Sustainababble

Latest Episodes:

#214: Bitcoin May 30, 2021

Show notes

Pity our tiny little brains. For some reason that escapes us now we thought it would be jolly interesting and not at all SODDING BEWILDERING to attempt to understand Bitcoin. That sobbing noise you can hear? That's us. Why? Well it may *look* like a harmless bunch of nerds sending each other made up money over the Internet, but it's also playing a not inconsiderable role in knackering the planet. With 1% of the world's electricity - and rising - being spaffed on cryptocurrencies, we thought we should at least ask: right, what the bloody hell's going on? Is Bitcoin contributing anything useful at all to humanity, particularly given - y'know - there's a climate crisis going on? And whatever would Dr Emmet Brown make of it? Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell at Design by Mondial. Ecoguff read out by Arabella. Love the babble? Bung us a few pennies at www.patreon.com/sustainababble. MERCH: sustainababble.teemill.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#213: Artificial Lawns May 24, 2021

Show notes

Pulp, the greatest band of all time, once sang that grass is "something you smoke". Perhaps that was true in 1995, but in the cool light of 2021 we sure as hell wouldn't advise smoking what's appearing in a depressing number of British back gardens. For fake grass is all the rage, despite it being FAKE SODDING GRASS. So this week, sounding like the pair of old codgers they are, Dave and Ol get all worked up and confused about a thing other people apparently like but is very obviously abominable. NB you can vent your spleen in the direction of the UK parliament by signing this petition. Also this week, oyster-related emails from drunk babble listeners, and the best eco video you will see all year, courtesy of the wizards at Greenpeace (check it out). 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#212: Chips May 16, 2021

Show notes

Remember the past? A simpler time. A time before doxing and pile-ons and Katie Hopkins. A time when wholesome telly presenters on wholesome telly programmes told us that in the future we'd all be running our cars on chip fat and everything would be fine. Well we're in that future and EVERYTHING IS NOT FINE, PHILIPPA FORRESTER. Chip fat in cars is now a thing.* So much so that Yerp insist a certain percentage of motor fuel is chip fat. Which would be super (and previously supper) if it didn't indirectly mean rainforests getting walloped. Which, it transpires, it does. Also this week, a quick canter through the impressively apocalyptic goings on since Babble #211 (a thinning stratosphere, LOL) and a look at some premium economy eco-guff from Etihad. *Don't believe us? Try it for yourself. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#211: What’s The Point? Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Jo, a babble listener from Letchworth in the UK, sent in a question that kinda stumped us. What the hell, she asked, does one say to people who can't see the point in doing anything for the planet? Sweary and shouty retorts aside, the answer isn't immediately obvious. So we asked you, the wise, generous-hearted, and magnanimous babble army what *you* would say. And you didn't let us down. So, herewith a rather splendid and dangerously uplifting 47 mins of "What's the point?! I'll TELL you what the point is, you little... " featuring superlative contributions from Amelie Edwards*, Sam Longman, Isabella Fisk, and Krystal York, only one of whom uses the word "nobhead". *Do also check out Amelie's excellent climate-y audio drama 5 Years from Now available from Spotify and elsewhere. More info on Amelie's website. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#210: Easter Eggs Apr 04, 2021

Show notes

Alleluia! One of the great plot twists - perhaps only rivalled by Harold Bishop returning to Neighbours with amnesia (look it up) - is celebrated the world over today by people smashing umpteen chocolate eggs down their gullets. We briefly consider the obvious question (what the hell have chocolate eggs got to do with Jesus?) before moving onto safer territory to explore what looks like - but turns out not to be - a nailed-on babblefest of ludicrous luxury eco eggs and supermarket packaging claims. Also this week, the cringe-gasm that is corporate April Fools day gags. Volkswagen - a company already known for its complicated relationship with the truth - should perhaps have steered clear of attempted PR lolz. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#209: North Sea Mar 28, 2021

Show notes

Push is beginning to come to shove, climate action-wise, particularly when politicians ponder the fat piles of cash made doing things that are Very Bad Indeed for mother Earth. Here in Britain, peak pondering occurs re the North Sea, a large grey puddle used by continental Europe to buffer itself against certain Tories, and also home to vast reserves of crude oil. Crude oil (and just as crude gas) that for decades has buttressed the UK economy, but will for millennia buttress a ballsed-up biosphere if continually drilled and burned. You see the dilemma. This week some fancy words were published detailing a 'sector deal' between government and oil industry, supposedly charting a path forwards. But when you read those fancy words - and Dave has, god bless him - you discover just how pushy and shovey those pushes and shoves really are. Spoiler: lacking in oomph. Also in this episode, and in yet more shoving news, we report on the lack of plastic being shoved back into vending machines from whence it came, three years after we were promised this would happen.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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#208: Policing Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

