Leo Hickman is a features journalist and editor at the Guardian newspaper in London. He writes a weekly column about ethical living and is the author of A Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically (2005), A Good Life: The Guide To Ethical Living (2005), The Final Call: In Search of the True Cost of Our Holidays (2007), and the children’s book Will Jellyfish Rule the World? A Book about Climate Change (2009).
Leo can be contacted via Facebook, email (leo dot hickman at guardian dot co dot uk), Twitter (@leohickman), or by leaving a comment on this page.
LeoHickman.co.uk 
14 comments
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October 31, 2007 at 4:32 am
angela bridle
Valid points about the environmental cost of flying. But with our first (and only, so far) grandson in Sydney and us living in Tasmania, we feel no guilt about flying to see him whenever finances allow. Car ferry and then driving would not reduce our ‘footprint’, we think.
March 7, 2008 at 12:21 pm
rod simpson
Just finished your book Leo called ‘Final Call’..bloody good read mate….I have been anti-flying for years…knocked back many a chance to travel by plane, just cannot justfy it and be able to look at myself in the mirror each day…I like your idea of everyone have a certain amount of carbon credits and sharing them round if yours are not used etc etc….incidentally, i live in a touristy town in Far north Queensland, Australia, called Mission Beach and I watch everyday backpackers wandering round looking for something, but I am fucked if I know what it is…..those backpackers that I talk to don’t know either……thats the stupid thing…it amounts to nothing most of the time all this travelling….rarely do we become a better person because of it…its abit like ticking boxes off, on ‘things to do’….amusing/distracting ourselves to death………..well done on the book, girlfriend is reading now, then have a mate who wants to read it and have a girlfriend in the US who I will send it to…or maybe tell her to buy her own copy so you can pay the bills mate…cheers rod
May 10, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Bas van der Veen
Dear Leo,
I just finished, somewhat belatedly I guess, your book ‘A Life Stripped Bare’. I want to thank you for not just giving me a good laugh at times, but most of all for inspiring my young urban family and myself towards giving a go at ethical living. Your straightforward, common-sense and one-step-at-a-time approach has done more for us- and the good cause- than 20-odd years of lectures by eco-moralists.
Thanks again, and please keep up your great work.
Regards,
Bas
May 13, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Tom Pointon
Really interesting and thought provoking your book FINAL CALL. Reflects many of my thoughts and unease. On my first long haul trip ten years ago to California I joined for a few days camping in Yosemite National Park with a bunch of awful gap year kids. I wondered why they had gone to all the trouble of going to one of the worlds most amazing wilderness areas simply to get blind drunk and talk rubbish.
Another thing which profoundly affected me was seeing the holiday pictures of some stoner friends who spent four weeks one winter in Thailand…pictures of a tropical beach with palm trees absolutely covered, strewn with litter, coke bottles. I was seriously shocked at the total lack of respect for this beautiful place.
I think theres a need for another book about ways to travel ethically and with a genuine desire to put back at least as much as you gain.
For several years I ve used websites to both invite people to stop with me as well as find people to stay with. I travelled in Costa Rica and Peru a few years ago arranging all my accommodation at independent B+Bs in Costa Rica and in Peru using locally owned small hotels.
In Lima I stayed with a family in a middle class suburb, an amazing experience which showed me aspects of the country and people I d never have otherwise. This I arranged myself, using websites. I had a great experience and all my money went straight into the local economy. In Cusco, in the Andes, I stayed at the Ninos Hotel. This is a social enterprise started by a Dutch couple. Its a hotel which directly and indirectly supports 30 families, it has a school attached. Crucially its not a charity, its run as a business it won t accept volunteers or gap yearers. Its about generating income streams, giving people a livelihood, dignity. They charge the market rate and compete with other businesses.
Instead of going on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu I found a local guide, a young lad who took me up in the mountains for three days. We stayed with peasants, in their huts. I learned a lot on that trip and it made me get things in perspective. Seeing absolute poverty close up and in your face…I paid this young kid equivalent of several months wages…which enabled him to get English lessons, therefore increasing his potential earnings as well as buy educational materials for his brothers and sisters.
