News 2012

Meeting Giraffe (Nov12)

80% of all product related environmental impacts happen at the design phase. That’s key to Giraffe’s work. Melinda Watson and I, with our E for Good hats on, went to talk to Rob Holdway and Celena Fernandez about e-waste issues. We discovered that we had a lot in common. Rob was involved in creating the WEEE man, which was a good start for me because I think it’s an iconic sculpture – now based at the Eden Project – and representing an average person’s lifetime of e-waste.

Speaking in Istanbul (Oct12)

My second speaking engagement in Istanbul. I was invited to speak at Green Business Turkey 2012. The brilliant thing about this is that the event showed that many Turkish businesses are showing a real interest in sustainability issues. With over 500 delegates it was an ambitious event, aiming to help the audience understand what environmental pressures they’d be facing and how to turn potential threats into opportunities. Fellow speakers included Jeremy Leggett from Solar Century and Jo Confino, Editorial Director of Guardian Sustainable Business.

Second Nature Advisory Board (Oct12)

I sit on the Advisory board of Second Nature – their mission is making sustainability ‘second nature’ for the organisations they work with. Charles Perry and Mark Griffiths are the company’s founders – and they have a lot of experience between them, with particular emphasis on business strategy and expertise in energy, built-environment, clean tech and climate change. They’ve also been working with Tesco, saving the company a massive million pounds per superstore!

Sainsbury’s Round Table with Justin King – CEO (Sep12)

I was one of a dozen ‘opinion formers’ invited to a dinner at Sainsbury’s HQ, with Justin King. The meeting was chaired by Anna Ford – former newsreader – shortly before she stood down from the Sainsbury’s board. The focus of the evening was Sainsbury’s 20 by 20 Sustainability plan and the idea was to review Sainsbury’s corporate responsibility values. See Blog I’ve written on Sainsburys and consumer choice.

Biomimicry – sustainable solutions (Sep12)

Michael Pawlyn

I’m a great fan of Michael Pawlyn – from Exploration Architecture. I love his ideas and thinking. And so was keen to attend his Lignacite lecture at the Royal College of Physicians. Michael’s key theme is ‘biomimicry’ and his most recent book is ‘Biomimicry in Architecture‘ . And his speech was full of examples of how nature can provide us with sustainable solutions. The objectives, he says are to:

– Aim for radical increases in resource efficiency
– Shift from linear to closed loop systems
– Shift from a fossil-fuel economy to a solar economy.

One of the main projects that Michael’s working on is the Sahara Forest Project, which is a pioneering scheme aiming to turn the desert green. It includes a pilot project using seawater greenhouses and concentrated solar power.

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Julia Hailes MBE

Meeting Giraffe (Nov12)

Speaking in Istanbul (Oct12)

Sainsbury's Round Table with Justin King - CEO (Sep12)

Biomimicry - sustainable solutions (Sep12)

Which? on plastic bags (Aug12)

E for Good

Hot Topics

Meeting Giraffe (Nov12)

Speaking in Istanbul (Oct12)

Second Nature Advisory Board (Oct12)

Sainsbury’s Round Table with Justin King – CEO (Sep12)

Biomimicry – sustainable solutions (Sep12)