Oscar-winner Colin Firth has called for an end to eco-guilt, as he discusses his fondness for shiny new gadgets in his wife's new online magazine.

Owning up to having a liking for items from the brand " with the fruit-related logo", he says that he wants to live in a world where it is okay to upgrade gadgets and not feel guilty.

"We need to put pressure on the brands and companies to take responsibility for their supply chain until it's a reality", he writes in the first edition of Eco-Age, which was launched this week by his wife Livia Firth.

However, he defends himself on the grounds that he owns "what might be one of the oldest television sets in the western world" and says its no good making people feel guilty about, for example, driving a car, if they need one to go to work.

"After all it’s not entirely wrong to want or need stuff. I find the great scientist James Lovelock’s view particularly sane. To paraphrase entirely he says that we shouldn’t blame the guy in the car for exacerbating climate change, when he’s just trying to get to work. Making him feel guilty doesn’t help anybody." he comments.

"The real eco shriekers, who walk around like ghastly preachers are probably a necessary evil but we don’t have to like them.

"It’s not wrong to want beautiful things. On one level these gadgets and access to them are a real joy of contemporary life. Unfortunately there’s a very ugly by-product. Imagine if reading books was found to poison the environment. That would be a terribly unfortunate by-product of something very wonderful. I have no solution on how to balance this quandary but I think we should begin by retiring eco guilt." says Firth.

Eco-Age was created with Saatchi and Saatchi in Italy, and promises " great columns on everything from eco-luxe fashion to cycling" as well as online shopping from an "exquisitely curated shop." according to Livia .

A former film producer who met her husband on a film set in Italy in 1996, she says that moving online is the next phase of the Eco Age adventure. Her eco-friendly shop on Chiswick High Road is currently closed for renovations.

"Moving online gives us the chance to talk to curious customers all over the world-consumers who care about the impact of what they do, purchase, and eat-but they also love beautiful things and a meaningful aesthetic " she writes in the magazine's first edition which went online this week.

Contributors include model Laura Bailey who writes about cycling and how to be stylish wearing a helmet. Journalist Lucy Siegle reports from Brazil on the battle to de-link fashion from deforestation, and Livia's brother Nicola Giuggioli writes a cookery column entitled 'The Good Fork.' Activist Sam Roddick writes about the importance of bees, and Caroline Swarbruck of Oxfam puts together an outfit from charity shops.

The magazine includes a competition to win a Stella Mc Cartney monogram tote bag, and has a Calendar of Eco-events around the world, including World Aids Day, UN Climate Change talks, the launch o the new Rainbow Warrior and a Global Fashion Show in New York.

Livia, who lives in Chiswick with her husband and sons, became known as ' the Green Queen' when she decided to showcase ethical fashion during the film awards season last year, during which time her husband won his Oscar for ' The King's Speech'. She also wore an eco gown for the Obama's state dinner at the American Ambassador's residence .

 

October 21, 2011