interview what matters to you

What Matters To You? : Kirstie Brittain-Mcvey

2/13/2018Jake Ryan

As part of our interview series, we've decided to tackle some of the more important matters we face. 

So we have decided to start a new 'What Matters To You?' series that will feature inspirational people talking about important subjects that hold a place in their heart. 

To kick off, we have London based Kirstie Brittain-Mcvey who recently started a petition which has already attracted over 150,000 signatures...

See what matters to Kirstie and get to know her a little bit better below. 

Introduction.  Hey! My name’s Kirstie Brittain and I’m a London-based 23 year-old. I graduated from the London School of Economics last summer with a BSc History and International Relations, and ever since I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. More accurately, I’ve been trying to figure out the difference I want to make with my life. That’s where my passion for environmentalism and conservation comes in!


What matters to you?

Our planet matters to me! And not just in surface-level, ‘I appreciate nature’ type of way, but also in an ‘I want to leave this earth a better place than I left it’ type of way. I’ve always been relatively aware of the negative impact humans have had and continue to have on our earth through the contribution of greenhouse gases and the warming of our planet, and through mass pollution, particularly plastic pollution. Yet I never really equated either of these things to anything related to me directly. I never, until recently, felt genuinely inspired and confident about the fact that we can actually all make a difference. 

What matters to me is that our oceans are so incredibly awe-inspiring, hold such a vast array of life-forms, from the amazingly cute to the terrifyingly dangerous, and has given us sustenance since the beginning of time, are under threat by our take-take-take attitude and our single-use plastics culture. That’s why I set up my first petition on change.org asking for Starbucks, Subway and McDonalds to ban plastic cutlery and straws. Initially I was blown away by the support the petition got in just over a month, but on reflection I don’t actually think it’s all that surprising. What corporations like Starbucks seem to forget is that their customers aren’t stupid and they aren’t heartless. To some degree, we all (I hope) have in us a desire to protect those around us, whether that’s our family, our pets, or marine life as incredible as turtles. 


What also matters to me is that if we don’t get our sh*t together pronto, our planet will be on its way to becoming uninhabitable. Isn’t that a terrifying and utterly depressing thought? That this incredible planet that has given us life for so long could, at some point, not be able to cater to the human race any longer. What’s worse is that the damage that will get it to the place will be largely self-inflicted, and arguably willingly self-inflicted.

That’s why I think social media can be so incredible. Instagram and Twitter can be used to really get into people’s consciousness. And not in a Black Mirror or guilt-tripping sort of way, but in that it can be a platform on which we can have genuinely open and free and interesting discussions about topics that you might not ever be able to discuss in day-to-day life otherwise. It can open our eyes to issues that we aren’t aware of and educate us on things that we have never never even considered. The amount I have learnt just from curating a positive and educational sphere around me online is remarkable. 

So, in a nutshell, what matters to me? What matters to me is the protection of our planet, and the raising awareness of exactly what we are doing to it. With that comes with a passion for encouraging a more responsible and sustainable living, which in turn means that, naturally, social media also matters to me, because there is no better tool to spread light on issues and encourage more planet-friendly living!

Thank you so much Kirstie for taking the time to 
talk to TravelFoodFilm about 'What Matters To You' 

Have you signed Kirstie's petition yet? 
If not, head here to sign it here


What matters to you? 
Let us know in the comments. 

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Contact Form