Jarvis Smith is the co-founder of My Green Pod, the UK's leading ethical lifestyle store and media company, on a mission to help people live more sustainable lifestyles and purchase ethical alternatives to mainstream products. They hope to encourage businesses to change their models and practises, and for individuals to lead the charge.
In this episode, Jarvis shares with us the moment he vowed to dedicate his life to inspiring people to live more conscious lifestyles, on camera in front of millions of viewers.
Guided through life by shamanic teaching and principles, Jarvis offers us the chance to look closely at nature, listen to it, to give back what we take from it. From easy tips to becoming a more ethical shopper, to deeper conversations about what is really need to tackle the climate crisis, this is an episode you won’t forget.
Jarvis Smith
There was a pivotal moment on the third week when a local dustbin church went round to collect the rubbish and kind of come and dumped it on our what was now our home. And so we had to put on this protective clothing, you know, kind of COVID masks and protective gloves and white overalls and the whole thing and start siphoning through this stuff that have just been collected from the local streets.
George Beelsey
Hey, it's George, and welcome to the call to adventure podcast. We are on a mission to help create happier people and a healthier planet. So let's get after it. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the call to adventure podcast with me George Beesley. I hope you're all good listeners. So we're edging ever closer to the end of lockdown, which is incredibly exciting. So I hope you've got lots of fun adventures planned. If not, we've got all sorts of awesome trips that we'd love for you guys to join us on everything from surfing to stand up paddleboarding, rock climbing to mountaineering, even a bit of wild camping, so head over to corporate venture.uk. To find out more. Today I'm joined by my co host and partner in crime, Becca heaps, the founder of tencha. So if you're keen to rent out a tent, or book attend, then you can head over to tent chair.com. Now onto today's pod. In this episode, we're chatting with Jarvis Smith, the co founder of my green pod, a marketplace for leading sustainable companies with everything from health and beauty products to food and drink clothing to home and garden products. And they even plant the tree in the tropics with every purchase. So let's get cracking. First, let's just check in with co host extraordinare Becker, how are things going Becka?
Becka Heaps
Hello, I'm good. Thank you. Yeah. How are you?
George Beesley
I'm very good. Thanks. Just been packing today for moving back to England on Friday after being in Sweden for a while. So yeah, it's been really awesome to be here. The nature the outdoors is just really, really cool, super liberal, wild camping laws and all that good stuff. Not many people.
Becka Heaps
I think that's awesome.
George Beesley
Yeah, yeah, it's it's a really good spot. I think there's something like 9 million people here. And the landmass is about three times that of England. So lots and lots of space. And they're all super into the outdoors. So it's been really good. If you come across anything interesting in the news, or any articles this week,
Becka Heaps
where there's been that all that kerfuffle about Uber, but I'm not exactly sure what the outcome has been this
George Beesley
is that thing as to whether they are treated as employees or contractors. And they kind of lost the lawsuit. And they said, Yeah, you are employee. So you have to give them a few more benefits.
Becka Heaps
Yeah and they have to have above the minimum wage. And there's this whole argument about when they are available to start driving. And when they actually start driving. You know, if you worked at Marks and Spencers and you have to be there at 930, then you get paid from 930 whether there's a customer or not. And so Uber drivers are saying they should be paid, you know, from the point that they check in basically that they're available.
George Beesley
Interesting. Well, I think that's going to be major spanner in the works for Ubers business model if they get an A thing kind of more punitive. But yeah, interesting stuff. What did I come across this week? I came across the platypus news. It's kind of satirical environmentalism. And it's really good actually. It's very funny and kind of tackles serious environmental issues but is just very funny. So a few good pieces on there. One of them that I saw today was economist stumped if the markets so good, how commit destroyed nature. That was pretty good one and kind of coming from a finance background. It was interesting. And they were talking about how people always praise the market and how wonderful it's been. And it is really good if you're somebody in the Western world, but otherwise it's it's pretty awful. And especially not good if you're a nonhuman. So yeah, there's some other ones to check out if listeners are interested. There was one so they got some pretty interesting titles. One of them was Jesus in bestiality scandal denies affair with Mary pangolin, which was like very, they're often better than that. That one's out on pretty lowball. Then there was milking psychedelic toads, the next logical step for the wellness industry. So yeah, it's all satirical, which is, but yeah, some some good reads. And actually some good stuff in there. So listeners head over to the platypus newsletter. I'll put the link in the show notes. Okay. It's good stuff, Becker or glad everything's good. So now let's kick off the pod. So yeah, we're joined with Jarvis Jarvis. How's it going?
Jarvis Smith
Hey, I'm good. Thank you. So fascinating. I'm gonna definitely tune into the platypus news when it says much more interesting than any news that I get to read or see.
George Beesley
And we're all terrible, it can turn a lot of people off and be not particularly engaging. Whereas if you use comedy, but then kind of Trojan horse in the serious stuff as well, it keeps people going back to it.
Becka Heaps
Yeah, I guess I'm at the other end of the scale. It is doom and gloom, and we are all gonna die unless we fix a problem. So, you know, horses for courses?
George Beesley
Well, yeah, I think we probably need a bit of everything.
Jarvis Smith
Just, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. If that was the case, I definitely wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today, which is trying to inspire people to make those small changes that we need to know. Just a bit of tongue in cheek.
George Beesley
Yeah, it's really interesting, actually, like, I think you see somebody like Greta tunberg. And she is very much like, I'd probably say a bit doom and gloom. But, but I think that's good to have sometimes. And she always talks about had like baby steps for babies, and we're not doing enough. And anything less than really, solving the problem is just not acceptable. And I think that that is really useful to have sometimes. But yeah, I think it also, as humans, we require at least some hope, in order to make us still kind of put the effort in to make the change. So I think probably a mix of everything. Like most things, the Middle Way is the wisest way.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, great. That's the thing is Greta tunberg. She follows the science, you know, and you know, if you are just going to follow the science, then it's true, what she's saying it's a fact based on the science. Yeah,
Becka Heaps
I think the difficulty arises when if people get scared, you get paralyzed, and then people can't do anything.
Jarvis Smith
So I'm not so sure about that. That's partly because we're not, we're not caught in the chaos at the moment, at the moment. It's just a storyline. I think when we get put into the chaos, which is what's just happened with COVID, people acted very quickly. So I'm not so sure that is the case about the paralysis. I think we're incredibly, you know, agile beings that respond to a circumstance. And you know, so I guess that's probably what what humanity is waiting for is just for the reality to happen, and then see if we can quickly enough respond. And that's a shame, because actually, if we started really dealing with stuff now, it might not be so chaotic.
George Beesley
There's so many reasons why it's better to act now than later. I mean, if you look at it purely from an economic standpoint, it's far cheaper to act now than it is to wait until shit really hits the fan. And then you have to react, it's much better to invest in resilience and adaptation now than it is to wait until everything goes pear shaped. But unfortunately, the nature of the problem of climate change is that and all the other environmental problems that we face, too, they are kind of longer term scale. And they're a bit more ethereal, like you mentioned Jarvis, whereas COVID happened overnight, and it can affect you now. And so the problem of COVID is far smaller and far less complex. But as humans, we're just hardwired to think to prioritize things that are going to happen fairly soon in the future. Whereas the kind of longer term stuff. And that's good from keeping a kind of caveman alive point of view, because you shouldn't be worrying about like, what's going to happen in 10 years, when you don't even you can't even feed yourself tomorrow. And we still have a hangover of that. But I think there's so many things that are really important to like policy should therefore be reflected of the fact that we know humans have this psychological downfall of not being able to really think long term not being able to take short term pain, even for long term benefit. I mean, it's it's a huge topic, and maybe we'll get into it a little bit further down the line. But whilst we kind of already dug into it, I do like to start with a few quickfire questions. So these are a little bit silly, but people just kind of get to know you and us and Becker, I'm actually going to ask you these ones as well.
