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Saving Planet A
A podcast for families on sustainability, climate change, the circular economy and jobs that help save the planet.
Latest episode
1. Rewilding the UK, turning back on consumerism, wealth and inequality - Guest: Julia Davies
35:55My guest is the brilliant lawyer turned activist Julia Davies, once described by The Guardian as ''the millionaire rewilding the countryside, one farm at a time''.Julia is a true impact investor, lawyer, philanthropist, and environmental campaigner. She's dedicated to catalyzing action to tackle the climate and environmental crises and interconnected social issues. She does this under the banner of environmental fund We have the POWER, with power standing for ''Protect Our World, Educate, Restore''. Julia's philanthropy is focused on taking urgent action to tackle the multiple crises we face. It includes funding climate litigation and using philanthropic loans to catalyze acquisition of land for nature restoration by charities such as the Wildlife Trusts. Julia has a particular mission to turn down the tap on new and set up the reuse collective for that reason. It's a collective of young and innovative businesses focused on making single use waste and overproduction of new goods a thing of the past and helping the shift to a circular economy. She's also a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, a network of British millionaires campaigning for tax on high level wealth.Tune in to be inspired!Useful Links:An interview with Julia in the GuardianGuardian Opinion by JuliaDoughnut Economics Action LabThe Spirit Level by Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate E. PickettRevolution-ZERO reusable medical textiles Open PlanetByway TravelAgainConnect with Julia:We Have The POWERPatriotic MIllionaires UKLinkedinConnect with Gizem:Instagram @saving_planet_a_podcastTwitter @Saving_PlanetALinkedIn
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7. Freediving, reclaiming the ocean, plastic pollution and wise grandmothers - Guest: Zandile Ndhlovu
22:19Who is the ocean for? If we find home in the ocean, will we be able to better protect it?Meet the real-life Ariel, ‘’The Black Mermaid’’ Zandile Ndhlovu, who is changing the perception of the ocean in her Cape Town community since 2016, when she fell in love with freediving.Zandi is South Africa's first black female free diving instructor and the founder of the Black Mermaid Foundation, an organization seeking to create diverse representation in the ocean spaces. Her work centers around enabling access to ocean spaces to local ocean facing communities.She hopes to diversify ocean spaces recreationally, professionally and in sport while creating a new generation of ocean guardians. As a diversity and inclusion consultant, she has contributed to global topics that include ocean conservation, climate change, coastal justice and capacitating the youth to participate in the Blue Economy.In partnership with WaterBear, she’s released a documentary which seeks to encourage people of colour to consume more content that pushes them to get involved with reclaiming the ocean and, ultimately, protecting it.Tune in as we talk reclaiming the ocean, plastic pollution, wise grandmothers and more.Useful Links:An interview with Zandi in the GuardianCondé Nast Traveler InterviewThe original documentary ''The Black Mermaid''Connect with Zandi:Instagram @zandithemermaid @theblackmermaid_foundationTwitter @Blackmermaid_FThe Black Mermaid Foundation websiteConnect with Gizem:Instagram @saving_planet_a_podcastTwitter @Saving_PlanetALinkedIn
6. Secondhand clothing, luxury fashion and being on the right side of history - Guest: Francesca Sieler
23:59The secondhand clothing market has grown in recent years – and is expected to grow 16 times faster than the retail industry by 2026, reaching a value of $84bn by 2030.I chat to Francesca Sieler, global marketing director at vintage retailer Beyond Retro and used clothing broker Bank and Vogue. We talk secondhand clothing, luxury fashion, being on the right side of history and more.Francesca has over 13 years' experience in marketing and branding. Before Bank and Vogue she worked with high street and luxury brands, including All Saints and Lulu Guinness and sustainable clothing brand Thought clothing.
