Sustainable(ish) – Details, episodes & analysis

Is AI bad for the planet?
Should I feel guilty if I use ChatGPT?
What is the carbon and water footprint of an AI search?

These were some of the questions I was looking for answers for when I posted on Linked In a while back. I got a lot of great replies, and it turns out there's a LOT of information out there. But oh my goodness it's confusing!

In this episode I'm chatting to Tam Hussey, who has a background in digital strategy and now runs her own strategic consultancy, Halo By Design, utilising behaviour change principles to help companies meet their sustainability targets. We dive into some of the facts and figures, looking at where the biggest impacts come from with internet usage, and some of the things that we can do to reduce our own digital footprints, and influence wider change as well.

For full disclosure, some of the editing of this podcast, the generation of transcripts, and some of the short clips I share on social media are all done with the assistance of AI. Which feels hugely hypocritical, but I guess comes down to the mindful and targeted use of it..?!

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tam-Hussey.jpeg

Tam Hussey

LISTEN... USEFUL LINKS:

• Tam Hussey
  - Halo by Design (website)
  - Linked In
  -Green your Screen
  - GEC case study
• Ep 189 with Ash Goddard
• Digital Collage
• Hidden Treasure Hunt - for old tech and electrical items
• Digital Clean Up Day - 21st March
• Find secondhand and refurbished tech:
  - Backmarket
  - Music Magpie
  - 'Which' article on buying secondhand tech
• Ecograder
• Wesbite Carbon
• Renewable hosting - a couple of suggestions:
  - Green Hosting
  - Krystal
• Ecosia
• Quit GPT - a campaign to encourage people to stop using ChatGPT (for a whole host of reasons, not just environmental!)

https://www.halobydesign.com/

Halo by Design

Very aware this episode might result in more questions than answers!
Do let me know if you have any questions you'd love answered, and we can always to a follow up!
[…]

I think we're all pretty familiar with the term carbon footprint, but there's a new kid on the block when it comes to talking about the full impact of the actions that we take when you come together.

Isabelle Sparrow is Head of Comms, and the podcast host, at Carbon Copy - a platform that champions collective action, and the power it has to help turn our individual concern about the climate into a collective impact.
In this episode we chat about what collective action is, how you can join in if you're not someone who likes joining in, and how we've all got something to offer. And we also dig into the new concept that Carbon Copy have created, called the Changeprint - here's the explanation of what that is from the Carbon Copy website: "A Changeprint is the collective impact created when you join with others to make something happen. While a carbon footprint is about doing less harm, a Changeprint is about doing more good. It’s a positive approach to addressing the climate and nature crisis, centred on the place and the people around you".

If you are ever in need of a spot of inspiration for practical do-able projects that work in local communities up and down the country, do check out the Carbon Copy website - there are literally hundreds of examples on there, and each of them has had their Changeprint added on, to give an idea of the sum of the different impacts that they have had on their local community and on the environment more broadly. 

I love the concept of the Changeprint - I'm going to think about how I can introduce it into my Carbon Literacy courses, and also how I could apply it to this podcast; to the Sustainable(ish Clubhouse - my membership community - which is re-launching soon, watch this space; and to all my Sustainable(ish) work.

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Isabelle-Sparrow.jpeg

Isabelle Sparrow

LISTEN... USEFUL LINKS:

• Carbon Copy
  - Website
  - Find your local area's emissions and climate action plans
  - 25 Big Local Actions
  - Podcast
  - Changeprint
  -Carbon Copy podcast episode - Introducing Changeprint
  - Changeprint Action Pack
  - Stories of local action along with their Changeprints
  - Instagram
  - Facebook
  - Linked In
  - [083] - Think Global Act Local - with Ric Casale from Carbon Copy (podcast episode)
• Warming Stripes
• Climate Emergency UK Climate Council Scorecards
  - [164] - Your Council and Climate Action - with Annie Pickering from Climate Council Scorecards (podcast episode)
• Social tipping points - paper in Nature
• Climate Shadow
• Veganuary
• Flight Free UK
• Green Runners
• Climate Outreach
  - Insights report

https://carboncopy.eco/https://carboncopy.eco/changeprint What do you think?
Do you like the concept?
Are you excited to think about how you might be able to apply it to some of the
groups, organisations, or projects you might be involved with?  
Do let me know!
[…]

