Show Notes
Did you know we have lots 97% of our species rich graslands in the UK since the 1930s? This has had a huge knock on impact to the rest of the food chain that are relaint on that habitat, things like our insect pollinators especially, but also our birds and mammals that were part of this ecosystem.The good news is that this is something most of us can do something about! If you have a garden, or have local green spaces, we can use them to recreate some of that lost speices rich grassland, and you don't need masses of space to be able to do it.AND this is one of those very rare things - a sustainability action that actually requires LESS effort than the status quo, because to make it happen, we're being asked to mow LESS!In today's episode I'm chatting to Sarah Shuttleworth, Specialist Botanical Advisor at Plantlife, all about their No Mow May campaign, and how we can all get involved, even if we don't have a garden, and/or the rest of the family aren't keen on having an entirely unmown lawn for the whole of the summer!Have a listen, and then head over to the Plantlife website to sign up to take the No Mow May pledge . There are links to all of the fab No Mow May resources on the Plantlife website, including things like downloadable signs you can print out to let the neighbours know what you're doing! Sarah Shuttleworth A bee orchid - Sarah's favourite plant!
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:Plantlife- Website- Facebook- Instagram- You Tube No Mow May- Take the No Mow May pledge- The No Mow Movement calendar- Free downloads: posters, lawn signs, colouring sheets, social media posts- The Good Verge Guide (for local authorities)- Managing grassland road verges (for local authorities) Sarah Shuttleworth- Linked In Seek - plant ID app National Education Nature Park (for schools) [137] Wildlflower meadows and how to make (a mini) one in your garden! With Paul Jupp (podcast episode) Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse - doors opening again soon! Carbon Literacy- Carbon Literacy with me!
More from Sustainable(ish)
I thought I knew a bit about sustainable fashion but this chat, and the book behind it all, Charity Shop World by Tansy Hoskins, blew me away. There’s been quite a bit in the press in recent weeks and months about the impact of Vinted on both overall consumption levels of fast fashion, and on charity shops, but it turns out, that’s just scratching the surface. Listen to hear about the link between charity shops and austerity, the fashion industry and imperialism, how many YEARS of human labour it takes to make one years worth of clothes, how we’re all being expertly manipulated by social media algorithms, and how, as with most (all?) things, it all comes down to industries who have a single goal, of making billionaires even richer.
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According to climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, the most important thing we can do to fight climate change is talk about it. But the reality, certainly for me, and if attendees on my Carbon Literacy courses are anything to do by, for others too, it isn’t easy. We worry that we don’t know all the facts and stats and maybe we’re going to get stuck in an argument with a climate denier. We worry that people will think we’re judging them, that they will think we’re a hypocrite if we’re not ‘perfect environmentalist’ (side note, there’s no such thing).
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In the UK we buy 37 million toys a year! And 80% of them end up in landfill, incinerators, or the oceans.