Jarvis Smith
So Oh, yeah. Yay.
George Beesley
So Jeff, well, this is actually Becker's question first, but we haven't asked you yet. So Javis What is your favorite cheese?
Jarvis Smith
Brilliant, oh, I'm loving gonna, I'm really loving answering this because for a long time when, when my daughter was born, who's now five, and she came in with a dairy intolerance. So we very quickly found out that, you know, we had to eliminate dairy from our lives. So we became vegan, quote, unquote, vegan to the best of our ability in the way that we eat our food. So cheese was one of the hardest things to give up. I mean, I was like, you know, I'm a big cheese lover. But we did, because, you know, it was it was in solidarity for our newborn daughter. So now thankfully, there are the most amazing vegan cheeses, which we're not allowed to call vegan cheese, we have to call them V's. So there are a few different brands that we get, and they're all pretty good now, but I tell you, what, five years ago when veganism was quite a new thing, they were like eating plastic. And they're not that super tasty. You got smokey cheese and you got blue cheese and you got mozzarella and all of this kind of plant based coconut based fake cheese. So there we are. Yeah, yeah, it
George Beesley
tastes way better. We switched to oat milk a while ago oat milk is massive here in Sweden. And so what I drink is oat milk. Yeah, I thought exactly like you it used to take taste pants all that stuff. But we also move from like normal butter to is often like one brown just nails the taste and then you just go for that. Yeah, and then everyone else like lagging behind a little bit but somebody may be only or there's Yeah, a vegan butter one here that we have everyone else's All right, but there's this like really, really good.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, agreed we've got this one perfect butter that to me tastes like you know real butter on toast. And it's probably because I'm so far removed from that real taste of butter that my mind is just built this kind of This is yummy, just but it is actually a good way and you can only buy it in certain places and I can't remember the name. So excuse me, but I know it's got a black lid and it tastes delicious.
George Beesley
We'll have to taste them all and find out. Find the black blade or better favorite cheese.
Becka Heaps
So I'm gonna I can't narrow it down to just the one but I'm going to say my favorite summer cheese would be mozzarella with the tomato and the basil. And maybe a little bit of balsamic vinegar, but coming into Christmas, I'd go for a richer cheese with some nice chutney or even some fakes. Or grapes.
George Beesley
Yeah. Do you like the stinky stuff or not really?
Becka Heaps
Yeah, I do. I do but my the rest of the family doesn't. So it's mostly less thinking.
George Beesley
You don't want to be the only person eating the stinky cheese either. It's either all or nothing. Everyone's got to be on board or no one. Okay, good stuff. Question two Javis. Bear Grylls or Ray Mears.
Jarvis Smith
Oh, Bear Grylls. Oh, really?
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, how come partly because I've met him and he was a really nice guy. You know, if I if I was to live my life again, if I knew what I knew now and I was coming back and having another guy I would definitely go into the SES that would be the thing that I would want to do. So you know for that he's my he's my
George Beesley
hero. Very cool. Yeah, that was my childhood dream. I remember telling everybody in careers day and all that stuff through school that I was going to be in the SES and they were just like, No, no, you're not and it was it was I was so into it when I was younger I still all sorts of weird things like try and hold my breath and swimming pool for as long as I could and stand outside in the rain and conditioned myself as like a 13 year old boy a 14 year old boy and yeah, I got a bit older and then realized because I like the idea of all the challenge and all of that stuff and being like the elite soldier but then as I learned a bit more kind of politics of you actually go and have to kill people in a war. I was like, I don't want to do that but I just want to like run round and field and get muddy and carry heavy things with rain and all that stuff. But I think it would be really exciting life I think very very exciting stuff and he gets he gets a lot of shit Bear Grylls but getting into the SS is certainly no mean feat. So very cool. How about you Becker?
Becka Heaps
Bear all day long all day
George Beesley
long. Really? Now we've got we've got no wholesome outdoor bushcraft cooker
Jarvis Smith
surprise with these answers. And yeah, these as eco warriors. You're kind of like what is going on? With my
George Beesley
guy number three tent or camper van?
Jarvis Smith
Both?
Becka Heaps
Yeah,
Jarvis Smith
yeah, cuz I'd have a camper van for my wife and I stick all the kids in the tent.
George Beesley
Ideal. Yeah, there we go. So some tips for camping with kids. Stick them in the tent. Becker.
Becka Heaps
Well, I'm going to have to say tent being founder of tencha I mean, it's much nicer you know, I don't know how you can be stuck in a tiny little camper van. I was hoping it was gonna be here so we could have a better debate. Sorry.
Jarvis Smith
I wasn't thinking small camper van. I was thinking Winnebago you know, I was
George Beesley
American RV style, just like a giant
Jarvis Smith
whether those favors meet
George Beesley
Yeah, we saw loads of those when we're out on our bike trip in Alaska. And I did think like, they look amazing, especially to travel somewhere like Alaska, where it's just nobody's there is enormous, but superduper comfy went in a few of them. And just amazing. They're expensive pieces of kit though. They're just like, make down just like a house. They really are a house on wheels. Yeah, yeah, we
Jarvis Smith
traveled across the Northern Territory of Australia. In one there was six of us. So it was you know, it was a bit of a beast and I have to be honest, I much prefer camping, though. You know, put me in a tent all day long. I would I would camp
Becka Heaps
off and she came through in the end well down cause 10 All the way Yeah,
Jarvis Smith
no, I love camping is is the best thing ever. But I think you know you gave me a choice. So I just went for both. That's live abundance.
George Beesley
Okay, number four. If you could bring back any extinct animal. What would it be?
Jarvis Smith
Ah, that's a good one. T Rex,
George Beesley
the T Rex, you have I think you're more of an anarchist than than an eco warrior. What what why the T Rex just for the entertainment or the,
Jarvis Smith
my daughter would be just really thrilled. The fact that she'd get to see a real dinosaur. I mean, it just just just to see, the joy on her face before we got eaten would just be I think I could die have
George Beesley
very good, Becca.
Becka Heaps
I think I think I'd have to go for a woolly mammoth,
George Beesley
woolly mammoth
Jarvis Smith
or you. I reckon you just trumped me there. But I'll tell you that I'd say that.
George Beesley
Have you seen the guy the very eccentric geneticists who's who wants to bring back the woolly mammoth? I think he may be from Oxford uni. I'll have to find him and link him in the show notes. But super intelligent guy, but he's just hell bent on bringing back the mammoth. He's like, this is a great idea we can use it for there's so much meat on them being him should get together. Yeah, you too. Have a board. I have to find the story.
Jarvis Smith
But interesting stuff. You could put a mini 10 someone couldn't you you know like you do on a on a Lando for a Jeep or so you just put a mini tents on the back of a mammoth and that would be like it just your new existence. It'd be amazing. for that.
Becka Heaps
It is so cozy as well. You could use his for as the bed.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, yeah. Nice. Yeah, like laying on one soft straw.
George Beesley
How much bigger is a woolly mammoth than an elephant?
Jarvis Smith
I don't know. But let's say let's say at least five times bigger.
