Now, That's What I Call Green‪.‬ Brianne West

If you’re like me, you might have constantly conflicting feelings about travel

On one hand I can’t help but feel a little bit guilty about all the associated impacts.

But of course on the other hand there are the benefits of that travel for both the traveler and they places they go to.

This usually results in a very confused conscience. So to help clear things up a little, maybe, today I am going to be talking about how to travel sustainably, or as I prefer to call it, travel fairly.

To help me unpack all of this I am joined by Jessica Lockhart from Lonely Planet. Jessica is one of their authors and her specific focus is on how to make travel fairer and kinder to ensure it gives back to those it should.

She is an award winning journalist, has contributed to loads of books on travel and has a specific interest in science and conservation.

In this episode Jessica shares:

- What she would describe sustainable travel as

- What the Tiaki promise is

- Her thoughts on carbon offsetting and travel

- Why we shouldn’t stop travelling

- What community based tourism is and why it is important

- Examples of community tourism you can partake in

- Ways we can make sure we are actually helping out communities when we visit

- What people should not do when travelling

Key Quotes

“Not everyone wants to go on holiday and partake in cultural tour after cultural tour…but it is doing that research and making sure that as much of the money that you’re spending is staying in the local community.”

“I will say about carbon offsetting, there are good projects and there are bad projects, you need to do your research.”

More about Jess and Lonely Planet

If you want to look up the article Jessica wrote about sustainable/ethical travel you can find it here: https://www.vergemagazine.com/articles/beyond-the-guidebook/2677-essential-guide-to-responsible-ethical-travel.html

For more on Jess you can find her online here: https://www.instagram.com/wynnelockhart/?hl=en

The lonely planet site for their sustainable handbook is here: https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/en-au/products/the-sustainable-travel-handbook

You can get involved with the podcast online:

Find our full podcast plus our sister podcast via the website here: www.nowthatswhaticall.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallpodcasts/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

Caring about the environment can be quite isolating.

The news is rarely cheerful about the state of the planet (despite plenty of good things going on) and that is leading to skyrocketing rates of eco-anxiety even in children as young as five.

There is a general sense of apathy is settling in amongst people who are beginning to feel it is too late. It certainly isn't. And I did an episode about that a few weeks ago, so I won't rehash that story.

But I want to tackle the isolating part. Because you are not alone.

Millions of people around the world are working every day to protect and rehabilitate our planet. Just listen. I put the call our on social media last week for people to send me in messages with what they do to make the world a better place.

Some of you sent in voice messages, some of you sent in written ones, and I am going to share them here, so you don't feel so alone.

Happy Earth Day everyone! It can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people and this year I have decided to make it about sharks. Obviously.

I am obviously somewhat obsessed with sharks, but people are so scared of them, sometimes to the point of wanting to cull them all. But sharks are essential for our planet and I am going to explain why and how you can help them in this episode.

To help I am joined by my guest co-host Kate, one of the team from Business, but Better, who is also a sustainable events planner.

In this episode we share:

- Why removing sharks would be bad for everyone and everything

- The ways that sharks help biodiversity and the ecosystem

- The scary number of sharks we kill every year

- Some fun shark trivia facts

- My experience diving with sharks

- How we can protect sharks better

- How to check if seafood is sustainably sourced

- My sharky request to film makers

Key Quotes

“If sharks vanished from the oceans we'd all fucking die, end of story.”

“I know a few people who think we should get rid of sharks altogether. Not only is that a tragedy it would be a death sentence for our oceans.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

Find our full podcast plus our sister podcast via the website here: https://www.briannewest.com/podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallpodcasts/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

When it comes to being sustainable there is often a lot of bullshit we have to wade through in order to find the right way to live AND help the environment.

There is honestly a shitload of myths around sustainability and in this episode we are going to be shining a light on the top 10 so that you’ll know what to choose and what to avoid.

Some of these were suggested by you on Instagram, so thanks for the assist!

In this episode I share:

- Why we falsely believe sustainability is more expensive

- Something we can all do to live sustainably and affordably

- Why recycling isn’t the solution to the plastic pollution crisis

- How big polluters are behind the recycling myth

- What we should do instead of focusing on recycling

- Why the myth that eco friendly products do not perform is wrong

- The shocking truth about green cleaning products effectiveness vs non green ones

- The myth about whether or not EV's are better

- The big difference in energy wasted by petrol cars vs electric cars

- The direct health benefits of EV's

- Why it is a myth to believe that some single use products are sustainable

- Is it too late to make a difference?

