Join the Dots

Choices 12. Down the Drain - 2

Is “cheap” clothing really such a bargain, when we consider our health, wealth and planet?
What are the costs of our fashion addiction?
What can we do about it?​

In this episode, we continue on One-Health exploring microfibres that are shed from our clothes and the chemicals we use to wash them...

Fashion.  We love fashion – the colours, the textures. And, often, it is so incredibly cheap! How could we resist? It almost seems too good to be true, and of course, as for many such things, perhaps it is. We hear more and more about the social costs of fast fashion – the child labour, the sweatshops but in this episode we're focussing on the environmental impacts of making and disposing of clothing.

Would you believe that the average US of American throws away 36 kg of clothes each year, and the average European, 11 kg? When you consider that 7,000 litres of water (not to mention energy, dyes and other chemicals, plastics and labour) are used to produce a pair of jeans, such waste becomes even more shocking. Still, less than 1% of all apparel is recycled into new clothing - the microfibres and chemicals in the textiles limit their potential for recycling - even where the facilities exist.

In Down the Drain 2, We speak again with microbiologist and water resources expert Dr Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa about how fashion, fast or not, affects our water systems – their quality and quantity – and thus, our health, and the environment. We explore these issues, and look at what we can do to reduce the impacts of fashion production, wearing and washing.

The impacts of our fashion addiction begin when the textile is made. Growing cotton, linen and other natural fibres requires water; as does manufacturing synthetic fibres. Manufacturing fibres and cloth not only use water, but also a number of chemicals, many of which end up in water systems. The clothes that arrive in your home still have chemicals on them, which can end up on your skin. Washing clothes uses water, releases chemicals, and, we are increasingly aware, microfibres by the billions. Once again, we breathe these in at home, and many also go down the drain, impacting our water systems, and the ecosystems
downstream.

In the next episode we cover how businesses are better organizing themselves...

and we'll return to textiles and fashion in the future!

For more info, references and about our guest, visit our website

Science-in-fiction novelist: Susan M. Gaines

In this episode, we hear about Susan’s zigzagging path from literature to science and back again.

 

We chat about Susan’s novels, Accidentals and Carbon Dreams—which deal with the science and politics of species extinctions and climate change—about incorporating knowledge of sciences like ornithology, wetlands biology, and geochemistry in realist fiction, and about how she got talked into writing Echoes of Life, a non-fiction book about the history of organic geochemistry.

 

You can learn more about Susan’s work—including all the birds in Accidentals!—on her website.

 

And if you’re interested in reading more of these novels about science—which have been variously called “science in fiction,” “lab lit,” and “nerd novels”—you can search for your favourite topics in the Fiction Meets Science database of novels about science. 

Choices 11. Down the Drain - 1

When things go down the drain, have we really flushed them out of our lives?
How do we know which chemicals accumulate, which are safe or not?
Why care about fish changing sex?

In this episode, we talk about emerging contaminants, pseudo-persistence and One-Health 

You are probably aware, by now, that we should not pour fat down the kitchen sink or flush tampons, condoms, wet wipes, hair, floss down the toilet. These clog the system at home or in the sewers or wastewater treatment plants. In the UK at least, the media and people have a morbid fascination with what they call ‘fatbergs’ gathered / congealed masses of fat in the sewers.

There is also increasing awareness of microplastics – bits of plastic that is too small to see or barely  visible - --- from microbeads in toiletries to microfibres from synthetic clothing, blankets, rags, and the like. We will get to this in Down the Drain 2.

How about toiletries like make up, cleansers, shampoos and conditioners? How about medicines like painkillers, antidepressants, birth control pills and antibiotics? You may assume because they are certified to be used on and in our bodies, they must be alright for the environment too. That could be the case if the chemical ingredients were not accumulating in the environment. 

For more info, references and about our guest, visit our website

Mainstreaming the environment into economics: Kerry ten Kate

In this episode, we speak to Kerry about how she handles the challenge of bringing different groups who don't normally see eye to eye together around "common problems" and values the emerging generation of people who are able to speak the languages of different disciplines and work with different tools and data. 

You'll notice she doesn't adhere to a traditional job or even a single research area. Carving out where we can be most useful is the future. 

Throughout her journey starting from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, you will hear the joy Kerry finds in this challenge and grace in apportioning the achievement to all involved.

Kerry was director of the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP) and is currently a freelance advisor, a Council Member of the RSPB and a Non-Executive Board Member of Natural England

Choices 10. Electric Vehicles

In this episode, we talk comparing costs and benefits; and life cycle analysis and thinking about the full cost 

Hybrid and electric vehicles have been coming to the market for quiet a few years now. In November 2020, the UK government announced a two-step policy:

Step 1 will see the phase-out date for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans brought forward to 2030.

