Two years ago, in a pre-pandemic world (remember that?) we sat in the same room to record a Christmas episode and explored ways that we could all make the upcoming festive season a better one for the environment. Instead of doing another episode on the same topic this year, as a bonus pressie, we're pulling this one down from the loft with the Christmas decorations and dusting it off in the hope that it is still relevant and helpful.    ! JOIN OUR CHRISTMAS NATURE BOOK EXCHANGE ! Send a...

What was the role of climate change in the intense ‘Black Summer’ bushfires in Australia in 2019/20, and what can Australia, do to change the increasingly-unstable direction that we’re currently heading in?  As her award-winning climate change documentary, BURNING, is released on Prime Video, Eva Orner joins Emma for a fascinating conversation about how the climate crisis is playing out in Australia. The documentary (and this episode) explores the stories of the people on the ground...

What's up with the proposed new oil and gas field exploration off the coast of Scotland? Here's our hot take.   Write to your MP: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-mp-to-stop-cambo Friends of the Earth letter to parliament: https://act.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/tell-government-reject-plans-oil-extraction-cambo-field Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/joe-lycett-vs-the-oil-giant    JOIN OUR CHRISTMAS NATURE BOOK EXCHANGE! Send a...

PUMPKINS! Costumes! Party decorations! Trick or treating snacks! One of the scariest things about All Hallow's Eve is how wasteful the haunting holiday is, so we're diving into some of the classic components of Halloween to try and make them a bit kinder to the planet.   JOIN OUR CHRISTMAS NATURE BOOK EXCHANGE! Send a book, receive a book, snuggle up with a new nature or environment story recommended by your fellow listeners this holiday season. More details and sign up here:...

We’re turning our attention today to a kind of pollution that you can’t just pick up and pop in the bin. Light pollution can occur in many forms and can, of course, have a great many impacts on all that it touches - including our plant and animal chums. Join us to find out how our artificial illuminations are impacting moths, bats, and trees, why we’re second-guessing switching street lights to energy-efficient LEDs, and why residents in California once freaked out when they saw the Milky...

Join us this week to get down and dirty in the world of SOIL, dirtiness, earthworms, and carbon being burped from our land when we don’t look after it. Soil is important for food production, for water storage and filtering, for improving both our own and our ecosystems’ resilience to climate change, AND HEALTHY SOILS STORE HEAPS OF CARBON. What can we do to a) make soil sexy and b) save our soils? Listen now to find out…   Documentaries/movies recommended in this episode:   Fantastic...

Helpful podcast about sprucing up your home while keeping the planet in mind, or therapy session for Emma and Lloyd in the middle of their own home renovation projects? You decide….   Some of the links that we mentioned: https://www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk/ https://localtools.org/ https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/grants  https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/esbest/home-garden/best-eco-paints-environmentally-friendly-b75193.html      Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for...

Did you know that changing your pension provider is one of the biggest ways to slash your carbon footprint?   With over £2.6 trillion in the UK tied up in pension funds, which are often invested by banks in industries like fossil fuels or tobacco, Kenneth and Holly join us from Make Money Matter to explain the power you have by being able to switch your pension to one that invests in a sustainable future instead.   It’s simple. Why would you try to live a low-impact life, but leaving...

With billionaires blasting off to spend a few minutes on the edge of space, some of us who are destined never to leave earth are asking 'Hey, do you really need to do that? Can't we fix some of the problems down here first?' We're exploring the environmental issues of commercial space tourism, and of scientific space travel, and looking at some of the options for making the industry slightly less bad for the planet. And for space. Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just...

What does bitcoin have to do with climate change? Can anyone mine this made-up-seeming digital money? What even IS cryptocurrency? We're tackling the big questions today after lovey listener McKenna from Ohio sent us in a request to explore the environmental impact of cryptocurrency.  Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or by email [email protected]. Oh, and...

