Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

We’re going to the Big One – Friday 21st April 2023

The invitation is for everybody to Unite to Survive at ‘The Big One’ – a four-day action from the 21st to the 24th April 2023, where people from all groups and movements, not just XR, will gather throughout Westminster and at the Houses of Parliament. Here are our banners… Come and join us….

Sheep are like locusts (Apr23)

A flock of sheep will eat pretty well everything in their path – wildflowers, buds, saplings and anything else that looks tasty. Ben Goldsmith has been highlighting the perils of sheep, particularly in upland areas and in our national parks. He points out that apart from being incredibly destructive, sheep grazing on the hillsides are […]

Our new Environment Minister is a disaster (Nov22)

I couldn’t believe it when I saw this video of Thérèse Coffey, the new Secretary of State for the Environment. Actually, I felt depressed that we should be represented by someone so inept. Of course, this video doesn’t just illustrate that she’s totally clueless about answering the simplest of questions relating to her new role, […]

Dale Vince trounces Nigel Farage in debate about renewables (Mar22)

If you want to understand why investing in renewables makes sense listen to this. Nigel Farage interviews Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, who calming and effectively explains why Nigel’s perspective is ill-informed and wrong. Some of the highlights for me are below – this is more or less what was said: Landowners getting rich NF: […]

Is the EU’s Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive better for the environment (Feb21)

No.  I don’t think it is – at least not all of it. Mid 2021 the EU is planning to introduce the Single-Use Plastics Directive. The key objective appears to be moving business and consumers away from single-use plastics and towards re-usable solutions.  On the surface of it, this sounds like a good environmental move.  After all, using […]

Venice is sinking (Mar16)

It felt apocalyptic.  Exceptional flood levels. Sandbags.  Elevated planks to walk along. St Mark’s Square underwater and a deluge.  But I discovered that this was not very unusual.  And, it’s not a new phenomenon either. In 1966 there was a huge storm which meant that the Piazza San Marco had a flood over five feet […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Inspiring E-Waste Company Leads on Re-use (Sept11)

Sean Feeney from EnvironCom standing on fridge foam bits    Washing machines being tested I’m rather surprised to discover that there are quite a few people who don’t know what E-Waste is.  I mentioned our E-Waste Campaign, when I was speaking to a large audience last week – and someone asked me to clarify. That […]