Sustainababble

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#194: Innovation Nov 29, 2020

Show notes

Luddites, us greenies. People think it's an insult to say we all want to go back to living in caves, but - lack of wifi aside - lots of biosphere-botherers wouldn't say no.But innovation - thinking up whizzy new stuff to fix shitty old problems - really *has* to be part of the weaponry for the ecologically-concerned, doesn't it? Cycle lanes can't fix all the planet's problems, after all.We speak to two exceptionally whizzy innovators - Ayca Dundar and Francis Field - who've invented a new material, made from seaweed, that stops food rotting and prevents turtles getting packaging lodged where it shouldn't, thereby torpedoing food waste and plastic pollution in one fell swoop. In fact their invention - Solublue - is so good they're finalists in the international Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge, the winners of which will pocket €500,000. Nice little two up two down cave that'll get you, we hear.Also this week, big up to the folk at the Royal College of Psychiatrists who've produced some top resources on 'eco-distress' (see episode #185), both for children and young people, and for parents. Check them 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.

#193: Hydrogen Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

Hydrogen - one of those words that prompts people in environment world to nod sagely before quickly steering the conversation onto safer territory. Because honestly, no-one really understands what it is, what it's for, or whether it's terrible or brilliant or somewhere in between.Which is unfortunate, because Boris 'World King' Johnson has just come over all hydrogen-y in his headline-grabbing 10 point plan for a 'Green Industrial Recovery'.Hmm, what to do? Listen to yer Babble, that's what! Because, fearless truth-seekers and public servants that we are, we've trawled wikipedia on your behalf to find out what the hell a Hydrogen is and where to buy one. 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.

#192: Democracy Nov 15, 2020

Show notes

The climate catastrophe isn't exactly hanging about, so do we really have time for fiddling around with democracy? Sure, giving people a say is nice, but what about when their say is, well, wrong? 70-million-people-voting-for-a-climate-denier wrong, for instance... We pose this connundrum to Becky Willis, Professor in Practice at Lancaster Environment Centre, and holder of a Fellowship in energy and climate governance. During our natter, Becky reveals herself to be luke-warm on the merits of a future Dave and Ol autocracy. Well, SOMEONE won't be offered a cushy job in our administration, is all we'll say to THAT.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.

#191: Donald Trump Schadenfreude Special Nov 08, 2020

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HE'S GONE! HE'S ACTUALLY GONE! THE TANGERINE TOSSPOT, THE BELLICOSE BELL-END, THE CLIMATE-DENYING CRACKPOT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN BOOTED OUT!Obviously he's not actually *gone* yet - presumably the next few months will be messy to say the least - but as of January next year Donald Trump will no longer be POTUS. Which is rather delicious.We celebrate by reminding ourselves of all the terrible, terrible things the Donald has done for the planet in the last four years, and by cracking open the single malt.Props to James Kelleher for his stupendous Scooby-Doo / Trump deepfake.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.

#190: Juliet Gellatley meets Sustainababble Nov 01, 2020

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1 November is World Vegan Day, so what better time to meet the boss of vegan campaign group Viva!, the magnificent Juliet Gellatley.Juliet has been advocating veganism for decades. She's also been breaking into factory farms to film the horrific goings on there and share them with the world (though not the Guardian). We chat about some of the ridiculous questions Juliet's faced over the years (adding to the ouvre in the process, no doubt), why being vegan makes you good in bed, and whether Dale Vince (see episode #46) is going to win his bet that half the UK population will be vegan by the end of the decade.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.

#189: Clocks Back Oct 25, 2020

Show notes

Winter is coming. You'd think we'd have been let off in 2020 of all years, but no. This most cyanide-y of bitter pills is sugared by an extra hour in bed this weekend (in Blighty at least) due to the clocks going back, which reminded us of an issue that periodically gets climate types all worked up: the fact that changing the clocks is, not to put too fine a point on it, batshit crazy.As in, why the HELL do we deliberately deny ourselves afternoon daylight and necessitate putting the lights on 60 minutes earlier than we otherwise would? Wouldn't it be fairly non-controversial to scrap this absurd custom and prevent a few coal plants firing up? No, no it wouldn't, turns out. Especially in Scotland.Exploring the issue inevitably leads us to questions like: What is time? What is the time? Is it time we stopped babbling on about something we don't understand? Is there ever a good time for golf?You get the idea.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.

#188: Rewilding Oct 18, 2020

Show notes

Who fancies dodging a wolf on the way to work? Or perhaps a lynx barging through your catflap while pelicans pinch the fish in your pond?If rewilders get their way, these animals - all once common in Blighty - will be familiar sights once more.But rewilding isn't just about reintroducing showstopping species, even if Boris 'Beavers' Johnson recently got in on the act. As much as anything, it's giving the land a break and letting whatever wants to grow just... grow. All very lovely, but can it be done while everyone stays fed? Will farmers let it happen? And can *literally doing nothing* really be an appropriate response to the ecological emergencies engulfing us?Alasdair Cameron (he off of episode #61) knows, and joins us to tell us about his own rewilding efforts in Somerset as director of the magnificent Somerset Wildlands, an organisation buying land in the Levels to make space for nature. Thanks to Joseph Monkhouse for his majestic soundscape of iron age Somerset levels. Watch the full youtube video to see credits for individual sound recordists.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.

#187: What The Hell Has Been Happening? Oct 11, 2020

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We're back! And there's been a touch of news since we were last a-babblin'. Some of it actually not shit, too! So, this week Dave dons his Chris Tarrant mask to host the inaugral 'What The Hell Has Been Happening?' quiz. The only rule? Answers must not be gloomy. 2020 doesn't need any more gloomy Ol, after all. Topics include China's anti-inhofery, David Attenborough smashing capitalism, and confusing news about rice puddings and pumpkins. So strap in and enjoy a blitzkrieg of upbeat babbling. With absolutely no mention of the unprecedented ecological kneecapping unfolding all over the planet. 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.

#186: Talking Climate Aug 17, 2020

Show notes

It is just possible that yelling about wet-bulb temperature and the certain heat death of everything isn't as effective a climate communications strategy as some may think. So what is? Is there A Right Way to discuss ecological destruction? And can it really be true that conversations are opportunities to learn from each other, not just "win" someone round?We put all these questions and more to climate communications expert and friend of the babble Robin Webster, whose job as Senior Programme Lead: Advocacy Communications at the climate communications organisation Climate Outreach is to help people bang on about climate a lot more effectively.Possibly should have invited her on before now then...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.

#185: Eco-anxiety Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

What if a problem even greater than climate change or ecological collapse is our sense of powerlessness in the face of these crises? Is it our inability to believe we can do anything about the planet frying that is, above anything else, stopping us collectively sorting this shit out?That's the hypothesis of Clover Hogan, climate activist, founder of Force of Nature, and researcher on eco-anxiety, who joins us to get under the skin of the psychological responses to planetary nausing.For younger people, eco-anxiety is becoming particularly widespread and acute - with darn good reason, one might argue. So Clover guides two, er, less young people through the perspective of a generation staring at a distinctly un-rosy future and explores how we can, in her words, mobilise mindsets en masse. 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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