or on her website www.treadlighter.org.

 

Get in touch:

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

10: Why is nature important in our cities? With Avon Wildlife Trust

Joined by the Rosie Maple from the Avon Wildlife Trust, we explore the reasons why we need urban wildlife and to understand why conservation movements such as The Wildlife Trusts believe cities rely on their green spaces.

Find out why we need to keep our cities little bit wild, how careful planning and tree management can help urban environments cope with climate change, and what each of us can do to help our cities thrive.

 

Find out more about the Avon Wildlife Trust: https://www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/

The Wildlife Trusts: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

 

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

9: Electric cars

Chocks away! From life-cycle emissions and the environmental issues surrounding the lithium-ion batteries to finding charging points and looking at how EVs (electric vehicles) can help rather than hinder the National Grid, buckle up your seatbelt because this week we’re racing through the topic of electric cars.

We’ve also got a quick chat with Robert Lewellyn (of Red Dwarf, Scrapheap Challenge and Fully Charged fame) about his Tesla and Hyundai Kona, all thanks to Andrew from the wonderful Cosmic Shed podcast.

Listen, subscribe and if you enjoy it, leave us a review!

 

Stuff that we spoke about:

Find your nearest charging station: https://chargemap.com/

How eco-friendly are electric cars? https://www.dw.com/cda/en/how-eco-friendly-are-electric-cars/a-19441437

Best electric cars 2019: https://www.drivingelectric.com/best-cars/584/best-electric-cars-2019

Fully Charged, with Robert Lewellyn: https://www.fullychargedshow.co.uk/

The Cosmic Shed podcast: https://thecosmicshed.podbean.com/

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

8: Palm oil: What’s the problem?

Confused about palm oil? We’re heading deep into the former rainforests of South East Asia to explore the huge palm oil plantations that fuel far more of the food industry in the west than we realise (and also chop down quite a lot of the lush forest greenery).

 

Things we chatted about:

WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard: http://palmoilscorecard.panda.org/

Buycott app to scan your produce and find out whether it contains palm oil or ties to any other unsustainable practices: https://www.buycott.com/

RSPO certification to identify sustainable sources of palm oil: https://rspo.org/certification

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

7. Sustainable cosmetics & toiletries, with Sophie Pavelle

Emma is joined by conservationist and all-round nature legend, Sophie Pavelle for this episode on cosmetics and toiletries. Dead chuffed to be wondering how we can make our bathroom routines a little greener, Sophie has taken a break from generally saving all of the UK's wildlife to chat cosmetics, talk about toiletries and suss out some sustainable solutions. 

 

Listen, subscribe and, if you enjoy it, leave us a review! 

 

Stuff that we spoke about:

Neal’s Yard Remedies organic bee range: https://www.nealsyardremedies.com/bee-lovely-timeline.html

Send your contact lenses to Acuve for recycling: https://www.acuvue.co.uk/recycle

‘Naked’ shampoo from Lush: https://uk.lush.com/article/naked-revolution

Deodorant and volatile organic compounds (air pollution):https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/climate/perfume-pollution-smog.html

 

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.

Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast

Facebook /ForWhatItsEarth

Twitter @WhatEarthPod

6: Plastics (part 2): What can we do?

It's time to chat about PLASTICS. This here is part two and we're looking at some of the things that we can do to reduce our plastic footprint. Plus, we'll be chatting to Libby Bowles, who cycled around the world on a bamboo bicycle to teach kids about plastics.

If you haven't listened to the first part, we suggest you head back and download that one first. In part one, we explored the issues with plastics in marine environments, trie to figure out what's going on with microplastics and even dive into a bit of chemistry to look at the links that scientists have recently discovered between plastics and our health.

 

Get in touch and keep up to date by following us on Instagram @forwhatitsearthpodcast, liking us on Facebook @ForWhatItsEarth or by shooting us a message on Twitter @WhatEarthPod.

Theme music and sound mixed by Mark Skinner.