George Beesley
Wow. Imagine riding that like rocking up to school on that bad boy. And you've been you've got the first one. Like nobody else. Your daughter rocks up to school on a woolly mammoth. And everyone's like, nice that you're
Becka Heaps
in you get off, you'd be like, what you're looking at? Loving to see.
George Beesley
I'm all in sounds good. Okay, great stuff. Well, Java's think for some people listening will kind of be familiar with your story. But for those who aren't. Can you tell us a bit about your journey into sustainability?
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, I mean, I've always been connected with nature. So it's one of the things that I think really got me through the crazy experience of childhood. But there was one kind of, I guess, really pivotal moment is that I was invited onto a TV show, back in 2006, called dumped, which was on Channel Four. And it's where 10 individuals were invited to live in a, in an extreme environment that was linked to an eco challenge. So we didn't know where we go in and what we were doing. But I was the only one asked out of the 11 people. In fact, 10, one person left. So there was there was 11. Altogether, that were, I was invited by the researchers, because they knew I was a bit of a kind of tree hugging hippie. And I was really into kind of spiritual work at that time. So they just thought I was an interesting character. Anyway, so because it was not big brother, or, you know, some kind of horrible type TV show that I definitely wouldn't go on to. I said, Yes. And we ended up living on a landfill, which was a set, but it was made from a real landfill, which is right next to the landfill. And we had to live there for three weeks. And essentially, the show was to highlight what is one person's waste, or they think they throw it away. It's another person's, you know, resource, right? And, you know, you got to look at places like you know, I guess the places in Mumbai, you know, Dharavi, and places like that, where people do live in rubbish tips and in Kenya and various other places around the world. So that was a quite a shocking experience for me, because we embraced the experience as if it was, you know, some kind of post apocalyptic disaster like New Orleans, or, you know, the tsunami had hit or something like that. So we kind of treated it like that. And there was a pivotal moment, on the third week, when a local dustbin truck went around to collect the rubbish and kind of come and dumped it on our, on our, on our what was now our home, you know, we built somewhere to sleep and somewhere to shed somewhere to shower and somewhere to, you know, kind of do all the things that you need to do to survive as a tribe on this kind of environment. And so this will this truck came and dumped the stuff and we had to put on this protective clothing, you know, kind of COVID masks and protective gloves and white overalls and the whole thing and start siphoning through this stuff that had just been collected from the local streets and we had to basically decide what could be recycled what couldn't be recycled and what could I think it was glass was the other one. And so after about 20 minutes of doing this, I literally felt physically sick like I wanted just had a really bad headache and just, you know, like the kind of day after your 18th birthday where you just toxic. I just felt awful. Now, because I'd had this kind of Shamanic training that I had before you know, this is when I was used to kind of releasing energy and replacing energy and replenishing my you know, the way I was feeling with something new. And so I said to the research, and sorry, the TV cameras I said I can't do this anymore. I'm gonna go and you know, kind of have clear this toxicity I laid on laid on the earth and just started sounds really wacky now and you look back at it, but I laid on the I started kind of releasing this toxic energy that I was feeling. And what I do to replenish myself is draw this energy up from from the earth, right to kind of cleanse me. And as I did that, I got this, you know, like a bolt of lightning type shock. And I heard these words, and it said, how you are feeling now is how I feel it's what you're doing to me, I'm sick, and I need your help to tell people, that it's humans that are causing this damage. And it was like, Oh, my God, it was such a wake up call. It gave me purpose. It gave me you know, values. It gave me everything that I needed to do what I do today. And so I committed to camera that I would dedicate my whole life's work not only my personal but my business life, to educating and inspiring people about the damage that we were doing to the planet in the way that we lived. And that that was literally the moment. I went away from that. And I went back to my publishers and I said, I want to launch an ethical lifestyle magazine, are you up for it, and they work for it. And so we did that. And then I sold the project to National Geographic a year later and launched, you know, the world's biggest ethical lifestyle magazine, National Geographic. And then we realized we didn't have much of a sustainable business model. And so we develop that to become the magazine that we do today with a guardian. So you know, it was all about that wake up moment that I had. And, you know, there were lots of stories about people, you know, near death experiences, car crash, you know, whatever it might be, thankfully, mine was less dramatic. I just got a bit of a headache and felt a bit sick. And that was my pivotal turning point that I got to feel connected with the earth in a way that perhaps most people are disconnected from our, you know, the Earth, which I believe is a conscious being that provides everything that we exist on, that was the beginning of the journey.
Becka Heaps
That's such an incredible experience, like a the three weeks living on a dump, basically, and then having an enlightened top moment. And you can totally remember that point. That's That's an incredible thing. Yeah. And interestingly, so you're going back to 2006, do you feel like people are changing more now? Because I imagine you've been banging your head against a brick wall for quite some time.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah. I mean, the thing is, when when one aligns with a true purpose like that, which for me, it is a true purpose, then it does, it doesn't matter, you've got a mission, and you've got to fulfill that mission. So you know what, what's really interesting was his UI is 2006. And then the show aired in 2007, which gave me a profile. So I was able to pick up the phone to any CEO of any sustainable company and say, hey, it's jar from the dump, you know, you might have seen it, you might not have seen it. But it gave me an inroad to speak to everybody at top level. But the point of that is, is that back then there weren't really many companies that dealt with sustainability. Now it's a huge topic is the weren't many people that even cared about or even understood the word sustainability. Definitely climate change wasn't on the agenda in 2007. You know, we knew environmentalists and we knew that there was a bit of an issue, but we didn't know it was climate chaos that we know today. So my purpose, if you like, was to try and inform and inspire people. And what we ended up doing is becoming pioneers and thought leaders in the space. And you know, all the big news channels followed us from the BBC, to all the mainstream newspapers all thing. So we were the only ones and actually, we weren't the only ones. Actually, there was the ecologist and a few others. But we were one of the only ones putting this news out as a USP every day, back then it did feel a bit like, you know, beating a drum and nobody really was like, Oh, well, there's a bit of a noise over there and get back to what they were doing. So yes, now everybody knows about the climate chaos. And some people are perhaps a little bit in denial, but you can't ignore it. Of course, there's, there's a massive shift in consciousness and awareness. where the problem is, is that not many people are doing anything about it. So we all know about it. And it's mainstream you certainly in the UK, I mean, I, I can't I can't pretend to know what it's like around the rest of the world. But, you know, David Attenborough blue planet, you know, the BBC have been absolutely fundamental in the consciousness shift in our, in our country, you know, even Trump when he pulled out of the Paris Agreement, you know, the biggest it was the biggest advert that we could have got for other countries committing to the Paris Agreement. It was like, it was amazing, but But I think what we've really lost connection with is the adverts that nature gives us you know, nearly every week now, whether it's a flood, whether it's half a billion species dying in, in Australian fires, you know, whether it's the Amazon jungle burning down, you know, it's like every day, there is something that happens on the planet that is the biggest advert that we and we're still like, you know, slow boiling frogs in a you know, in the water that's getting hotter and hotter every day. And I'm not jumping out I mean, it's just absolutely insane. So we're all crazy, really as a species because we just, you know, we're not kind of trying to mitigate it on scale as as as a collective species, so sorry for my rant, but obviously I'm clearly really passionate about this and my I feel like it's my duty to try and wake people up which is a bit like going back to your first, you know, a bit of inspiration, which was, you know, let's try and live in hope and let's keep it up, you know, let's keep it up the, you know, we're going to die by and the planet is going to do what it needs to do. So we either think, okay, are we going to go out with with a bang, or we're going to, you know, try and do every single thing that we can within our power to try and mitigate this issue which we can with resilience, you know, restoration regeneration, you know, living completely differently, are we just going to carry on like this and go, Oh, dear, nevermind, you know, it's like, it's such a big issue, the most important thing is, every single person can individually take responsibility. So although it's a big issue, we can check, we can only ever change ourselves, like we can only ever change the things that we do, ourselves. And that that's what my mission is about is trying to inspire people to make those small changes, because you know, that they are big changes if everybody does it. Yeah.
