Going Green Podcast, Video blog and Daily News

  What Can We Do to Prevent Fatbergs Building Up in Our Sewers? Fatbergs sound faintly comic, but the consequences are anything but. These vast, concrete-hard masses of fat, oil, grease and so-called “flushable” wipes are one of the biggest causes of sewer blockages in the UK — leading to flooding, pollution of rivers, expensive clean-ups, and higher water bills for everyone. The good news? Fatbergs are almost entirely preventable — and prevention starts at home. 🧈 1. Never Pour Fat, Oil or Grease Down the Sink When hot, fat looks harmless. Once it cools in the sewer, it solidifies and sticks to pipe walls — acting like glue for everything else. What to do instead: Let fats cool and solidify, then scrape into the food bin Wipe greasy pans with kitchen roll before washing Collect liquid oil in a jar and dispose of it in household waste or recycling schemes 🟢 If it’s solid at room temperature, it doesn’t belong in the drain. 🚽 2. Follow the “3 Ps” Rule Only P...

  Are Dishwasher Tablets Harming You – and the Environment? And what are the greener alternatives? Dishwasher tablets are wonderfully convenient: pop one in, shut the door, and forget about it. But behind the lemon-fresh scent and shiny plates is a cocktail of chemicals – and some uncomfortable environmental questions. So, are they actually harming you or the planet? And if so, what can you do instead? What’s inside a typical dishwasher tablet? Most mainstream dishwasher tablets contain a mix of: 🔹 Alkaline cleaners Sodium carbonate (washing soda) Sodium silicate These break down grease effectively, but are highly alkaline and energy-intensive to produce. 🔹 Enzymes Protease (for proteins) Amylase (for starches) Generally low-risk for consumers, but can be problematic for aquatic ecosystems once discharged. 🔹 Bleaching agents Sodium percarbonate (releases hydrogen peroxide) Improves whitening, but contributes to chemical load in wastewater. 🔹 Su...

  Could This Be Britain’s Greenest Christmas Day Ever?   There are many ways to measure Christmas success. Some people count roast potatoes. Others count arguments. This year, Britain may be counting grams of carbon dioxide . Britain’s electricity system could deliver its greenest Christmas Day on record , according to the National Energy System Operator (NESO). If the weather stays mild and windy through the rest of December, NESO says carbon intensity on 25 December could be the lowest ever recorded for Christmas Day . What does that actually mean? Carbon intensity measures how much CO₂ is produced to generate each unit of electricity . Lower numbers mean: More electricity from wind, solar, and nuclear Less from gas and coal A cleaner grid overall Christmas Day is a perfect storm (the good kind): Factories and offices are shut Electricity demand is lower Wind farms keep spinning whether anyone’s carving a turkey or not In other words, the ligh...

  The Greenest Thing You Can Do Today? Stop Buying Stuff. There’s a particular kind of pressure that appears in the final hours before Christmas. The shops are still open. The ads are louder. The emails insist you’ve forgotten something . Somewhere, someone is telling you that love can still be expressed with a last-minute purchase. It’s exhausting. And environmentally speaking, it’s spectacularly unhelpful. The lie of the “one last thing” Last-minute shopping rarely produces meaningful gifts. It produces: Panic purchases Poor quality items Fast fashion Gadgets that need batteries Things that will be returned, regifted, or quietly binned by February Each of those steps adds transport, packaging, energy use, and waste — all for something nobody actually wanted. Consumer pressure thrives on urgency Sustainability fails when we’re rushed. Urgency bypasses thought, values, and restraint. The entire system depends on the idea that doing nothing is not an optio...

  A Greener Approach to the Traditional Christmas Dinner Christmas dinner is one of those moments where tradition, nostalgia and comfort food collide. Roast potatoes must crunch just right, gravy must be plentiful, and someone will inevitably ask whether Brussels sprouts are meant to squeak. But Christmas is also one of the most resource-intensive meals of the year. From imported ingredients and energy-hungry ovens to food waste and disposable decorations, the environmental footprint of the festive feast is larger than many people realise. The good news? You can make meaningful improvements without turning Christmas into a joyless exercise in self-denial. Here’s how to keep the spirit of Christmas while lightening its environmental load. Rethinking the Centrepiece For many households, turkey is non-negotiable. If that’s the case, choosing free-range, UK-reared turkey with strong welfare standards already reduces impact compared with cheaper, intensively farmed alternatives....

  2025’s AI Boom Came With a Hidden Environmental Cost Artificial intelligence had a spectacular year in 2025. Faster models. Smarter assistants. AI everywhere — from education and healthcare to marketing and music. But while the tech headlines celebrated innovation, a quieter story emerged in the background: AI’s rapidly growing carbon and water footprint . Recent research has shown that the explosive growth of large AI models in 2025 drove significant increases in CO₂ emissions and water use , largely due to the energy demands of data centres that train and run these systems. Why AI Uses So Much Energy Training modern AI models requires: Vast data centres running continuously Thousands of high-performance GPUs Massive cooling systems to prevent overheating All of this consumes electricity — and in many regions, that electricity still comes from fossil fuels . Even once trained, AI models continue to draw power every time they are queried. As AI tools become embe...