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The main ideas from this conversation are: - The hosts discuss their worst and best moments of the week, including issues with a phone and a scratched car. - They talk about a TV show called "Bodies" on Netflix and a delicious snack they discovered. - The main topic of the episode is the climate crisis, with references to Climate Change Global Action Week and COP28. - They mention the increasing severity of natural disasters and the impact of climate change on weather patterns. Hi! Welcome back to The Postmortem. Yeah, we're back with season 3, episode 4. Yeah, and this week we've got an important discussion topic this week. We've set ourselves some challenges. Yeah, so it's going to be a bit different to what we normally do, but we thought you'd find it interesting to listen to. Exactly, but before we come on to our topic this week, how have you been? I've been very good. Yeah, I've just been settling into my new place. Yeah. Still sort of haven't fully unpacked, but you know, bits and pieces. It takes a while to make it into like homey, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. But yeah, how about your week? Yeah, good. Yeah, it's been quite a busy couple of weeks, actually, and work's been quite busy, so yeah. What was your worst of the week? We'll start off with worst and end with best. I didn't really have a worst as such. It's just, I think I mentioned it last episode about my phone, and then I got the screen replaced, and somehow even though the screen's been replaced, the phone's still not working 100%. Oh, no. It's usable, but I'm just nervous because it's still jumping around randomly. On WhatsApp, if I'm in a conversation with somebody, it will scroll up really far in the conversation by itself, and then I'll have to keep scrolling back down to get to where I want to read the messages. So I'm a bit like, maybe I should take it back to them and be like, you just replaced the screen, it's still not working. But I'm starting to think that maybe this is just not- It's the fault with the phone. Yeah, it's nothing to do with the screen. Are you trying to turn it into Apple? No, but Apple won't really- The phone repair shop that I took it to is a pretty legit, it's basically like taking it to Apple. I mean, yeah, it's a pretty old phone now, so maybe it's just actually the- You need a new one. Yeah, I just need a new phone. Well, make sure you recycle your old one. That's true, that's true. What about you? What was your worst of the week? I haven't actually told you about this because I've honestly been quite devastated about it, but I scratched my car quite badly. Oh my God, it's totally my fault. Luckily, it didn't involve anyone else, so I wouldn't have to go through their insurance or anything. But I was just being an idiot and I was full of cold, which I still kind of am a bit cold. It's been over two weeks now and I've still got this wretched cold. I've got the cough. I feel fine, but it's just this lingering cough. Anyway, it was the first or second day that I was just very, very ill and I didn't see this low wall type thing in the parking spot that I was in and I turned too quickly and I scratched the side of it. Honestly, I was devastated. I came home to my dad and I was in tears. I was like, I scratched my car. It was horrible, it was horrible. Couldn't even bear to take a photo of it. My baby has been injured. Is it just the scratch on the paint or is it like... No, it's like a dent as well. Oh, really? And I say my baby. I literally just have a polo, but I love that car. It's so good. It's so reliable and I've never, ever done something like that. Yeah, and it happens. And it's just devastating. I know. It sounds like a minor anyway. Yeah, I mean, I don't need to... I mean, apart from the cosmetic issue, there's nothing wrong with it. So, I'm not going to get it fixed straight away because it's probably going to cost me a lot of money, but I will get it fixed eventually. Yeah, fair enough. Okay. Just not when it's about to be Christmas and... Yeah, yeah, exactly. What about your best of the week? So, my best was actually... I recently watched this show on Netflix. There's been like quite a lack of things to watch recently. And that's probably... I mean, it's also because, you know, I don't know if you know, but the actors and the writers have all been striking. Oh, striking, yeah. Partly because of that. But there's this new show on Netflix called Bodies. Oh, I've heard. Is that like a crime? It's a crime. It's hard to explain what it is. It's got Stephen Graham in it, you know, that actor from Liverpool. And it's got a few other people. It's a crime story, but it's also like a sci-fi. Okay. I've heard it's supposed to be good. It's like... I really enjoyed it. I'm still curious. I still haven't had the time to like... It's one of those ones that you want to like... Research after. Research afterwards. It's not a true story, but you want to see what people's explanations are. I might give that a watch because I've also heard that it's supposed to be good. Yeah. It's basically... It's all a bit crazy. It's like a crime committed in various... Like the same crime happens in different points in time. And all these... Like in the 1800s, the 1900s, in 2023, and in the future. And it's how they're all connected. That's so interesting. And there's some sci-fi stuff. There's a bit about time travel. It's the classic thing where like, it's really suspenseful for the first... It's eight episodes. It's really suspenseful for the first like six episodes because they're just not telling you something. And then they eventually have to reveal what the thing is. And then it's still good, but you're like, oh, all the excitement. Like I know what it is. Yeah. You know what it is now. Yeah. So yeah, I actually really enjoyed it. And it was quite unusual. I don't like always watch those kind of shows. And I've still got some unanswered questions. So I definitely want to like go... I need to go on Reddit and read what people are saying about it. But yeah, that was my best thing this week. What about