This year I m going to West Africa. I ve met people from Ghana via the internet and will be stopping in peoples houses or small, locally owned guest houses. I m not about to stop travelling or flying but I certainly think twice now and decided next year to not fly anywhere. The Africa trip I m stopping a month as I did in Latin America. I think there are lots of good things one can do when travelling, particularly in terms of reaching out to people. Theres a crucial difference for me between travelling and holidaying. Travelling is about immersing yourself in the unfamiliar and accepting discomfort, difference. its about new things, learning, growing and giving. Holidaying is about relaxing and enjoying yourself. You don t need to fly half way round the world for a holiday. Benidorm sounds great when all you want is to relax on the beach. Sometimes all I want is to holiday, in which case I ll either use the UK or do what I did four years ago which was a high speed train to Southern France s Cap D Agde. This is another sustainable resort. Surrounded by untouched, unspoilt nature reserves its a massive concentration of low rise holiday chalets and villages including a famous naturist complex. Its a great place to simply relax, enjoy the sunshine and sea, with every facility close at hand. Very little traffic because once there many people cycle or use the frequent buses.
So perhaps you ll collect peoples comments and start another book about sustainable, ethical travel…
May 26, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Miss*Laurence
Bonsoir!
How strange to envisage being able to “contact” you directly after reading “A Life…” these past two days, somehow I feel like I know you now already. Anyway.
I just had to say thank you for a frank and honest view on all things ethical. I think you were very brave to let your life being so closely inspected for your/our own good.
Oh yes, that smug feeling when, upon reading the down-to-earth beginners’ guide to doing-your-bit, the compost bin/ water butt/ recycling bin ( please delete as appropriate) is dutifully installed…. Doesn’t quite cut the mustard though.
I am glad you covered all the dilemmas I personnally have, and also reminded me of others I have let slip ( such as the impact of big food corporations, chemicals in hygene products, indoor pollution…).
At last a realisitic book on changing habits gradually- I feel that becoming eco-conscious is like going on a diet. If you jump in starting 8am Monday morning, and plunge into the “no cleaning products, no electric luxuries or appliances, only tepid washbowl in the bathroom, 18 degrees max thorughout the house, vegan diet, no bank, no big brands and no car” routine, you’re doomed to drop it all come Thursday lunchtime!
Despite the organic UK creams, the Ecover range, the box scheme, the cycling and recycling I can’t do everything either. Unless I build myself a completely new sustainably built house, and furnish it with organic fair traded furniture , “A” rated appliances, grey water treatment, solar panelled generator and the like…and start afresh completely, I will never be satisfied with what I achieve, and I find that disheartening.. and somehow laughable. The drop in the ocean syndrome.
Still, I’ve only flewn once in the past 12 years, I’ll carry on with my trusty Claud Butler Hybrid Urban bike, even though it wasn’t too impressed with my shortcuts over barbed wires on the local footpaths last week, and I can recommend that you invest in a few “e-cloths”, especially to clean mirrors and windows.
Am now waiting for “the Good Life” with anticipation.
June 26, 2008 at 3:01 pm
caralinda79
Caro Leo, ho appena finito di leggere il tuo libro “Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically”, preso in prestito in biblioteca. L’ho trovato splendido!!! Ora guardo tutto ciò che faccio con occhi diversi. In realtà alcune buone pratiche di vita le seguivo già da prima, ma grazie a te ho capito che i consumatori, cioè tutti noi, hanno un potere enorme per indirizzare le aziende verso atteggiamenti più etici. Io pensavo di poter aiutare qualcuno solo con la beneficienza, cosa difficile visto il mio misero stipendio, invece ora so che acquistando certi prodotti piuttosto che altri posso aiutare comunque qualcuno.
Il libro è come una favola a lieto fine che mi ha riempito di speranza!!
Grazie
Caralinda79 Firenze
November 23, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Phil Morris
Hi Leo,
Re:
http://imageevent.com/firesat/strangedaysstrangeskies
The UK has been covered in this stuff since at least 1999, Cheshire and Merseyside are very badly affected every day of the year from dawn.
Have you any idea which country in Europe would be safe and healthy to live in, away from these airborn chemical trails?
Once the cold snap is over in the uK, just look at the skies again, and you will see hundreds of trails from the NW to the SE, any day of the year…
Phil Morris
Formerly of Manchester and Cheshire, now living abroad.
