Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

Radio 5 Live – Appeared on multiple programmes (Feb12)

I’ve been on a number of Radio 5 Live Programmes including: Anita Anand Show – as a panellist throughout the evening Richard Bacon Show talking about bottled water and plastic bags Kay Adams – talking about how to stop wasting food Steve Wright Show

Regional Radio Highlights, including Britain’s greenest school children (Feb12)

Regional radio highlights include: Radio Solent Somerset Sound:  Have been a regular guest Steve Rhodes Show for BBC 3 Counties Radio: talking about M&S decision to start charging for carrier bags Greenest school:  regional radio blitz to look for Britain’s greenest school children for think tank sponsored by British Gas Generation Green.

Recycling is not enough – we need more reuse of e-waste (Feb12)

E For Good is campaigning to Clear Out and Clean up electrical and electronic waste – website will be launched by March 2012..  Refurbished washing machines waiting to be reused – at Environcom site Melinda Watson and Julia Hailes – co-founders of E For Good  First I should explain that e-waste is waste electrical and […]

Supermarket refrigeration – Chilling Facts IV now out (Feb12)

It’s the fourth year of the Chilling Facts campaign, which I helped conceive.  Run by the Environmental Investigation Agency’s (EIA), the initiative aims to reduce the climate change impacts of supermarket refrigeration. We’re encouraging them to move away from HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) to more climate-friendly alternatives.  This year’s, results from UK retailers have shown a 44% […]

EU WEEE Regulation is Bonkers (Jan12)

For anyone that doesn’t know, ‘WEEE’ stands for ‘Waste  Electrical & Electronic Equipment’ – it covers pretty well all products with a battery or a plug.  Although it doesn’t actually cover batteries – there’s separate legislation for them, which isn’t very good either. I can’t claim to fully understand how the system works but here’s […]

Legendary Environmental Activist! (Jan12)

As part of their ‘Remarkable Men and Women’ series, I was invited to speak to Laurel Springs online school.  In the introduction I could see which parts of the world the children came from – mostly America but several in the Far East too.  I was the only participant from the UK.   My brief was […]

BBC world service – Greening Christmas (Dec11)

My top tips for less waste at Christmas included planning menus carefully to reduce food waste; re-gifting unwanted presents and collecting everyone else’s wrapping paper to use again.  The interview was aired on BBC World Service for Christmas 2011. 

Mad copper fiasco in IT (Nov11)

Copper now sells for somewhere between £4000 a tonne and £5000 a tonne depending on where you look.  That’s why it’s being stolen from telephone exchanges, from electricity stations and from railways – train disruption from copper theft is becoming nearly as common as suicides. In IT equipment copper is common – particularly in wires. […]

Why aren’t restaurants more sustainable? (Oct11)

Bluefin tuna is one of the most endangered species on the planet but it’s still being served in London restaurants.   Monkfish is not very sustainable either – if it’s on the menu, ask the restaurant about their sustainable fish policies     The Hive Beach Cafe in Burton Bradstock is one of the first […]

Nappy recycling makes sense! (Oct11)

Bronwen Jameson and Paul Richardson from Knowaste   The smell wasn’t very noticeable until I went into the building.  Then it hit me like a wall.  I remember from visiting a sewage farm that the trick is not to breathe through your nose.   And after a few minutes it wasn’t quite so bad.   My Knowaste […]