Green Dishwashing (Feb10)
When people buy a dishwasher, they still hand wash many of their dishwashers – in fact they only reduce their use of washing up liquid by 25%. So when you’re thinking about green dishwashing, it’s not so much a question of whether you do it by hand or by machine, it’s how you do it. […]
Chilling Facts Campaign on Supermarket Refrigeration (Feb 10)
Launched on 1st February, 2010, the second Chilling Facts survey has been very successful in drawing attention to the huge impact of supermarket refrigeration on climate change. I’ve been working with the Environmental Investigation Agency on their campaign to get the supermarkets to switch to climate-friendly refrigeration gases. We ranked the retailers on their performance and gave them detailed […]
Chilling Facts II The supermarket refrigeration scandal continues (Feb10)
Did you know that as much as one third of the carbon footprint of most supermarkets comes from cooling gases used in their refrigeration systems? And the energy used is on top. See Chilling Facts Campaign from the Environmental Investigation Agency The Co-operative Group’s green and ethical credentials are called into question in this […]
House of Commons Generation Green Manifesto (Feb10)
Greg Barker, Shadow Minister for Climate hosted the reception at the House of Commons. It was attended by a number of MPs, including John Gummer, as well as organisations like Global Action Plan, Waste Watch and education bodies, as well as the members of the Generation Green Youth think tank, and their parents. The event […]
Julia Hailes on recycling plastic bags (Jan10)
Jonathon Vernon-Smith, from BBC 3 Counties, rants to Julia Hailes about why he doesn’t like being made to feel guilty about using lots of plastic bags. Julia robustly responds and the debate is followed by a phone-in! This was aired on his lunch-time programme in January 2010.
How Green is Scarlet – Eco-hotel in Cornwall (Jan10)
My first impression of the building was horrendous. It was sitting on the cliff top surrounded by bungalows and modern seaside houses. Looking at the website for the Scarlet Hotel near Bedruthan Steps in Cornwall, I had thought that it stood on its own in a beautiful bay. The picture of the distinctive red hot […]
Christmas cards are wasteful (Jan10)
The Jeremy Vine Show wanted me to have a pair of scissors ready for my interview. The idea was to record me, Blue Peter style, cutting up my Christmas cards so I could use them again. Listening to the programme afterwards, I don’t think the scissor cutting was audible! But the message about re-using Christmas […]
Project Dirt – in your neighbourhood (Jan10)
Project Dirt was set up in 2008 as an independent online network to help connect green minded people. The idea for people to learn from others doing ‘real projects’ in their neighbourhood. I was a member of the judging panel for the Project Dirt’s Timberland Earthkeepers Grant awarding five projects up to £2000 each.
BBC 3 Counties Radio – plastic bag rant from presenter (Jan10)
Jonathan Vernon Smith from BBC 3 Counties Radio rants to Julia about why he doesn’t thing people should be charged for plastic bags. Julia gives a robust response and explains that he shouldn’t be complaining about something so trivial. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4C0WkuoiZs&&width=200&height=125[/embedyt]
Hong Kong was dirty (Dec09)
Photo I took of the smog in Hong Kong – it should have been a sunny day! Air conditioning in Hong Kong is having a huge impact on climate change Kowloon Christmas tat in street market We flew through a brownish smog as we descended into Hong Kong airport. During my four days in […]
Radio 4 – Costing the Earth (Dec09)
This half hour programme looks at how some people are responding the the threat of climate change as we approach the Copenhagen summit in December 2009. It includes interviews with school children participating in the Generation Green youth tank, including comments from Julia, as their expert green guide. BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth
Somerset produces less waste (Nov09)
Somerset has the lowest amount of waste going to landfill per head in the UK – an average of between 160kg and 165kg per head. This is significantly less than the UK target for 2020, which is 225kg per head. And Somerset also heads the league table on recycling. One of the reasons for this […]