Step 2 will see all new cars and vans be fully zero emission at the tailpipe from 2035.

We talked to someone who is already making the switch. He happens to be an environmental economist ("first a birdwatcher" he would say). 

Why electric vehicles? Because they don't emit the same / as much air pollutants during use - see our episode on air pollution and its effects. In addition, the electricity they use could be largely, and even wholly, renewable, also avoiding emissions of greenhouse gases. We cover the impacts of producing electric vehicles has like lithium mining but we also remind about the impacts of oil extraction. There is no zero impact way of moving about...well not in a motorised vehicle anyway. That's why it's crucial we follow a transport hierarchy: 

• Travel on public transport - needs more public investment (more, better connected, safe, less environmental impacts)
• When you can’t use public transport – opt for lower impact: walk, cycle, and when you have to drive a car, choose an electric one…that’ll be hard for the gas guzzling SUV drivers but we still have hope…and the technology and the regulation!

Our guest in this episode is Ian Dickie,  is a Director of eftec and a Director of the Aldersgate Group. 

Update on Covid19 and masks - February 2021

Given the new virus variants, we wanted to check out the new advice about masks. Listen to the quick update (we sneak in 'the precautionary principle' too). You can download the references which we used for the update by visiting the episode webpage - click here

Environmental Policy Adviser: Jill Duggan

In this episode, we hear the varied career history of Jill from fine art to economics; from John Lewis shop floor to her current position as the CEO of Environmental Defense Fund-Europe. Her curiosity and determination not to settle for “the way it is, the way it is done” enabled her to link it all together and how her ‘butterfly mind’ is also what makes her sting like a bee. 

Choices 9. The Air We Breathe

Who pollutes the air in our cities?
What can we do about it?
How about the air in our homes? - that's for another episode​

In this episode, we talk about impact pathway to understand the impacts of air pollution and transport policy - transport generally being the main source of air pollution in cities

In December 2020, a court in London decided that air pollution was the cause of death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah (RIP). This was a first in law recognising causality. Science has been aware of the health impacts of air pollution for decades. In London, at least since the 'pea soupers' of 1953 (see below). And air pollution is one of those areas where science has been incorporated into policy - in the UK at least, we now have cleaner ways to generate electricity and heat / cool our homes (still room for improvement of course!) but there is a lot more to do about transport - where emissions are nearest to the people who are affected. 

But what can a household do about air pollution? You can reduce your travel by car, switch to cleaner vehicles (our next episode is on this!), when ordering online choose the slower delivery or click and collect nearby, so your next day delivery doesn't add to the increasing delivery van traffic, and vote for the politicians who take air pollution, transport and everything else that is for your benefit, seriously. 

There is a lot to talk about air pollution - hence a long episode but also more info on our website. 

Our guest in this episode is Oliver Lord, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Environmental Defense Fund Europe, 

Choices 8. One thing in 2021!

The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that we have too many of them and they are too ambitious. Years of making and breaking them leads to disappointment and they either become a joke or are dropped altogether.

So this year, we decided to pick 1 thing and see it through. We’ll let you know how you get on.

If you’d like to share your 1 things, you can find us on Instagram, twitter and facebook – search for join the dots podcast or write to us on our contact page.

Ece aims to reduce the environmental impacts of her cats. 

Sabine will see how she can do less business travel and travel with less impact when she can. 

Jill will switch to rooibos tea. 

We talked about chocolate - apparently it is theobromine that we are hooked on. No one made a resolution about chocolate....

Choices 7. Season's Greetings 2020 - Together Apart!

What is the best gift you can give to your loved ones? How can we celebrate with fewer environmental impacts and more love?

In this episode we focus on life cycle analysis, beliefs and a bit of reminiscence

We recorded this episode on 6th December. The UK government had given permission for ‘Christmas bubbles’… as you'll hear our resident scientist, Sabine, was not convinced….she didn’t think permission meant it was a good idea.  

Now that “Christmas is cancelled in the UK”, it is more important than ever to think about what it is we are meant to celebrate this of year. 

December festivities celebrate cleansing, re-start, death and re-birth – closely linked to the change of season and nature.  

Gifting

We talk about the importance of time and love over giftware (like the tat with your name on it); about regifting something you loved and how about the gift of a donation?  The following are some opportunities to donate in the UK:

Choose love that sends presents to refugees – especially good for that person you know who has everything  

Trussell Trust enables you to donate centrally or find your local food bank – especially if you don’t want to eat when your neighbours go without 

Woodland Trust – to plant a tree to commemorate 2020? The end of. 

Good Law project – uses law  to uphold democracy, protect the environment and ensure no one is left behind – especially if you’re not happy about recent government procurement

For more information please visit our website.

*** The views we and our guests express in this podcast are our own ***