you? My best of the week is actually something that you've introduced me to. It is those hazelnut wafer biscuits. Oh my God, from M&S. Oh my God. I cannot tell you. It's disgusting how quickly I finished the packet of those. Like absolutely disgusting. I'm not even going to admit it. It was horrendous. They are just amazing. They're so nice. I haven't bought them again since we've been over. You are so good at finding M&S snacks. Like they're elite ones, you know? Like weeding through the like mediocre... Because let's face it, nothing in M&S is bad. No, exactly. But they have the mediocre ones and then they have the really good ones. So if you're looking for it, we'll put a photo of it on the Instagram as well. But it's the M&S milk chocolate covered hazelnut wafer bites. Oh, heavenly. Absolutely heavenly. And it's a big pack as well. It's so nice. Yeah. And they're delicious. They're so like light. Like that's how you can dangerously eat too many of them. Yeah. Because they like melt in your mouth basically. Yeah. And they're so small. You're like, oh yeah, I could definitely eat a couple more. Because it's not as sinful because every time you look at it, it's like so tiny. Yeah, exactly. It's not like a big thing. But they are delicious. I would highly recommend those. They are. Yeah, they're brilliant. Yeah. I bought them that time when you came over and then I haven't bought them since because I was like... You can't. Because they're so dangerous. I was like, I'm only going to buy them... They're good with tea, they're good with coffee, good with like, you know, anything. Yeah. I was like, I'm only going to buy these... Little treat after dinner. People are coming over and like, I'm just going to put them all out and they'll get eaten. Yeah. You can't have them in the house. That'll just disappear. Or get them at Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. They're so good. We still have to try all the Christmas stuff. I can't wait. Yeah. But yeah, that's good. Nice. Okay. So this week, our theme of our episode is the climate crisis. So we decided to talk about this because there's a few things going on at the moment. It was Climate Change Global Action Week in October, but it's also COP28 in a few weeks, which is the... Well, COP means conferences, parties, and it's the annual UN meeting to discuss climate change and all countries kind of get together and discuss what we're going to do about climate change. Interestingly, this year it's in Dubai. But yeah, I mean, climate change, obviously, you know, I'm pretty sure everybody knows what's happening, but I would say there's definitely signs that things are getting worse. Oh, yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. I definitely feel like I've noticed that winters are a lot more milder. Like, we're in October and I haven't had to put my heating on. But you know that climate change doesn't necessarily mean that... It means globally the temperature's going up. But what it means is actually we'll get more extreme variations of weather. So it's kind of the even... Well, in the summer we've had... Because we had a lot of snow last winter as well. We did actually, yeah. In like February. Do you remember? There was like a week or two. And in the summer we've had like extreme heatwave. Yeah. And then like the seasonal changes are not consistent. Like we've had weirdly warm weather in October and then we might have had colder weather in June. Like it basically creates more extreme conditions. But also if you think about it, all the like... I think some of the signs that it's getting worse is like how many natural disasters... Disasters are happening. Yeah. Like there's always a big storm. So true. Like a hurricane. Yeah. Or... Flooding. Bush fires. Yeah. And fires all through like Greece in the summer. There was huge fires. They had to evacuate islands. Earthquakes as well. All of this stuff is connected. I do feel like it seems like there's just such... Like if you think about from when we were like kids to now, it feels like there's so much more frequency of these natural disasters. And I think that's definitely a sign that it's getting worse. I mean, I don't think we've... Like the point of this episode isn't really to like educate people about what climate change is because we're not experts. And also everyone kind of knows what we know. Exactly. But I guess we wanted to think about what are some things that we could do for climate change. So we found an article that was published by some researchers at Imperial College, and it was nine things you can do about climate change. So we decided for this week's episode, we were going to set ourselves a five-day challenge. Oh, gosh. Yeah. And we were going to... We made some rules for ourselves, which will go through the article of all the things you can do to help climate change as an individual. Obviously, on a bigger scale, governments need to do things. That's what COP is about. They need to lobby these big energy companies, all of that. But on an individual level, we wanted to challenge ourselves and see what we could change. Because there's lots of little things that you could try and do in your day-to-day to try and... Exactly. Yeah. Be more efficient, I guess. Eco-friendly. Eco-friendly. Exactly. So we're going to go through this list of the nine things you can do about climate change, and we'll talk about what we set ourselves as challenges and how we get on. So the first one is making your voice heard by those in power. So again, I think that's more on a bigger scale, writing to your MP, going to, like, being engaged in politics. We didn't really do that. We could have written to our MPs. We could have, but we didn't. Yeah. So we didn't really focus too much on point one. But moving on to number two. Failed already. Yeah. It was going really well. So yes, the number two was eat less meat and dairy. So meat, particularly red meat, is really bad for the environment in a couple of ways. Like, it's more from the fact that it's the intensive farming of it. Yeah. That contributes. And also the fact that cows, especially, produce a lot of... A