Stuff

12/11/19 - RADIO: All in the Mind: The need for possessions (28 mins) Why do we have a strong desire to own things? Psychologist Professor Bruce Hood, author of a new book Possessed, and artist Hannah Scott, whose installation All this Stuff is Killing Me addresses our desire to acquire, discuss why we want more than we need and the extent to which we are controlled by our possessions.

We need to talk about consumption

How are your clothes made? What's actually going on in the fashion industry? These are 5 must see docs that give you a peek into garment production and some of the many ethical and environmental issues that are being ignored.

VIDEO: The True Cost - This is a story about clothing. It’s about the clothes we wear, the people who make those clothes and the impact it’s having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost is a groundbreaking new documentary film that pulls back the curtain on an untold story and asks us each to consider, who pays the price for our clothing?

25/02/19 - Your brand new returns end up in landfill Each year, 5 billion pounds of waste is generated through returns. The solution? Welcome to the world of reverse-logistics. You’ve ordered a new pair of shoes online. They arrive; you rush to the front door and cradle the box as you lift off the lid. You un-tie the laces, guide them toward your feet and… bummer, they don’t fit. So, back in the box they go and an hour later you drop them at the local collections store. It’s disappointing, but hey, the shoes have never been worn and they’ll be making their way to a new home soon. Right? Wrong. So what does happen to our apparel when we order online and then return the items? The reality is that much of it simply ends up in landfill. That is, once its been shipped all over the country, or even the globe, a few times.

08/10/18 - BBC TV: Fashion's Dirty Secrets Stacey Dooley travels the world to uncover the hidden costs of the addiction to fast fashion. She sees for herself how toxic chemicals released by the garment industry pollute waterways that millions of people rely on. She witnesses the former Aral Sea, once one of the largest bodies of fresh water, now reduced almost entirely to dust. These are shocking discoveries likely to make you think twice about whether you really need those new clothes.

28/11/17 - Stella McCartney calls for overhaul of 'incredibly wasteful' fashion industry UK fashion designer backs Ellen MacArthur foundation campaign to stop the global fashion industry consuming a quarter of the world’s annual carbon budget by 2050. Clothes must be designed differently, worn for longer and recycled as much as possible to stop the global fashion industry consuming a quarter of the world’s annual carbon budget by 2050.

23/11/17 - Plastic - Friend or Foe "What we need are circular solutions embracing how we select polymers, how we design plastic packaging, how we label it so people know it can be recycled, how we collect it for recycling, how we sort and reprocess it, and how we put them back into the economy, ensuring that recycling plastic is economically viable. This isn’t just about keeping plastics out of our oceans and off our streets, it’s about using our precious resources sustainably. It takes 75 per cent less energy to make a plastic bottle from recycled plastic compared with using virgin materials." Peter Maddox of WRAP

01/11/17 - Whether you run a company or you work in an company or organisation, here are some ideas to make your workplace more environmentally friendly

16/07/17 - This is what a New Plastics Economy could look like  "The big challenge now is to reconcile plastics' undeniable functionality with a system that can work long-term, avoiding loss of material value and other negative impacts. To fix today's broken model, we have to fundamentally change the way we make and use plastics so that they don't become waste in the first place." Ellen MacArthur

13/06/17 - H&M, Zara and Marks & Spencer linked to polluting viscose factories in Asia Major fashion brands are sourcing viscose from factories in China, Indonesia and India which are polluting and damaging health, according to new report. Viscose, touted as a sustainable alternative to cotton or polyester, is often used as a cheaper and more durable alternative to silk, commonly in skirts and dresses. Experts say it is just as likely to be found in a £10 t-shirt as a £2,000 suit.

01/03/17 - Most of us wear synthetic fabrics like polyester every day. Our dress shirts, yoga pants, fleeces, and even underwear are all increasingly made of synthetic materials -- plastic, in fact. But these synthetic fabrics, from which 60% of all clothing on earth is made, have a big hidden problem: when they’re washed, they release tiny plastic bits -- called microfibers -- that flow down our drains, through water treatment plants, and out into our rivers, lakes and oceans by the billions. Watch The Story of Microfibers, and then join us to demand accountability and transparency from clothing manufacturers!

03/10/16 - RADIO: A Casual Clearance (28 mins) After her mother dies, Clare Jenkins explores the practical and emotional difficulties of clearing out her parents' home. Guardian writer Deborah Orr and her brother had faced the same dilemma a couple of years earlier, when their mother died at the family home in Motherwell, near Glasgow. And Times columnist Robert Crampton has been going through the process this year, clearing out his parents' house in Hull. What is important to keep at such a time? Is it the letters, diaries and photos, or the expensive, but disliked, heirlooms? Which objects seem pathetic, when removed of meaning? What emotions surface during the clearing-out process? Treasured possessions often have stories to tell, secrets to give up. Children can often be surprised by evidence of their parents' younger selves, including their younger voices. They consider the symbolism of inconsequential treasures such as old tea sets, job references and children's hair clippings - mundane objects that attain the status of holy relics because of the meaning a parent attached to them.

02/10/16 - Stella McCartney lays waste to disposable fashion in Paris McCartney has broken down barriers between high fashion and ethical fashion by straddling two worlds. Her mission statement is that clothes made from sustainable viscose and cruelty-free alternatives to leather should not be targeted at a niche market, but shown to hold their own on the Paris fashion week catwalk.

20/06/16 - How your clothes are poisoning our oceans and food supply New studies show that alarming numbers of tiny fibers from synthetic fabrics are making their way from your washing machine into aquatic animals.

18/01/15 - SESI in Oxford for refilling your own containers with ethical food and cleaning products. SESI on Twitter

05/01/15 - RADIO: Woman's Hour - Can Choosing to Live with Less Make You Happier? (40 mins) How would you rate your satisfaction with life and your sense of well being? Could living with less make you happier? Dr Teresa Belton joins Jane Garvey to talk about the ideas in her book, Happier People, Healthier Planet.

01/10/14 - It's time to shout stop on this war on the living world Our consumption is trashing a natural world infinitely more fascinating and intricate than the stuff we produce. Is this not the point at which we challenge the inevitability of endless growth on a finite planet? If not now, when?

14/10/13 - Environmentally friendly busines is profitable business International governments' inaction and lack of leadership is clearly worrying but, at the same time, the proactive approaches of a few leading-edge companies are encouraging. Toyota, Sainsbury's, WalMart, DuPont, Tesco, Unilever, Marks & Spencer and General Electric have made tackling environmental wastes a key economic driver. As Jonathon Porritt, director of Forum for the Future, observed, a "governance shift" is occurring in the field of sustainability, with governments stepping back and businesses stepping forward to lead the change.

19/04/13 - Government must ‘get serious’ on consumption

16/04/13 - Carbon Omissions  held a public event in London to talk about consumption, climate change, inequality and the lives we'd like to lead...

VIDEO: New animation by Leo Murray with voice-over by George Monbiot:

AUDIO: The Carbon Omissions launch, speakers included: Caroline Lucas, Ruth Potts, Alice Bows, Kate Soper, Tom Crompton and John Barrett. Guy Shrubsole chaired.

"The UK's consumption cannot rise indefinitely if it is to make an effective contribution to a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions" UK Energy and Climate Change Select Committee report