Celebrating 150 Episodes Of Eco Chat

Eco Chat has reached 150 episodes and I think this calls for a celebration of sorts!

When I launched my Eco Chat podcast almost five years ago, in October 2015 I’ll be honest and say I didn’t really have a big plan for it. My intention was to get started and see how things panned out. I like the medium of radio; I’d previously hosted a music program with my husband on our local community radio station, and I had a weekly sustainable living gig on ABC North and West. To me, starting a podcast seemed the most logical way to bring my sustainability message to a global audience. 

At the time I was living and working from my home in a small town in remote South Australia. My sons were still really little; in fact my youngest son was just three years old and was home with me every day. I went into podcasting juggling quite a few balls – you could say I was a bit naïve!!

I won’t say the journey has been easy. At times it’s been difficult to keep up with podcast production and life, but I’m so proud and thrilled to have made it to 150 episodes and I have great plans for this podcast in the months and years to come.

So in reaching the milestone of 150 episodes of Eco Chat I thought it was timely to take a look back on the past (almost) five years of podcasting and share the top ten episodes, as downloaded by you!

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The Top 10 Episodes of Eco Chat Podcast

#10- Episode 114: Reducing the Environmental Impact of Your Wardrobe

Coming in at number ten is a conversation I had with Erin Wold and Janet Wu from SilkRoll in April 2018 on how to reduce the environmental impact of your wardrobe. We chatted about why the fashion industry needs an eco-makeover and some of the advantages of sourcing your clothing via a shared economy model. We also covered the challenges faced by Erin and Janet in getting their sustainable startup off the ground and how they overcame them.

SilkRoll is an innovative digital exchange with a points earning system. You basically send in your designer clothing and bags in exchange for points to use to ‘buy’ pre-loved designer fashion on the SilkRoll website. Currently SilkRoll is only available in the US only, however may expand to other countries in the future.

#9- Episode 110: How to Improve Your Gut Health

Ninth on the list for most popular Eco Chat episodes is a conversation I had in March 2018 with nutritional health coach, bone broth advocate and cookbook author, Micheline Andrews on how to improve your gut health. Micheline shared her own healing journey from a workplace accident that badly damaged her right hip and left her incapacitated for two years prior to her incorporating bone broth in her daily diet with amazing results. Micheline then shared some of the causes of poor gut health, the common signs of poor gut health, implications of poor gut health and some of the easiest ways to heal our guts. She also shared her best tips for making bone broth, how we can easily improve our children’s gut health and how you can heal your gut if you’re vegan or vegetarian. This is a bumper podcast episode and I’m not surprised it’s so popular since it’s jam-packed with useful information to improve your health!

#8- Episode 119: Compostable Bags verses Biodegradable Plastic Bags

Coming in at number eight is a conversation I had in July 2018 with Darren McAllister from Biobag Australia on compostable bags verses biodegradable plastic bags. We chatted about the difference between compostable and biodegradable bags, how long it takes for a compostable bag to break down, how households can compost their bags and how Biobag is reducing its environmental impact.

#7- Episode 102: 5 Simple Ways to Declutter your House

Seventh on the list is a solo episode I recorded where I shared five simple ways to declutter your house. I recorded this episode late in 2017 when we were in the throes of packaging up our home of 10+ years to move to Adelaide. I shared how we used many ways to move on pre-loved items including, garage and car boot sales, online auction sites and our local Buy Swap Sell Facebook group. I also shared the lengthy list of charities where we donated goods like bras, prescription glasses and business clothing.

#6- Episode 132: The Benefits of Cycling and Commuting by Bike

Coming in at number six is a conversation I had in early 2019 with Matt Tozer from Bike Society on the benefits of cycling and commuting to work by bicycle. Matt shared the benefits of cycling as a form of transport and he gave great advice for people who are keen to start commuting to work by bicycle. He also shared what to look for in a good commuter bicycle (plus other gear you may need), how to stay safe while cycling, how electric bikes work and where one would come in handy, how to get back into cycling after an extended period of time.

#5- Episode 140: How to Save Water in your Bathroom

Fifth on the list is a solo episode I recorded in June 2019 where I shared six ways to save water in the bathroom. With much of my home country, Australia, in drought and rainfall patterns changing worldwide with climate change, it makes financial and environmental sense to reduce household water consumption. It makes even more sense to start in the bathroom where consumption is often the highest. Tune into this episode for my tips on how to save water in your bathroom like how to reduce shower time, install a water saving shower and reuse shower water in your garden or laundry.