5. Circular fashion, the value of the stuff we own and carving your own path as a woman - Guest: Ana Carneiro
35:24Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish truck load of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill.How can we build a circular fashion industry that prioritises balance instead of growth?What is the true environmental cost of the clothes we easily discard?I chat to Ana Carneiro, a sustainability manager who campaigns for a circular economy. We talk renting clothes, the value of the stuff we own, carving your own path as a woman and more.Ana Carneiro, a sustainability manager who campaigns for a circular materials economy, was born in the north of Portugal in an area with a rich manufacturing industry. She was aware of the environmental toll and social inequality endemic to the making of goods from a young age.Ana graduated in product design from Central Saint Martins in 2015. She was disillusioned with how little was being done to solve our climate crisis, and started pursuing a career at the intersection of design and circularity. To further her knowledge within the field of sustainability, she took the Cradle to Cradle design course from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, achieving a Silver Certification on closed loop design. Today, she works as sustainability manager in the fashion sector, collaborating closely with design and production teams as well as manufacturers to change the industry for the better. Connect with Ana:Instagram @beforchangeConnect with Gizem:Instagram @saving_planet_a_podcastTwitter @Saving_PlanetALinkedIn
4. Sustainable architecture, rocketing energy prices and cycling across America - Guest: Heinz Richardson
33:52''Sustainability is simply really considering all our actions in terms of the impact on the planet. If we carry on at the rate that we're doing, we need three planets to sustain our current lifestyles. The equivalent of three planets' resources, just to do what we're doing at the moment.''I chat to Heinz Richardson, award-winning architect, Royal Society of Arts fellow, teacher, mentor and industry commentator. Join us as we talk about rocketing energy prices, sustainable, low-energy homes and the time Heinz cycled across America from west to east coasts.A graduate of the Bartlett School of Architecture University College London, Heinz is an award-winning architect, teacher, mentor, and industry commentator. He's a former director of Jestico+Whiles Architects, an international practice that has won many awards.Heinz is a pioneer of employee ownership as a model for business. He has particular expertise in sustainable design, housing and education projects. He believes passionately in the considered use of the Earth's natural resources to create architecture which is enduring and socially responsible. In 2016, he designed and built his own carbon-neutral home in the Chilterns area, House 19, which was long-listed for the RIBA House of the Year award and has been widely published.
3. Poetry in science, filmmaking and Sir David Attenborough - Guest: Eddie Frost
33:31’There’s a lovely adage that ignorance is bliss. But in an increasingly complex world, knowledge may be your only means for survival and ignorance no longer becomes blissful.’’Chris Hadfield (former commander of the international space station) in short documentary film Ice Alive, directed by Eddie Frost (2018)I chat to director and series producer Eddie Frost about finding poetry in glaciology, shooting a documentary in the Arctic and how rock climbing as a kid and Sir David Attenborough helped shape his understanding of the natural world.Eddie Frost is chairperson at Proudfoot Limited, a production company based in Clerkenwell, London. Ever since his childhood, he has been passionate about the natural environment and conservation. He has directed documentaries for British and international broadcasters well as for major brands and NGOs. He now runs a small but impactful team producing content gathered from all around the world. His work aims to shine a spotlight on those fighting for positive change, and to explain complicated solutions to our global problems for as wide an audience as possible. In 2018, Eddie directed a short film called Ice Alive, where glaciologist and data scientist Joseph Cook takes a closer look at the microbial life that can be found all over the planet's glaciers and ice sheets. This rich ecosystem affects the melt rates of polar ice and snow, and could be accelerating climate change.
2. Circularity, a new furniture system and Gen Z - Guest: Marc Richard
31:53What is the problem with our existing way of selecting, buying and using furniture? Is there an alternative way?Instead of the linear Take, Make, Waste economy, how can we create a circular Make, Use, Reuse economy?How is Love Island encouraging Gen Z to fall in love with circularity?I chat to Marc Richard, managing director of furniture brand Roger Lewis, co-founder of futurist and closed loop furniture brand Capxule and straight-talking Northerner.Mark is the managing director and owner of furniture brand Roger Lewis. Roger Lewis is a British manufacturer of furniture for corporate and hospitality projects, which recently moved to a new factory in Frome, Somerset. Mark has also co-founded Capxule, a closed loop concept furniture brand. The journey to understand what a furniture brand of the future could look like has ignited a passion in him to help drive structural change within the furniture industry. He grew up in Leeds where a passion for building relationships out of candid communication and integrity was baked into him. Mark lives with his wife and two sons in Bath.