George Beesley
What do you think is the biggest impediment to real action now, we've had the science for a number of years, I mean, people have been screaming about how human how kind of anthropogenic climate change happens for over 100 years. And then in the last kind of, let's say, 50, it's become more clear and the last 20, in the last 10, it's become, it's not possible to argue with the science is very, very clear. I mean, there's obviously we're looking at stochastic models forecasting the future. There's lots of uncertainty, it's a complex adaptive system. But the fact is that we know that human behavior is changing the planet, and that we are warming the planet in a way that we haven't seen in the last 800,000 years. So the evidence is there, pretty much everybody knows it. Why isn't the change being made?
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, I mean, it's the systems that, you know, it's a shame that the systems that we've built in order to, to what we call, kind of live live a lifestyle, that completely dysfunctional, and they've completely disconnected from nature. So we've got, you know, complete systemic change. And that comes into, you know, it, I mean, it starts at the very basics, and then it and then it moves into, you know, the very, very important things, but, you know, unless we can change, you know, the government's and the way that they operate, and the way that, you know, the very economic system that seems to drive our planet is completely buggered. So that's got to change. And if you think about it, economics is just very simply a manmade concept. So what I think we need to do is go back to the the times before the manmade concepts started to come in, because economics, industrialization, you know, all of this stuff, is we completely detached from the reality of what's going on. So it's a massively loaded question. And, you know, I do have some answers to it. But I think what we've never had is a global awareness and opportunity, like we've just had from the recent pandemic, it's the first time globally we've been able to actually experience collectively cause and effect, ie, stop going to work, stop flying, air quality, air pollution, you know, goes away. I mean, the unfortunate thing is, we just posted a news story today on my green pod, you know, the science is now showing that the air quality is back, the pollution is back to where it was before the pandemic, already. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's really sad. So, so what we've got to do is we've got to completely change, you know, the big systems that are, you know, really based around fossil fuel industry. And that's, you know, that's, that's a big one is because it's all money, so money and power driven. And unless we can, you know, unless we can stop feeding the system, and that's where we are real people can come in is like, we can stop feeding the system, but we are going to have to take a few hits on the chin and change our lifestyles and stop living like, you know, we're thinking we're kings and, you know, it's it's kings and queens actually, it's not just a male thing.
George Beesley
So, yeah, I completely agree the kind of the, we need a whole systemic change. It's the the model, the economic model that we have now is just built around using profit and financial indicators of whether thing, something's good or not. So should we build this mine? The only question is, well, does it make more money than it costs? But what we haven't done is think about the bigger picture, which is what about the social implications and the environmental implications? Those need to be brought in and factored into the equation as well. So there's lots of stuff that we need to do on a on the big scale. But what about the you mentioned before that people who take individual actions collectively adds up to kind of giant change on a global scale? And like you said, we've seen COVID has changed the behavior and lifestyle of basically the whole planet very, very quickly. So when there's the real will people take giant change their governments will, will make laws that we didn't even think were possible, like you're not allowed to go outside. Exactly people what we put people will not leave their house, all stuff that we thought was impossible. But then COVID comes around, which has been tragic, but pales in significance to climate related problems and sustainability. So what can people do? What are the big things that you think most important things to start with? Because it for some people, we, the reality is a lot of people have loads of stuff going on in their life, they've got kids, they've got job, they do want to do the right thing, but they just don't really know where to start. So what should they be thinking about?
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, um, it's great question, you know, I guess we're probably, you know, well equipped to answer that, because we've been following the, you know, the, the conscious shopper, if you like, for for 14 years, there are six things that people are willing to change in their lifestyles very quickly, is what what do they put in their bodies? What do you put on your body? What do you use in your home? How do you buy your energy? How do you travel from A to B? And how'd you go on holiday? There, there the six things that people are willing to commit to changes. So you know, if you can ask those questions to yourself, and maybe you can list those, you know, points actually, in some kind of thing that people can look at. But, you know, people are starting to eat differently, you know, definitely the younger generations are coming in with a more of an awareness about the factory farmed foods and things like that. So we've got to change that. That's something we can all do is eat, eat less factory farmed food, what are you using on your body? Now, the big thing is, is that you know, most people are trying to buy not most actually, because, of course, it's all a price point. Some people are trying to buy products that are more conscious, if you like less plastic, the real problem is the ingredients in the products that we're buying. So you know, there's liquid plastics, polymers, there's toxic chemicals, there's all this kind of stuff. So people can really need to try and buy accredited organic or Soil Association certification products that they're putting on their bodies, you know, organic shampoos, natural skincare, tears, toothpaste, deodorant, that kind of stuff. Yeah, the plastic thing is an issue, but it's not as big an issue as the toxic chemicals in the ingredients, you know, there's a use for plastic, with becoming clever recycling it, and we say an infinite resource, we can keep reusing it, there's a lot of it out there already. So let's just keep using it. Don't think plastic is gonna save the planet is not, you know, the other one is, what ingredients are you using in your home. So you know, most people's homes are more toxic on the inside than they are on the outside. Why, because of the the amount of different cleaning products that they're using. And this fusion of those chemicals that creates this kind of super fusion of toxicity. It's profound, you know, these big companies that are making these products that are actually doing more harm to us than good. What what we can do as is actually change our mindset, I feel this is a better and easier thing to do. If every decision that you make in terms of when you get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, you go to the toilet, you have a bit of toast, you have an apple, you drink some coffee, you go to work, you put your clothes and all that stuff, if you can just think about nature, in every aspect of that decision making process that you go. So each day, you know, is this is the toothpaste that I'm using, you know, is it Is it harmful to nature? Or was it actually, you know, including nature in its process? Is this t shirt that I've just put on? Is that bleached? And is it damaged? You know, is it damaged nature in its process? Or is it actually respecting nature? You know, is it got natural food does it got, you know, I think there's a mindset that we need to change. And it's like, could nature be our decision maker? And are we happy to fall in with that co creation with nature as we make those decisions? And I reckon, and you can quote me on this because it's now going to go live I reckon if nature if we include nature in our thought process and simple decision making, just by acknowledging the very fact that nature's or the Earth has created this product that we're using, I reckon she'll step up and completely fix the issues that we are calling climate crisis, because that's the first step of reconnecting, and I reckon she'll just go, okay, yeah, these guys actually do mean what they're saying, because they're acknowledging me in their thought process. Let's start to transform things because nature's miraculous we can't even begin to get our heads around how nature how amazing nature is. Because if we did, we definitely wouldn't be treating the earth and the planet and nature in the way that we do by using the other resources and not even caring about consequence. So my thing is this, when you take from nature, try and give back. So even with a thought, or with a process, I buy something and plant a tree or buy something from a company that's planting a tree like we do at my green pod. Every transaction we plant a tree for every single purchase. You know, if Amazon did that, we would literally not be in the situation that we're in because they were the planted, you know, probably a trillion trees, which is about a third of the trees that have been ripped out of the planet. So that in itself would mitigate the carbon issues that we have about rising temperatures, that there's another bit to this right. And I think this is really, really important. This is something I'm working on now, because businesses have a huge responsibility, right to be able to give people products that are much more imbalanced with nature, here's the big thing, if we can make the Earth, our Chairman and the board, the feminine principles, because I think we've lost touch as a species to the feminine principles of compassion, and love and unity, and, you know, and receiving and allowing, and you know, all of that stuff, right. And then if we can make nature, the CEO, and then humanity, the team, if that could be our new business model, then it will change everything.