Can we plant our way out of trouble? What’s the best way to plant trees in our gardens or get involved in planting projects? And, more simply, why are trees COOL? Joe joins us to answer all our burning questions about trees, and about their role in the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis solutions    Things we mentioned:   Emma and Joe exploring an ancient woodland and new tree plantation with Woodland Trust: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrBBmRrx4o    Lloyd’s One Good...

What is it? How does it work? Can we sequester ourselves out of the climate crisis?

How can we make sure that the 'green' energy we think we're buying isn't actually 'brown'? What the heck is a smart home? How can kids shape the future of green electricity in the UK? All this and a good deal more in this episode, where. we speak to the wonderful Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy and host of Great Green Questions podcast.   Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us...

Have you had a neat eco-business idea recently? We're joined by James Thirwall from Animall Tea, a speciality tea company that source all their produce from organically and sustainable growers, and who spend their profits supporting conservation charities, about starting a business which is good for the planet, not just for investor's pockets. James has also offered YOU, our lovely, wonderful listners, 15% off your first order of Animall Tea (which, by the way, is totally delicious) if you...

A few years ago, one breeding pair of beavers were released into an enclosure in Cornwall. Now an entire family of beavers thrives in a biodiverse wetland that they have created, supporting insect and birdlife, mitigating flooding and drought events, and even storing carbon! Join Emma as she tours the wetland, site of the Cornwall Beaver Project, and sits down on a fallen tree trunk with the proprietor (and beaver legend), Chris Jones. Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just...

It's a bumper episode for a bumper (eco-friendly) crop!

Here’s your daily paws for thought... This week we’re discussing PETS. Our furry little sidekicks hold special places in our hearts, so it’s not easy to face up to their collective environmental pawprint. Don’t get your backs up though, because we’re here to offer some helpful tips to do right by the planet without making your dog eat tofu. Warning: we say the word ‘poo’ a lot. PLUS we talk to Ryan Dalton from ‘Into the Wild Podcast’ about dog control within nature and wildlife reserves.  Oh,...

HOT DRINKS, WE'RE COMING FOR YA! That's right, we're putting the nation's favourite beverages under our environmental impact microscope in this week's episode, 'Tea and Coffee'. Pop the kettle on, grab your eco-milk of choice and settle down with a brew to listen.   Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or by email [email protected].   Don't forget to leave us a...

HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR US? We're looking at the problem of anthropogenic noise, or human sound pollution.

It's World Wetlands Day and we're chatting about BOGS; a habitat which the IUCN calls the largest natural terrestrial carbon store. So, why are these underrated habitats so gosh darn cool, and what makes them so good at storing carbon? Pop this episode in your ears to find out all about things bogs, peat, mires and permafrost. Plus, we introduce a section called 'Listener Corner' where we discuss this paper https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419/full sent to us by one...

What's going on with the air that we breathe? Well, quite a lot, it seems. We're chatting today about the causes of air pollution, the problems it can cause for our own health and things like farming and our food supply, and we explore some of the possible solutions.   Enjoyed the episode? Got an idea for another topic? Just want to say Hi? We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or by email [email protected].   Don't forget to leave us a...

We explore reasons to be optimistic about the future of the environment.

This week, literally moments after the big covid-bans-holiday-fun announcement, we recorded a festive episode answering your questions! We can't promise you Pulitzer Prize-winning green journalism, but you can unwrap 40 bonus minutes of our voices, as we meander through some serious eco q's and some not-so-serious silly inquiries, which you sent in this week! PLUS... The long-awaited return of Lloyd's Christmas singing.   Get in touch with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and by email...

Pandemic, what? 2020 has been the year of THE BEAVER. One native rodent with the natural ability to engineer wetland landscapes that support an incredible diversity of life, and which can even help us combat the effects of climate change. What's not to love?  Sophie Pavelle and Eva Bishop from Beaver Trust join Emma to chat all things Castor fiber from orange teeth and second lips to beaver boobs and rewilding parachute attempts.   For more from Beaver Trust, head to...

Why are fungi cool? What happens to British birds in the winter? We sit down with Nature Nerd Lucy Hodson (AKA Lucy Lapwing.