One of the things that frustrates many people, is a lack of action from governments around the world to protect nature and mitigate the worst impacts of the a warming and rapidly changing climate.
The UK government was one of the first to come up with a Net Zero target back in 2019, and declared a ‘climate emergency’ that same year. However the problem with both of these commitments is that they often don’t translate into the urgent and radical action that is needed. Apparently half of the world's population is heading the polls for elections in 2024, including the UK, making this a crucial year for climate action.
In this week’s episode I’m delighted to be chatting to Amy McDonnell and Oliver Sidorczuk, co-directors of Zero Hour, a campaign that is working to get a new bill, the Climate and Nature Bill, passed into law, which would ensure that UK government  policies are in line with the latest science. With an election looming at some point this year, support for this bill in the run up to that, not only shows MPs and prospective MPs that this is an issue that the electorate care about, it will also mean that the campaign will have the momentum it needs to hit the ground running, when a new parliament sits after the election.
Studies repeatedly show that most people are concerned about the climate and nature crises, but especially when it comes to politics and elections, it can feel like we can make a difference, due to our electoral system. Supporting the Climate and Nature Bill is a brilliant (and very easy!) way make your voice heard  by your local politicians, and we can amplify our own individual support by asking businesses and organisations that we’re involved with to support it to.

https://www.zerohour.uk/team/

Dr Amy McDonnell

https://www.zerohour.uk/team/

Oliver Sidorczuk

LISTEN... USEFUL LINKS:

• Zero Hour
  - Website
  - Instgram
  - Facebook
  - Twitter/X
  - Linked In
  - Constituency pages
  - Campaigner pack
  - Crowdfunding campaign
• Amy McDonnell on Linked In
• Oliver Sidorczuk on Linked In
• The Big Ask campaign
• UK Climate Change Act
• UK Environment Act
• COP 15 - Paris Agreement
• Biodiversity COP 15
• [166] - Climate 101 with Dr Adam Levy
• Climate Change Committee
• [144] - Hunger strike for climate with Angus Rose
• Green Alliance - Working with MPs on climate change
• Citizens Assemblies
• UK Climate Assembly
• The People V Climate Change - on iPlayer
• Climate Majority Project
• [177] - The power of your vote with William Eccles from The Commitment
• The Commitment
• Greenpeace's Project Climate Vote
• [135] - The Local Electricity Bill with Steve Shaw
• Power for People - Local Electricity Bill
•  Carbon Literacy training
• The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse

https://www.zerohour.uk/https://youtu.be/yUb5Lb_hn1M

Zero Hour's 2024 Election Campaign

https://action.zerohour.uk/

Ask your local politicians to support the Climate and Nature Bill!

Have you done it yet, have you done it yet, have you done it yet..?!!
Please do head over to the Zero Hour website and show your support, and then have a think about who you could share this with.
Do comment below if you've signed and if you've shared it with anyone else!

[…]

It’s starting to feel like spring is springing isn’t it?
We’re into March, I’ve seen daffodils poking out when we're out on our daily walks, and I even went out without a coat on the other day – wild times...!
And with the longer days and warmer weather, many of us will be looking forwards to spending more time outdoors and maybe indulging in a spot of gardening. Good for the mind, body and soul. And good for the planet too right? After all, what can be greener than getting your hands dirty and growing stuff.

Well……it turns out that sometimes gardening might not be all that green.
I know, is nothing sacred any more? Why does everything have to be so blooming complicated? What on earth can possibly be wrong with gardening?!!!

Listen in to my chat with Sally Nex, the author of How to Garden the Low Carbon way as we chat about:

• Why gardening might not be as green as we assume
• The wonder of soil and how we can help it
• The huge potential that our gardens have to help wildlife, ecosystems and the climate crisis
• Why we need to dig less (or not at all!)
• Why we need to mow less
• What compost we should choose
• How we can use less plastic in our garden (and why we should worry about it)
• And lots more!

