Gareth Mitchell - Tree2mydoor

How old are you?
28 years old

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
I am founder and director of tree2mydoor, the award winning tree gifts company.

How long have been doing this?
Since forming the company in September 2003.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Making our customers and their recipients really happy with our tree gifts.

What’s the worst thing?
Mmm, that’s a hard one as I love every minute. The worst thing will have to be handling my stress when we get crazily busy at Christmas, our customers love to buy very last minute!

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
They have been extremely busy. Tree2mydoor is growing rapidly and I have been spearheading the company development. On top of this, I have been making my wedding plans and preparing to move house. Roll on next year!

What were you doing before?
Working as a Marketing Advisor for a national regeneration charity based in Manchester city centre.

What was your very first full-time job?
Pulling pints in a pub in Bloomsbury, London.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
My plans are to continue growing Tree2mydoor and to expand our product ranges.

What do you do to relax?
Sit in with my fiancé with some wine and good food.

Who do you live with?
I am moving into a new house with my fiancé and my step son in November.

Whereabouts do you live?
Manchester

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you would do?
Abolish Inheritance Tax for under £2 million worth estates. I find it absolutely ridiculous that someone works and pays tax all their life. Then they die, almost half of what they worked for is taxed by government again! Particularly if the person has set up their own business and has a real positive impact on their local community.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Unfortunately, I do. I am flying to the Caribbean in January for my honeymoon.

What have you done that you were most proud of?
It would have to be founding Tree2mydoor and growing the company into an ethical award winning brand.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
I am concerned about dishonesty, greed, global warming, conservation and the protection of cultural heritage.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
I find this question really difficult to answer. I really cannot stand the celebrity culture that a lot of people thrive on in the UK.
I do admire Prince Charles for the masses of work that he is actively engaged in, particularly in British enterprise and conservation. These are two areas that I am very enthusiastic about.
I think that Richard Branson on an entrepreneur front has my admiration, he seems to keep ahead of the game when it comes to quality and ethics of services and products.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Work hard and work clever, never presume! Support local.

What's your website address?
www.tree2mydoor.com

Dr. Stuart Parkinson - Scientists for Global Responsibility

How old are you?
39

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR)

How long have been doing this?
4 years

What’s the best bit about your job?
Being able to combine my science and technology qualifications/experience with my concerns about environmental and peace issues.

What’s the worst thing?
Fundraising

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
Very busy - especially with campaign work on nuclear weapons, military involvement in science, climate change, and nuclear power. We’ve also been continuing our work promoting ethical careers in science, design and technology.

What were you doing before?
Co-ordinating environmental justice work at Friends of the Earth

What was your very first full-time job?
Working as an engineer for a large military corporation – which caused me to re-think my entire career path.

What do you do to relax?
Play table tennis, walk in the countryside, go out for gourmet vegan meals, watch Doctor Who!

Who do you live with?
A three-legged dog called Shep

Whereabouts do you live?
North West England

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Abolish the Royal Prerogative – the ancient piece of legislation that allows the Prime Minister to take the country to war (and do a lot of other things) without parliamentary approval.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
I live in a house that is bigger than I need. I also don’t like camping holidays!

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
That our addiction to economic growth is causing massive environmental damage across the globe, which is very likely to cause major conflict in a world which still has 27,000 nuclear weapons.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
The people I admire most aren’t in the public eye – they’re the ones who work hard behind the scenes

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Don’t believe anyone who says science and ethics shouldn’t be combined – it is essential that they are.

What's your website address?
http://www.sgr.org.uk/

Adrian Ashton - Consultant to Social Enterprise

How old are you?
Young enough that I still think I'm invincible, but old enough that I should know better... (33)

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Self-employed (by accident, rather than design) in a range of disciplines – currently a tutor on behalf of colleges; a business advisor with enterprise agencies, a consultant to anyone who I'm able to identify funding to pay me to do it with, and general anarchist when it comes to challenging national policy and the accepted norms within the 'third sector' (amongst other things...)

How long have been doing this?
About 3 years in my current self-employed incarnation, but 10 years prior to that as an employee of other organisations doing similar stuff.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Being able to control my working hours and day so that mostly I get to be around when my boys start and end their day, and can spend just about all of every weekend with them as well.

What’s the worst thing?
Not getting any holiday or sick pay

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
A roller-coaster: this time last year we were homeless due to our home being flooded so I was working out of a laptop case for 6 months while also having to project manage builders, insurance companies and their agents; but I also successfully challenged the legislation that governs the Community Interest Company and had someone start a blog against me as a result; spoke at a national research conference; became recognised as an authority on faith-based social enterprises; and was asked to lead on developing a completely new model of managed workspace.
And all while still managing to do my share of the housework and have plenty of time with my 2 boys!

