181 episodes

If you feel like you're drowning in plastic and need to use a small child to jump up and down on top of your black bin each fortnight to get the lid to shut, or you want to save the planet but you're exhausted at the very idea, then this is the podcast for you!

Sustianable(ish) isn't about austerity, or deprivation, or needing to live off grid in a yurt (although if that's your bag you're also very welcome!) - it's about you, and me, and the power of our actions. The small tweaks we can make, the baby steps, and how they add up to change the world.

Sustainable(ish‪)‬ Jen Gale

    • Science
    • 4.9 • 114 Ratings

If you feel like you're drowning in plastic and need to use a small child to jump up and down on top of your black bin each fortnight to get the lid to shut, or you want to save the planet but you're exhausted at the very idea, then this is the podcast for you!

Sustianable(ish) isn't about austerity, or deprivation, or needing to live off grid in a yurt (although if that's your bag you're also very welcome!) - it's about you, and me, and the power of our actions. The small tweaks we can make, the baby steps, and how they add up to change the world.

    [181] The Party Kit Network (ripples in action!) with Isabel Mack

    [181] The Party Kit Network (ripples in action!) with Isabel Mack

    This week’s episode feels a little bit liking coming full circle on an episode from nearly 5 years ago! If you’re a long-time listener, and have an excellent memory, you might remember, way back in 2019, I interviewed the wonderful Tillie Mabbutt who runs Frome Eco Party Kit, renting out a party kit of reusable plates, cups and bowls to avoid the waste associated with disposable partyware. At the time, Tillie was one of the first people in the UK to be running a reusable party kit and we dived into the idea, how it works, and how she got started. Well… today’s guest Isabel was listenting to that episode, and not only started her own Party Kit off the back of it, but went on to create the Party Kit Network, which now has 360 kits listed in the UK, over 100 in Australia and is starting to branch out into North America too.I Could. Not. Love. This. More!In this episode we dive into party kits, what they are, how they work, how to find one, as well as how to start one if you’d love to have near you and there isn’t one. We also talk more broadly about the sharing economy – so this is the idea of an economy based on renting and sharing things rather than the linear buy, use, dispose model we currently have. We explore some of the difficulties around trying to do business in a different and lets face it, conter cultural way and Isabel’s ambitions for the Party Kit Network.I hope you enjoy listening to this one as much as I enjoyed recording it!Isabel MackCheck out Isabel's Party Kits stacked up behind her!A party kit complete with decorations and Pass the Parcel bags! Image: Party Kit NetworkRe-usable Pass the Parcel bags (these are genius!) Image: Party Kit NetworkRe-usable paper pompoms Image: Party Kit Network



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    USEFUL LINKS:Party Kit Network- Website- Find a Party Kit- Facebook- Party Kit Network Owner Facebook group- Instagram- Twitter/X- Pinterest- Annual Impact Report 2023- Getting started guide- How to ask for no gifts when hosting a kid's birthday party (Isabel's blog post)[037]- How and why to set ...

    • 58 min
    [180] Food and Climate Change without the Hot Air with Sarah Bridle

    [180] Food and Climate Change without the Hot Air with Sarah Bridle

    In this week's episode I'm chatting to Sarah Bridle, who is possibly our first Professor on the podcast! Professor Sarah Bridle is Chair in Food, Climate and Society at the University of York, researching environmental impacts of the food system and potential impacts of the environment on food availability. She is also the author of Food and Climate Change - Without the Hot Air, an accessible guide to how different foods contribute to climate change, a brilliant book which I would highly recommend!Food is a big part of all of our lives. And it's a big part of the climate crisis too - around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food. When it comes to 'sustainable food' it very quickly gets very complicated - there are so many different things to think about, and often it feels very difficult to make the 'right' decision.I loved hearing Sarah's personal story around her career pivot from Astrophysics to food and climate change, and how she has also had to navigate the difficulties of trying to change family diets and habits in her own household, so understands that what can sound like straightforward swaps on paper, are often more challenging!We cover a LOT in the episode, and I'm very aware that we might have simply opened a whole can of worms and raised even more questions - do let me know if there's bits that you would love to hear more about and dive into a little more detail!Sarah Bridle



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    USEFUL LINKS:Sarah Bridle- Linked In- Twitter/X- Food and climate change without the Hot Air- Sarah at University of York- TEDx talk - Eating our way out of climate change- Take a Bit out of Climate Change- Fix our Food- UKRI Agri-Food for Net Zero Network+- Climate Food Flashcards- Planet Pizza - free downloadable activity for kidsDavid MacKay - Sustainable Energy without the Hot AirRiver Wye chicken farm pollutionRegenesis - George Monbiota href="https://www.wob.

