107: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith - Episode 107107: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith - Episode 107
UK Health Radio Podcast
Jarvis Smith talks with Planet Possible host Nikki Roach about water, nature-based solutions and making cities more ‘spongy’. The conversation highlights practical steps people can take and shares hopeful stories that connect infrastructure, health and future generations.
47:15•21 Oct 2026
Everything Is Connected: Jarvis Smith and Nikki Roach on Water, Nature and Hope
Episode Overview
- Recognise that water is finite: by 2050 England and Wales may need around a third more water each day, so demand has to fall as supply systems improve.
- Start with simple habits such as turning off taps, using water butts and treating rain as a resource rather than a nuisance.
- Support ‘spongy’ cities by reducing hard paving, adding planting and backing projects that combine nature with engineering to manage floods and heat.
- Nature-based solutions like wetlands and rain gardens can often replace or reduce heavy concrete infrastructure while bringing health and liveability benefits.
- Staying curious and hopeful, rather than fatalistic, helps people spot practical actions and support policies that benefit both current and future generations.
““Water isn’t a background utility. It’s the thread connecting nature, cities, health and community.””
What insights can experts and survivors share about addiction? Here, the focus is on a different kind of dependency: our taken‑for‑granted reliance on water and nature. Jarvis Smith chats with environmental leader and podcaster Nikki Roach, and the result is a thoughtful yet down‑to‑earth conversation that links water, health, cities and hope. Nikki, host of the award‑winning Planet Possible podcast, talks about her lifelong fascination with water, from childhood trips to Welsh reservoirs to a career in the water sector.
She explains her core belief that “everything is connected”, and how bringing “people and ideas together” can make big change feel achievable rather than overwhelming. You’ll hear a clear, practical breakdown of the UK’s water challenges: rising demand, ageing infrastructure, droughts, floods and pollution. Nikki walks through simple actions anyone can take, like using water butts, reducing paved areas and “slowing the flow” with depaving and green roofs.
She introduces ideas such as sponge cities, blue and green infrastructure and nature‑based solutions that swap concrete boxes for wetlands, rain gardens and planted streets. The episode also gives a flavour of Planet Possible’s style. Nikki shares standout examples from her guests, including wastewater‑based epidemiology and legal work that treats rivers and wetlands as rights‑bearing entities. Jarvis draws out her trademark “magic wand” question, then turns it back on her. Her wish?
That people “stay curious and look for the evidence that keeps you hopeful,” rather than sinking into despair. For anyone in recovery or reshaping their life, this conversation offers a gentle parallel: small, consistent changes can shift whole systems, and curiosity is a powerful antidote to fear. If you’ve ever turned on a tap without thinking, this might just make you pause and ask: what could you change, starting today?
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