What were you doing before?
Sleeping more...
But broadly the same (except for the bit about the house flooding) – I headed up a co-operative development agency in Cambridge, getting it recognition from the Bank of England, national government and others for the work I instigated (which led to it successfully changing local planning laws in favour of co-ops and other forms of social enterprise, and becoming a key founder member of a regional social enterprise partnership)

What was your very first full-time job?
Sorting fat from rind in an abattoir.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
On the whole, I try not to plan ahead too much – that way you're always excited and surprised by what comes up, rather than disappointed that things don't turn out as you'd hoped...

What do you do to relax?
Sleep...
cycling and walking; watching cult TV from the 60's and 70's; taking my wife out for a posh dinner (which I currently do far too little of); taking my boys out to play in the park...

Who do you live with?
My gorgeous wife, Clare; our 2 fantastic boys, Edward & Henry; and an always hungry cat, Harvey.

Whereabouts do you live?
Todmorden – centre of the universe

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Have a televised custard pie fight with the opposition...

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Pound shops...

What have you done that you were most proud of?
Delivering my second son with no medical support or assistance, dealing with the complications from both the pregnancy and that arose during the labour, and having the kettle on for when the ambulance crew arrived.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
That people are generally becoming more fearful.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
Richard Branson – how may other global business leaders have a criminal record, dress up as brides to promote their businesses; and regularly go 'back to the shop floor'?

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Don't expect to get paid quickly, go with the flow, and accept that things will never happen as they're supposed to.
Work out what it is you're trying to achieve through being self-employed before you begin, and stick to it.
I'd also recommend the lyrics to Baz Lurhman's 'Sunscreen' from 1999.

What's your website address?
www.adrianashton.co.uk

Jamie Simpson - Ecological Hosting

How old are you?
35.

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
Owner of Athenaeum Limited the company behind EcologicalHosting.com. We host web sites and other Internet services, currently from systems we installed in a data centre in California that is 100% solar powered. Currently, I am the business, but this will change to “I am the inspiration behind the business”!

How long have you been doing this?
Since 1999 with the company, since end of 2005 for EcologicalHosting.com.

What’s the best bit about your job?
Making a difference in the world, working with some amazing people and the general niceness of people you meet and talk too in this market place.

What’s the worst thing?
Running a 24 hour business that is just under that threshold where staff of some kind is the next move and in the meantime; you’re it… for everything – no escape, mobile phone constantly with you.

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
A complete blur. Things have really ramped up a pace again and everything is going fantastically well.

What were you doing before?
Floating around in space waiting for my next life! :-)

What was your very first full-time job?
Working with some pretty nasty chemicals in a quality control laboratory for a factory that made amongst other things pre-impregnated materials that could be used to form army helmets. Not very hip(py) I know. It lasted 4 weeks, then I returned to college to do A-levels.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
Huge plans… we’re working on the idea of building a UK based renewable energy data centre with a group of friends and work colleagues from different companies we’re associated with.

What do you do to relax?
Go out and watch a film. Read books. Sit and do absolutely nothing in silence/meditate – usually lasts about 2 minutes, then I get that guilty feeling and have to run off and do something! :-)

Who do you live with?
My wonderful partner Sue and our two children aged 6 and 9.

Whereabouts do you live?
In a semi-rural area part way between Leeds and Wakefield.

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Resign? It’s not a job I’d want because I’m very aware that even with the best intention you’re up against it. The prime minister may have a fair amount of power, but they’re not in full control no matter which way you cut it.


Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
We have a fairly substantial car (not a 4x4 though!). Quite frankly though, I don’t feel guilty because I don’t really have any other sins to mention and nobody is perfect! Here comes the justification (and trust me, I’ve thought about this a lot):

I’m 6’2” and it’s the only car I’ve ever owned that doesn’t completely kill my back; which would stop me doing all the good work I do! :-)

It’s also fit for purpose because it generally spends its productive time on the motorways (where, for the tech heads amongst you, thanks to the power available it cruises at 70mph at an extremely low 2000rpm).

We did look at the now rather obvious Prius, but the electric part isn’t operational above 30mph (i.e. it’s just a 1.5 petrol car on the motorway), and in any case we simply couldn’t afford it. I’ve owned this car for around 5 years now and I had it converted to LPG around two years ago after tackling the Prius question. I even talked with some very green and eco friends I have about embodied energy and the fact that if I didn’t own this car, the person that did would almost certainly use it more than me.