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Sally-Nex.jpghttps://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Screen-Shot-2021-03-04-at-13.39.27.pngUseful links

• Sally Nex
  - Website
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
• How to Garden the Low Carbon Way
  - On Hive
  - On Bookshop
• Kiss the Ground
• No Dig Gardening
  - Festival session with Stephanie Hafferty
  - Charles Dowding - No Dig website
• [038] - Everything you ever wanted to know about wormeries (podcast episode)
• [025] - A beginners guide to grow your own (podcast episode)
• [075] - How organic systems can help the climate crisis (podcast episode)
  

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/MOWING-THE-LAWN-FOR-AN-HOUR-WITH-A-PETROL-MOWER-SPEWS-OUT-AS-MUCH-POLLUTION-AS-A-CAR-DRIVING-93-MILES_.pngDo you garden? 
What did you learn?
Will this episode change anything you do in the garden?
Let me know ! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

We’re talking pensions! I know! Exciting stuff right!!

I never imagined that I would get excited about pensions but this episode has proved me wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, pensions are still pretty high up on the boring adult-ing scale of things but the potential that our pensions have to create a better world has blown me away a little!
Because did you know, that your pension, that you probably think very little about, other than when you see the section on your pay slip each month telling you how much has been taken out for it, could be investing your hard earned money in fossil fuels?
So we’re busting our guts trying to make the world a better place with the choices that we’re making, and all the while our pension money could be working directly against us. See! Now you’re getting interested right? And maybe not a little enraged!

The good news is that change is afoot. I’m chatting to Henna and Kenneth from an organisation called Make My Money Matter – a people-powered campaign fighting for a world where we all know where our pension money goes, and where we can demand it’s invested to build a better future.

We chat about...

• The $2.5 hole in funding for the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
• The £3 TRILLION sat in the UK's pension pots and what they might be funding
• What Make My Money Matter does and the impact it's having and wants to have
• How to find out who your pension is with and where it might be invested
• How we can influence investors and pension providers to divest their investments from fossil fuels
• The power of 'activism', 'clicktivism', and template letters
• And lots more...!
  
  

https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/Useful links

• Make My Money Matter
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Instagram
  - Twitter
  - Sign the petition
  - Be a Net Zero Hero - find out where your pension provider are investing your money (and then take action!)
• UN SDGs
• Pension Tracing Service
• The Good Pensions Guide from Good with Money
• Ethical Consumer guide to ethical pensions
• [013] - Be good and do good with your money (podcast episode)
• The Knackered Mums Eco Club
• The Sustainable(ish) Guide to Green Parenting

https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/ Wow!!
Where is your pension? Do you know?
Are you off to find out?
Let me know how you get on! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

You'll be relived to hear we have a  guest! So you don’t have to listen to me rambling on endlessly. And it’s a cracker of a guest!
I’ve been stalking Zoe on line for years, after first coming across her annual Me Made May challenge online, and I was SO excited to find out that she’s written an actual book! All about mending and loving our clothes, a subject very close to my heart as a reformed mender who never even thought she would be able to sew on a button!

We chat about...

• Making your own clothes
• Why making your own clothes might not necessarily be the most sustainable option
• The problems with fast fashion, including Zoe's own experiences of working within the fast fashion industry
• Zoe's brilliant book - Mend It, Wear It, Love It - available now!!
• The importance of caring for the clothes we already own
• What equipment you need to get started mending (you don't need a sewing machine!)
• How to get started
• Whether there's any kind of stigma around wearing mended clothes
• And lots more...!
  
