Christian Smith – The Futures Interview

Dec 16, 2011



Christian Smith

Christian Smith is the CSR Manager for ASOS.com. He has also just completed his MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, where he wrote a dissertation titled “The End of Fast Fashion”. He firmly believes that the challenges facing the world today can be overcome through creativity and a little bit of common sense and spends a lot of time trying to convince hardcore fashionistas that this is a good bandwagon to jump on. He considers himself to be somewhat international having resided in Sierra Leone, France, Germany, Japan and Brazil. He is also the product of some very strict West African parenting.

?!X: What’s the Future You Choose?

CS: The Future I choose is one where every person understands the interconnectedness of everything that we do; a future where people work to live; a future which is inclusive; one where we appreciate that we depend entirely on the planet on which we live and act accordingly.

?!X: What’s a ‘think’ to create this future?

CS: This future has been informed by my travels and my MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, esp work by James Lovelock, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, The Limits to Growth by Club of Rome, Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin and work by Elina Ostrom, Small is Beautiful by Schumacher, Prosperity without Growth by Tim Jackson, Guns, Germs and Steel/Collapse by Jared Diamond, The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge, Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, the work that is being done by companies such as Patagonia and ideas relating to Collaborative Consumption through the work of Rachel Botsman and Ian Cheshire of Kingfisher/B+Q

?!X: What’s an ‘act’ to create the future you choose

CS: Buy less crap – and there’s a lot of it out there.

Don’t follow fads, there’s no need to have the latest gadget/clothing/car/iPhone/stereo/console/shoes…

?!X: What’s a ‘vote’ to create the future you choose?

CS: Get on your bike – find out if work has the cycle to work scheme

You don’t have to change your life in one go, it’s a gradual process, take a look at DoTheGreenThing

?!X: Future Soundtrack – What song would you take with you into the future? 

CS: Oh wow! I thought this would be really hard, then I thought of a song and it seems just right. Summery, fun, about the simple things: Blackalicious – Make You Feel That Way

?!X: Can you share with us up to 5 weblinks that you find interesting and inspiring?

CS:

How can we Create the Future you Choose? Take part here.

Follow Christian on Twitter @mrmetaphysical 

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