Show Notes
In this episode I'm chatting to Polly Turton, Head of Climate Action and Public Health Shade the UK, an organisation who have a vision and a mission of "zero deaths from overheating and a UK where everyone can live, work and thrive in hot weather." We dive into: - How hot was this summer? - What about 1976? - Is the new 'normal' (or abnormal) - The health impacts of heat on different groups within our societies - Why heat is a climate justice issue, and 'cooling poverty' is now a growing concern for summer months - Shouldn't we just install air con? - Changes that are needed to help our towns and cities adapt to a warming climate - Changes we can look to make in our own homes, from DIY measures, to more permanent retrofit
USEFUL LINKS: Shade the UK - Website - Instagram - Linked In - Overheating adaptation guides Polly Turton on Linked In Andy Love (Shade the UK founder) on Linked In Summer 2026 hottest on record for the UK – Met Office Summer 1976 – 2026 – Met Office Cooling Roadmap for London Heat mortality monitoring report 2022 Excess deaths May and June 2026
Let me know your thoughts on this one - drop me an email on [email protected], or leave a comment wherever you're listening to this. Please do share this episode with anyone you think would be interested or would find it useful, and leave a rating and a review on your podcast platform of choice.
Thanks for listening!
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.
Today’s guest on the podcast is Damian Hall, ultra-marathon runner, co-founder of The Green Runners, and author of We Can't Run Away from This. If you’re not a runner, don’t turn off! This episode is still for you – I think there are some great takeaways about we can bring sustainability into conversations for the things that we love doing. This example just happens to be running, but will apply to other sports, as well as, I don’t know, singing, or dancing, or even book clubs.
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).
A solo episode from me, detailing my recent visit to my MP! I talk about why MP engagement is so important, even if it can feel a teensy bit frustrating; how and why my MP visit came about; what happened during my visit; and my top tips for MP visits (because obviously I'm now officially an expert having done one..!) If you're looking for tips and a bit of gently encouragement to engage with your MP on climate stuff, whether that's off the back of a People's Emergency Briefing, or something else, I hope this is helpful!
In the UK we buy 37 million toys a year! And 80% of them end up in landfill, incinerators, or the oceans.