The first person to swim long distance in every ocean, Lewis Pugh, 40,  has just completed his biggest challenge so far - a 1Km swim across a glacial lake on Everest at 5,300m.

Hippyshopper caught up with him at Speedo's Covent Garden store to talk about his 'extreme swims' and how he uses them to raise awareness about the dangers of climate challenge. His book, Achieving the Impossible, is out now.

How are you feeling after your challenge?
I've got a terrible sore throat. There is a lot of dust up on Everest and you can't wear a face mask while you're swimming like the climbers do.

How do you prepare for your extreme swims?
I do a huge amount of physical training, swimming in cold water, but the most important thing is to get the mind right. That's the most challenging thing because as soon as you jump in the water everything is saying to you 'get out' because it's so cold.

You have to keep on pushing. They used to talk in the SAS about the initials standing for Speed, Aggression, Surprise. When I left the SAS and went into swimming I decided that the best way to tackle cold was with speed and aggression. You have to just dive in and commit to it 100 per cent.

What influence does your time in the SAS have on what you do now?
It's huge. You really do learn how to survive in very difficult conditions and how to push boundaries and how to choose teams.  The team I've just taken up Everest was 38 people.  You have to choose every single one of those people really carefully.

It's not like if things go bad during the expedition you can change them. You've got to get the right people. My time in the SAS taught me how to identify the sort of people who can survive in very difficult conditions.

What was it like up on Everest?
The biggest difficulty was training for the altitude. It's a significant altitude. It's very difficult to breathe up there and all of us struggled. All of us were vomiting. As we were going up I sat in every single river to try and acclimatise my body and mind to the cold.

But I'm never swimming on Everest again. It's such a frightening place, just so difficult to breathe up there. You wake up at night and you're tossing and turning. I had very bad headaches and vomiting.

Just why did you choose to swim a glacial lake so high up on the mountain?
I chose that lake because I'm concerned about what's happening in the Himalayas. Those glaciers are beginning to retreat because of climate change and they provide water to nearly 2 billion people -one in three people in this world. There is a real risk of instability and conflict in the area unless we are able to stop climate change because we have India, Pakistan and China all relying on water from the Himalayas.

How did your love of the environment start?
Well it actually started with my father. He was at an atomic bomb test in 1952. He used to describe that moment when the bomb went off and afterwards when he had to go back to pick up all the dead animals. That left quite a mark on him. He really instilled in me the need to love and protect the environment.

Why do you just wear Speedos for your swims?
I do it for a number of reasons, but the main one is that I go round the world meeting heads of state and business leaders, trying to get them to understand what's happening, asking them to be courageous to enact laws to protect the environment.

If I'm asking them to be courageous I need to be courageous too. Also if you swam across the North Pole in a wetsuit I don't think you'd get any publicity. And these swims are about trying to raise publicity for the environment.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Polar Defence Project which you founded?
I did a swim across the north pole in 2007. Two months later the Russians sent a submarine there and planted a flag on the seabed. What they were doing is trying to claim all the rights for drilling for oil and gas all the way up to the north pole.

We've all seen what's happening now with BP's oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. I feel the Arctic should not be exploited - it should be one big national park. It's not for the countries around there to start cutting it up and drilling for oil and gas. We should be moving to renewable energy.

How long do you think it will be before the glaciers have melted completely?
I don't like to make predictions because we don't know what's going to happen. But there's a glacier just north of Mount Everest that has lost 350ft of depth in 90 years. I don't know how long it's going to take but what I've seen already really frightens me.

So what's next?

A bit of a rest. I'm moving from being a swimmer to being an environmental campaigner. I can't see me doing this for a lot longer. It's so extreme. It's really a young man's game.

I've got a couple more swims planned but not in cold water!

Thanks to Speedo.co.uk for arranging the interview with Lewis

Ben and Jerry are world famous for their ice cream, a range of flavours with cutesy names and packaging ('Yes Pecan!' a new flavour created for Barack Obama's inauguration is my favourite name). Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield started the company in 1978 after taking a correspondence course in ice cream making and have always focused on making their product and practices the best possible ethically, socially and environmentally, using free range eggs, sustainable dairy farming programmes and starting initiatives like the Climate Change College. The company was taken over in 2000 by multinational corporation Unilever, to wails of dismay and cries that they were selling out, but the brand has managed to remain ethical in its operation, today announcing its commitment to go 100% Fairtrade by the end of 2011. Hippyshopper caught up with Ben and Jerry for a short chat as they launched 100 Fair trades in Leicester Square this morning.

