Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

Plugs, insurance, credit crunch, beetles and lunch (Jan09)

  Last week was busy. I flew from meeting to meeting. Not literally I hasten to add – they were mostly in London. I started with a meeting about insurance – I’m not a great fan of the industry. They’re so inefficient and bureaucratic. Talk about excessive paper production. I was talking to Adam Clutterbuck. […]

Good riddance to US car companies (Nov08)

I sat next to a chap from Citicorp Bank for Sunday lunch at a pub last weekend. His company was apparently waiting to hear about the $20 billion cash injection from the US government. But he was more struck by the news about America’s car giants and their approach to getting a government bail out. […]

Gay Times – I interviewed Kristin Digby (Sep07)

One of three interviews I did for the Gay Times – Kristin Digby . See also Peter Tatchell and Paul O-Grady “I don’t even know how to read a f***ing fuel bill”, Kristian admitted when I asked him to tell me how much electricity and gas he was using.   I arrived at his house somewhere […]

Gay Times – Peter Tatchell (Sep07)

One of three interviews I did for the Gay Times – Peter Tatchell. See also Paul O-Grady and Kristin Digby  With piles of paper balanced precariously almost to the ceiling (it reminded me of Dr Seuss’s Cat in the Hat), Peter’s flat is not only his home but his campaign headquarters too.  Animal rights, human rights, […]

Green Alliance: can politicians save us? (Jul07)

Giles Chitty and Julia Hailes at Green Alliance Debate Jul07 Matthew Taylor, the Chief Executive of The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) whispered in my ear that he didn’t suppose I would make any jokes in my presentation because women don’t make jokes! He looked a bit surprised when I said that I was starting […]

Waste disposal is not for seagulls (Jun07)

I love the Brighton buses. Every stop has a sign telling you how long it is before your bus arrives. I also rather liked the sound of seagulls when I woke in the morning a stone’s throw from Brighton beach. But I discovered that residents are not so keen. I had thought that bird-related complaints […]

Hay on Wye Festival – China & droughts (Jun07)

The China Question When I wrote the original Green Consumer Guide there was one question I was unfailingly asked by journalists. It was ‘if there’s one thing that you can do to save the world what would it be?’ Answer that in a sound bite without sounding trivial… Of course there isn’t just one thing […]

Australian PM prays for rain – at Hay on Wye (Jun07)

When I wrote the original Green Consumer Guide there was one question I was unfailingly asked by journalists. It was ‘if there’s one thing that you can do to save the world what would it be?’ Answer that in a sound bite without sounding trivial… Of course there isn’t just one thing there are lots […]