George Beesley
And that's a great way to think about it. And it's, it is really encouraging to see that some companies are getting it, we're not moving quickly enough. But there's all the different actors in this being kind of the general population, government and business, which are the really three big parts of this. There's exciting things going on in each of them, I think we'd all agree that it's probably not moving quick enough. But at least there are some exciting things like Becker last week, you brought the article about the fact that you there in installing the right to repair. So if you sell stuff like now, when companies make things like technology, or TVs or refrigerators, there's planned obsolescence, they, they make it so it breaks in a few years, so you have to buy a new one. And now they're changing that this idea of the circular economy, which is going to be so crucial to fixing the problem taking a bit exactly like you mentioned before it, you're kind of you're on your TV show, how can we use the waste from one product as the input for the new product, and we're starting to see bits of that coming through in a number of different places, from the government, from individuals and from businesses, too. So a lot of companies are starting to do that to take things back, whether it being clothing or in so many different areas, but what what are you seeing that encouraging you what what do you see that excites you about people's action that they're taking towards sustainability,
Jarvis Smith
you know, in the in the sector that we're in, there are new products from entrepreneurial business people that are quite disruptive in the grand scheme of our, you know, our economic, you know, consumer behavior system. And that is just brilliant, because, you know, if we can encourage people to, you know, buy more locally and get more in touch with the, you know, the brands and the manufacturers that are, you know, providing these quite disruptive products in the big game, then that that has a huge knock on effect. And it creates a system that is perhaps more reflective of the ecosystem that has become damaged in nature. So I'm feeling like, what I'm seeing is we are beginning to replicate or mimic nature, in the way that its ecosystem is bad, or well, is unbalanced, but it's kind of should be balanced. And I think that's really, really very cool. So we are seeing this reuse economy, we are seeing this non toxic, cleaner products situation, we are seeing, you know, younger generation, certainly and and some some more, you know, becoming more plant based eaters, because it's just, you know, they're kind of born into a time where it's like, you kind of have to otherwise you're part of the problem and not a solution. Right. So I'm really encouraged by that kind of grass roots movement that's going, what I'm less discouraged. What I'm less encouraged about is governments and big business, because they actually could turn things around very, very quickly. If they committed to it, you know, they can make money, you know, quantitive easing make enough money to fix the problem that you know, is like, it is actually really very simple if we really wanted to deal with it. So I think we've got to drive the storyline and the narrative. And we do that by you know, how we live from what our lifestyles are, and that we have the power because we're actually the majority, the people, the grassroots people are the majority. We're feeding all these systems that are not serving us. So if we pull our money out from these systems and put them into other systems that are better for for the future generations that that's the power that we've got, as individuals. I mean, it's such a big story.
Becka Heaps
Don't get despondent Jarvis. I think you're absolutely right. You're right. In the end, I hope
George Beesley
there's the there's the democratic power that we have the fact that the way yes, it we kind of forget being in the weeds, how our government what our government really means the way that a democracy is meant to work is that everyone is supposed to have a say. It just happens that there's so many of us that it's not practical for it first 50 million people to go down to Westminster and put their hand up if they agree. So we elect a representative, but their job is to reflect the will of their constituents, not to stay in power for another term or lobby for business. So we really need to think about that and realize how important our political voices and if People aren't representing us, then vote them out and engage in politics, but then also to vote with your with your wallet as well, which kind of works with the lot of the work that you do. So you can choose to buy from brands who embrace this new way of thinking about sustainability. And I think that the sharing economy is really, really exciting. And Becca, having set up tents share, I think that's a really good example of the fact that we don't need all these resources to keep buying tents, a lot of people will buy a tent and use it a few times in summer, why not? Instead, share what we've got and turn it into an asset, I think, Becky, you did a really good job of talking about the benefits, maybe you want to just talk a little bit about temperature and your idea and the sharing economy, to pick
Becka Heaps
up what Jarvis was saying that there's some new ideas coming through. And they're quite disruptive. And I think TennCare is possibly one of those business models, because it's based on the sharing economy. So the money doesn't go up to one flat care who receives all the money, what it allows is for people to have their own assets, in this instance, the tent, and for people to be able to make money from it. But also you're not feeding but you're spreading the wealth in a in a localized area. So someone who wants to rent a tent will probably rent from someone who is in their local area, or they can go to the place. And then if they're going to be a tourist there, not only are they spending their money there, but they're spending money with people who live in that local area. I think people find that concept tricky. Because people keep saying to me, why don't you just buy loads of tents, and then you can rent them out. And then you get all the profit. It's like, You've totally missing the point here. The point is that we're reusing resources, where we're not, I'm not going and buying 20 tents to then rent out i I'm using the resources we already have, and allowing people to make well from
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, I love it. I know, it's that mindset that is actually going to gonna mitigate the, you know, the most serious issue of humanity's time. And the problem is, is that we, you know, the way the way societies have been set up, it's like, it's that different mentality, particularly in business, and, you know, in consumption and this kind of model around consumerism, it does
Becka Heaps
need to work like you say, it needs to work on a business level for it to be taken seriously in this current society. Yeah. And, you know, that's the thing that has to happen, I think. But there are loads of sharing a carrot economy companies coming through there's a car share one in Bristol, called Catia. And he's doing brilliant things. So you can just borrow, he's got an app, you can just borrow a car, put it on your app that you want to use with car and you can just go and get it and and then start driving it and then bring it back or leave it in the place. That's amazing. It of course, and his camper vans. He's exactly the same. He's sharing the wealth and allowing people to make money from their camper vans.