Q: Nowadays most companies are increasingly aware of ethical issues, as are consumers, whereas previously they weren't so prevalent. When you guys started out, what made you so environmentally and socially aware as a central concern of your company?

Ben: I just think it's what we cared about as people and then as the business started becoming larger we felt like we were in danger of just becoming another part of the corporate machine that tends to exploit the society and the community and the environment and its workers. We made a very conscious decision to only continue the business if we could find a way to use the business to be beneficial to the society and the environment and its workers and that began an experiment 25 years ago. You know, socially responsible business did not exist at the time and we had no idea whether we were going to be successful at it or not.

Emily Cummins is an inventor with a focus on helping the environment. This wouldn't be so unique if it wasn't for the fact that she is only 21, and has been inventing since the age of four when her grandad gave her a hammer.

Starting by taking things apart and rebuilding them with her grandad - who she describes as an 'inspiration' - in his shed, Emily progressed and won a barrage of awards and competitions at school for inventions such as a toothpaste dispenser that minimises waste, which she came up with at just 15 years old. She went on to become Cosmopolitan's Ultimate Save-The-Planet Pioneer in 2008.

Currently in her 3rd year of university at Leeds, she studies part time so she can work on her inventions, and dedicate time to inspiring young people.

Emily's best known invention is the sustainable fridge, (pictured with her) which she also produced at school, and is set to change lives in the third world, as it is used to hold medicines. Emily is currently working on a second generation version that is intended for commercial use.

Emily believes that all new inventions should be green. She says "This concept - to maintain the quality while neutralising the damage to the environment - must be extended to all the other appliances we can't seem to function without such as TVs, cookers, dishwashers, computers, even cars."

"Just like Trevor Baylis's wind-up radio, the key is to creating quality green alternatives to the items which people have come to rely on."

If you think you have a great idea for a green invention, she suggests you check out N powers 'Bright Ideas competition' on their website, where you can also check out some great tips for getting more energy efficient.

If you're planning to tie the knot soon, and don't want to pollute the planet with your celebrations, you're probably already looking forward to the inaugural Eco Chic Wedding & Home Show in March. And being a hippy at heart, I was delighted to speak Kate Haines, who co-founded the event along with Katie Fewings and Michelle Berhardi-Toner.

I started by asking Kate why she thought a wedding show for environmentally conscious couples would be so popular right now - particularly at a time when keeping costs down is also a priority.

Read on after the jump for her answers.

Tracey Smith's Book of Rubbish Ideas is a must-read for anyone trying to get out of the wasteful habits that 21st century life encourages in us all: it gives practical advice on how to clear out the superfluous stuff that's cluttering up your home and your life, how to avoid unnecessary waste and even Help you to see 'rubbish' as a resource.

I spoke to Tracey to find out what changes she's made to de-junk her life.

Follow the jump for the interview and a chance to win a copy of The Book of Rubbish Ideas.

If you follow the adventures of Rachelle aka Mrs Green and her family, you'll already know that this is a big week for the Gloucestershire based Greens who have been aiming to cut down their household waste to nothing since June. This is their long-awaited Zero Waste Week.

Inspired by the family's commitment to doing all they can to reduce their impact in an increasingly disposable world, I decided to put some probing questions to Mrs. Green.

Hippyshopper: Many people are very careful to recycle everything their local council will take. But I can't help worrying that not everything I send ends up being recycled and that some of it may just get dumped in landfill. Does this just require a 'leap of faith' or are there ways to make sure?

Read on after the jump for her answers!

Last week, I was lucky enough to get to visit innocent drinks' London HQ, Fruit Towers. Once I'd downed my own bodyweight in smoothies, marvelled at the fleet of 'cows' sitting in the driveway and lusted after various shiny bits of kitchen equipment, I caught up with sustainability manager Jess to talk about what innocent are doing towards helping the planet. Find out what I discovered in the video, below!

Recently our sister site Dollymix had the wonderful opportunity to interview Cindy Livingston, the President and CEO of Sequel AG, a new company that was created to to handle the growing European Union and booming international business of Guess Watches and Gc Watches. As well as being a successful and admirable businesswoman, Cindy Livingston is quite the humanitarian. One of Cindy's first priorities as the President and CEO of Sequeal AG was to to include philanthropy as part of its new Mission Statement, saying, “We have an opportunity and responsibility to expand upon all of the positive elements that have made our company and our brands respected around the world.”

