Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

My Manifesto for COP26 and beyond(Oct21)

I’m delighted that Cop26 is getting a lot of attention.  I think it’s great that young people – with Greta leading the charge – are voicing their anger at what’s happening to the climate.  It’s incredibly positive that more and more businesses around the world are trying to make meaningful changes. Not so good is […]

My LED Lighting Saga (Mar13)

Remember the joke about how many men are needed to change a light bulb. The answer is generally a joke about the number of people standing around watching.  But my experience with LED bulbs has become a joke – it’s taken me over a year now and I still haven’t succeeded in replacing all the […]

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 […]

Eco-technologies at Home – Electric Green (Jun11)

This is a draft of article written for the FT – an edited edition was published in June 2011 – Eco Technologies at home – Electric Green. DRAFT ARTICLE Finding eco-technologies that have really good eco-credentials is harder than you might think.   For example, I’m a bit cynical about bamboo mice for your computer and […]

Solar powered lighting is good (Oct09)

My outside light is great. It’s a solar powered security light, with a movement sensor. I’ve had it up for a few months now and it’s works really well. It came from Eco Promotion – a website that sells lots of energy efficient products from light bulbs to radiator panels. (Not any more – Oct18) […]

Shopping Trauma (Feb09)

I don’t really like shopping – particularly when it entails actually going out of the house. I do most of my shopping on the internet. Earlier this week, I went into Yeovil for a few things. It made me even more committed to purchasing with my ‘mouse’. First on my list was an energy-efficient, decorative […]

NT – Energy efficient light bulbs (Jun08)

ABOUT TIME TOO – NATIONAL TRUST ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS I was a tenant of the National Trust for nearly 10 years.  My husband and I rented Tintinhull House in Somerset from 1995.   It’s a beautiful house with gardens, made famous by Penelope Hobhouse, open to the public during the summer months. The public reception […]

Changing lightbulbs (Feb08)

First a confession. I have spotlights in both my kitchen and living room, which are adjoining – and not all of them are energy efficient. When the spotlights were first installed I made sure that they would take energy efficient bulbs. I then ordered the 100 watt replacements, which were 23 watts each. But when […]

Street light rant (Feb08)

There’s been some discussion recently about councils turning off lights between midnight and dawn. Hooray. Actually, I think there are lots of places where they shouldn’t be on at all. And others where some lights might be a good idea but not nearly as many. Street lights are big energy guzzlers because they have to […]

Woman’s Hour 2007 – 2008 (Jan08)

At the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 Woman’s Hour ran a series of interviews with me about greening your home.  Links below are no longer working but we’re trying to resolve this!  /// •Recycling • Green Fashion • Water • Lighting • Laundry • Electricity