KERRY: Hi, I'm Kerry, welcome to my ethical lifestyle podcast. I don't have what you would call ‘qualifications' in ethical issues but then neither does Bono and people seem to pay attention to him, no matter how bad his albums are getting. At least a podcast isn't made of plastic like a U2 CD is. Besides a degree is only a piece of paper from some university and that would just be increasing my carbon footprint, so it's more ethical not to have one. (BEAT) First up, Sally has asked me a question.
SALLY: Hi Kerry, my 5 year old son loves running round the garden with his arms stretched out making NYEEEEEOOOOWWW!! aeroplane noises. With all the recent fuss about the impact flying has on the environment, I wondered what I should do.
KERRY: Well Sally, as with real aeroplanes, whenever he does this you could try carbon offsetting, perhaps by planting a bonsai tree? As a more ethical alternative to playing aeroplanes, you could also persuade him to do some of his trips round the garden making train or even bicycle noises instead. (PAUSE) Dave has sent me a suggestion for decreasing our carbon footprints.
DAVE: Sometimes at work, I need to print things out, so my tip is to always print in colour as black ink has a lot more carbon in it than coloured ink does.
KERRY: That's a great suggestion Dave, keep sending them in and together we can save this fragile little planet. (PAUSE) Today's ethical consumer product review is for a new lip balm. Although it comes from China, the man selling it said that transporting it is carbon neutral because it's carried here by birds that are migrating anyway and he also said that it was Fair Trade. Apparently they hadn't put a fair trade label on it as they didn't want to use the extra paper to make the label - which is another good ethical point and the balm makes my lips feel great! (BEAT) Unfortunately, one of the ingredients is ground-up baby panda but it's so hard to be a completely one hundred per cent ethical shopper these days, isn't it? Overall, 4 stars out of 5. (PAUSE) There's just time for the top 3 environmentally friendly songs as emailed in by Laura.
LAURA:Hi Kerry, my top 3 ethically conscious songs are Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell because of its obvious ethical standpoint. And also Big Yellow Taxi by Bob Dylan and Big Yellow Taxi by Amy Grant as this represents good use of recycling.
KERRY:Great choices Laura, thanks! Well, that's all from today's podcast, see you next time!