Edith Bowman: My Sustainable Life - ‘If only Al Gore had been president, I genuinely think the world would be a better place’

The radio DJ and TV presenter tells Olivia Petter how environmentalism impacts her daily life

(Edith Bowman)

The Independent’s My Sustainable Life is a Q&A series in which famous faces reveal their personal approach to the climate crisis

This week, for My Sustainable Life, we hear from Scottish broadcaster Edith Bowman.

Previous guests on My Sustainable Life include model Daisy Lowe and TV chef Gizzi Erskine.

Having worked in TV and radio for more than 20 years, Bowman is one of the most prolific voices in British broadcasting. She has presented shows for everyone from BBC Radio 1, 2, 6 and 5Live as well as Virgin Radio.

But Bowman is also a staunch sustainability advocate, and as the new voice of the Amazon Alexa’s E.ON interactive skill, which is designed to educate the nation on how to be more eco-conscious at home, she reveals how environmentalism influences her daily choices.

Here, the 47-year-old reveals why visiting the seaside helps her feel more aligned with nature, how a single smartphone app could revolutionise the way we engage with the planet, and why her children are her sustainability heroes.

The most sustainable decision I made in the past year was…

...to really look at what we can do as a family to make small changes to our lives and our home, from installing a smart meter to turning off and unplugging plugs. I would love to get solar panels installed to help us work towards generating our own energy supply.

My least sustainable guilty habit is…

...having to travel for work. I love my job but there is a lot of travelling involved. I have been using the train more and we have a hybrid BMW X5 that I try to use as much as I can. The last 18 months and what we have all been through have helped with a lot of that and I’m hoping that the remote approach will be something that will continue where appropriate.

If I ruled the world, I would make it more sustainable by…

...providing frameworks for all communities to be more sustainable, working together to help each other change their habits and find ways they can live and work with the environment being a priority in everything they do.

I’d also really like the fashion industry to look inwards at ways it can be more sustainable.

When I want to feel in touch with the natural world I…

...get to the seaside and swim in the ocean and listen to the breathe of the sea. It’s one of the most powerful natural resources we have, a living breathing thing that I get withdrawn symptoms from if I don’t get my sea air fix regularly.

If I could invent one thing that would make my life more sustainable it would be…

An app that you can input some of your data that would then give you goals to reach on how you can become more eco-friendly by setting monthly targets to reach a level of sustainability.

My sustainability hero is…

...my kids. They are so aware and interested in what can be done to do their bit. They know how important it is, that we have the power to make change for the better. They remind me to put the car on electric when we have to go somewhere, they recycle and they want to know more ways they can help.

The one thing everyone should watch or read about the climate crisis is…

Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth . If only this man had been president, I genuinely think the world would be a better place. He’s an incredible man and I’ve been lucky enough to talk to him a few times about his environmental work.

He talks in a way that is easy for everyone to understand and his words mean something, they come from truth, they come from learning, they come from doing the work and they come from compassion and caring.

My favourite vegan or vegetarian restaurant is…

It’s not a restaurant but a Buddhist temple that I visited in Koyasan in Japan. I was lucky enough to do a travel show, quite a few years ago, and one of the countries we visited was Japan. My co-host and I were left to our own devices, with hand held cameras, to make our own way up to this destination, nestled into a mountain.

It took a very long time to get there, using all manor or transport. We arrived in the middle of the night to a vegan banquet, of which I have no idea what I ate, but food that tasted like nothing I’d eaten before or since: flavours, textures and colours that seemed impossible to make.

My one piece of advice to people trying to be more sustainable is…

...don’t take for granted how much of an impact making small changes can have. There are a few simple things you can do around your own home that are a step in the right direction. And if we all do those small things, that can make a bigger difference.

Do it step by step, one thing leads to the next and there is really no end point but only a way for us all to continue to make things better and more energy efficient.

Three sustainable brands everyone should know about

Oxfam - the oldest and the best. A brand that does so much that is constantly trying to push boundaries and think about ways that it can help. Be that refugee camps, water aid or pushing a narrative around ethical and environmental policy.

Tentree - with every purchase you make they plant ten trees. So far they have planted over 30 million trees. I like that you can become part of their community and their clothing is made with sustainable and eco friendly fabrics.

Allbirds - my kids’ feet grow at the rate of knots and they go through footwear so quickly. And for me there are no comfier footwear and brilliantly, transparently environmentally friendly than Allbirds. I’ve bought them for so many of my family, they think I have shares in the company. I don’t!

Edith Bowman is the new voice of the new interactive skill on Amazon Alexa called E.ON Sustainable Home