Ellie Good

Ellie Good set up EggMag in early 2009 because she wanted to change the public perception of green living. The printed magazine that she created with a small group of amazing people reached tens of thousands of people in London, across the UK and as far as Mexico. Now the magazine has ended in its printed form (for now anyway…) she plans to conquer the online space with some serious, savvy blogging. Ellie also works as a freelance designer and writer, she was listed as one of 2010′s Future 100 social entrepreneurs and she really, really likes moustaches. A lot.

?!X: What’s the Future You Choose?

EG: I want to live in a place where, when someone says ‘green’ it no longer makes others think “Oh, fuck off, you hippy.” It’s a place where people respect the fact we need to leave an environmental legacy for future generations. Where Western society steps out of it’s commercialised bubble and reconnects with the land it originally came from. We will all live with respect for our belongings, grow our own veg, be grateful for what we have – and do it all with community spirit.

Plus, it would be nice if we could somehow stop independent pubs from closing down. Everyone loves a good, un-chain-ised pub to lift the spirits!

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

EG: ‘Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.’ Winston Churchill. The man said many hilarious things and many truthful things. I like this quote particularly because he is talking about problem solving as opposed to quick fixes. The explosives comment is a bit controversial, but he openly acknowledges his faults and suggests, by using the word ‘improvement’ (where many leaders would have used the word ‘change’ or ‘growth’ for example) that we have what we have, but we can make it better, without taking the easy option. A good attitude to have I think. Nice one Winst!

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

EG: I went to Borneo a few years ago and was horrified by the number and size of the palm oil fields. They stretched for miles and miles, and lined the road virtually the entire way on a four-hour coach trip I took. Whilst chatting to a tour guide, he explained that since the palm oil farming had started, the seasons in that part of Borneo had totally changed, so local farmers were suffering terribly because it didn’t rain when it was supposed to and the sun didn’t shine in the normal months. It also meant that the docks were developing fast (for exporting) which was great for the economy, but also meant horrendous pollution in certain areas was causing problems for locals and fisherman. All this is happening, while we blissfully swallow down yet another cheap chocolate bar…

My point is: live with a conscience. It we are all aware of – or at least make an effort to learn about – the consequences of our actions, the world will be a much nicer place. We won’t always know the knock-on effects, so we can’t chastise ourselves for that, but we can live with grace, sensibility and respect.

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

EG: I think bottled water is a waste of consumer’s money, a huge polluter (think or the distribution involved) and is detremental to our health (often, the plastic bottles contain BPAs, which are a huge point of medical contention, with links to infertility, depression and other nasties). It’s so easy to refill a BPA-free bottle these days, or just drink filtered tap water from a glass, I pledge never to buy another bottle of water again!

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

EG: Emergency on Planet Earth by Jamiroquai. Because it’s a fecking good tune (nice slap-base), the lyrics are so poignant and Jay Kay looks about 12 in the very cool, Luc Besson-esque video!

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

EG:

  • Fairshare Music  Genius – you download, they donate
  • The Guardian  I totally respect it for the way it’s taken the print/digital challenge and SPRINTED with it in tough times for publishing. Source of amazing content and outstanding journalism, be it politics, film, environment. It’s so much more than a newspaper!!!!
  • Howies   Great threads, even greater ethos, and NICE printed catalogues. Heart.
  • Twitter   Spread the word!
  • Charley Harper  Beautiful nature-inspired illustrations
Follow Ellie on twitter @Ellie_EggMag

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