[168] Keeping outdoor kit in action for longer with Re-action

A Sustainable Life with Jen Gale

This week’s episode starts with a confession!
This episode was recorded a whole year ago, it was edited, intros were put onto it, it was all ready to go, and I somehow failed miserably to hit publish! I genuinely even thought I had published it until I had an e-mail from Heather earlier on this year asking when I thought it might be published. And I'm so glad she did, otherwise this brilliant interview would never have seen the light of day!

I'm chatting to Gavin Fernie-Jones and Heather Davies, founders of Re-Action, a social enterprise with the aim of keeping outdoor kit in action for longer.
We hear about the inspiration behind the organisation, some of the brilliant stuff that they're doing, not only to keep kit in use for longer, but to gently challenge mindsets around consumption, re-use and repair, and to create alternative business models for retail that incorporate the circular economy.
There's so much to take away from this episode, from big picture stuff like how our economy is set up to require us to consume more and more, through to the really practical stuff that we can do to reduce our own impact with regard to keeping our own stuff in use for longer.
Let me know your thoughts!
Are you going to be checking out the Re-Action website to see if there are any collective members near you? Are you an outdoor sports enthusiast who is now going to contact race organisers to ask them what they’re doing to reduce the impact of their event?
Do let me know!

Heather and Gavin surrounded by just some of the clothes they're helping to re-home!

GOOD NEWS!
In the new Good News section after the main interview, I share some of the good climate news happening (because there is some, I promise!). Here's this weeks pick:

• Sport England tells its sports: funding will depend on fighting the climate crisis (The Guardian)
• Ocean 'superheroes' given a new home (Positive News)
• Fran in The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse shared a brilliant sounding fundraiser that the school one her of children attends are trying out. It's a 'Pre-loved Christmas Decorations Pop-up' where people are invited to donate any Christmas decorations that they no longer want or need, to be sold at a pop up stall at the school's Christmas fair. I LOVE this idea and it seems very 'replicable', so definitely worth a mention to your kids school if you've got school aged kids, or maybe even as a workplace initiative.
  

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LISTEN...

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USEFUL LINKS:

• Re-action
  - Website
  - Members
  - 10,000 repairs
  - Instagram
  - Linked In
• One Tree at at Time
• Trees for the Future
• Patagonia Worn Wear
• Why giving clothes to charity is causing more harm than good - Re-action blog post
• How fast fashion choices in the UK are causing an environmental catastrophe in Ghana - ITV News
• Gavin on the Circular Economy Podcast
• Repair What your Wear
• [079] - Repair What you Wear (podcast)
• Sheffield Clothing Repair
• Earth Runs
• Re-action at Outside in the Peak District
• Tentshare
• Right to repair movement
• [028] - Buy Me Once with Tara Button
• France passes law that will apply 'carbon labels' to garments
• [158] - Engaging young people with slow fashion
• Green Changemakers Challenge
• [156] - Harnessing the power of football with Rich Holmes
• Kitsquad
• Preloved Sports
• Carbon Literacy training
• The Sustainable(ish) Clubhouse

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What were your takeaways from this episode? Any lightbulb moments?
What are you going to go out and DO as a result of this episode?
And what's your good climate news?
Do share in a comment below!

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