Jarvis Smith
And we know the model don't work because of the Airbnb. I mean, everyone everyone you know, everyone's been an Airbnb is like an Uber, actually, which we talked about at the beginning. You know, it's another case, it's the kind of gig or sharing economy, it still kind of the same thing. Is that what people said
Becka Heaps
about Airbnb, it will never work, who's going to rent out their own home? Who's going to rent out their own space? They were told it would never work. And
Jarvis Smith
look how successful it's
George Beesley
been. It's really that mindset shift again, isn't it? It's the fact that we didn't think that that was possible. If you'd have asked 10 people on the street, will you rent your home out to a stranger? For 50 quid, you'd say, No, I've never do that. But then as soon as other people do it, there's that kind of social buy in while other people are doing it. So it must be fine. And then it just re educates us about what's kind of normal, what's acceptable, what's a good what's the safe thing to do? What What should we be doing? So I think Airbnb have done a lot for Springboarding this whole idea because so many businesses have been launched, and they're described as that we are there x, we are the Airbnb of x. So it really I think, did create this mindset shift where people are thinking about how can I use that marketplace type mentality and yeah, with with what you guys are doing on your website as well, you're you're doing I think kind of similar thing you are instead taking so Javis your you can tell us a little bit more about the specifics. But I think you actually go and meet the people who come on your kind of marketplace to sell and form relationship and check that they really do walk the walk because greenwashing and impact washing is massive. It's kind of a marketer's dream. People who don't really believe in this stuff, just think oh, a new way to entice people and sell to people this will be our or they're just worried that there'll be left behind because they know that the consumer is more conscious now, so you certainly have to be thoughtful of that. But yeah, what what advice do you think people you'd give to people Making sure that they're on board when they're choosing who to buy from
Becka Heaps
my green part.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, I mean, of course I would, you know, I would recommend our sites, I mean, there are others out there that are pretty good. You know, when you're buying stuff, nothing's perfect perfection is not buying anything at all, by or growing, you know, in organic soil on your land, you know, that that's, that's perfection. So the next step of that is okay, if you need to buy something, do you? Do you actually need to buy it new? Or can you get you know, can you get it from eBay? Or can you get it from a charity, you know, shop, if we're allowed to shop again, you know, that's, that's kind of number two, and then you know, okay, so if you do need something new, then at least buy the least toxic product available. So what we do at migraine part is we find the best products that we possibly can for their use. And we we just have one or two options to make it very, super simple for people that want to make a lifestyle shift and switch from a, you know, a product that might be damaging them or the planet and and switch to something that has less damage to them, and the planet. And so I think the point of that is, is that we have very, very high standards when it comes to picking ingredients. So that's number one. I mean, my wife, Katie, she used to be deputy editor, which she really understands, you know, what, what is the best that it can be, because that she's an investigative journalist. That's, that's her skill set. But then we take it deeper than that. So firstly, we find you the best products, we don't have many of them. So we make it very simple for you to make a choice, we plant a tree every time you buy from us. So we're giving back to nature, when you take what I think we really pride ourselves in is exactly that is meeting the fine founders behind the products. So to give you a really good example of this, and most people still are not fully aware of this, but a lot of people buy e Cova. And method products because they're in the supermarket shelves, we know they're eco, you know, it's a convenience thing. So you buy it, the problem is, is that those products, those brands are owned by SC Johnson and SC Johnson's Global Sustainability Initiative is crap, you know, is really bad. And they still test on animals and stuff like that in other countries, and you know, so it's not a good company. So you're buying a product that is pretty good for, you know, pretty good for the environment, but you're funding a company that doesn't care about your kids future. What we do is we eliminate that process. So we won't have products on there that are owned by big conglomerates that don't care about anything, you know, globally, they might care about it in England, a bit like McDonald's. Yeah, talking about stuff in the in UK about organic, but go and see what they're doing in other countries. It's diabolical, Sabir Pepsi and Coca Cola and, you know, the list goes on. So big companies only doing this kind of greenwashing thing in the UK is because they're no consumers. And I hate the word consumers, because we're actually people that like to shop for that are branded as consumers, you know, they're changing their narrative. They're changing the way that they do things. So these big companies again, oh, look, zombie Great. Yeah, we wouldn't. I mean, I think there's one product, you know, out there that is pretty good owned by a big company, or maybe a few now, but, you know, pocket tees, for example, is a fantastic product. You know, I know, the owners and the founders, then they sold to Unilever. And you know, so what a Unilever going to do with a product, who knows. So I think what we're trying to do is make it simple and keeping it real and always transparent. So we'll get a product and is a great example. Lots and lots of brands came out new brands came out to try and deal with the plastic issue by so they came up with these kind of reusable containers, you know, a subscription type service, you know, a sachet, refillable sachet, whatever it might be right, but 99% of the ones that we've had through our doors are not dealing with the much more serious issue, which is the toxic chemicals and ingredients within the cleaning product itself, right. So you've got all these kinds of quite slick subscription services that are dealing with the plastic issue, but the toxicity of the ingredients in the products are worse than the products that you will probably consider buying, you know, from your high street. And that's so that, you know, we we eliminate that we don't buy into anything. If people can't tell us what the ingredient is and where it comes from, then we won't have it on our platform. So as simple as that. So there's one called Power food, right that you often see products, it'd be nice, clean, natural products, but it will have power for a minute. Is that Well, what is that? You know, is it it's obviously some kind of toxic chemical scent. And if they can't tell us it's a natural pathway, and then we won't have it on the site. So that's what we do, we take the hassle out of choosing clean products. Now often, they are a bit more expensive. But the quality and the cost per use is often better. So it's like you might pay a bit more upfront, but actually, you get to use that shampoo bar as you would for two bottles of shampoo. And it's like because it lasts that long. You know, it's like you know, so it's just again, it's back to mindset.
Becka Heaps
I love your site because like when I'm looking for something I go straight to
have chosen because
Becka Heaps
I know you've done all your research for me. Yeah, yeah, I don't have to worry about greenwashing.
Jarvis Smith
And I think that's it. And I can tell very quickly by being on a call having done this for so long, I can tell very quickly whether somebody is in it, because they're in it for purpose and values, or whether they're in it to cash in, honestly, I can tell within about three sweet questions I can tell. And that there was an economist guy called Victor libro, who was a very, very clever economist, and kind of, I guess, a bit of a kind of advertising man back in the day. And essentially, they created the kind of economic model that we you know, that all brands and all business models, and we're all bought into that consumers live by today. And the quote is this, and it might take me a second together. So first of all, you know, the term consumer, embodied embodies the word consume. And, you know, some analysis of the word consumed means to use up until it's gone. So to be a consumer, it means that you're you're buying into using something until it's gone, that can't be a good thing for us to be by, you know, for us to, to be labeling ourselves as right. So that took me on a little journey. And the journey was that I came across this information by, and the quote is, and it's just taking me a little bit long. So I'm waffling on a bit until this opens, come on computer,
George Beesley
this, this is adding to the suspense, this is good.
Jarvis Smith
Okay, here we go. Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption, our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction in consumption, we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever accelerating rate. Now, that is what our current economic system is built on. So we are buying into stuff that we probably don't really need, but the advertising and the manipulation has become so slick that we think we need it. So the really good example of this is pandemic arrives, we commit to buying essential goods, only non essential goods come off the shelves, the economy, pretty much collapses. So 80% of the stuff that is funding our economical economic system is is non essential. It's just there to fund the economic system that were bought into that is just ludicrous.
