Like many of us, TV presenter Miquita Oliver has been thinking more about the effect she has on the environment.

“I’ve always found the word ‘sustainability’ a bit intimidating, especially when I’m asked what I do to live more sustainably,” the 38-year-old admits. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know’. In the last few years, I started looking around at my life, and looking at the ways I did live sustainably. And one thing that was very obvious to me is I’ve always worn second-hand clothes.”

For Oliver – who first burst onto our screens as a 15-year-old presenting Popworld with Simon Amstell, and now is a regular face on Steph’s Packed Lunch – it’s an simple way to be more eco-friendly, “But it’s become bigger in my life, and also bigger in the world”. Now, Oliver isn’t quite so daunted by the idea of sustainability, saying she realises it’s about “taking a look at the little things in your life that can change”.

Buying pre-loved clothes is relatively mainstream now, but Oliver was ahead of the curve – all thanks to her grandmother. “She’s an 85-year-old Antiguan woman who has lived in Suffolk for 60 years of her life, surrounded by the best charity shops in the world. She used to buy all our clothes there when we were kids – and my mum’s, and my uncle’s. It was never seen as an ‘other’ way of living.”

Oliver constantly champions second-hand clothes – wearing vintage outfits on TV and posting about them on Instagram – and she’s always been this way. She says: “I saw some old Popworlds last year, because we were doing the 20th year anniversary, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m in clothes from the market – I really have always dressed like this’. So it felt good to know it was something that was part of my life anyway, and I’m just so passionate about people understanding that living sustainably really can be tailored to the way you live. It doesn’t have to be embarking on a whole new lifestyle.”

And there are plenty of reasons to buy pre-loved that aren’t just about the environment. “I love that second-hand clothes have stories embedded within them – it makes you feel part of the world,” explains Oliver. “I’ll wear a skirt suit on Sunday Brunch that may have been worn to a wedding in Wales in the Seventies. I love second-hand clothes – I think they’re chic as anything.”

Plus, you’re not in danger of looking like everyone else. “About three years ago, there was this dress I wanted so badly and it was sold out. I kept waiting for it to come back on this website – and I thought, ‘Hang on a minute, if it’s this sold out, once I get it everyone will be wearing it’. So I went to a charity shop and got a little floral dress that I love instead – and I saw that dress on about 10 girls that summer.”

She’s been making more conscious shifts to be environmentally friendly in other ways too – such as reconsidering her plastic consumption. “I couldn’t believe how many plastic bottles I was going through a week,” she confesses. “I was training really hardcore about three years ago, and I was buying a big bottle of water or two a day. I was like, this is ridiculous.”  So she invested in a reusable water bottle – “Everything changed for me. I suddenly became very aware of the amount of plastic that had been running through my life.”

Another big change? “I’m really conscious of my energy in my home – I really try not to have all the lights on, and things whirring all the time,” she says. “I really try and turn things off, which I was terrible at in my 20s.” Oliver has teamed up with Virgin Media O2 for its Do One Thing campaign, inspiring people to make lifestyle changes to help protect the planet.

And she’s inspired by the younger generation, who have been hugely vocal about the need to look after the environment (“They know far more than we do – we’ve got to listen to them,” she says).

“I like seeing young people not only being smart and opinionated, but trusting their opinions and their knowledge and what they have to say,” she adds. Oliver remembers being a 15-year-old on TV, and people calling her ‘outspoken’. “I wasn’t, I just had opinions and trusted myself, and it’s lovely to see young people being listened to and heard, not condescended, but respected. I think that’s really important.”

Oliver describes feeling like she lost her voice in her late 20s and early 30s, but has got it back in recent years. “I’ve decided my voice is really important, and it always was – it’s what made me different, and what changed my career,” she says. “It’s really nice to go back to what you always had, because your voice is your power. And there are things I really care about – I care about living better in the world, and doing good for the people around me, and telling the truth to young people about anything I possibly can.”

Miquita Oliver is working with Virgin Media O2 on their ‘Do One Thing’ campaign, which is part of their new Better Connections Plan, and aims to inspire everyone to take positive action to protect the planet.