- The proof that we can make a difference when we unite

- The various other ways we can be sustainable that isn’t about the environment

- Why Tech will not solve our environmental problems

- The tech inventions that people are pining their hopes on that are not actually helpful

- Why natural is not sustainable

- Examples of how natural products can be destructive for the environment

Key Quotes

“Sometimes synthetic is just better. Actually in fact that's almost always.”

“As we know natural doesn’t mean safe. Because arsenic and radium are perfectly natural and you do not want to smear either of them on your skin.”

“When we talk about sustainability its not talking about leaving people behind. It’s about creating a world that is better for us.”

“Living sustainably isn’t more expensive in total. But the upfront costs can be and those are out of reach of many of us.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

Find our full podcast plus our sister podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhatIcall.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallpodcasts/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

It’s Easter time and we are all rushing to the stores to buy pointless, over packaged Easter eggs.

While we love the taste of chocolate it’s a sad fact that ever sale further supports forced labour and environmental destruction.

I have spoken about this before and received a cease and desist letter from a chocolate company, even though everything I said was all factually correct.

This podcast focuses on sustainability and for this episode we are looking at an aspect of sustainability we don’t always discuss. People.

We’ll be discussing why a lot of chocolate companies suck and who you should buy from instead.

In this episode I share:

- The surprising place that 70% of the worlds cocoa beans come from

- How much profit the growers and farmers of cocoa take home compared to the companies that on sell it

- The average yearly income of fair trade farmers and how it has increased

- How 80% of deforestation has occurred because of cocoa in some regions

- How fair trade is involved in fixing the social issues from chocolate purchases

- The flaws in the fair trade process

- What Direct trade is and it can also help

- The pros and cons of direct trade

- The social and environmental implications of palm oil

- How a customer response to Cadbury has caused the company to make changes in the past

- Why switching from using palm oil is not the option to fix things

- What you can do as a consumer this easter

- Tricks to look out for when it comes to certification

- Why you should skip easter eggs entirely

- The unbelievable amount easter eggs have increased by in price

- My recommendations for ethical chocolate for easter this year

- Who I don’t recommend you buy from this easter

Key Quotes

“Chocolate, it's creamy it's sweet it melts in your mouth. But for every delicious bite you take, chocolate drives a bitter twisted tale of forced labour and environmental destruction.”

“It's impossible to buy and do the right things all of the time.”

“Sustainability is about progress not perfection. And it’s not about feeling guilty, because you can't be perfect, we are in a cost of living crisis.”

More Information

Chocolate I recommend:

Tony's Chocolonely

Mind Your Temper

Bennetto

Solomons Gold Chocolate

Trade Aid

Honest Chocolat

She Universe

You can get involved with the podcast online

Find our full podcast plus our sister podcast via the website here:

www.nowthatswhatIcall.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallpodcasts/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/

We are back! Thank you for your patience while we sorted out a bit of our workload, but your reward is that this week we are doing one of my favourite episodes.

It has taken a lot of research and a lot of reading that made me really quite f*cking angry about the way we do things.

Today we are talking about what is actually good for the environment, Plastic glass or aluminium and one of them is the absolute worst and it’s not what you think. And the answer to what we can do may also not be what you think.

I also used a tool called Life Cycle Analysis to put this episode together and you’ll find links to it further down in the show notes.

In this episode I share:


Which form of bottle is actually the worse
What the best option is if you only consider disposal
The three reasons we cannot recycle our way out of the crisis
The reason none of the current options are a good choice
Why I started Incrediballs

Key Quotes

“Reduce reuse and then recycle. Reduce is the key, reuse is more important and recycling is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff."

“None of them are the good choice. There is the better choice and the worst choice but none of them are good because they are all inherently single use.”

“We cannot recycle our way out of this crisis.”

More Information

Sources:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348005008_Life_Cycle_Assessment_of_Beverage_Packaging

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-020-01804-x

https://www.aluminum.org/Recycling

https://international-aluminium.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/wa_factsheet_final.pdf

https://www.cityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1368618/NOWaste-Aluminum-Factsheet_Update-March-2022_ACCESS.pdf

https://environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/areas-of-work/waste/container-return-scheme/

https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution.

You can get involved with the podcast online

Find our full podcast plus our sister podcast via the website here: https://www.nowthatswhatIcall.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatswhaticallpodcasts/

You can follow me on socials on the below accounts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannemwest/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briannemwest

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannemwest/

For our latest big project, find out more about Incrediballs here: https://incrediballs.com/