The President of Interasia, Victor Ozeri, introduced Cindy to Safe House Ethiopia, which is a non-profit, walled compound in Addis Ababa that serves as a sanctuary for the poverty stricken children of the area. While there are little boys living at the Safe Horizons house, most of their guests are young girls, as it's not uncommon for a girl to quit school as early as 7 years old and be sent out to beg or engage in child labor for her family. It's incredibly dangerous for this young girls out on the streets, as many of the girls are even forced into child prostitution.

Last year, we reported that broadcaster Sky had gone carbon neutral. Since then, they have sponsored Lights Out London, introduced a 'recycle your set-top box' scheme, brought out a new green-minded cartoon character to appear on our screens shortly, and continue to get involved with loads of green initiatives.

Many companies are making similar claims about carbon neutrality, so we decided to look behind the hype and find out exactly what Sky have done to minimise emissions and encourage greenness in its customers and employees. I put some questions to them to find out...

Hippyshopper: Where does Sky get its green energy from? Do you use an eco-friendly electricity supplier?

Sky: We buy our electricity from Scottish and Southern electricity, which is from 100% renewable sources.

This is the first in a series of 'videos in the dark' that we've decided to shoot for hippyshopper to try and save energy, hot on the success of Google's "blackle"...OK. only joking, but please be warned, the picture quality of this video is very dark, for which we apologise.

That aside, Catwalk Queen's Laura Street and myself had a lovely afternoon talking to Diana Bird, founder of the Wedge Card, the world's first loyalty card for local stores, which encourages its owners to discover the delights of local shopping. You'll benefit as a cardholder, with discounts at all shops that sign up for the scheme. But most importantly you'll be helping to revitalise communities and local traders, many of which are in danger of being swallowed up by retail giants. And investing in a Wedge card has never been better value, as Diana also told us she has just reduced the cost of the card to £10 from 20. Sign up for yours here!

In this ongoing series Dawn Mellowship interviews women who have dedicated their careers to ethical causes. Could this be your next career move?

Lydia Good is a Programme Officer for the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). MAG clear the remnants of conflict from some of the world’s poorest nations, educating and employing local people and helping to provide solutions for those trapped by poverty and economic devastation.

In this ongoing series Dawn Mellowship interviews women who have dedicated their careers to ethical causes. Could this be your next career move?

Linda Tiongo has worked for Christian Aid since 1992. Linda spent three months seconded to ACT International (Action by Churches Together) in Sri Lanka, after Tsunami. Christian Aid began in 1945 and is an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, working on development projects in over 60 of the world’s poorest countries, regardless of religion or race.

In this ongoing series Dawn Mellowship interviews women who have dedicated their careers to ethical causes. Could this be your next career move?

Hunger Pains

Amal is a nutritionist who spent time working in Action Against Hunger’s Therapeutic Feeding Centres in Niger. Action Against Hunger is, an international organisation that is at the forefront of the worldwide fight against hunger, with the long term goal of aiding vulnerable populations in recouping their self sufficiency.

Starting Out

I was a hospital based dietician originally. My first look at international humanitarian aid was working for four months at an orphanage at a nutrition centre in Honduras. The children that came in were really sick. I didn’t know if I was up to handling that kind of deprivation but I realised that I could see the positive side of what I was working towards.

Today is the first day of the British summer (allegedly), and this morning I caught up with Microsoft's James McCarthy, who had taken the opportunity to work for the day from a treehouse. I can't think of a better place to work, personally, though I admit it would be better if the weather had been more seasonal! We chatted about the green benefits of flexible working, how it isn't always necessary to travel in order to get work done, and how we could all benefit from a bit of flexibility in our attitudes to work.

AnyJunk’s boss, Jason Mohr, tells Hippyshopper why he binned a high-earning career in corporate finance and recycled himself to start an eco waste collection company. The qualified solicitor, who has an MBA, set up ANY JUNK?, which diverts more than 40 per cent of the junk it collects from landfill, winning a number of green awards for its recycling efforts. The company is famed for composting Skoda’s giant cake used on their recent Fabia advert.

1) What spurred your ethical quest? Did you ever see yourself doing anything like this growing up?

“I started the business to have fun, to prove I could do it, and to create something that I would be proud of. I didn’t set it up to save the world...

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