The UK Government sometimes surpasses even itself. The 'Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill' is a new bit of legislation so universally hated that even Brexiteers and Remainers are united in its opposition.At its heart is a transparent attempt to outlaw all protest beyond a tut and a roll of the eyes, following highly inconvenient Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter demos in recent years. Not content at stopping there though, the Bill also takes aim at Gypsy and Roma communities, essentially criminalising their way of life. We can't quite believe it's as bad as it all sounds, but Rosemary Harris, a political campaigner at Friends of the Earth, joins us to explain that it most definitely is; to assess the likelihood of it becoming law; and to chew over the implications for anyone wishing to protest the state of things if it does. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#207: Eco-Parenting Mar 14, 2021

Show notes

Cos capitalism, cos inhofes, cos LIFE, it's all but impossible to be the planet's BFF most of the time. Having kids arguably makes that task even harder. BUT, despite the onslaught of baby marketing, and despite grandparents-to-be going all in for conspicuous consumption, there are loads of practical things parents - new ones, not very new ones, and expectant ones - can do to lessen kids' impact on poor ol' Mother Earth.* It is Mothers' Day, after all. To hear how it's done, we're joined by Jen Gale, host of the Sustainable(ish) podcast and author of 'The Sustainable(ish) Guide To Green Parenting', a new book which does precisely what it says on the tin. Pleasingly, neither the tin, the book, nor Jen pretends this stuff is easy, or always possible, or that any parent should feel bad for sometimes falling short. Amen to that. The book is out on 18 March. You can pre-order here or in all the usual places. *Obviously, not having kids, or having fewer kids, will reduce one's footprint. We purposely don't cover that here, because a) that's not what Jen's book is about, and b) we've done so previously in episodes #139 ('Birthstrike') and #65 ('Babies'). Check 'em out. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#206: Jobs Mar 07, 2021

Show notes

Saving the planet isn't really about the planet at all, it's about people. People who, for instance, currently have jobs in industries that aren't compatible with a 1.5 degree world. Or people who don't have jobs at all but need them. Which is why green campaigners are desperate for governments to invest in green jobs. These are jobs that will do some of the things that urgently need doing to curb emissions, but also jobs that do what jobs are supposed to do - give people meaningful employment and a career with prospects. Young people, particularly. So a new report from Friends of the Earth, calling for £billions of investment in job guarantees and green apprenticeships, is surely a good thing. Inevitably, it contains an awful lot of numbers to make its case. Which gets us wondering - do numbers ever help win an argument? And how *do* we get people like that nice Mr Sunak to invest in the green jobs of the future that are so patently necessary? Read Friends of the Earth's excellent report here. Also this week - and talking of major investments - we reveal that anyone with a spare £6m Euros can nab themselves a handbag made of dead crocodile, all in the name of saving crocodiles. 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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

#205: Wikipedia Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

"Where'd ya read that then, Wikipedia?!?@!" used to be the refrain of bell-ends everywhere who couldn't be bothered to engage with an argument. But like most insults, it carried a grain of truth because the internet's crowdsourced encyclopaedia was, well, ropey.Not any more. In fact, in a world eating itself alive with fake news and misinformation, Wikipedia is one of the few shining lights of humans doing Admirable Things online in the name of public interest. Not least on climate change, where the wealth and - more importantly - accessibility of information is exemplary. But who are the unseen elves keeping climate pages accurate and Inhofery-free, why do they give up their free time to do it, and are they in fact some of the most influential climate-y people on the planet? Alex Stinson, a Senior Program Strategist with the Wikimedia Foundation and a Wikipedia editor with focus on climate change joins us to pull back the curtain and share some really big numbers. Numbers like 319 (different language wikipedias), 50+ million (wikipedia articles) and 1.7 billion (monthly page views). Cue Ol going for a lie down.Follow Alex on twitter @sadads, get involved in the editing community here, and read this great Mashable piece about the guardians of climate wikipedia.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.com Available 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 hello@sustainababble.fish.

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