February 20, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Regina
hola Leo!
why is your book “fast nackt” not available en español?
saludos, Regina
April 20, 2009 at 11:25 am
Leo Hickman
I wish it was!
Best, Leo
April 18, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Karin Schöller
Dear Leo! I´m so sorry for my bad english! I just finished your book and it motivates me to live with greater awareness. I study on a college in Austria to be an elemantary teacher and I want to educate the children for being an environmentalist. The hardest decision I ever did in my life is not to fly in foreign countries. I drive with the train from austria to denmark and it tooks me 17 hours and it was more expensive as with the plane. All in all i want to say thank you for the great book, it inspired me. I hope you understand anything! Greets from austria, Karin
June 6, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Eric Smith
Leo. What is your educational background ? What school did you go to, what subjects did you study ? Same with university. What made you interested in ecological matters ?
thanks
Eric
July 7, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Erica
Hi! Congratulations for your blog and your books! They are greatly affecting my lifestyle.
Just one suggestion: sometimes the font color used for the text of this blog is too clear to be read, could you please make it darker?
Thanks!
Have a nice day,
Erica
September 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Alice
Dear Leo,
I’m currently reading your book (life stripped bare) and I’m loving it. I’ll love to change my daily habits that can be harmful for me and for the environment. Starting with myself, as any egoistic human being!
After writing this comment I’m going to throw my deodorant (full of aluminium etc.etc. and tested on animals) and look for a better and safer option; but I’m having problem with finding products like cosmetics or house cleaning products ecological and ethical here in spain, where I’m living.
I had the same problem when I was living in Argentina. Most of the sites giving informations about these products and where to find them are coming from US or UK, and most of those brands are not actually existing outside those countries.
Is there a site that can be a valid guide for worldwide products?
Many thanks for all the useful informations that you’re giving
Take care
Saludos,
Alice
June 25, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Stefanie
I am from Austria and was seriously shocked about your explanations of the effects of ski industry on glaciers and the Alpine mountain range. I lived in Ireland for 4 years and because it never snowed there, I gave up skiing 15 years ago. But in schools it is nearly a must in our country that a class organizes a skiing excursion once in every 2 or 3 years. In many skiing resorts the skiing instructors are now coming from Slovakia, Hungary and Poland because of economical reasons. I wished our Green Party would fight more against these developments. The money parents spend on their childrens’ skiing vacation can be used much better! Children could for example be involved in peace projects or environmental projects instead. It is so great that children pick up such ideas and integrate them in their lives.
You have an excellent way of explaining things to people and I love your writing style: background information, interviews, straight forward and concise.
Instead of reading books like “Lord of the Flies” or “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in English class, yours should be put on our reading lists in Upper School.
Also, your experience how you spent a year trying to live more ethical was tremendously interesting to read.
Since I’ve read it I’ve reduced my waste a lot and I am primarily buying at local markets now. In Vienna, I have also found a “shared planting fruits and vegetable project” and I am now planting and harvesting my own fruit and vegetables there – unfortunately not during winter.
Today, there was the so-called “Green Expo 2011” in Vienna’s city center and I spoke to an Austrian environmentalist who had been campaigning against energy from nuclear power plants in the 70s (Austria promotes itself to be nuclear power plant free – which is true – but we are still importing energy that is generated in foreign nuclear power plants in order to cover our demand). He spoke in a stage discussion about his project footprint.at and it was amazing how many good ideas he suggested to the audience: Reduce meat consumption, reduce car useage, reduce energy waste (i.e. avoid living in single house-holds, check if where you are living has good isolation), reduce travel by airplane AND ENJOY ALL OF IT – otherwise you have the feeling that you deprive yourself of something.
He also added that the most useful is to go to schools and speak about the ecologial footprint. He said to me that pupils whom he taught his learnings about 5 years ago in a 4 hour course in class, come back to him and say that they are now writing a thesis about this topic. Isn’t this great?
Leo, I really wish that when I am 80 in 50 years, the world will not look like in “Blade Runner”. I want to see my children live in a clean and ethical world.
All the best. Your work is truly inspiring! Please come to Austria once!