How Greta Thunberg’s Atlantic crossing is accidentally tackling period stigma

August 20, 2019August 6, 2025 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 2 Comments

https://youtu.be/WT8NemS6FmQ Greta Thunberg is currently crossing the Atlantic in the sailing yacht Malizia II in order to attend the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, which in addition to being an exciting adventure for her of which I am extremely envious is a CO2 neutral alternative to a flight that would have released two … Continue reading How Greta Thunberg’s Atlantic crossing is accidentally tackling period stigma

“Bamboo” mugs – not as green as we thought?

August 7, 2019July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 3 Comments

There has been a fair amount of alarm in sustainable living circles recently over an an investigation conducted into bamboo mugs by the respected German consumer testing organisation Stiftung Warentest, published here(pdf) and kindly translated into English by my father here. The report found that they were often misleadingly labelled as biodegradable when they are … Continue reading “Bamboo” mugs – not as green as we thought?

Packaging, piñatas, and punching up not down

June 24, 2019September 20, 2022 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 1 Comment

Why you shouldn't leave your packaging at the supermarket checkout, and what you should do instead The growing awareness of the impact of plastic pollution is being matched by an increasing awareness that plastic recycling is not the panacea it has been sold to us as - plastic can only be recycled into a lower … Continue reading Packaging, piñatas, and punching up not down

Grasping at straws

May 22, 2019July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 1 Comment

Today the Government announced that from April 2020, plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds with plastic stems will be banned from sale to the general public in England. Much of the commentary I've seen on social media seems to see this as a victory for sustainability advocates, but while I've never understood the point of … Continue reading Grasping at straws

Pathetic micro-consumerist bollocks

May 11, 2019July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 2 Comments

Is it worth trying to reduce your personal impact when we need to tackle climate breakdown on a systemic level, or is it just, as George Monbiot calls it, pathetic micro-consumerist bollocks? Edit 20th May: replaced the embedded Facebook video with a Youtube one as it didn't seem to be visible to some people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-XjQhOyNQ … Continue reading Pathetic micro-consumerist bollocks

Failure Friday: coffee filter funnel

February 8, 2019July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ Leave a comment

With the recent growth in interest in sustainable living I'm seeing a lot of posts of beautiful people with Instagram-worthy lifestyles sharing their clearly enviable life decisions, and I just wanted to push back a bit against the rather intimidating impression this gives that no one ever gets it wrong. I've certainly made some mistaken … Continue reading Failure Friday: coffee filter funnel

Closing the Loop for grocery packaging?

January 25, 2019July 15, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 3 Comments

We are becoming increasingly aware of the problems caused by plastic waste, particularly single use packaging, and of the inadequacies of our methods of dealing with it as it becomes clear that recycling is not the panacea it was sold as. It's therefore encouraging to see a new scheme being launched to tackle the problem … Continue reading Closing the Loop for grocery packaging?

Ways to reduce single use

November 29, 2018July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 3 Comments

With the caveat that environmentalism is increasingly framed as a matter of individual consumer choices rather than collective action, which is bad news both for the movement's likely effectiveness and the way we think of ourselves and one another in society, I do nevertheless believe that personal environmental choices are worth making. This is not … Continue reading Ways to reduce single use

Have yourself an environmentally conscious Christmas now

December 9, 2017July 9, 2020 ~ Jules Bristow ~ 2 Comments

Whatever the spiritual significance of the Christmas period to you, the holidays are a time when our consumption as a culture goes into overdrive. With many planetary boundaries already exceeded and an increasing awareness of how resources are being depleted to manufacture products in exploitative labour conditions, and the subsequent pollution caused when these products … Continue reading Have yourself an environmentally conscious Christmas now