Significant life-changing benefits from family planning – CHASE Africa (May21)
CHASE Africa’s Impact Report has some really moving stories about how lives have been improved through having access to family planning. Of course, there are macro benefits to stopping an exponential population rise – particularly in relation to pressures on the environment. But, let’s not forget the human misery caused by not being able to […]
Why is our MP not supporting the Dorset National Park? (May21)
Why hasn’t Chris Loder, Dorset MP, talked to the Dorset National Park supporters? Chris Loder contacted our Parish meeting in Hooke saying that he had significant reservations about a Dorset National Park, but without explaining why. He appeared to be soliciting opinion but failed to give any details of the pros and cons. I’ve now […]
Peat in compost is environmental vandalism (Mar21)
That’s what Monty Don says and I agree. But it’s incredibly common. UK gardeners are responsible for destroying our ‘rainforests’. It has to stop and we can make it happen. OK, so why is this such a big deal? First and perhaps most importantly, peatlands are essential in our fight against climate change. Whilst they […]
Julia Hailes talking about organic produce (1989 Approx)
Organic produce was quite a niche market in the 1980s. I remember talking to a group of enthusiasts about getting it into the supermarkets and they were decidedly unenthusiastic about the idea. There was quite a purist approach and they didn’t want it to become too commercialised. I couldn’t disagree more. There may be some […]
TV Clips tropical hardwoods and destruction of the rainforests – Julia Hailes 1989/90.
If there was ever a moment when I decided to dedicate my life to the environment, it was witnessing the forests being destroyed in the Mato Grosso in Brazil. I could see dense forest stretching for miles into the distance and then shockingly heard the sound of chain saws. Here are a few clips of […]
How Covid-19 is Changing the world (Apr20)
The Covid Crisis is sowing the seeds of division – young vs old, local vs incomers, poor vs rich etc. People are worried that we’ll never get ‘back to normal’ whilst others are wondering if that’s actually desirable. And, there’s also concern that the impacts of crashing the economy may even outweigh the terrible toll of the virus. However, there are positive initiatives too. I thought it would be interesting to look at some examples of what different organisations are thinking and doing…..
Challenging Sainsbury’s on environmental standards (Feb13)
Justin King, CEO of Sainsburys I wrote the blog below for the Food Ethics Council before the horse meat scandal blew up. I think it’s even more relevant now. When I challenged Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s about not applying the same environmental standards across all the products sold through his stores, he replied that […]
How efficient are energy efficiency schemes? (Jun12)
I wrote this article in June 2012 but am only posting it on my blog on 1st October, in advance of the introduction of the Green Deal. It seems that this government initiative is not being welcomed with open arms – I’m not surprised. I think that there’s ample room for improvement with Energy […]
FT Article written on Eco-renovating London flat (Apr12)
My article on eco-renovation was published in the House & Home section of the FT on 21st April, 2012. It’s explains how I set about greening my London flat – and the challenges I faced, despite being an eco-expert – see below for the original copy as written, followed by a pdf of what was […]
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 […]
Geo Mission – Environmental Sponsorship (Mar11)
I first met Pen Hadow when we were fellow judges for Morgan Stanley’s Great Britons 2004. Since then Pen has been on a few more polar expeditions and more recently he’s set up Geo Mission – a company promoting environmental sponsorship. I gave an interview for their magazine about why companies should be ‘doing more good, rather than less […]
3D movies creating 3D waste (Apr10)
I loved the film Avatar – particularly the strong environmental message running through it. I saw the 3D version in Yeovil, with my sons, Rollo and Monty. They were equally enamoured. In fact, Rollo thought it was the best film he’d ever seen. But, we went home clutching three pairs of 3D glasses. There weren’t […]