George Beesley
Yeah, that's a great way to think about it. When we stopped buying the things that we don't need, everything goes to shit, everything went to shit. I think I might have seen that in donut economics. Or maybe it was another one. So I was just about to ask you about kind of good resources. But yeah, I highly recommend donut economics by Kate Ray worth really, really, really good book about greed, kind of zooming out and dilating on that issue of consumerism. So we used to be hunter gatherers, then we develop, then we had religion, and that's what gave us a kind of spiritual and community. And then then we had like, the God is dead after nature. And then what are we left with? Well, consumerism, and that was our way to kind of get that exactly like you were talking about then to get our not only our kind of spiritual needs, but also our social needs, by signaling against other people by showing what we've got by accumulating things. And then now we're at this junction where we've crossed over and realized, well, accumulating lots of stuff doesn't make us happy. And instead, people are now demanding that their values are reflected on what they buy. And that's not the case of a consumer, a consumer is buying more things because they're accumulating, whereas now we're saying, I want the way that I spend my money to reflect the person that I am not in a kind of luxury sense. But in what do I believe on kind of a moral sense. And I think that's very exciting transition that we've kind of, or are moving as a society to that much more kind of higher level of consciousness, as some people would say. But on the resources point, are there any books, websites, and other things that if people are really interested in the stuff that you recommend that they go and check out,
Jarvis Smith
but just to backtrack a little bit on what you just said, because that is where it was beautifully put. And I love the way you speak to incredibly articulate, and you use really great words that I understand, but probably don't have the ability to use myself. But it's really fascinating. And you go very clear that guy, and what you've just said there is perfect because my green part is being you know, if you shot with those, you're part of something bigger than yourselves the pod is a collective right. It's a group of, you know, in our case, it's kind of seeds if you like because we're seeding a new consciousness a new way of being, I call it restorative retail, but you absolutely Why is conscious shopping and what's brilliant is consciousness has evolved tenfold to the pandemic, because people have had to stop doing what they're doing. They've been locked into the had nothing else to apart from to be with themselves and their families. And that has evolved that has created a massive amount of awareness. People used to say to me when I was kind of sitting on panels and stuff like that, you know, what's the one thing that you would do to help people and understand the first thing I always said is, we've got to get people to stop, unless they stop, just for a minute to see what happens when we stop there. We're never ever going to fix this. So that came true for me, I honestly, I didn't think I'd see that in my lifetime. I thought I'd teach you my children, and they would probably see. But the point of that is, is that once you stop, and you see cause and effect, and you get to actually have the experience, experience your response to it, which we've all now had, right, globally, unless, then you need to get yourself clued up, right, you've got to go out and you've got to do the research and the you know, the Internet of all things is the perfect way to do your research, you can find out what you need to find out these days very quickly. My answer to your question would be actually, you know, if we can get everybody to understand what they love doing and what they're really good at, if they can use that skill, then to mitigate the climate crisis, even if it's just for the next eight years. And for them to live their purpose. That's their purpose. They commit to that being their purpose. Could you imagine how every human being would be living on the planet doing what they love? For a bigger cause them for themselves, and you've got a purpose? Even if we died, we'd go out with a frickin party wouldn't wait.
George Beesley
Yeah, I love that idea. And I think it is really exciting to see more people jumping on this mission, like where we kind of all three, mission driven businesses, they are kind of still businesses, but you're in kind of regenerative retail, I really think of what call to adventure does is regenerative travel. So there's lots of intricacies and interesting stuff. It's really, I mean, adventure is something very different in itself as well. It requires that you remove yourself from the everyday that you question things that you normally don't question. So So you you go into new areas, kind of physically, but also mentally as well and challenge yourself and experience fear and hunger and all this stuff that we don't normally experience on an everyday level going to the office and days melding into each other. So I think it's adventure specifically not traveled. And then and then visiting new places, learning about new cultures, but also Yeah, the mental and physical benefits of being outside as well. But there's more and more businesses kind of doing this thing, taking this regenerative approach. So for me, I think it's a very, very exciting time. And then yeah, 10 share as well jumping on the on the sharing economy. So yeah, I think it's a it's a good time, in some ways to be alive. If we're going to be the ones who do save humanity, then what a good claim to fame. That will be
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, absolutely. I agree, have a billion people causing the problem, or have a billion people come to try and see if we can fix the problem. That's the way I would look at it. Because we are so incredibly resourceful if we if we are set to the challenge.
Becka Heaps
And I have great faith, like you say, when COVID hit the impossible was made possible. Yeah, exactly. All children coming home and not going to school anymore. That would never happen. But it did. I do know. And it just proves that it can happen, you can actually make anything possible. Yeah.
Jarvis Smith
And I think if you look at if you look at the way it was, you kind of marketed if you like, because that's essentially what the news is, and the you know, the government kind of three statements are its marketing, it was all about the science says, you know, we're listening to the science, you know, we're going to respond to what the science says, you know, all of that stuff, and light and climate crisis is all about. It's like, you know, it's a so you can see very quickly that we've now been conditioned to not live chaotically in terms of, you know, kind of addicted to non essential consumerism. So, number one, so they've already tested that, whoever is the God in this they've already tested as are we capable of that? Yes. Are they willing to listen to the science? Yes, there is clearly some super for so if you believe in God, or you know, the source or, you know, whatever it is for you, there is clearly some higher force at work here. But I think we are being invited as a species to evolve. And the only way we evolve is to become reunited and we respectful and, you know, and stop the kind of war driven, you know, kind of, you know, a consciousness that we've been living and, you know, and stop dogma around religion and just just all put down everything that we need to put down so we could work on the problem together, and we'll probably come out the other end and go car. That was a tough one. But Jesus, we've actually found we all love each other. And we'd like, you know, we're all part of the ballpark of this. And, you know, because it's a delicate, it's a delicate environment that we live on. It is showing how fragile it is now, actually, so maybe this is about human evolution. Maybe that's what we signed up for. I'm getting a bit spiritual now but that is my The background.
Becka Heaps
No, I hear you, I hear what you're saying. It says, you know, we I think we all have some sort of feeling people will people, I'm talking to have some feeling that there is a change. It's just whether we can make it a really positive one. Yeah. And change in enough time.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah. Well, whatever it will be, it'll be an experience that we learn from. Most people learn from adversity, most people learn from the biggest challenge of their time, that's like always the wake up call in, you know, in shamanic principles, which I trained in and, you know, in the sages in India, in the, you know, this, the Saudis and all of that, they all put themselves into the most difficult, extreme situation, so that they can evolve. So you'll bury yourself underground for seven days, or you'll go out into nature for 40 days without without food and water, you know, and that's how we evolved. What's happened is we've just had a little bit of a dip of a toe in a collective evolutionary spiritual process. No one's really talking about that, but is absolutely matter of fact, that's what's happened. Yeah. And we are spiritual beings that are perhaps incarnate, you know, coronated into a physical body. I do believe, you know, I very strongly believe that the spirit lives on and, you know, does whatever it decides to do next, you know, but that's, you know, I'm half Indian, and I'm very connected with that kind of, you know, bag but Geeta, type Sanskrit type, you know, Hinduism type, you know, I'm not Hindu at all, I'm not religious at all. But I'm very connected to those kinds of, you know, core spiritual lineages. And the problem is man got in the way started to control it so that they control the environment, the, you know, the religions, the politics, the businesses, the whole thing, and that's just messed everything up. Okay. We tried that it didn't work. Let's get back to basics and what how can we how can we evolve?
George Beesley
Aye, aye. I would love to just hear a little bit about I can't leave the conversation without hearing a bit more about your experience in shamanism. Can you just delve into it quickly? I'd love to hear a look. I'd love to hear a little bit more about it before before we let you go.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, thank you. Because that actually is it is the thing that drives everything that I am as a being by. So I studied with a female shaman in England, not an Ayahuasca trip, I've never done plant medicines or anything like that. I just watched shaman simply means is the wise person of the village, the person that's able to communicate with nature, and and access the set kind of sacred skills, right? So I was trained in shamanism in a sense that, you know, yoga was a yoga meditation. I now do a daily kriya you know, I listened to nature. I try and understand what nature is teaching me. You know, I listen to the wind. You know, I listen to the trees. You know, all of that stuff. That's all shamanic practice. Well, I'm well trained in that 14 years, I trained with a female shaman. That was everything I did before I got into business. So my whole business is based on shamanic, natural, what I would describe as universal laws are not man made concepts. So our business has always been about inclusion. It's been about working with everybody that's part of this journey. It's been about, you know, giving, giving our customers the best way that they can reconnect with nature through the way that they buy and use our products. You know, it's all built on those principles. But essentially, my training was deprogramming my upbringing, reprogramming so that I can connect with something rather than, you know, just the education and things that I was taught in my mind. So the mind is like a hard drive the heart and the, you know, the gut. And the full beingness of ourselves is is the is the consciousness is the way that we interact with everything around us. So the fact that we're just teaching the mind to learn and remember repetitive and you know, that's kind of no good, because what we're trying to do collectively is fix the problem with the same thinking that caused it in the first place. So my shamanic teaching has taught me to listen to something else that I don't yet know. And if every human being is willing to trust and go into the space of trying to, you know, evolve and fix this problem with with the unknown, then we might just have an opportunity to fix it, because we're seeing that trying to fix it with the very systems that caused it in the first place, or just not working. So that's kind of a bit of an insight to the shamanic principles, but I live but one thing I will say is every single day without fail, I will ask for guidance from my incarnate team. You can call them angels or guides or whatever you want to call them. And I make sure that I have a system reset and raise my frequency every single day before I start anything to do with work or or you know, or how I operate that day. Do you do that as
Becka Heaps
a ritual?
