Show Notes
Football and sport don't perhaps at first glance seem like a natural 'in' for climate action. But did you know..?- Over 100,000 grassroots football matches are cancelled every year due to bad weather such as flooding- Over 80% of football fans want are concerned about climate change- 65% of football fans want their clubs to take more climate action It was such a joy to get the opportunity to chat to Katie Cross all about Pledgeball - an award winning sports sustainability charity who do an amazing job of empowering sports fans to take action for climate and nature, often framing it around the idea of 'protecting where we play'.I wouldn't count myself as a football fan, but I took so much inspiration away from this episode and from Katie. So many clever ways of taking something that people are passionate about and using it as a way in to talk about climate and how it's impacting on that thing that they love, and then harnessing the power of the community that they are already involved in to take action, and to see how their one action contributes to a much greater impact.Even if you're not a football fan, I think there will be lots to take away from this episode - some way to take a little bit of the work that Plegdeball are doing with football, and in sport more widely, and apply it to the communities that you're already a part of. Katie Cross
LISTEN...
USEFUL LINKS:Katie Cross- Linked In Pledgeball- Website- Instagram- Linked In- Facebook- You Tube- The Pledgeball podcast- Add your club (or school, or workplace etc)- Sustainable Travel Charter Ep 154 - Leading by example - does it matter? With Steve Westlake (podcast ep) David Wheeler Climate Outreach- Britain Talks Climate and Nature EFL Green Clubs Carbon Literacy- Carbon Literacy with me! Ep 175 - Climate Play (including Lego Serious Play) - podcast with Lisa Hawthorne Ep 193 - The power of swapping with Sam Drury Shore Reading FC's kit with the warming stripes on the sleeve
I'd love to hear if you get your local club signed up, or get your kids school involved, or start something at work around this - do let me know!
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.