Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

Interface Carpets – Tomorrow’s Natural Business (Jul11)

Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface Carpets radically changed his approach to business in 1994, after reading The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawkens.   I went to a workshop at Interface hosted by Andy Middleton from Tyf.  Entitled ‘Tomorrow’s Natural Business’, the workshop aimed to show how biomimicry could be used as a template for creating organisations fit for a different […]

Writing for the Financial Times (Jun12)

I’ve started writing for FT House & Home. My first article, co-written with Fiona Harvey in March 2011 was about Feed in Tariffs. The second piece, published in June 2011 was ‘Eco-technologies at home – Electric Green‘ And the most recent article published on Saturday 21st April 2012, was about eco-renovating my London flat ‘It’s Not Easy Being […]

Eco-Renovating London Flat (Jan11)

  I’ve started eco-renovating my London flat.  It’s been rented out since 1995 but needs sprucing up.  I’ve employed architect Jerry Tate , who specialises in bringing ‘buildings and nature closer together’.  In this case it means lots of insulation, inspirational energy and water-saving ideas and including as much recycled materials as possible.  I’ll be up-dating my […]

My goldfish died along with Labour – Here’s my coalition manifesto (May10)

  Zac Goldsmith, formerly editor of the Ecologist, gets elected in Richmond   Chris Huhne – New Minster for Energy and Environment   Caroline Lucas – the first Green MP in the UK   My goldfish died in the night. I’ve posthumously named him ‘Gordon’. It seems rather propitious that their floundering exit coincided. And […]

Yarlington Housing (Mar10)

I was the key note speaker at the Yarlington Housing Annual meeting, held in Yeovil, which is close to where I live.   The organisation had a number of sustainability initiatives but hadn’t yet managed to fully integrate the principles into their housing developments.

Big Green Home Show (Oct09)

“I had to drop you a line to say ‘a huge thank-you’ to you for being such a fantastic guest speaker – you were absolutely superb!…. You made a very inspiring speech and I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending you to other event organisers as a guest speaker on eco or renovation matters […]

Energy Monitoring Gizmos (Jan08)

TRIED AND TESTED – ENERGY MONITORS Energy Monitors don’t directly save you energy – but they should help you work out where you’re wasting it around the house and so cut back. I reduced by electricity bill by a quarter, when I got one – which more than paid back the cost of the monitor. […]

Eco developments on the map (Oct07)

The market town of Langport on the Somerset Levels has been getting some good green press in the last few months. A new development – Great Bow Yard has won a Gold Award from the Buildings for Life Scheme set up by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment or CABE for short. Ecos […]

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 […]

What is a green building? (Jul07)

I’m not convinced that the Government’s goal of zero carbon buildings is a good one. For a start it only applies to new buildings. And wouldn’t it be better to invest in significantly reducing carbon emissions in a huge number of houses rather than going the whole way in a very few? Achieving the final […]