lot of meat. Exactly. And they fart. Yeah. So studies say that you should have a high fiber plant-based diet is better for your health. Now, Rhea and I decided we were going to stop. Well, try to avoid red meat. Try and eat a high fiber plant-based diet and minimize dairy, which was hard. I love my dairy. I love my milk. Yeah. The red meat thing, I think, was easier to do because I actually don't eat that much red meat. Me too. Yeah. And actually, it just so happens that this week I had sort of mainly fish and other things. But yeah, I don't think I really ate that much red meat at all. So I guess I've passed on that one. But would I say that my diet was high fiber? I'm not quite sure. Yeah. So I didn't... Again, with the... More like majority plant-based, at least. With the red meat one, normally I don't really eat that much red meat, but I did have lamb one day because there was some food from the freezer that I defrosted. Yeah. And we'll come to this point later, but there was also a point about food waste. So I was like, well... Yeah. Technically, you've met the challenge on that other one. Yeah. So yeah, I do agree. I mean, the red meat thing is not really hard for me at all. Yeah. I think, interestingly though, so another thing I did this week is I went to this talk about global and local sustainable food and how to... Just a talk basically about what does it mean to have a localized food system in a globalized world. And what was interesting is that there's this woman who does lots of research for agricultural sustainability. And she was like, actually in the UK, if we were to try and aim for a completely sustainable food system in the UK, we could do it. But obviously it would really restrict the types of food that we eat because you couldn't export lots of things. And that was the other person on the panel was like, we live in such a globalized world. And that other person on the panel was like, her family grew up in Borneo and Australia. And she was like, rice is something I don't think I could ever give up. So if we live in this completely self-sustainable place, what about the joy in food? What about the fact that... And is it just being more responsible, even if you're getting food from abroad, but getting it from sustainable farmers there rather than mass producers? Anyway, the first lady made a really interesting point, which I thought red meat was a big thing, but she was like, actually in this country... Yes, red meat, too much red meat is bad. But actually in this country where the farming standards are quite high, there's lots of things done to make sure the cows are fed well. The bigger problem here, and it's purely about quantity, is chicken and pork. Is it? Because she was basically saying it's all about quantity, and already people don't eat as much red meat, and the red meat is like high-quality red. But in this country... People eat a lot of chicken. A lot of chicken. And a lot of pork. Sausages, bacon. Yeah. And so while on the individual scale, a chicken doesn't contribute nearly as much to climate change issues as a cow, it's just got more quantity. And so she was like, for the UK to be sustainable in terms of its food system, the whole UK population would have to eat 80% less chicken and pork. Oh, my God. 80%. That's so much. And so I was like, oh, God, I can't imagine. No. I can't imagine them doing that. But yeah, it's still true though that fish and chicken on a smaller scale is less impactful, because even on this research we were looking at, it says the carbon footprint of one cheeseburger is equivalent to six times that of a fish and chip. Oh, my God. And nine times that of a falafel and pita. Wow. That's crazy. But yeah, I did struggle. So I struggled. So then when I went to that talk, and then she said that, I was like, oh, should I try and avoid chicken too? But honestly, it's very hard. It's really hard. I did have a lot of tuna this week though. Yeah. Tinned tuna. And even that, I'm pretty sure that's not that good. Not that good either, yeah. That's what I mean. I feel like, also, I struggle quantity-wise with food. Like I have, I'd always say I've got big eyes but small stomach. And I always feel that because I have a friend who's vegetarian and she eats really well, but she has to eat a lot. Yeah, quantity-wise. Quantity-wise, to be able to get enough of the right nutrients from everything. Yeah. But because my appetite is so small, I just find that I don't, like I'm not able to eat as much of just like a vegetarian meal that would give me the same amount of nutrition, like protein or whatever. Yeah. Which is what I sometimes struggle with. It's also just like what you enjoy as well, isn't it? Yeah. I do love a bit of chicken and pork and meat and all that. But yeah, did you make any different meals or anything? I wouldn't say different, no. It was roughly similar to what we normally make. Yeah. Because we don't eat much red meat anyway. But yeah. That was what we tried to do for that. And I think we kind of did it. We kind of didn't do it. Dairy. That was the thing I was going to say. Dairy for me is not a big deal. Really? Oh, no. It's a big deal for me. I have like a massive thing of milk every day. I just had black coffee instead of- Normal coffee. Yeah, I had black coffee. And then tea was maybe a couple of times I had tea with a little bit of milk. For me, it's just my breakfast. I always have oats in the morning with a big thing of milk and I love it. It's like my favorite. Have you ever tried milk alternatives? I've tried oat milk. That's the only one that is like okay. I don't really like the soy milk or anything like that. Because I think, I can't, I don't really like any of those milks in my coffee or tea. But I think for something like porridge, you could just use oat milk. Because it's a different thing and you're not eating it plain. I could have done that, but it's kind of hard. And you're not eating it plain, right? You're putting something on it. You're just eating plain oats. I love plain oats, yeah. Just with milk? Yeah. And no honey, no- Oh yeah, I'll put honey. Yeah, exactly. That one's great. I