Jarvis Smith
It's a ritual. Yeah. And I think that's the gift. It's part of the ritual. It's not the practice is the ritual. I would say,
George Beesley
for me, one of the biggest things that has impressed The quality of my life of everything is just a daily meditation practice. And they've talked about quite a lot of their past. And I know it's kind of invoke, but it really is incredibly powerful. So for people who maybe haven't tried it before I found headspace really good for learning meditation and the pessimists specifically. And then Sam Harris's waking up app for some more advanced stuff moving on to XO, Chen, and more thinking about the nature of reality. And it's endlessly fascinating. So yeah, I encourage anybody, regardless of your thoughts on religion, or spirituality, it doesn't have to be spiritual at all. It's just an inquisition into your own mind and the nature of reality. So I would highly encourage people to check that out. And it's also just a good kind of reset every day before you kick off with the trials and tribulations of life. So thank you both for coming on the show. It's been really, really awesome job. It's been great to hear about what you're up to and, and your history, and I'd love to talk again and go really deep into your shamanism stuff. And so I'm sure we'll we'll chat again, if you're if you're keen. But yeah, thanks for coming on.
Jarvis Smith
I'd love to Georgia, it was a really enlightening speaking to me. You're wonderful being in the meditation just kind of just really kind of put it all together. And that's, yeah, it's a very powerful part of my life. So thank you for closing with that. I'd love to come and talk to you about my shamanic journey. I mean, it was a trip and a half without all the plant medicines. And Rebecca, thank you for having me. It was just I just really appreciate you guys having me on. And it's been a lovely conversation. Thank you. No, thank
Becka Heaps
you so much for agreeing to spend this time with us, because I know how precious your time is, and how busy you are. And you've got your new little baby.
Jarvis Smith
Yes, you were gonna ask me about newborn? Is these five weeks old now? Wow, we've got a five year old and a five week are nearly nearly six weeks old. And yeah, he's amazing. I mean, he's, you know, he's, I it felt to me, I don't I don't want to go off on a tangent. But I think when babies are born into a family, they bring in something new. But often parents say they learn from their kids. And I actually really got a sense of it. As soon as he was born, there was this different energy, there was different awareness, different consciousness. And the pivotal moments in my life have always been when a child has been born. So my 13 year old now was when I went just, you know, when I was on dumped, she was still in our mom's tummy. Right? And that was a pivotal moment. And that, you know, so it's like, it's, it's fascinating that these children are bringing in this new level of consciousness. And we've just got to re attune ourselves to it. And I think that's happening now on mass. So as you know, I can just talk forever, I'm sorry, this will be the longest podcast you've ever done. So when is this guy going to shut up?
Geroge Beesley
No, it's been amazing. Really, really enjoyed it. It's been great. Thank you so much for taking time. And yeah, congratulations on the newborn. That's amazing. Yeah, Java, if people want to find out a little bit more about what you're up to, where's the best place for them to check out?
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, so you did ask me about resources early on, I will genuinely say if you want to get into a deeper sustainable lifestyle, go to my green pod not to buy stuff. I don't care if you buy stuff. But we've got over three and a half 1000 news pieces on there, which will be on a topic and a subject matter that you care about, that will give you a bit of an insight as to how you can you know how you can shift your lifestyle in something that you're interested in. So that's a great resource. But to come to us, it's simply migraine pod.com. We've also launched this nature TV thing, which is we like to give value on our website. So it's all about giving value. And so what we did is we realized that people couldn't connect with nature as much because they were kind of a bit more housebound because of the lockdown. So we created this bit of tongue in cheek, you know, films, if you like of nature, there's three of them. And Rebecca, I think you know, is watch them a few times. And we've got two hours of what we've got two hours of a babbling, we've got two hours of sheep in the field, and essentially go to my green pod.com forward slash nature TV and just have a Anwar Shia zooming or whilst you're working, or, you know, whilst you're doing, and it's scientifically proven, that this will actually give you a better sense of well being and will, will help your mental health. So, you know, we did that bit of a joke. And as you know, I've run a run a bit of an advert on it. And it's kind of just, again, just taking the Mickey a little bit, but actually was really a serious, very serious issue. So, yeah, hopefully that that will help people to find those and not think they have to come and shop because that's not what it's about. I'd rather you didn't buy anything. It's much better for the planet.
George Beesley
I did have a watch of the rock earlier, and nature TV and it was amazing. I was kind of like, like, Is something going to happen and I showed my girlfriend who's also very into sustainability and upcycling and she was like, I love this guy. This is amazing. I just thought it was so cool that you made a video two hours long about a rock and a sheep. She's like, this is incredible. So highly recommend that people check that out.
Becka Heaps
And obviously, you need to put a pole up because I thought I He's gonna love the book. And when I've watched all three, it's definitely the rock. And you, I think Java is you're getting a feeling that it's rock is the winner at the moment. But you should definitely get a pole pole going.
Jarvis Smith
Yeah, so far from the stats, the rock has had more views. And wait, you know, some days, we're getting into 1000s of people. One single moment, connected with nature TV, right? It's just incredible to watch. I just so clearly, it's working. You know, people are not only doing it once, but they're doing it again, which is brilliant. But so far, the stats are showing the workers that as a favor, and we've not even started with this campaign is just the very beginning of it. So, you know, we want it to just go viral in a sense, and it's quite an interesting thing. So I think we'll we'll film something one day, whatever that might be, you know, a tree swaying around in the window. I don't know what it's gonna be. But something will just really capture people's imaginations and it'll go viral. So and that could be in my lifetime, or it might not be but it will happen.
George Beesley
Everybody check it out. It's strangely incredible. And addictive. So yeah, definitely. Take a look. Thank you so much for coming on both and yeah, Becca, Thanks for Thanks for CO hosting. If people are interested, they can always go and book or rent adventure book or rent your camper account to and a big thank you to everybody for listening. Thanks for tuning in. As always, all episodes are available over at corporate venture.uk. But until next time, thank you again job. Thank you, Becca, and thanks, listeners for tuning in.
Jarvis Smith
Goodbye. Thank you. Bye.
George Beesley
So that's it for this episode. I hope you enjoyed it, head over to call to adventure that's to call to adventure.uk For show notes and more about this episode. You will also find lots of other free content there. Things like how to guides and gear reviews, everything to get you out on your next adventure. We've also got loads of adventures for you to join us on in the UK and abroad. We've got things like climbing, hiking, mountaineering, surfing, wild swimming, ski touring, and we're adding new ones all the time. So do take a peek. Each booking helps us fund our green mission and all international trips are carbon offset. Please do rate and review the show. If you're enjoying it. It helps get more people engaged with outdoors and onboard with protecting wild places. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
October 3, 2021
October 3, 2021
October 3, 2021
October 3, 2021
October 3, 2021