#4- Episode 135: What You Can Do About Climate Change

Coming in fourth on the list of most popular Eco Chat episodes in a solo episode I recorded in March 2019 on what you can do about climate change. I recorded this episode after what was, at the time, a pretty bad Australian summer (little did we know what was in store for 2019/20 when bushfires raged out of control in every Australian State). In summer 2018/19 devastating floods gripped North Queensland, particular the city of Townsville where one years’ rainfall fell in the space of nine days. Ferocious bushfires burned in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, including the rare gondwana ecosystems within the Tasmanian World Heritage Area that traditionally don’t burn. Australia recorded the world’s first mammal known to become extinct due to human-induced climate change. A mass fish kill event occurred in the Darling River, Australia’s longest river, due to drought and climate change. My home state of South Australia sweltered through heat wave after heat wave and the city where I live (Adelaide) recorded the hottest temperature ever recorded in an Australia state capital city since records began over 80 years ago.

So after a pretty climate-intense summer I decided to share my top 8 actions you can do to take action against climate change. These are the key actions that will make the biggest impact. 

If you haven’t yet listened to this episode I urge you to do so as soon as you can because we really don’t have time on our side.

#3- Episode 146: Improving Kids Gut Health with Jessica Donovan 

Third on the list of the most popular Eco Chat episodes is a conversation I had with naturopath Jessica Donovan in October 2019 on how to improve your childs’ gut health. Gut health is the foundation of good health and this also very true for children. Many childhood health issues such as asthma, eczema, ADHD and autism spectrum disorders have been linked to poor gut health. Given how important good gut health is to overall health, it’s no surprise you loved this episode.

We chatted about why you should be concerned about the health of your child’s gut, what things impact on children’s gut health, how you can tell if your child has poor gut health, whether or not fussy eaters are more or less likely to have compromised gut health and what health conditions or symptoms typically improve when we improve the gut health of our children. Jessica also shared a heap of simple actions you can take to improve the health of your child’s gut.

#2- Episode 120: 3 Reasons to Rethink Supermarket Collectables

In the middle of Plastic Free July in 2018, a large supermarket chain in Australia launched their “Little Shoppers” marketing campaign that included gifting a plastic mini collectable of a branded product (e.g. Tim Tam chocolate biscuits) for every $30 spent in store, in an effort to entice parents back into store to collect the entire set for their kids. The second most popular episode on Eco Chat is my response to that marketing initiative. I discussed the marketing genius and environmental nightmare of the Coles Little Shop promotion and shared three reasons why you should rethink supermarket collectables. 

This episode is just as relevant today as other supermarkets and food outlets have jumped on the mini plastic toy promotion. If you haven’t already, make sure you give it a listen and take action!

Drum roll please…..

#1- Episode 38: How to fuel your kids for a happy, vibrant, toxin-free life 

The most popular Eco Chat episode of all time, as downloaded and listened by you is an episode I recorded way back in June 2016 with my friend, naturopath Jessica Donovan. In this conversation, Jess shared how you can fuel your kids for a happy, vibrant and toxin-free life. We covered the current statistics on children’s health in our country and what future trends have been predicted, the main contributors to the epidemic of childhood health conditions, and how you can fuel your kids with good food without becoming overly obsessive about it. 

Our health, and the health of our children are closely linked to the health of our environment, so it’s no surprise you love to learn strategies to improve both!

Final Thoughts

Thanks so much for being a part of Eco Chat’s journey so far. I’ve absolutely loved bringing you tips and strategies to create a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle and home so you can improve the health of you, your family and our environment. 

To mark my 150 episodes I would LOVE it if you could leave a review in Apple podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify saying just how much you love Eco Chat. Your review will help even more people find Eco Chat and take us one step closer to making green mainstream.

OVER TO YOU!

What’s your favourite episode of Eco Chat? Share below! And be sure to leave a review in Apple podcasts!

Like this post? You’ll also love

[38] How to Fuel your Kids for a Happy, Vibrant and Toxin-free life

[120] Three Reasons why you Should Rethink Supermarket Collectables. 

[146] How to Improve Your Childs’ Gut Health

[135] What You Can Do About Climate Change

[140] How To Save Water in the Bathroom

Image credit: freestocks on Unsplash

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