don't put like, I don't often put fruit. Sometimes, I used to have banana. Yeah. But I've been rushing a bit in the morning because I'm really ahead of time. Okay, so number three is cut back on flying. I mean, neither of us- Neither of us flew. Woohoo! But did you know an economy seat is three times less carbon footprint than a business class seat? Really? How? I guess because you take up extra space on the plane. Oh yes, of course. And you get more, like there's more money spent on service and like things on the plane, yeah. Oh, that's so true. But the other thing that is related to, I guess, the no flying is trying to get food with low food miles. So that's one of the things that we try to incorporate. So yeah, buying locally and- How did you get on with that? Not too bad, actually, because I have like a green grocer, like a local green grocer opposite my work and another one near my house. So I didn't really find that to be much of an issue. And it's good as well for plastic too because- Yeah, so true. They often have paper bags or I usually don't take a bag and I just put it in my like canvas. But in the green groceries, is it very clear where the veg and fruit has been grown? Uh, I think, yeah, I think I'll have a little thing where it's from. Because the one that's opposite my work says it's all locally grown anyway. Oh, that's good. Yeah, well, most of it, not all, obviously. Yeah, I found that that was okay. Like I was shopping in M&S mainly, but it was hard in terms of fruit because I am like allergic to quite a few British fruits, like plums and apples and things. And they're quite in the season at the moment. Yeah, so I mean, I can eat them if they're cooked, but I tend to buy for like everyday fruit, more tropical fruits like pineapple, melon and all of that. And so that was like, obviously that's not grown locally and so it's flown in. Um, but yeah, otherwise I think it was okay in terms of shopping. Yeah. Shopping for food. Number four, leave the car at home. Yeah, I failed like because I have to use my car for work. Yeah. There is literally no way I'd be able to get into work otherwise without it taking like 10 hours. Yeah. So that was a bit of a fail, I guess. But what I did do was try and make sure that I mapped my route to work and on Google Maps, they actually have like a little green leaf next to some of the routes, which is like a more eco. So I always try to make sure that if I was getting in my car, I'd be driving there more like fuel efficient or greener route. And what type of car do you have? I've got quite a fuel efficient car as well. It's an eco one. So it also has a start stop. It's never on idle. Like if I've got the handbrake up or when it's basically not in gear, the engine switches off and then starts again. Yeah. So, and it's a very good, yeah, good fuel efficient car, my little Polo, which I love. So that is also a good way. And then the other things that we talked about was making sure your tires of your car are pumped up so that it's more efficient. Yeah. And checking the oxygen sensor is working properly. Like I didn't, when I looked up, I didn't really know how to, I think only a mechanic can do it. I don't know, but I'm presuming it's working because my car only went in for a service not that long ago. So yeah, because apparently this oxygen sensor thing is if you, if it's working properly, it can improve your mileage and efficiency by up to three and 40% respectively. Interesting. But the other thing, I guess what you could do is when you eventually say goodbye to your Polo, you could also opt for a different type of car. Yes. I was actually thinking me and my dad were talking about it actually, perhaps getting like a hybrid or like a fully electric one. Yeah. Which might be quite good. And actually near my new house, we have got, I've got literally electric charging points. Yeah. Round the corner. There are charging points everywhere now. Yeah. I think it's quite like set up to be used like that. Well, yes and no. I think they are and they aren't. Because I remember my aunt and uncle have an electric car and they struggled to find one for ages when they were traveling back to their, where they live in Manchester. That's true. But I don't know whether it's because it was late at night they were traveling back. Yeah. But I also think that it's because they, I think it was like Bank Christmas. Oh, right. I think it was something specifically about their car. Like it wasn't not all electric car charging. Yeah. I think it was something like that. But yeah, definitely. I am considering that in the future. So for me with that one, it was pretty straightforward. I take public transport everywhere and I walk a lot. So I didn't need that. It's easier to do in London really, isn't it? Exactly. Yeah. So. But where I didn't need my car, I did use public transport. There you go. Or walked. Yeah. So that was fairly easy for me because that's what I do anyway. Okay. So then number five. I'm going to repeat that bit again. Okay. So then number five is reduce your energy use and build. So this is quite a good one, I think. Yeah. I haven't turned the heating on. No, neither have I. It has gone a bit colder. Yeah. I just, but I'm like that. Not in a, like if someone comes into my house and they are feeling cold, I will put it on for them. But personally, if I'm home by myself or, you know, it's just, it's normal time, I will rather just put another layer on and socks and cozy up under a blanket. Definitely there are, like for me, it's like the time to switch the heating on is when I need to do something and I'm like avoiding doing it because of the house being cold. Then I'll be like, okay, look. Yeah. You can't just hibernate. Yeah. You have to like put the heating on and get on with it. I feel like the weather, it has, it was cold for like a couple of days and then it kind of went mild again. So I feel like that has also been quite useful in not turning it on. That's true. So yeah, I also haven't put the heating on really. Then the other things that we said that we do is only fill the kettle with as much water as you need rather than