    • 57 min
    [179] Climate Comedy with Stuart Goldsmith

    [179] Climate Comedy with Stuart Goldsmith

    In this week's episode I'm chatting to comedian Stuart Goldsmith. I'm a bit of a comedy fan, so I listen to Stuart's podcast, the Comedian's Comedian where he interviews other comedians about their work and he seems to pretty much be BFFs with everyone on the comedy circuit. It might seem a bit random to be interviewing a comedian on the podcast, but as you will hear, in the last few years Stuart has been 'bitten by the sustainability bug' and has started to explore how he can use his skillset as a comedian and a speaker to help tackle the climate crisis. And oh my goodness, I can't tell you how much I love this!I think that one of the big problems we have when it comes to engaging people in all things climate and sustainability is that as human beings we love to put each other into boxes. So I'm assuming that in the eyes of my friends and family I'm very firmly in the crusty green box. Despite my lack of yoghurt weaving skills. And everyone else kind of feels like the greenies are over there doing their fun green hobby, but it's nothing to do with me. They know what they're expecting to hear from us, and probably in many cases, either avoid conversations with us, or start to zone out a little. So when someone 'normal', a non greenie comedian, starts to talk about climate it somehow has much more impact, as it's not the usual suspects talking about this stuff - and that's hugely powerful.We didn't talk about even half of the things I wanted to dive into. I omitted the most obvious question - how do you make the climate crisis funny? But I really hope that you enjoy this conversation. Right at the very end, Stuart talks about how stepping into the climate space, and starting to talk about climate in his work, wasn't as scary as he thought it would be! Which I would love to be the take home message from this episode. We might not all be stand up comedians, or confident public speakers, but we do all have something we can do, a particular skill set, a superpower that we might not even realise we have, that we can use, to play our part in the tackling the climate crisis.What's yours...? Stuart GoldsmithStuart's climate comedy show Spoilers



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    USEFUL LINKS:Stuart Goldsmith- Website- Climate stuff- Spoilers - dates and tickets for Stuart's climate comedy show- Podcast - The Comedian's Comedian- I Need You Alive - You Tube Special - Speaking- Facebook- Instagram- Twitter/X- Linked InThe Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson

    • 54 min
    [178] Small but mighty projects (and how to fund them!) with Misha Dhanak from Spacehive

    [178] Small but mighty projects (and how to fund them!) with Misha Dhanak from Spacehive

    In this week's episode I'm chatting to Misha Dhanak, CEO of Spacehive, the home of community fundraising. We're probably all familiar with the concept of crowdfunding and may have even funded products and projects on platforms like Kickstarter. Well Spacehive is a similar concept, it's a crowdfunding platform, but it's for community projects - so on there you will find things like a cricket club raising funds for new kit, or a town looking to create a rural arts hub. And as we will hear from Misha, there are a huge number of nature and climate projects too. Many of us might have ideas for projects that we would love to see happening in our local community - whether that's something like a regular repair cafe, solar panels on your kid's school, transforming a derelict bit of land into community garden, or something else entirely. But for most of us, those ideas stay in our heads as dreams, when the reality of trying to find the money to get it off the ground. This is where Spacehive comes in - they have helped to fund over 2000 projects, and raised over £30million for local projects, and they have they highest success rate of any crowdfunding platform with over 85% of their projects getting funded. Misha talks in the podcast about 'small but mighty' projects and you will probably be able to tell from my reaction that I just love this! Many of the projects on Spacehive are small, they're not going to change the world, but they are going to change their local community. And with governments around the world failing to take the ambitious actions that we need to protect nature and the climate, community action is vital. And so many of the projects come with additional co-benefits, so the original intention might be supporting wildlife, or installing solar panels, but the ripple effects might be improved physical and mental health, or financial savings, and all of them will be bringing people in the local community together, to make where they live a little bit better.I would love to hear if you have any ideas for local sustainable(ish) projects you'd love to get off the ground, and if this episode has made you feel a little bit braver about it, and possibly even launch your project on Spacehive! Enjoy!Misha Dhanak



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    USEFUL LINKS:Spacehive- Website- Make your Commitment- Facebook- Instagram- Twitter/X- Linked InLoop FromeKnepp EstateGoing Wild in HoltwhistleActive Travel Festival ChesterThe Flower BankCirencester Open Air Pool Solar Panelsa href="https://www.spacehive.

