Speech disaster to Bathroom Manufacturers… (Oct16)
My speech went down the plug hole! I spent ages preparing my speech. Had an inspirational idea on how to pull it together. And, I thought it was pretty good on the day! But apparently the audience – at least most of them – were not so impressed. And the Bathroom Manufacturer’s Association – the […]
Biomimicry – sustainable solutions (Sept12)
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 […]
Which? on plastic bags (Aug12)
I’ve done a lot of speaking and writing about plastic bags! I’ve even written a poem on the subject, for one speech I made. Which? asked me to give them an expert view for an article in entitled ‘Plastic bags at breaking point‘. As well as being interviewed on the topic, I wrote a […]
Setting up E For Good (Apr12)
Along with Melinda Watson from the Raw Foundation, I’ve set up E For Good. We’re the first consumer-facing organisation targeting e-waste from an environmental life-cycle perspective. Our aims are to reduce the amount of e-waste, promote repair and reuse and recycle the rest, as efficiently as possible. We’re working with Environcom, an e-waste company, who […]
We need more Bedzeds (Nov09)
Bedzed – Beddington Zero Energy Design William Steel, Generation Green Think Tank member Did you know that cats give off about 10 watts of heat and dogs about 15 watts. I suspect that a friend of mine with a Great Dane gets as much heat from his as a human though – roughly […]
EDANA Conference (Sept09)
“With her somewhat challenging lateral thinking and, ‘out of the box’ approach, Julia Hailes has brought to our audience and our industry the useful element of destabilisation it needed to avoid too much complacency and closed-loop reflection…” Pierre Wiertz, General Manager of EDANA, Organiser of OUTLOOK 09 Personal Care Products conference Sept09 EDANA, The international […]
Food Innovation (Sep09)
The Food Ethics Council Business Forum meeting focussed on radical innovation. I was chairing the session with a presentation from Sander Mager, Programme Manager at the groundbreaking Dutch technology incubator TransForum – a quango supporting projects ranging from closed-loop farming to producer-managed supermarkets.
Generation Green visit recycling plant (Jun09)
I was impressed by the passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of many of the children who are participating in the Generation Green youth think tank, sponsored by British Gas. Age 7-14 we met at Dagenham docks to have a look around the Closed Loop recycling plant. They were told all about recycling plastic bottles and were […]
Recycling Dreamland (Oct08)
Chris Dow at Closed Loop recycling in Dagenham was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He describes the new plant – it won’t be fully operational until December – as a ‘recycling dreamland’. When it’s running at full pelt, this brand new factory will make it possible for a plastic drinks bottle to be chucked away at […]