filling it to the top just for one cup of tea. Yes, I do that. I actually do that already because I have never done it because I don't really use the kettle. So that was very easy for me. I don't drink tea, I don't drink coffee. So easy peasy. What else? We said washing your clothes at 30 degrees. Again, such an easy fix. I've always put my washing on the eco setting. So it's a slightly shorter cycle and it's at a cooler. And even my dishwasher, I put on the eco setting most of the time, unless it's been like one of those weeks where I've taken ages to fill it and I'm worried that some of the older things are a bit more difficult because the stuff has dried on a bit more than I might not. But usually, yeah. And then the other things that we said was to obviously turn off the lights when you're not in a room. Again, easy things like that and getting a smart meter. But I think the thing that we both struggled with was the showers. We read that we were trying to keep our showers down to four minutes. Yeah. Oh my God. We both also have a lot of hair, like thick, long hair. When we were doing the challenge, I basically purposefully did not wash my hair very much because I know I can't wash it in four minutes. Yeah. I think four minutes was just about okay for just a body shower. But yeah, washing hair, I couldn't do it. That was really hard. I also realised that I also do a lot of other things in the shower. So I'll wash my face while I'm in the shower. I also like to clean my shower while I'm in the shower. I don't know if that's weird or not. So I had to modify that and do it at a separate time rather than doing it while I was in there. But my little slight cheeky, naughty workaround for the timing was actually just to switch the shower off while I'm lathering up the shampoo in my hair and then turn it back on for a minute just to wash it all out and then turn it back on. I actually used to do that all the time. I stopped because I really enjoy a hot shower at the end of the day. It's like my little luxury. But yeah. But I think at the end of the day, now that I've experienced having a four-minute shower, timing it, maybe my showers won't always be four minutes, but now I'm aware of how quick it can be. Not to waste time. Yeah, exactly. And to know that you can do it in four minutes. So maybe if I actually would have washed my hair as well, it might be like six minutes. But if I had never really challenged myself to do it, probably it was like 10, 15 minutes. Yeah, definitely. Sometimes when you just want to stand in the hot water. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I'm definitely one of those people. And then, yeah, apparently it's more energy efficient in terms of, and it sort of makes sense in terms of cooking. I didn't really think about this that much, but putting a lid on a pan when you're cooking or using a slow cooker or an air fryer or a microwave as opposed to the oven or a barbecue. Everybody loves their air fryer nowadays. I know. Who's not obsessed with air fryers? I don't have an air fryer. I do use the oven quite a bit because when I come home from work, I don't really want to... A lot of the time my recipes for dinner is some salmon and some veg and stuff, and you put it all in and just put it in the oven. Yeah, like a one tray. Yeah, and it's just easy. You don't have to be stood in there. Well, I don't personally have an air fryer, but my dad does, and we don't use it as often as we probably could. People sometimes cook whole meals in there. We don't really do that. I feel like you see all sorts of really weird things on TikTok. Have you seen people doing a full lasagna in there? Yeah, it's weird. And watery things as well, filling it up with liquid. Yeah, I've not done that, but we mainly use it to heat up stuff, like leftover things. Particularly stuff that needs to be nice and crispy. Crispy, yeah. But yeah, so we could use it a bit more often. And to be fair, I think my dad is using it now a little bit more often than the oven, but yeah. And also, like, that's another point. I mean, I didn't have to do it this week because I've already done it ages ago, but using LED light bulbs. Yeah, all of ours are. Yeah, makes such a difference. Yeah. The smart meter thing is really funny because I have... My energy company is always sending me emails about the smart meter. And every time I go on the thing and call them, and it's happened twice now in the last two years, where I've been like, yeah, I'm happy for a smart meter. There's a questionnaire on the website and they're like, where do you live? And I put in where they live and they're like, is there available on-street parking? And I'm like, as in, do I have my own car parking space? And I don't where I live right now. And I said no. And then they just never find an available person. And so one time they were like, would you like to arrange a call? And they called me and the guy was basically like, where do you live? And I said, and I live quite central. So it's like within congestion and you know, I mean, everything's you know, but even the old you know. And he was like, oh, so do you have on-street parking? And I was like, look, there is street parking available, like pay and display, but it's not my own thing. So you would have, I don't have a residence parking plan. So you just have to come and pay for the parking. But if someone's willing, like, but I'm happy to come and fit the smart meter. And then he was basically like, oh, it's going to be very difficult to find anyone there. And I'll try and get back to you. And then no one ever got back to me. Really? Yeah. And so it's like, I'm happy to have the smart meter, but they need to sort their stuff out on their own. I've got a smart meter in my new place and I've never had one before. And I think they, when I was at home, they contacted my parents being like, do you want a smart meter? And I think my dad said no, because also, which is now coming to light since the burglary. So that, that dreadful day. Yeah. And apparently like people are also using it to see when the house is empty, because obviously your usage is a lot lower