I’ve always been interested in nature – growing plants, trees and so on. I was lucky enough to grow up not far from the New Forest in Dorset, and I think it was these kinds of experiences which created this love of our natural environment, which still persists through to today.
Despite not working in a formal position within the Sustainability sector, I spend a lot of time reading around such topics. My regret is that too many people operate within silos; afraid to leave their lanes to understand the basics of how our economy and societies operate. I was always interested in the deeper questions like, why do we prioritise constant GDP growth above and beyond the health and happiness of people and planet?
As someone working within the field of digital marketing (I’m an SEO consultant firstly); I became conscious of how BigTech (and now AI) is very much involved with harming our natural environment, and exploiting (arguably, also oppressing) many people along the way. From the datacentres that they are building and all of the material costs involved, through to the excessive water usage. This lead me to starting an online activist movement called NoToBigTech. I want to encourage people to explore how we (as a society) should be making use of technology, and if we feel it still has a positive role to play in our futures.
I’ve been lucky enough to be granted a Possible Now Stitching Fellowship with Global Fund Community Foundations, where I will be exploring the response to BigTech, and how we can ensure that we involve people from the Global South in any such future movements, instead of excluding those crucial voices which we can learn so much from. I also want to question and flag the role of Effective Altriusm within this space; and how white saviourism is something more of us need to be conscious of. Â
I am also active in the Degrowth space, as I believe we need to reduce consumption in the Global North if we are serious about reducing the amount of harm we are doing to the planet. I believe that to fight climate change we need to first tackle global inequality; because this is a huge moral failing of society whilst also being incredibly closely intertwined with climate change and the Polycrisis.
Slowly I am trying to transition away from my ‘bullshit job’ as David Graeber would have labelled it; and to find a way to exist which is more aligned with my own vision – work that is fulfilling and that serves a positive purpose in society.
Website: https://matttutt.me
