Joe Peacock interviews Kara Moses
How long have you been involved with BFoE?
I first came along to a Monday meeting in October last year, so about three months. I soon started volunteering in the office during the day, doing about half a day a week last year. This year I’ve got a bit more time on my hands so I’m doing a couple of days a week which I’m enjoying more as I can get more stuck in with things.
How did you first find out about BFoE and what made you decide to get involved?
I’ve known about BFoE for a few years but have never really had the time to get involved, and I’ve been living on-and-off in London for the last few years. After losing my job there last September I’m now based in Birmingham again. When I came back I wanted to get involved with environmental campaigning and activism in the area and BFoE sprang to mind.
What do you do at BFoE?
I’m the Communications Officer for the Final Demand campaign, and am co-leading the upcoming Bees and Biodiversity campaign. A lot of what I do is writing – articles for the newsletter and the website, writing to MPs etc. Environmental journalism (and, before that, environmental biology and primatology) is my background, so I really enjoy my two roles. I’m really looking forward to getting started on the biodiversity campaign, it’s something I’m interested in and passionate about, and I’ve never lead a campaign before so I think I’ll learn a lot.
What do you think is the most important environmental issue and why?
I think the thing that needs to change the most is our values, on an individual and societal level. There needs to a radical shift in consciousness, to move from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric view, and this can only come about through exploring the underlying reasons behind our ecologically and socially destructive behaviours as a species. We need a wholesale change in society – we live in a society based on exponential growth, but on a planet that is finite— we can’t continue as we are. I do think we are moving in the right direction though, it is becoming an unavoidable fact that we are in danger and things need to change.
What’s your best green tip/ advice?
Educate yourself about how your behaviour affects the world – what you buy, how you travel, who you bank with etc. We all need to start taking more responsibility for our actions – they have more profound consequences than we realise.