when you're not there. And there's like talk about people like hacking it or whatever. I don't know. I don't know. Hack it or even seeing it, right. Because some people just have it on the counter from outside and see that you've spent three pounds instead of 10 or whatever, you know, so it's another way. So that's why I think my dad never really had it, but I do have one now. I do feel like I'm watching it a lot. But yeah, I think it is a good thing, but yeah, I don't have one yet. Number six is respecting and protecting green spaces. We didn't really have anything on our list specifically to do with this, did we? But I mean, I do support all these things like having, I think that's, to be honest with you, one of the things. I have a lot of plants. And now I have a garden. I'm definitely going to do like more little potted plants and things like that outside. Yeah, you should. I mean, you can also look at like which plants are best to plant for like providing a habitat for wildlife. Yeah, I could get those little wildflower seeds. That'd be nice. But I think this is one of the things I really like about London. There's like green spaces really protected. As a city, there's so much green space, parks. It's really, really good and important. So yeah, we didn't do anything for that in our challenge, but we couldn't. But I did write it. The next one is banking and investing your money responsibly. This is actually a really interesting one, because it's probably quite a powerful one in terms of obviously banks and big corporations invest in fossil fuel companies and things like that. And so it's about investing your money in an ethical way and supporting them. So there is an organization called Make My Money Matter, and you can go on their website and they will tell you like which banks are or where to invest in terms of in a way that's like ethically good for the environment. That's very interesting. I've not thought about that. Yeah. Well, because I mean, that's how all these organizations survive, isn't it? And yes, you can basically look up your bank and see what is your bank financing. I might do that later. Yeah, exactly. So then the next one was cut consumption and waste, number eight. That's a good one. So we were trying to, in our challenges, avoid single use plastic and basically use things that are recycled. No fast fashion. And yeah, recycling more, not only just sort of with the goods that you buy, but also with other things, you know, like clothes and other things that you can also recycle. Yeah. So I think the single use stuff, it was actually quite hard, I think, because even my, like in the morning I get a coffee, it's always in a, I mean, it is a recyclable cup, but it's still even that stuff is not that good. And I do have a reusable cup, but it's like annoying. Like, I don't know what it is about the reusable cup. Like, it's not the right size. It doesn't really, like, I don't know. And then also you end up carrying around this reusable cup all day. I could have done that. But otherwise, even it's just like, imagine if you have to buy lunch quickly. I had to do that a few times because it was just a bit awkward to bring or whatever, or I didn't have enough food and didn't have time or whatever. So you just end up running to the shop and get a little meal deal and half of that stuff you can't recycle. And actually, like, there's so much that isn't recyclable, but also can affect the recycling in your street. Because I heard something that, like, if the majority of your street doesn't recycle properly, then things don't actually end up getting recycled. Exactly. So even when you recycle, like, for example, your milk bottles, you need to rinse them out and dry them. And if the majority of them aren't doing that, then it's not going to get recycled. Yeah. So I always make sure that I do that anyway. But, you know, little things like that is also has been quite difficult. So yeah, I found the single-use plastic thing quite hard because just so much packaging, you know, with everything. But I didn't shop in any fast fashion. Yeah, neither did I. And we were doing general recycling anyway, weren't we? Yeah. And also, generally, I don't really shop in fast fashion shops anyway. Then the other thing is, like, food waste. So by planning your meals and, like, storing leftovers, and I think we're both quite good at that. Yeah, yeah. We were raised to be good at that, I feel. Like, our parents are quite, you know, waste food. No. And if you're not going to eat it, you freeze it. And if you, and you take it out and you eat it later. And I think that's one thing that's actually really interesting, isn't it? Like, the whole use-by thing. I remember, like, when I, I guess when I met more people when I went to university and stuff, like, some people, like, they're like, I don't eat leftovers in the fridge that have been there more than two days. Yeah. Oh, no. I'm thinking, I eat it a whole week later. Like, I give it a little sniff test. If there's nothing visible growing and it smells fine, I'm definitely going to be eating it. Yeah. I'm like, that's how my mum was. Like, I mean, if it's not, like, she did, like, I mean, I don't know whether it's, like, the style of things, because some things keep better than others, definitely. But, like, I honestly was, like, so surprised when I learnt that about people. Because I was like... Because also people have this thing about rice, right? People don't reheat rice. Guys, we've been doing it for years. We have not died. Exactly. We are fine. You can reheat rice. It's really hot when you heat it up. Yeah, you just heat it up properly. But even then, like, sometimes I don't heat it up, like, necessarily properly. And I'm fine. I've not had any issues. I know. And it is bizarre. Like, I've spoken to loads of people that don't, like, won't reheat food after, like, two or three days. And that's just bizarre to me, because I used to cook at the weekend and I'll be eating that same stuff all week. Yeah. Until it was finished. As long as you don't mess around with it, like, you know, not constantly... And my mum's tricks for