Live & Travel Sustainably

Oot & aboot 🥾 #vanlife treating us well as per usual with another stunning spot to park up overnight on The Isle of Skye. From the very northern most tip last night to nearing the most southerly today, this island has not disappointed! Reconnecting with nature and getting back out there amongst the midges and golden eagles resets our heads and brings a calm to the standard chaos. Whose with us!? Can’t wait to share more about this trip over the coming days 😍 Tell us your favourite getaway below! Tomorrow, we head to the ...

SPRING CLEANING 🌸✨ Eurgh we hate cleaning🙅‍♀️ But today I found myself weirdly excited at the prospect of all refillable, all matching, all glass, all sustainably sourced and vegan!!! home cleaning products from Fill 😍🙌🏻 Bought from @the.refillery.edinburgh, (always a bonus when you can support local & awesome businesses), these cleaning products not only look cool enough that we may actually use them AND come from a company that cares but ooooh blimey do they work 👏 I was so excited that I tried the bathroom cleaner as soon as we got home and it’s never sparkled like it (or ...

This weekend we’ve been binge watching @ourplanet (along with the rest of the world!). Hoooly Moses is it utterly devastating & somehow still surprising to see, in wonderful CinemaScope, how much of a mess we’ve made. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Yes, we knew about the many catastrophes facing marine life but to see what one of the few reefs with a natural predator/ prey balance looks like was beyond our imagination. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Similarly, we know about climate change and the impact it’s having on arctic species - but to see walrus’ clambering over each other and up cliffs (😭!!!) due to lack of ...

This is our shower rack from a year or so ago🧖‍♀️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Yikes it looks like some Lush advert! 🤣 While you’re getting started with reassessing the impact of your habits and purchases Lush can be a life saver. It’s convenient, it’s on the high street, you can try products before you buy in store and take samples... as a brand sure they have areas they could improve further in but they have succeeded where a lot of other big names have failed. It can be daunting to mix-up your well versed routines and these factors can make a big ...

Who watched the Blue Planet LIVE shows last week? Chris, Liz & Steve may have been shooting from mind blowingly beautiful exotic locations (trust us, we’re reviewing some holiday plans too!) but their message also extends right to the coasts and seas closer to home. We loved the UK episodes hosted by Gillian & Steve bringing the critical issues to our familiar coastline showcasing the amazing opportunities to get out in UK waters and why we all need to get involved. Def iPlayer these whole you’ve got the chance 👌⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A few weekends ago we walked 15km along the ...

Eurgh it seems the weekend sped by at roughly the same speed as this mountain hare we spotted during Sunday’s adventures!🐰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Mountain (or arctic/blue) hares are native to the Scottish highlands and amazingly adapted to the harsh terrain. Some reports suggest they can run nearly 50mph up the mountainside. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hunted for sport and grouse management as they are thought to spread ticks and diseases, their population levels are now a fraction of what they once were. They are a good example of poor wildlife management, with a cycle of massive peaks and troughs in population as over ...

By this time yesterday... we’d bagged our first Munro! 🏔 We left Edinburgh early and met up with Alex’s friend Tom, to go explore Loch Lomond and it’s surrounding peaks. We climbed Beinn Narnain and then threw in neighbouring peak Ben Arthur (the Cobbler) for good measure 🤪 Munro’s are mountains in Scotland over 3000ft. Some people make a sport out of Munro-bagging, an attempt to climb all 282. The way my legs are feeling today that may take me more than my lifetime... but the views over the Loch and surrounding ‘Arrochar Alps’ made the climb more ...

Are you ready for EARTH HOUR 🌏 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Tonight at 8:30pm (GMT) make your pledge for @wwf Earth Hour and turn off lights and electronics to raise awareness and show support for sustainable strategies. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But before then, get out and remember why this is necessary. Can you find an area free from human interference in your local area? We are intrinsically linked to the natural world but overlook our reliance on every single element of it. We live on a finite resource, we KNOW our current use of it cannot be sustained. It is madness that governments and decision ...

Monday habits: 💧 showered last night, so don't need to this morning. Saving water is part of the daily routine. 🥪 prepared a pack lunch to avoid paying for questionably sourced or plastic wrapped food on the go. 🍌 made a fresh 100% fruit smoothie for breakfast saving buying an expensive juice in a plastic bottle with added sugar and preservatives. ☕️ pour my coffee into my @keepcup. Rainforest alliance coffee with oat milk in a reusable mug. 🚌 take public transport to work, it saves time crossing the city through rush hour and not owning a car dramatically cuts ...

