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Image Associated to The 5-Minute Interview: Downshifting Guru Tracey Smith

The 5-Minute Interview: Downshifting Guru Tracey Smith

April 1st, 2007

The 5-minute interview is the first in a series of GreenFinder interviews. This month to mark National Downshifting Week we have quizzed Tracey Smith, the brains behind the campaign to shed some light on a lifestyle which values time over money.

What exactly is downshifting week ?

It’s a grassroots awareness campaign, designed to encourage participants to slow down and green up.

What inspired you to promote this campaign?

The family and I undertook a huge downshift back in 2002 and as a journalist, I wanted to uncover all the layers and levels of ‘downshifting’ - there are just so many. I realised quickly that small and simple changes could have an enormous effect on your health and well being and of course, your purse, but a great side effect was also the positive impact you could have on your local and global environments too.

How do you and your family adopt this type of lifestyle?

In lots of ways! We buy all of our clothes, coats, shoes etc from the charity shop and I haven’t bought anything new in about 9 years. Same goes for books and toys too. We love the Freecycle network and promote skill exchange and share our abundances of food, preserves etc. It’s a lovely way to live, but sometimes the difficulty comes in convincing others not to be cynical and give it a go

What sort of response have you had?

An incredible one. I get mail from all over the world, people telling me the problems they are facing in their countries and communities and the funny thing is, whether it’s Chelmsford UK or California USA, most of them ring exactly the same. For me, the greatest challenge is to try and lace all that positive energy together and provide support for people who think they are the only ones making a change!

What type of things will people be doing to celebrate downshifting week?

Well, I’ve decided the first day, Saturday the 21st, should be Sustainable Sausage Saturday! How mad is that! Take a look at the website for all the details and please, help me spread the word. I can’t think of a nicer way of celebrating it, than by using a bit of lovely, local nosh!

What sort of difference do you think something like this can make?

I think the possibilities of what NDW can achieve are absolutely endless. I will continue to promote simple, green living until the day I die I think! It’s great to be in a positive groove with my life and my work - they go hand in hand. I truly hope that it helps people, wherever they are and whatever debt problems they are facing, to cut back their spending by embracing living with less, get themselves on their feet and continue to live that way. The more money you spend, the more time you have to be out there earning it and the less time you get to spend with the ones you love. I prefer time anyday.

If you would like more information on National Downshifting Week or would like to download a downshifting banner please visit the link below.

Related Links

www.downshiftingweek.com

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