it would be, like, even when she'd, like, make a lot of curry or something that was in the fridge and we're having it a few days later, she'd always be like, take from one side. Yeah, yeah. And, like, don't... Yeah, you've just got to be sensible about it. Like, don't mix it all up and get your spoon in and out there. And also, making sure that the food is fully cooled before you put it in the fridge. Yeah. I think, like, I've seen so many people just, like, bung a lid on it and then chuck it in. Like, I don't think that's good etiquette with, like, food fridge, you know. And tasty. Yeah. Yeah. I think with certain things, it's really important. With certain things, it doesn't actually matter. It's just about it being sat out at room temperature for too long. Yeah. Exactly, yeah. So take it out, take what you need and put it back straight away. Yeah, and heat it up properly. Properly. So, like, mum, when she's heating up stuff, will be like... If it's, like, for us to all share, it'll be a bowl or a dish. Yeah. Put it all in the microwave for, like, three minutes, take it out, mix it. And then microwave it again. Yeah, and, like, until it's piping, piping hot. But yeah, I don't understand why people just don't... Yeah, it's odd. It really surprised me. But yeah, so I think we're quite good with that. Definitely try and, like, use leftovers. And then the last one. Is talking about the changes that you make. Combinations are a great way to spread big ideas. So I guess that's the whole point of this episode. Yeah, that's what we're doing. We're telling you. Is there anything from the challenge that you'll carry on doing? I definitely think I'm going to try more to use less plastic and obviously just be more efficient with my recycling. Yeah. And I think I would, yeah, definitely consider also just buying from, like, greengrocers, like, local sources. Because it was nice. Actually, the interaction that I had, even just the experience of it, like, the guy that works in the shop is, like, so nice. We get to have a little chat with him. And yeah, so definitely I'm going to try and cut down my showers, wear extra layers, do all of that stuff as well. Yeah, it definitely will incorporate some more... I think you definitely need to think about it more often. Yeah, it's about being more mindful about it and more intentional with what you're doing. Yeah. And I think that's definitely a good thing to carry forward. But we hope that we've provoked you to think a little bit more about all of these things. The small things you can do. Yeah, to save the planet. Sometimes with all these things, it feels like they're such big issues and you're so helpless. Yeah. Like, what can you actually do? But there are things you can do. Yeah, small things as well. I think I'll take forward some of these things. Yeah, I mean, some of the challenges were hard, and I wouldn't say that we were completely successful in all of them. But I think it's definitely worth keeping in mind and trying to incorporate as much as you can into your usual routine. Yeah, exactly. We're going to be doing our Unqualified Advice section. It's again a You Be The Judge. We missed it out last time, but we're back. So this week's You Be The Judge. My mum does my brother's laundry. Should she do mine too? Interesting. I live at home with my mum, Min, and my older brother, Alan. Growing up, I was told that once I turned 21 and got a job, I would have to do my own housework and start contributing to household bills. Recently, I moved back from home after university and got a job in finance, and I was happy to agree to it as my mum is a single parent and it makes me proud to help her out with the rent. There's just one issue I find unfair. Sometimes I don't have time to do my laundry and ironing, so I'd love it if my mum did it when she had the chance. She still does Alan's laundry. He's 26 and also works in finance. He pays more in bills to our mum, but I don't think that's why she does it. Mum often says, it's time for you to grow up, you also have more time on your hands. With Alan, she's like, oh, boys need extra help and he works so hard. It's true that he works longer hours in the office, but I still think he gets an easier ride. We are a British Chinese family, and I think Chinese culture really favours men at some times. When I say to Alan, it's not fair, he just laughs and says, life's not fair, Amy. Gosh, haven't we all heard that before? I think that mum is really easy on Alan, while being quite hard on me because I'm a woman. She says I need to learn skills in preparation for keeping my own home one day. But who said I want to be someone's wife? I've just graduated and I want to concentrate on my career. Also, housework is something that both men and women should learn. I brought this up with her, and she will occasionally add my clothes to the laundry load, but she never irons them. Again, I wouldn't mind, but she always irons my brother's shirts. Growing up, I always noticed that Alan got away with more stuff than me. As soon as I turned 10, I was expected to help out with cooking and cleaning, but I never saw him doing much of that. I think mum approaches housework in a very gendered fashion. Now I've moved back, I can see it more clearly. She needs to treat us equally now we're all under one roof again, otherwise it's going to cause issues. I'm going to read the mum, Min's, point of view. No mother dreams of doing housework for their children when they reach their 20s. Dammit. First line as well. Yeah, I encourage both Amy and Alan to do their share. Amy returned from university and now has all these radical ideas. Thinks that I treat her differently from Alan, and that's really not the case. Alan and I have been living together since he graduated from university four years ago. We've got into a rhythm of doing things while Amy's been away. Alan works very hard and earns quite a lot, so he contributes generously to the bills and food. In return, I make time for his washing and ironing. I want him looking smart so he keeps his job. I'm proud of both my children, but Amy just entered the world of work and