Lockdown life was and is tough. People do what they can to get through it and one such thing for me, was watching TV in the evening. Escapism was easy and I am privileged to have access to free TV and films. 

Viewing my favourite shows however, I began to notice something that I hadn’t before. The vast majority of our TV and film productions are reflections of our own lives and reality. We see ourselves in the characters and how they live their lives and that’s often why we enjoy a show so much. The simple, daily tasks they carry out are much the same as ourselves.

Daily actions such as purchasing a takeaway coffee - how often do you see the character bring a keep cup? The storyline doesn’t have to revolve around this but for me, it should be normalised behaviour at the very least. Do they have a keep water bottle when working out on screen? Or is it a plastic bottle? Do they segregate waste as they discuss the latest local love affair in the kitchen?

Love Island for example, it may...

I have been working as an educator for environmental sustainability for a few years now, and never have I been more disillusioned than in recent times.

I like many others, had confidence and trust in the many “labels” seen on products we consume. ‘Eco-labels’ - Free from Tuna, Sustainable Palm Oil, Carbon Neutral Certs…the list goes on. But as you dig a little deeper, you start to realise that the vast majority of these labels are smoke and mirrors. 

They are in many cases entities that are looking to make a profit above all else. Regardless of the promises and standards, their labels claim. That is not to say that false labelling applies to every business. However the more I research this issue the more of them I uncover. There is a real danger that this blatant greenwashing will create mistrust amongst society and consumers.

Every fortnight, I ask my team to complete research on something different related to environmental sustainability, so we can share our learnings and upskill ...