  

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Screen-Shot-2021-02-16-at-11.17.51.png

Screenshot of Zoe during our Zoom - wearing clothes she's made herself!

https://uk.bookshop.org/books/mend-it-wear-it-love-it-stitch-your-way-to-a-sustainable-wardrobe/9780241458587?aid=3744Useful links

• Zoe's blog and social media
  - So... Zo, what do you know? blog
  - Me Made May
  - Zoe on Instagram
• Zoe's book: Mend it, Wear it, Love it
• TRAID
• Wardrobe Architect
• Rana Plaza
• Fashion Revolution
• [079] Repair what you wear
• Repair what you wear website
  
• The Knackered Mums Eco Club

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Screen-Shot-2020-11-06-at-12.21.37.pngDo you mend?
Are you tempted to have a go?
Do let me know in the comments! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

Another solo episode from me this week, as I haven’t been able to conjure up any extra time or headspace for getting guests organised – I’ve been super busy getting ready for The Knackered Mums heading back on out on Eco Tour – this is my FREE 5 day eco challenge that’s kicking off on Monday 15th Feb. Do come and join us – it’s probably the most fun you’re going to be able to have in half-term. AND you get to slash your carbon footprint at the same time as whinge about how tired you are and how hard it is to get your kids off their screens, with a bunch of similarly knackered types.
Excited to say that I have not one but TWO interviews in the diary for next week, so we should be back on a roll with some fabulous guests from next week!

It’s Valentines Day in just a couple of days time, and I’m well aware that if you do celebrate it, then this episode may well be too late if you’re an organised type.
Bear it in mind for next year if that’s the case, and don’t stop listening if you don’t celebrate Valentines Day (we gave up on it years ago!) because I’m going to be sharing some fascinating stats and some alternative gifts that are a great way to say ‘I love you” or “thank you” or “you’re really rather brilliant” at any time of the year.

Giving ‘stuff’ has become our way of saying I love you hasn’t it? And who doesn’t love a present?
But the problem with Valentines’ gifts, and indeed most gifts is that that although they might say “I love you” to the recipient they aren’t usually saying “I love you’ to either the people who made the gift, or to the planet.

We are at peak stuff, we are using up resources at an astonishing rate, the people who make much of  our stuff are being exploited, and most of us are struggling to find anywhere to put anymore stuff in our homes. Oh, and our landfills are full to bursting.

God I’m SUCH  a party pooper aren’t I?
Never fear – this isn’t a whole episode about how terrible everything is, there is some good news –there ARE some fabulous ways we can do Valentines (and indeed other gifts) that don’t cost the earth (see what I did there).

Enjoy...!

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Cut-flowers-stat.pnghttps://tonyschocolonely.com/uk/en/sweet-solution-kit-digitalUseful links

• The Knackered Mums (Eco) Tour
  5 days of easy eco-action, a LOT of fun, and endless GIFs - come and join us!
• [069] - Say it with British Flowers (podcast)
• Tony's Chocoloney Sweet Solution campaign
• Ethical Consumer ethical chocolate guide
• TED IDEAS: The steep price we pay for cheap chocolate
• George Monbiot: The Gift of Death
• Arbikie Nadar climate positive gin
• The Climate Coalition Show the Love Campaign
• Sustainable(ish) Facebook group
  

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/KM-Show-the-Love.pngDo you Valentine?
What are your thoughts on some of those stats?
Do let me know in the comments! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

Episode 88 of the podcast is a solo episode!
I’d love to pretend that this was planned, but the reality is that my already poor organisational and forwards planning skills have taken a bit of a battering whilst attempting the home schooling/keeping a business afloat/saving the planet juggle and I’m not going to lie, I failed miserably to get a guest organised for this week.
Hence also why this is going out a day later than usual – apologies to the many thousands of you that I know will have been obsessively hitting ‘refresh’ on your podcast app waiting for a new episode to drop (in case you can’t detect the irony in that sentence, please note that was said very tongue in cheek…!)

In this episode I share with you one of my favourite Greta quotes:

"Of course we need hope.
But the one thing we need more than hope is action.
Because once we start to act, hope is everywhere."

OMG, she's so eloquent and generally amazing isn't she?

So in this episode I dive on into the taking action bit - because it sounds super simple doesn't it? Take action, but anyone who has ever tried to get fit, or change any kind of habit, will tell you, just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy.
How can we make it as easy as possible to take action?