    • 1 hr 11 min
    [177] The power of your vote – with William Eccles from The Commitment

    [177] The power of your vote – with William Eccles from The Commitment

    In this week's episode I'm chatting to William Eccles from The Commitment. The Commitment is a campaign asking us to commit to voting for a healthy planet. You do this by heading to their website, hitting the "make the commitment" button, and ticking the box that says “ I commit to vote only for politicians who work for urgent action on the climate and nature.”. We discuss in the episode just why that is so important, and the really clever ways that they’re using your commitment to engage with MPs and give them a mandate to be braver in their calls and support for action on climate and nature. As you’ll hear in the episode, when I came across the Commitment earlier this year, I stopped what I was doing and did just that. And then I shared it on social media asking other people to do the same. And the team at the Commitment were able to track the fact that me sharing meant other people stopped what they were doing and made their own commitment. But they know that lots of people get distracted in between hearing about something and actually doing it, so that number could have been so much higher. I would LOVE it if this episode resulted in another 'mini surge' of commitments. There’s a point in the podcast where William invites you to pause the podcast and go and do it. Last time I shared they had 27 people sign up – let’s see if we can smash that!Enjoy!William Eccles



    GOOD NEWS!In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:EVs have outsold diesel cars in the EU for the first time (Positive News on Instagram) More UK universities cutting ties with fossil fuel industry (The Guardian)  And much closer to home... Libby in The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse shared what she described as ‘not a big win', but I would beg to differ! Libby says: "Yesterday a local business offered out 3 bike racks on my Freecycle site and I quickly bagsied them (I assume they were replacing them with something better). A few messages and emails later and 2 local businesses will have these new (old) bike racks allowing their staff and customers cycle to them instead of driving." Absolutely loving this Libby!





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    USEFUL LINKS:The Commitment- Website- Make your Commitment- Facebook- Instagram- Twitter/X- Linked In- TikTokWilliam Eccles- Linked Ina href="https://www.wob.

    • 1 hr 7 min
    [176] Badvertising – with Leo Murray

    [176] Badvertising – with Leo Murray

    Advertising.It's all around us. Persuading us to buy stuff we didn't know we wanted, telling us how much happier/more popular/better our lives will be with the latest/newest whatever it is.Most of think that we're immune to it, but studies show just how insidious and manipulative it is, and how it influences our brains at a deep level. Which perhaps wouldn't really matter if we weren't in the grips of climate and ecological emergencies driven by our consumption of the very stuff being advertised to us. Leo Murray is the co-founder and director of innovation at climate charity Possible, and the co-author of Badvertising - a book that is "raising the alarm on an industry that is making us both unhealthy and unhappy, and that is driving the planet to the precipice of environmental collapse in the process."I've only read the first chapter of the book but already it's eye opening and shocking - Jeremy Vine's review of the book says "..if you thought your brain was being gently warmed by the advertising industry, read this book and you'll realise it's being fried'.Leo is amazing and there is so much I wanted to chat to him about, as you can probably tell from the interview! We veered from chatting about some of the work that Possible is doing, to Badvertising and back again, so apologies in advance for my inability to keep on track - I hope you'll find it all interesting stuff! Leo Murray



    GOOD NEWS!In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:The USA (finally) agreed to quit coal (Positive News) Wales puts bugs on the map (Positive News)  And much closer to home...I spent Monday in Weston-Super-Mare with 200 other people at the biggest ever in-person Carbon Literacy training. The day was organised by North Somerset Council, and I was blown away not only by their ambition to do it, AND their ability to pull it off! I was asked to do a guest speaker slot and it was an amazing experience, seeing so many people in one place, from all kinds of different businesses and organisations of all sizes, gathered together to learn and to take action. And this training was part of a wider 'Carbon Literacy Action Day' which saw over 1000 people taking part in Carbon Literacy training all around the world. It was incredible to be a part of, and a reminder that there are so many people and businesses out there taking really positive steps to reduce their emissions and be part of the solution!(If you're interested in Carbon Literacy training for 2024 - there are dates on the website here)





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    USEFUL LINKS:Leo Murray- On Twitter- On Linked InPossible- Website- Facebook- Instagram- Twitter- Frequent flyer levy campaignBadvertising- a href="https://www.

    • 1 hr 10 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
114 Ratings

114 Ratings

Dadgebers ,

Inspirational

I am so glad Jen has launched this podcast. Sometimes she doesn’t seem to realise just how inspirational her writing and talking is. Her inimitable relaxed style guides you through today’s big environmental issues and instead of leaving you overwhelmed she will empower you to make changes to the way you live that can make a real difference. I have learnt so much from Jen over the years and I know others have too. Listen to this - you’ll love it and it will show how we can all make a difference.

A74605 ,

Inspiring change

Love this podcast! Jen hits the perfect balance between real life and full-on green, proposing do-able change and introducing a brilliant range of guests who both inspire and provoke !

Trïo gwella ,

A chat with solution-focused organisations in UK that help us live more sustainably

Jen’s a great conversationalist: there’s no lecture or reams of dry facts and no fluff either. Just engaging, informative and enlightening chats with guests from organisations (mainly UK-based) that offer positive, practical advice, support & solutions that directly relate to the lives of most of us who consider ourselves a “normal/average citizen”. Never preachy, always helpful.

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