I work from home, so I don’t commute. We walk to school. The main use is at weekends where we have family commitments that require substantial cross Pennines motorway travel. We also use it for those rare times we go on holiday and for travel to places where public transport is simply not viable (i.e. one or more of: would take too long, would cost more that the car, doesn’t go there etc). Either way, it tends to be full (four or five seats occupied).

What have you done that you were most proud of?
I struggle with these questions. I don’t tend to have “best” things. I’m proud of getting to this age and achieving what I have in the many areas of my life; my family, the house we live in, the way I interact with people, the fact that I run a business that can and does make a difference in the world.

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
Probably the environment because without a planet that can sustain our particular life form, any other concerns are ultimately fruitless. Moving to the wider scale though, I could easily be concerned and possibly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things going on in the world that come to my attention moving in the circles I do (charities, campaign groups, ethical networks, green, vegetarian etc). So in this wider sense I operate by either supporting charities close to me on a personal level, or I make contributions of additional time, expertise or similar through my business.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
I spend pretty much all of my time (and my clients will testify to this - Jason!) [note from Jason of Ethical Jobs "It's true; I have had Jamie fixing and mending things at gone one in the morning"], either working or being with my family. Not for lack of wanting to veg in front of the TV like anyone else, I simply don’t allocate time to watch, so I couldn’t really answer a current affairs media question like this. I also find the news depressing because of the concentration on the negative and so despite my Dad’s “you have to know what’s going on in the world” ringing in my ears, I tend to avoid it. Most of my inspiration comes from those close to me and other positive forces in my life.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Seek counciling! :-) Only joking… Like most small businesses (especially if you’re doing the family thing in parallel) it can be very hard work. There is also a lot or drudgery in life (like accounts and keeping on top of government deadlines and legislation). So I guess the only advice I’d give is: follow your heart. If you want to do this, go for it – but go in with your eyes wide open to the whole and not just the tiny bit that is what you want to achieve.

What's your website address?
http://www.ecologicalhosting.com

Adam Vaughan - The Green Guy

How old are you?
28

What’s your occupation and who do you work for?
I'm a journalist and I edit a new (and secret at this precise moment) site at CNET Networks UK. (Editor's note: I can now reveal that the site in question is www.smartplanet.com)

How long have been doing this?
Just 2 months at CNET, but I've been working as a journalist since I graduated in 2000

What’s the best bit about your job?
I love the subject matter.

What’s the worst thing?
Looking at a computer screen all day long.

What have the last 12 months been like for you?
Radical, scary and exciting.

What were you doing before?
Before this, I launched Newconsumer.com for New Consumer magazine, and launched Stuff.tv for Stuff Magazine. I seem to have been doing lots of web launches for print mags!

What was your very first full-time job?
Editing the student newspaper for Manchester's universities. A great gig that's been a springboard for virtually everyone who's held the role.

Have you got any plans for the next 12 months you’d like to share with us?
Launching a new green site for consumers that will - hopefully - help ethical living take another big step towards the mainstream. Elsewhere, greening up my house and becoming a Dad in spring.

What do you do to relax?
Stroke my cat, swim, run round my local park, cycle, spend time with my wife, draw stuff.

Who do you live with?
My wife and my cat, Boo.

Whereabouts do you live?
Herne Hill in south London - halfway between leafy safe Dulwich and edgy interesting Brixton. Interestingly, there's no 'green' group in Herne Hill, but there is 'Dulwich Going Greener' and 'Transition Town Brixton'.

If you were Prime Minister, what’s the very first thing you do?
Surround myself with genuine, clever and green-minded people.

Have you got any guilty carbon secrets?
Yes. I used to fly a lot internationally for my job as a technology journalist, which I don't do anymore. My heating bill is bigger than I'd like, but I'm in the process of cross-insulating our loft and sealing up all the draughts around our house.

What have you done that you were most proud of?
Hard call. It's a close-run thing between getting elected by Manchester Uni's students to the editor role and running my first marathon. If I had to choose, getting elected - it was the hardest job interview ever, and lasted three weeks!

What are you most concerned about in the world at large?
A slow response to climate change. Social inequality.

Which person in the public eye do you most admire and why?
If he was alive, George Orwell. If I could choose someone not in the public eye, I'd choose my parents, because of their attitude to life and people. Failing that… honestly, I admire a lot of people working in the green and ethical 'movement' but no single person stands out that I admire especially.

What advice would you give to someone wishing to embark on the same sort of work as you?
Know your subject, be relentlessly enthusiastic and thick-skinned, and gain as much experience as you can in your professional and personal life, even if it involves getting up at 6am to write an eco blog.

What's your website address?
http://thegreenguy.typepad.com/thegreenguy
and www.smartplanet.com