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Of-course-we-need-hope.-But-the-one-thing-we-need-more-than-hope-is-action.-Because-once-we-start-to-act-hope-is-everywhere.-1.pngUseful links

• The Knackered Mums (Eco) Tour
  5 days of easy eco-action, a LOT of fun, and endless GIFs - come and join us!
• Sustainable(ish) Facebook group
  If the Knackered Mums Tour isn't your thing, but you'd love a friendly supportive online space to help keep nudging you to take action, do come and check out the FB group.

https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/knackered-mums-on-eco-tour/What sort of action taker are you?
How can you make it easier for yourself?
Do let me know in the comments! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

In this episode I have a treat in store for you if you're looking around the world and feeling a little....erm....despairing?! If you're looking at your kids and wondering what their future will hold, and worried that when they're old enough to understand what's going on that they'll be viewing their own futures with trepidation and despondency rather than the excitement that we probably felt as we embarked on our adult lives.

Rachel (aka The Crap Activist on Instagram) in an inspiration. She told me she had massive imposter syndrome coming on the podcast following on from last week's episode with Sian Berry, but genuinely what she has done and been doing has inspired me, and I'm pretty sure it will inspire you too.
She was worried about the future her kids were facing, and how that potentially affected their mental health. So she went a step beyond worrying, and decided to spend a year doing one thing a day to make the world a better place. To be a better citizen of the world.

And she's only gone and bloody well done it (we recorded this episode on day 365 of her year!), during a pandemic, she's managed to bring the rest of the family along for the ride too. She's shown her kids that she thinks their future is worth fighting for. That it's worth making some changes, and maybe some sacrifices for. She's shown them that we can all be activists. That we don't have to simply put up with, and despair about, the status quo, but that we can take steps to empower ourselves and to create positive change.
And she's done it with humour and honesty about the good bits AND the not-so good bits - it's not a curated Insta perfect story, thank goodness...

It's so important that the stories we share, the people we celebrate, the people we admire, aren't just the Greta's and David Attenborough's (although clearly they're doing amazing stuff). There are millions of awesome crap activists out there, having a go, getting it wrong, trying again. Who are changing the world without the recognition and accolades and applause. 

Enjoy this episode, let me know what you think and if you're inspired to take action and indulge in a little everyday activism, crap or otherwise..!

https://www.instagram.com/thecrapactivist/https://www.asustainablelife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-29-at-14.45.38.pngUseful links

• The Crap Activist
  - Instagram
• Adidas recycled plastic trainers
• The Knackered Mums Eco Club
• Sustainable(ish) Facebook group

Wow! Are you inspired to indulge in a spot of imperfect eco-action after listening?
Do let me know in the comments! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]

Hmmm politics....
I don't know about you but I think it's pretty easy to feel disengaged from politics - lots of (mostly) white, (mostly) men, working things for their own advantage and dragging their heels on stuff that would and could make a real difference. When it comes to the climate especially it feels like there's a lot of hot air and not a lot of action.

Which is why it was so refreshing to chat in this episode to Sian Berry, co-leader of The Green Party. The Knackered Mums in the Knackered Mums Eco Club get to come along to listen in to the podcast recordings live, and then ask a few questions at the end. I LOVED this comment after the event “she was human and encouraging and passionate and that gave me hope.”

Politics can feel like it's this big world of smoke and mirrors and that it's very difficult to effect change as an individual. It was great to chat to Sian and to hear that this doesn’t have to be the case – she gives us all lots of ideas for how to get involved, as busy people, and how we can have an impact on both local and national politics. 
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording this – do share your thoughts on the comments below or get in touch via social media.

Enjoy!

Useful links

• Sian Berry
  - Website
  - Facebook
  - Instagram
  - Twitter
• Sian's books
  - 50 ways to help the planet
  - Junk for Joy
• The Green Party
  - Website
  - Manifesto
  - Facebook
  - Twitter
  - Instagram
• The Knackered Mums Eco Club
• Sustainable(ish) Facebook group

How are you feeling after listening to this?
Do let me know in the comments! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN ALL GOOD BOOK SHOPS NOW!

"Easily the most family friendly way to do your bit"
The Sunday Times

"Absolutely love this book - should be mandatory reading"
Online review

https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Jen-Gale/The-Sustainableish-Living-Guide--Everything-You-Need-to-K/23879824 […]