Living on the downshift

Apr 26, 2007, Mitch Potter, Toronto Star

LONDON–Call it keeping down with the Joneses.

Followers of a British movement to simplify life are finding personal happiness by working less, reducing their purchases and spending more quality time with their families

Such is the means-lowering philosophy of National Downshifting Week, an exercise in altering the work/life balance of modern-day London, which pound-for-pound is today the most expensive place on the planet.

Launched three years ago by U.K. journalist and broadcaster Tracey Smith, the downshift movement is but one permutation in the now almost countless sustainable-living initiatives attempting to repaint England a more environmental shade of green.

What makes downshifting different, however, is that being nice to the planet is but an accidental by-product of the philosophy of Smith and friends, who espouse the virtues of working less and buying less for wholly selfish reasons – personal happiness.

"Downshifting is about clawing back pockets of money and pockets of time and reinvesting them in the direction of our children and loved ones," Smith, 41, told the Star.

"It means slowing down your life, even just one notch, even if it means earning a bit less money and shopping a bit less. It involves the realization that instead of working yourself to the breaking point to give your kids every single piece of ridiculously expensive technology, you can give them something more valuable – your time.

"If that means living a more sustainable existence, fine. Great. Good for planet Earth. But this isn't about guilt. It's about taking stress out of your life by realizing that you can actually be happier with less."

Smith's philosophy remains far from mainstream London, which last month saw a violent riot erupt after frantic shoppers swarmed the launch of the new flagship store of the deep-discount fashion chain Primark.

Yet she and her fellow downshifters are far from alone, as the so-called "Froogles" community comes of age, networking through the Internet for ways to simplify their lives.

Also prominent in U.K. cyberspace are the likes of www.buylesscrap.com, makers of a faux-advertising campaign that parodies the fundraising efforts of U2 singer Bono. Their critique rejects "the tired notion that shopping is a reasonable response to human suffering."

The clearest sign of shifting U.K. sensibilities comes in the increasingly frequent warnings of Jonathon Porritt, chair of the British government's Sustainable Development Corporation, who last month described consumerism as a lethal disease. In a film for Channel Five, Porritt called for a rethink of the basic premises of capitalism, warning that greenhouse gases, global population growth and a continually expanding consumer economy are a recipe for exhausting the planet.

But as downshifting guru Smith explains, planet saving was not on her agenda when she set out to wean herself from the retail habit.

"I was seduced by credit card like everyone else. I loved it," said the London-born Smith, who came of age in the 1980s, finding work as a corporate secretary. "Then came the (1987) crash in the financial markets and everything changed. The market was in chaos, fortunes were lost. I saw grown men reduced to crumpled heaps. And a penny dropped in my head. It brought it home to me that life is not all about money."

Today, Smith makes her home in the town of Chard, in Somerset, where she admits to status as "an extreme downshifter."

"I don't earn a huge amount of money as a freelance journalist and broadcaster. But I have a very rich life all the same. My fortune is a roof over my head, veggies in the garden, and three free-range children aged 6, 8 and 9. We bake bread pretty much every day. My kids understand healthy food. We cook from fresh and we do it together."

Among the downsides to downshifting, Smith admits, is never having been to Canada, even to see "my little brother, who lives in Guelph."

And though she was cited as an Eco-Hero by U.K. broadcaster ITV for her downshifting advocacy, Smith takes pride in the fact she will spend next to nothing this week raising awareness for this, Britain's 3rd annual National Downshifting Week.

"All the interviews I am able to do from home or from the local broadcaster here in Somerset. Rather than criss-crossing the country as I did last year and the year before, I'm getting more done from home by making better use of technology – like our website, www.downshiftingweek.com – to spread the word."

Smith's best advice for those attracted to her philosophy is to "start with something small.

"I positively embrace living with less, but I'm at the extreme. I mean, I rear chickens and guinea fowl for eggs and I kill them for the table. Others are horrified at the concept, which is just beyond them.

"So don't go to my extreme. Just find your comfort level. Our lives are like onions of complication, so take away one little layer of the onion. Set aside one of your credit cards, that will be one complication gone. Or split bulk buys with friends – which means fewer shopping hours and a bit less money spent. Just claw a little something back and see how you make out with it."

Smith is mindful that, taken to its extreme, the notion of downshifting suggests economic collapse. She begs to differ.

"We're not talking about kicking out the pillars of industry. We're not saying take it all down. We're saying there is a smarter way to spend that allows for a healthier human environment," she says.

"But it starts with the individual understanding that that pressure on their shoulders, that stress, is related to the belief that life is all about what is in their wallet. It's not. And conversely, life is not about being a sandal-wearing hippie, longhaired green freak.

"I'm neither of those. I'm just a regular mom. And, I promise you, a much happier one today."