In this episode of the podcast, Gary Watts speaks with Trewin Restorick, a leading voice in sustainable innovation.
They discuss the journey of Trewin journey from Friends of the Earth to founding Hubbub and his latest venture, Sizzle. This episode explores practical, fun and engaging approaches to environmental action and the future of sustainability in the UK.
Takeaways
- Start where people are – not with overwhelming environmental messages.
- Make sustainability fun and relatable to reach wider audiences.
- Playfulness drives engagement and normalises sustainable habits.
- Community-led initiatives (like fridges) create lasting local impact.
- Social diffusion – group influence – is key to lasting behaviour change.
- Reframing climate action as national resilience could depoliticise sustainability.
- Overconsumption, especially fast fashion, remains a massive challenge.
- Circular products like Wonderfuel compost show the power of turning waste into value.
- Don’t lose hope – small steps in food and consumption choices add up.
Sound Bites
“You always have to start from where people are, rather than that big environmental message.”
“It’s exhausting to be told bad news all the time.”
“Social diffusion – get the singers to sing loudly, and everyone else will join in.”
Chapters
00:00 – Change Doesn’t Wait (Intro)
01:11 – From Friends of the Earth to Sizzle
03:35 – Discovering the Power of Practical Action
05:59 – Starting Where People Are
07:50 – Fun Campaigns: Ballot Bins & Behavioural Nudges
10:49 – Founding Hubbub and Early Challenges
12:55 – Why Playful Engagement Works
15:30 – The Success of Community Fridges
19:18 – The Oldham Alleyway Project: Lessons & Limits
22:29 – Understanding Human Behaviour & Social Diffusion
27:28 – Family, Influence and Collaboration
29:38 – The UK’s Leadership (and Retreat) on Sustainability
34:21 – From Net Zero to National Resilience
36:34 – Can Playfulness Build Resilience?
38:49 – Tackling Overconsumption & Fast Fashion
41:37 – Launching Sizzle and Wonderfuel Compost
47:43 – Advice for Aspiring Sustainability Professionals
49:52 – Practical Steps: Small Actions, Big Impact
51:22 – Looking Ahead and How to Connect
Connect with Trewin, Treasure Gardening and Sizzle
- Treasure Gardening and Wonderfuel treasuregardening.co.uk
- Sizzle sizzle.org.uk
- Treasure Gardening and Wonderfuel https://www.treasuregardening.co.uk
- Hubbub hubbub.org.uk
- Recorra recorra.co.uk
- Global Action Plan globalactionplan.org.uk
- Trewin on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/trewinrestorick/
- Treasure Gardening on Instagram instagram.com/hellotreasuregardening/
