Greenhouse Pioneer: Trewin Restorick, Founder of Hubbub UK

Hubbub communicates environmental issues in a positive,sociable and collaborative way – no more doom and gloom and lecturing about carbon footprints. Recently winning theHighly Commended AdvertisingCampaign of the Year at the 2015 BusinessGreen Awards for their From a Mother to Another campaign,Hubbub are going from strength to strength.

We spoke to Trewin Restorick, the Founder of Hubbub, about the company’s mission and where he wants to take the business next…

Tell us about your charity – what’s your mission?

Hubbub takes a fresh approach to environmental communications focusing on peoples’ passions creating change that is positive, sociable and accessible.

What motivates you?

A weird mixture of anger and frustration that society is ignoring scientific evidence consequently sleepwalking into a future that will make life much harder for our children coupled with a constant fascination about what can be achieved by working collaboratively and imaginatively.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

It is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. Many people thought I had veered towards the latter when I decided to start again with Hubbub having got the previous charity I founded, Global Action Plan, to a point of relative stability. However, I am immensely proud of what Hubbub has achieved in just 12 months. Our small team of 7 people is an absolute joy to work with, we have delivered some great projects on food waste, fashion and litter and most importantly are brimming with ideas for next year.

What are the challenges you face?

We have set some very strong principles and our biggest challenge is sticking to these in the face of opportunities, financial pressures and the daily realities of life. For example, we are committed to openly sharing all that we have learnt both good and bad, we wish to constantly test new approaches and then help others replicate successes and we aim to be totally transparent about our funding and decision-making.

This level of open-sourcing, collaboration and then handing over activities for others to deliver at scale is not the most financially sustainable model and we can only survive if we continue to create new ideas for which there is an appetite and need.

What are you working on that’s getting you fired up and excited?

For me the most exciting projects deliver environmental savings, strengthen society and are financially sustainable. In the next few months we will be announcing a new collaboration between a retailer, a prison and charities that tick all these three boxes. We will be repurposing corporate uniforms that would have been discarded into products that meet a social need. This will involve providing work experience for prisoners, providing cheaper products for charities and reducing clothing waste.

The collaboration epitomizes the strength of Hubbub as we have been able to use our extensive contacts and knowledge to bring together organisations who would never normally meet for the greater good.

Where do you want to take Hubbub next?

We want to consistently create new activities that are inspiring, engage a mainstream audience and deliver tangible change. Personally I want to work with any organisations that share these ambitions and are willing to take some risks. In the coming months we will be announcing a major sustainable lifestyle experiment with a national retailer, launch a sustainable sports hub and create a new interactive display helping to stop pollution in our drains and seas.

What can we, as individuals, do to make a difference?

If people believe that society is heading in a direction that is not sustainable then this needs to be at the bedrock of all their decision-making to truly make a difference. Crucially this needs to include political voting. In this country, political parties of all colours are paying lip service to the environment and politicians need to know that people do genuinely care.

If you were Prime Minister for a day, what would be the first thing you’d do?

Create a new Ombudsmen for Future Generations who would scrutinize decisions to ensure they were not restricting opportunities and the quality of life for future generations. Political decisions are far too short-term and I would want to ensure that the next generation – which is going to be hit by climate change – is fully considered in all forms of policy making.

What’s the coolest project or product you’ve come across?

I really admire the current ‘Keep it in the Ground’ campaign run by The Guardian. It has a clear message which targets the most polluting energy source and is totally understandable. It also targets the financial markets which have huge power and are often overlooked by campaigners. Encouragingly it is starting to get much needed traction.

Can you recommend a game-changing book for our readers?

A very odd choice but I would opt for Lost Illusions by Balzac. It has absolutely nothing to do with the environment but even after all these years provides great insight into what drives politics, media and society at large.

What do you listen to when you’re cooking dinner?

Cooking is one of my great escapes so I do invariably cook dinner usually listening to Six Music adding a further discordant voice to the discordant music that is the soundtrack to the majority of my 53 years.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

My first boss actively encouraged me to take risks, learn from mistakes and stick to my beliefs. I wish I had followed this advice throughout my career.

Can you leave us with who’d be your Eco Hero?

I was lucky to work for Jonathon Porritt at Friends of the Earth. He is brilliantly articulate, challenging when required, totally committed and does all things with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

If you’d like to find out more about Hubbub visit their website,follow them on Twitteror followTrewin’s personal account.