How To Save Our Planet

Most of us have never thought about what our walls are made of. We choose a colour, we paint them, and we move on. But what if the finish on your walls is one of the leading sources of microplastic pollution in our oceans? And what if the alternative — something that actually stores carbon, improves your indoor air quality, and can be safely returned to the earth at the end of its life already exists?Karmin Kenny founded Mineral Fox in 2020 as a frustrated customer a mother of two who simply wanted a non-toxic wall plaster for her family's home and couldn't find one. What followed was a journey that has taken her from her kitchen table to World Water Week in Stockholm, building a product range that is quietly revolutionising how we think about the surfaces we live with every day.In this episode, Lottie sits down with Karmin to talk about the hidden environmental cost of conventional wall coatings, what "returning to nature" actually means in the context of building materials, and how her Circular Sea Collection a world-first architectural finish made from recycled oyster shells that locks carbon into your walls for the life of the building is showing what a truly circular built environment could look like.This is the home sustainability conversation most of us haven't had yet. It's time to have it.

We all know the planet is in trouble. So why does so much of what we hear about it make us want to look away? Fear, guilt, doom, jargon: the way we talk about sustainability might be doing as much harm as good.Sarah Bassett has spent years doing the opposite. As a sustainability communicator and content creator, she has built an audience by making the planet feel like something you can actually do something about, in a way that is warm, human and refreshingly free of shame.In this episode, inspired by a talk called "The Words That Make People Care About the Planet", Lottie sits down with Sarah to talk about the craft of climate communication: the language that makes people lean in versus switch off, why guilt is such a poor motivator, and how any of us can bring the people around us along without the eye-rolls. It is a conversation about words, but really it is about how we get more people to care, and to act.

Most of us feel completely powerless when it comes to climate change. We recycle, we buy better, we sign petitions - and then we watch the news and wonder if any of it matters.Eezu Tan had the same feeling. Then in April 2022, she invited four friends over to her house in Sydney and they did something old-fashioned and a little radical: they wrote letters to their politicians. That small living-room gathering became Climate Writers - a monthly community that has now sent over 400 personalised letters to policymakers, held meetings with MPs including the Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister, and helped shift the needle on real policy issues.In this episode, Lottie Dalziel sits down with Eezu to talk about why writing to your MP is one of the most underrated and effective forms of climate action available to ordinary Australians, how Climate Writers makes it feel easy and even fun, and what Eezu witnessed at COP30 in Brazil that renewed her hope - and her urgency.This is the episode for anyone who wants to do more but doesn't know where to start.Find ouf more about Climate Writers here.

Most of us care deeply about climate change. But between the doom-scrolling, the overwhelm, and the sense that nothing we do will make a dent, it's easy to end up doing... nothing.Tegan Lerm has dedicated her career to solving exactly that problem. As co-founder and CEO of Project Planet, the not-for-profit that's become Australia's go-to guide for turning climate anxiety into real action – she's helped hundreds of thousands of Australians find their place in the solution.In this episode, Lottie sits down with Tegan to talk about why individual action still matters even when the system is broken, how to have climate conversations that actually land (without alienating the people you love), and how Build a Ballot, Project Planet's game-changing voting tool, is helping Australians connect their values to their vote. Because as Tegan will tell you, your vote isn't just a personal choice. It's a collective one.Find out more here.

Most Australians care about plastic pollution. But caring and acting are two very different things and the gap between them is exactly where the real problem lives.In this episode, Lottie sits down with Sophia from the Ministry of the Future to talk about why awareness alone isn't enough, and what it actually takes to make plastic action feel normal, relevant, and achievable for everyday people. Through their Plastics: Unsealed campaign, Sophia and her team are taking a refreshingly different approach: instead of leading with guilt or doom, they're connecting plastic pollution to the things Australians already care about — their health, their household budgets, and the daily choices that quietly add up.They get into the hidden costs of plastic that most of us never see, why 85% of Australians being concerned about plastic hasn't yet translated into real behaviour change, and what it looks like when the narrative around plastics actually shifts from something overwhelming to something you can genuinely do something about.This one is for every listener who cares but sometimes wonders if any of it matters. Spoiler: it does.

Kal Glanznig grew up surfing the beaches of Cronulla, and like most of us, he assumed Australia had dodged the worst of the global plastic crisis. Then he joined a clean-up in East Arnhem Land and everything changed.In a two-week clean-up in October 2022, Dhimurru Rangers in partnership with Sea Shepherd collected 10.4 tonnes of rubbish from just 4.5 kilometres of shoreline. That was 30% more waste than was collected over the same distance in 2018. For Kal, it was a shattering moment and the beginning of an 18-month journey across Australia that became The Plastic Country.In this episode, Lottie sits down with Kal to talk about what he found: plastic infiltrating remote First Nations beaches, turtles at Taronga Zoo on their deathbed with stomachs full of plastic, and a plastic pollution problem that Australia is almost uniquely positioned to ignore because we'd rather not look. They talk about the science, the politics, the personal stakes, and crucially the stories of hope and ordinary Australians already fighting back.This is a conversation about what it means to grow up in a plastic country. And what it means to do something about it anyway.Follow Kal's Journey on Instagram @kalglanznig, find out how to Take Action here and watch the full documentary here.

Looking for sustainable New Year’s resolutions that are realistic, affordable, and easy to maintain? In this episode of How to Save Our Planet, we break down practical eco-friendly habits you can start this year without overwhelm or perfection.We explore simple sustainability swaps, low-waste living tips, and money-saving habits that help reduce your environmental impact while fitting into real life. From cutting food waste and improving recycling, to choosing better everyday products and building habits that actually last, this episode is all about progress—not pressure.Whether you’re new to sustainable living or looking to reset your goals for the year ahead, this episode will help you create New Year’s resolutions that support the planet, your lifestyle, and your budget.Perfect for anyone searching for:sustainable New Year’s resolutions,setting eco-friendly goals and starting green habitslow-waste living, sustainability tips for beginners, climate-positive habits, and how to live more sustainably in the new year.

In this episode we sit down with Brad Scott, founder of Transmutation, the South Australian social enterprise turning plastic waste into high-quality, locally made products. Brad shares how a small workshop in Robe became a circular economy success story, transforming discarded plastics into items Australians use every day.We explore how plastic recycling actually works, why regional manufacturing matters, and what needs to change to reduce waste across Australia. Brad also unpacks the environmental and economic challenges of plastic pollution, the role communities play in building a circular system, and the future of sustainable product design.If you’re curious about recycling, circular economies, plastic waste solutions, or how a business can turn rubbish into real impact, this episode is the perfect place to start.Discover Transmutations story here.Find out more about AMRA here.