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Can supermarkets ever be sustainable?

Here is another piece I wrote recently for the Guardian Live Better Challenge: Can supermarkets ever be sustainable? Walmart’s new boss is on a mission. Will his drive for renewable energy and waste reduction transform the supermarket model? In his recent appearance on Desert Island Discs, former Tesco CEO

How we make space for nature: Transition Homes

Anecdotally, at least, honey-bees are doing far better in cities like London than in the countryside, and so are foxes. I don’t think the abundance of foxes in cities is entirely due to their migration in search of Big Mac’s and KFC and nor can the thriving

The Second Life of Sally Mottram: a review

It feels to me like an important moment in the evolution of Transition – the first novel in which Transition plays a key role, published by one of the UK’s largest publishers. It’s also a great read, and it’s oddly thrilling to think that on beaches around the

How we make space for nature: Transition Town Tooting

Tooting is a busy London suburb stretching between and beyond two tube stations (Tooting Bec and Broadway) and along the A24, originally a Roman road and now a major arterial road carrying 10 million cars a year and numerous bus routes. One of our earliest TTT blog posts shows a

Responding to drought by thinking like a forest

Here is a recent piece I wrote for The Guardian’s Living Better Challenge: Putting a stop to water waste: why local initiatives are key: Cities facing drought can generate water and jobs by planting trees, and installing tanks and rainwater harvesting systems Los Angeles imports 89% of its water.

Interview: George Monbiot on Rewilding

In July I had the great privilege of chairing George Monbiot’s presentation on rewilding at the Ways With Words literary festival at Dartington Hall. Before the talk we found a quiet corner and chatted for about half an hour about the book, and some of the ideas and issues

Why Transition needs a sense of wonder

It’s dusk. The family who arrived earlier in the day and pitched their tent next to ours have just asked us if we’d like to join them for a short walk to see “something magical”. We walk in the near-darkness down a grassy track to a lane