Here in the UK we get through around 2.5 BILLION disposable cups a year – 1 million trees are felled just for coffee cups, and a typical cup uses around 05 litre of water in being made.

And sadly, disposable coffee cups are very hard to recycle – a 2017 study found that only around 1:400 are recycled – due to the difficulty in recycling the plastic coated paper, and also I would imagine to the large amount of contamination that must occur when trying to collect them as a waste stream.

The billions of coffee cups that are ending up in landfill every year are responsible for around 152,000 tonnes of CO2 which is equivalent to the emissions of 33, 300 cars.
And it’s only going to get worse – WWF predict that our coffee cup usage will increase by 33% by 2030!

So what’s the answer?
Reusables I hear you cry! Well done, bonus points for you.
And I’m sure that most of us have got at least one reusable cup kicking around at home. But how many of us remember to take them out with us every time. Be honest? Research from environmental charity Hubbub found that while 69% of us own a reusable cup, only around 1 in 6 of them remembered to use it every single time.

Enter the Shrewsbury Cup – a simply brilliant project, the brain child of Ali Thomas and Sophie Peach, who both wanted to do something to reduce single use plastic usage where they live in Shrewsbury, and created this wonderful scheme that has been replicated many times, and if I’m not mistaken, might even be being used at COP26 as we speak

Today we’re talking all things plogging!

"What is plogging?" I hear you ask... 

...Well, it’s picking up litter, while you jog (or walk!) and it’s a very brilliant thing to do indeed.

Litter isn't just an eyesore, it's also a real risk to wildlife both on land and in our waterways who might mistake it for food, or get tangled up in it. And if litter makes it out to the ocean, it contributes to beach pollution, and also to the massive 'floating islands' of rubbish that are being discovered. 

In this episode I’m chatting to Michelle and Dermot, founders of Plogolution, who organise community plogs, and who also work with schools to set up plogging clubs. We chat all about plogging: what it is, how it works, the amazing stuff they’re doing with Plogolution, and importantly, how we can all get involved.

Enjoy!

Well.... What can I say?
We are living in unprecedented times - it feels surreal, scary, overwhelming, all of the emotions. And this is going out the day after the UK government announced that schools will be closed until further notice. 
I'm not going to dwell here on the c-word - I think we're all probably getting about as much as we can take right now, so how about a coronavirus free hour?

In today's episode I'm chatting to Ann Storr, from the Storr Cupboard (do you see what she's done there? I do love a play on words) all about food waste. And specifically how to use meal planning to reduce it. We recorded this episode many moons (a few weeks) ago, and there isn't even a mention of the c-word (yay!) but listening back to it in the context of current events, it's actually a really timely episode. With pictures on social media of supermarket shelves stripped bare, we're all starting to think about food in a slightly different way - instead of seeing it as this plentiful and never-ending resource, some people are, for possibly the first time, really waking up to the idea that they need to make the very most out of every scrap of food in the house.
With regards to the climate crisis, food waste is a huge issue, and c-word or not, we all need to get better at using up the food we buy. Listen in for some brilliant tips around meal planning, food storage, and clever ideas around using up leftovers, and then head on over to Ann's website to check out all the brilliant resources she has on offer there.

Stay safe and well and sane(ish), wherever you are.

Enjoy. 

Yay! The podcast is BACK for series FOUR!!

I intended to only take a short break in the New Year and now suddenly it's March - I'd like to say I have no idea how that happened, but the reality is that it turns out launching a book into the world is quite time consuming, and as ever I massively over-estimated what I'd be able to get done each day...!

Right then, this week's podcast is with the wonderful Lauren Derrett, founder of Wear 'em Out, a new brand of reusable pad.
We chat all things periods, obviously, but also lots of chat around taking the plunge and starting your own product based business, some of the barriers in the way of 'green living' and why lots of us might not necessarily resonate with, or aspire to 'green living' stereotypes.
We recorded this episode way back in October last year, when Lauren had a brand, prototype pads and some great feedback from testers but was waiting for the first delivery of pads. Since that time, their first order arrived, the website crashed with the demand, they sold out, re-stocked and haves sold out again! Lauren posted today on Instagram that they've had 542 orders so far, meaning that over the next three years, 429,264 disposable pads will be saved from landfill (based on the average use of 22 pads per cycle).
WOW!! This is where we quickly and easily see impact of individual action, collectively.

Quick word of warning that Lauren is a self-confessed 'potty mouth' and I think drops the 'f-bomb' at one point - my suggestion would be not to listen to this one with the kids in earshot, or if you're not a fan of the odd expletive, to give this one a miss (although you'll be missing out on a great episode!).

Enjoy!!