These little Turnstones were the perfect end to a near- perfect day ✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Setting off West with our all day bus passes like all good tourists we left the city behind. We spent the day walking from the Firth of Forth bridges in South Queensferry through the Dalmeny Estate to Cramond following the @johnmuirway for most of the route. Setting ourselves up for the journey we started off with a delicious coffee and lunch at @themannahousebakery and have just ended with a @wagamama_uk vegan yasai katsu curry, which seemed well deserved after the extensive woods and coastal wanders! (Although ...

This weekend blow off the last of the Winter blues with a ConservationWise outing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Have a plastic free picnic⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ -Support a local café or restaurant serving local produce and proactively reducing waste⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Take public transport instead of your own car⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Do a 5-minute litter pick up at your local beach/park/woodland⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Adopt a new sustainable habit, like carrying a reusable bag or mug and water bottle with you.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - Do your food shop at a small independent responsible local shop rather than a chain super store.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Be informed, get inspired and instigate change 🙌🏻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ...

It’s Int. Seal Day and there’s a few things we’d like to share about these beautiful pinnipeds. Living and travelling around Scotland we’re no stranger to Harbour and Grey seals (like the Grey in this pic from our trip to the Outer Hebrides). You can tell the difference quite easily just by looking at their noses; Harbour seals have triangle puppy noses and Greys have straight nostrils. Although these species are considered Least Concern and thankfully large-scale commercial hunting has dramatically reduced to near zero in recent decades, they are still threatened by disease, overfishing and culls. ...

Life on Earth is suffering. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The @WWF Report showed how global wildlife populations have declined by 60% between 1970 and 2014. The latest IPCC report have shown we have just over a decade to cap warming at 1.5C after which extreme weather will threaten the livelihoods if hundreds of millions of people. There’s a clear trend of time is running out. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Greta Thunberg, an incredibly inspirational 16- year old is calling out governments and decision makers for large scale action. And last weeks turn out during the call for action and strikes for climate change prove we DO ...

What is this weather?! Snow last week and now forecasts of high teens...!? At this turbulent time of year your wild friends need you! 🦊🦔🦡 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ensure birds have access to unfrozen water in your garden (particularly in really sudden cold snaps), if you’re spring cleaning still leave piles of leaves and undergrowth undisturbed for soon to wake hedgehogs, put out tasty treats for visitors* (cheese and meats for badgers, seeds for birds, boiled potatoes and scraps for foxes) and sit back and watch the results! The little wrens in this photo will find some pals and roost in ...

Saving Tigers 🐯 Last night we went to a talk by @conservewildcats at @edinburghzoo We were hit by a few ridiculous facts: 🐅 3 of the 8 tiger subspecies are already extinct 🐅 there are around 4000 individuals left in the wild, although no one knows exactly 🐅 anthropogenic factors are the biggest threat to wild tigers; habitat loss (palm oil, paper, coffee, mining, settlement expansion) and poaching are decimating wild populations 🐅 not only for traditional medicine but poachers now act almost on demand for rich clients wanting rare artefacts like rugs and bone jewellery 🐅 wildlife ...

Alex booked onto a Marine Mammal Medic course up in Dundee and we decided to make a weekend of it. For once we did zero research before hopping onto a train and so couldn’t believe it when we saw the RRS Discovery! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Part of several iconic adventure stories - this ship was built for exploring the Antarctic. Led by Capt. Robert Scott and with crew including Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson (!!) the history of pioneering adventure and endurance is MIND BLOWING. Not only the ground breaking 1901-1903 expedition that collected tons of info new to science (including the ...

We’ve been quiet on here, but trust us we’ve been BUSY everywhere else! 🤗 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ New jobs, new travels, new projects and a new NEWSLETTER! Head to conservationwise.org and sign up so YOU don’t miss out on the latest environmental news, simple actions to revolutionise your eco-impacts, blogs from our placement students on the frontline of conservation and responsible travel destinations.... ahh it’s packed! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Get ready to be informed, inspired and powered up to instigate some change 💪✨ Tag a friend in the comments who needs some info and inspiration! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #sustainableliving #greenteam ...

We’re heading off to revisit one of our favourite 2018 finds! @glenclovahotel is a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere, signal-free bliss! They are completely green 🌱; make all their heat and electricity on site utilising the natural resources surrounding them (including a hydro system featuring Loch Brandy 📷) and serve only locally grown food on a seasonal menu 👏👌. Next time you’re looking for a weekend getaway check out the behind the scenes of your hostel/hotel/b&b - you may be surprised what practices you’re inadvertently funding. We’ll be staying just next to Glen Doll (and Corrie ...