Love a podcast and want to change your lifestyle by listening to topics on sustainability? Queue up some of our favourite sustainable and planet-friendly podcasts and get your eco-inspiration wherever you are, in this curated piece from Pebble Magazine.
There’s no shortage of amazing podcasts out there. But it can be frustrating trying to track down the best sustainable and eco-friendly options. So we decided to put together our favourites and share them with you.
From systems change and the circular economy, to small sustainable changes you can make at home; from issues within fast fashion to the pioneers working with environmental justice, these podcasts take on a wide range of topics that fall under ‘sustainability’.
Queue them up on your phone, speaker or laptop and dive in.
A reusable cotton swab – just one of the sustainable switches you can make to boost your eco-credentials. Photo: Alexandra-Tran / Unsplash
1. Sustainable Jungle
Born from the Sustainable Jungle blog, a space sharing tips, tricks and ideas promoting the growth of sustainable living, this podcast is described as a ‘mission driven show’ aiming to deliver engaging conversations with people working to protect our planet.
Their solution-focused approach ensures plenty of encouraging and inspiring discussions rather than focusing on all the doom and gloom, paying particular attention to the areas of wildlife, environmental conservation and the natural world. Some more unconventional topics are explored too, such as Guatemala’s Jungle School and edible upcycling.
Hosts Lyall & Joy
Featured episode Scanning Endangered Landscapes And Creating An Earth Archive
2. Green Dreamer
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the Green Dreamer podcast is a popular one within the sustainable community, being filled to the brim with information, captivating conversations and actionable steps to integrate into our daily lives.
Each episode features an interview with guests including noteworthy entrepreneurs and influencers, sustainability experts, visionaries and activists. Covering multiple aspects and topics across intersectional sustainability, the dream is to illustrate how these subjects are relevant to so many areas of our lives and how connected we are to our communities and our environment.
Host Kamea Chayne
Featured episode Learn more about Pebble Magazine’’s founder, Georgina and her journey into sustainable living
3. Hey Change
With a new guest each episode, Hey Change explores what it means to be a ‘Climate Optimist’ and how we can cultivate a positive mindset – something much needed within topics that can spark such despair and anxiety.
Embracing our new realities, the podcast sets out to help listeners to change their perspectives on the subjects of sustainability and the climate, from one of doom and gloom to a place of inspiration and curiosity. Guests are often social entrepreneurs, environmentalists and climate activists.
Host Anne Therese
Featured episode 53: Setting Goals for a Sustainable Fashion World with Kerry Banigan
4. Wardrobe Crisis
From the author of Wardrobe Crisis: How We Went from Sunday Best to Fast Fashion, Clare Press, comes the Wardrobe Crisis podcast.
With different guests from an array of areas within the industry each episode, the podcast aims to explore and examine the current fashion system and how it impacts the environment and the people around us. Designers, brand owners, researchers and activists are just a handful of examples of featured guests, and the podcast often features notable sustainable fashion brands and their compelling stories.
Host Clare Press
Featured episode GANNI & Responsible Fashion
5. What If We Get It Right?
Entrepreneurs and business people from around the world feature in each episode of this podcast, contemplating a thought-provoking and complex question of, what if we get it right?
Of course we know there’s no simple answer to this or a way of knowing exactly how, but the episodes are a fascinating insight into the intellectual minds of those who follow their curiosity around the growth of ethical and sustainable businesses practices, and encourages listeners to continue questioning the current systems that we know simply do not work for our planet.
Host Tessa Wernink
Featured episode Lucie Basch: Collaboration Is Key To Scale Impact
Buying in bulk is an easy way to cut back on packaging. Photo: Luisa-Brimble / Unsplash
6. Practical(ly) Zero Waste
Practical(ly) Zero Waste has a simple yet powerful (and perhaps, due to the title, unsurprising) goal in mind – to make zero waste living as practical as possible.
The Canadian podcast covers topics from food and agriculture to fashion and life at home, and aims to explore the straightforward and easy to implement changes and solutions that can add up to make a big difference in our communities. Relevant topics that have been previously covered are recommended at the end of each episode, a nice touch for further listening.
Host Elsbeth Callaghan
Featured episode 86: Rewilding
7. The Sustainability Agenda
For a podcast that focuses on formal research and critical thinking, The Sustainability Agenda offers episodes featuring interviews with a range of today’s leading sustainability thinkers.
These longer listens provide depths of information from intellectuals including professors, activists, ecologists, scientists and politicians, covering a diverse range of topics within their fields. Although they can be a fairly heavy listen, we guarantee you’ll come away with a slightly bigger (metaphorically) brain, and amazing new insights into the often uncovered areas of sustainability.
Host Fergal Byrne
Featured episode 90: Interview with John Dennis Liu, filmmaker & ecologist
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8. Minimalists Podcasts
From the guys dubbed as the ‘Masters of Minimalism’, this popular and far-reaching podcast is loved amongst those striving to live meaningfully with less, with some 70 million downloads to date.
With years of experience under their belts, the duo produce personable episodes that make for easy, accessible and enjoyable listening featuring down to earth and relatable content. The honest and lighthearted discussions cover everything within a minimalist lifestyle, including home, relationships, work, parenting and health. Opt for their ‘Quickie’ episodes if you prefer to listen in shorter bursts.
Hosts Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus
Featured episode 245: Overstuffed
Planting trees makes us feel more connected to nature. Photo: Eyoel-Kahssay / Unsplash
9. Good Together
For another ethical living podcast that feels like you’re chatting amongst friends, look no further than community platform Brightly’s podcast Good Together.
With a goal to empower conscious consumers and to make living ethically easier for everyone, the girls help listeners understand important but often confusing and complex subjects within sustainability, including circular economies, slow fashion and intersectional environmentalism.
Complementing their popular platform, episodes often feature brands and products dedicated to being ethically and sustainably created, as well as guests from across the industry.
Hosts Laura Alexander Wittig & Liza Moiseeva
Featured Episode 10 Easy Tips for Budget-Friendly Sustainable Living
10. Down To Earth
Exciting new podcast series Down To Earth from Hubbub celebrates the changemakers, grassroots activists and individuals coming together to make a positive difference for their neighbours and for the planet.
Each episode shares inspiring stories from diverse new voices across the UK and highlights the unique ways they’re tackling social and environmental issues in their neighbourhoods.
From planting edible forests on rooftops to reducing food waste through supporting the community and increasing more representation in cycling, listen to incredible everyday activists working towards a more sustainable future.
Host Sarah Divall
Featured episode No Roof Unused: Turning skylines from grey to green
This article first appeared on Pebble Magazine in September 2020.