she is not yet in a high-powered role. She has plenty of time to do her own chores as she works fewer hours than Alan. I say if you're under the same stress as Alan, I would do your washing too. It's a practical decision, not a gendered one. Ideally, I'd like to be doing zero housework for my children. I'm retired and I'm in my mid-60s, so I'd rather be relaxing, but I help out when I can. When the kids were small, their father walked out on us. We had to divvy up the chores so we could get by as a family. Alan did some of the more masculine jobs, like taking the bins out, building furniture and helping me with the car. I have always asked Amy to contribute with the cooking and the cleaning. She's quite good at it. She makes dinner for us sometimes and it's always really tasty, but she also becomes irritated with me when I compliment her home-making skills. I don't think it's sexist to praise women for doing a good job in the kitchen. Men and women are good at different things. That's totally fine. Whenever Amy starts nitpicking about my behaviour towards her and Alan, I always think that time could be better spent organising her own life. Oh my god, savage. I'm happy that my kids still live at home, but if they don't like how things are working, they are free to move out. It sometimes feels like we've gone backwards and they're acting like school kids. Wow. Oh god. Okay. I think... This is unsurprising because I feel like we've spoken about this before, haven't we? Like getting different treatment as men, as girls and boys, especially siblings. I think it's not even just an Asian culture. I think they're obviously a Chinese-British family. I can see how culturally it happens in that culture. It happens in our Asian culture. Yeah, definitely. But I've even seen it happen in English culture too. I think it depends on how people are. I think, yeah, people... There are these sort of gendered house roles, aren't they? Even my parents, my dad does more of the fixing the drains or outside stuff. Blue job and a pink job or whatever they call it. But this is a tricky situation. I don't know what to say because I feel like I agree with Amy. I do, yeah. But then I also can see how like, oh, you're not really going to change your mum's mind. No. Because it's kind of a waste of time. Yeah, you're fighting a losing battle, I'm afraid. We've all been there. We've all just resigned and accepted defeat and just know that when you have your own children, you should try and do things better. Yeah, and that's the thing. I think it's also this thing of like, well, rather than being like an adult living with your mum, moaning about your mum not doing your laundry, like just take control of your own life. If you don't like that, move out. Because how can you really be like, oh... Like, can you do my... Yeah, it is a bit much. Like, I agree. I don't think she should be doing it for one and not the other. But at the same time, it's like, she shouldn't really be doing it for either of them. Like, they're both grown adults. Like, they should be able to find time to do it. And yeah, okay, like he contributes more for the bills or whatever, but he's also earning more. That's probably why he's been working for longer. Yeah, I can see how the mum... It definitely seems like she does favour her son. Oh yeah, 100%, without a doubt. And then there's a whole thing about favouring, like in a lot of cultures, favouring boys over girls. Yeah. So there's probably that element to it, even if she doesn't realise it. Maybe it's like an unconscious thing for the mum. But her argument is very much like, he's working quite an intense job and he works long hours. And so I'm just helping him out, whereas like Amy's just started working. I kind of get that in a way. If Amy's like working from home all the time, it's like not that busy. Maybe she's just... Because you're going to have to find time for it if you weren't living at home. Like if you were on your own, both of them would have to find time for it anyway. But then I can also see, I feel for Amy, because I feel like I understand how she sees it as unfair. Yeah, definitely. It is a bit unfair. It is. I don't know. It's a tricky one, that one. But I think generally, I'm probably on the side of Amy. Yeah, I think, yeah. But then actually, are you? Because she's actually asking her mum to do the laundry, and I don't think her mum should be doing it. Well, no, I think she should do it herself, but I don't think her mum should be favouring. She should just do it and then she should be allowed to make fun of the fact that her brother isn't doing it himself. But I guess that doesn't really achieve anything for her in the end. She's still having to do it. And her mum does say some problematic things, like, oh, boys need extra help. And she also says that thing where she's like, men and women are good at different things. That's totally fine. I don't believe that. I don't think there's a thing about being good at laundry. Like, you just put it in the washing machine. Yeah, put it on your agenda. Yeah, you chuck it in the washing machine and you take it out. There's like no... And I think Amy is probably right that her mum is thinking about, oh, well, you're going to get married and you're going to have to do this for your family. Interestingly that she's a single parent. Yeah. And I wonder as well, like, if that has an impact on her relationship with her son in terms of being very close to him, and like, his must be. Seeing him as the, yeah, exactly, yeah. Oh, I don't know. Amy, just move out. Okay, so we hope you guys enjoyed this week's episode. We hope we've encouraged you to think about little changes that you can make in your daily lives to be more eco-friendly and help avert the climate crisis. Yeah, yeah, and we will, we'll try ourselves to keep those changes going as well. Exactly, yeah. We'll let you know if we keep them up. Yeah. So yeah, so that's the end of the episode and we'll be back in a couple of weeks with the next one. In the meantime, if you're enjoying listening, please like and follow us on Instagram and share us with your friends. Bye!