Spencil Writers’ Prize

Entries are now open for the 2022 Spencil Writers’ Prize, and once again I’m one of the judges! Featuring two age categories – 8 years and younger, and 9 to 13 years – the competition gives kids the chance to win awesome prizes: a Spencil gift voucher, a book pack (including some of my Make

Shrink Your Footprint Tip no. 2 – Make Do and Mend!

Another everyday choice we make that has a big impact on the environment is what we wear. Like the food choices in Tip no. 1, buying and disposing of clothing and other textiles has a much larger effect on the planet than most of us realise, because most of it is indirect. For example, when

Shrink your footprint, TIP no. 1: Swap out the meat!

The simple act of reducing your meat consumption can reduce your personal ecological footprint by a HUGE amount. Meat products have a massive ecological footprint. Producing just 1kg of beef creates over 75kg CO2e*, uses over 17,000 litres of water and requires about 330 m2 of land on average. While beef is the worst culprit,

Make the Future! series and the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change

The release of the United Nations IPCC report on climate change this week has caused widespread anxiety, with headlines describing the report as “code red for humanity”. But while it is a much-needed wake-up call, the IPCC itself says: “The report also shows that human actions still have the potential to determine the future course