A conversation with Siân, the plastic-free champion

What makes great activism? Sit down with Siân Sutherland to find out. Together with Frede Magnussen, she's the powerhouse behind our long-term partner, A Plastic Planet, and a champion of optimistic action. Plastic is only the beginning, in this conversation it’ll be about discovering the importance of flexing muscles, going to funerals, and chasing adventure.

M: Okay so you’re with a friend at a party where nobody knows you. How would you like that friend to introduce you? 

S: Wow, that’s such a random great question. You want to have humility but you also really want wonderful things to be said about you. So … the best I could ever have somebody say about me is “Please meet Siân, she’s a force for energy and for joy”.

M: 100% accurate. Now imagine you’ve got to teach the plastic problem to these people, how would you do it?

S: I would say it like that: the plastic crisis is unique, because it impacts every living thing on planet Earth. And it’s easy to be overwhelmed, but the plastic crisis is an extraordinary thing. It’s a gateway. It will lead us into a re-evaluation of our relationship with nature and also give us the opportunity to rethink how we live, how we make, how we package, how we dress, how we buy. The shift that we will see as we address the plastic crisis is gonna be so fundamental. We are tackling the very symbol of how wrong we have gone, using unnatural, indestructible, and unhealthy materials. 

But here’s some good news about plastic: it is undeniable; there’s nobody else to blame for it. And it’s deeply personal – everyone feels a little bit bad about what we have done with plastic, whereas in other phenomena, like CO2, it’s hard to see how you as an individual can impact it.

For plastic, we all carry the guilt. But it’s recent and it’s fixable. It’s also something that traps us thinking we are powerless and that it’s the only way that we can live. And I really push back against that narrative. The future is not inevitable, we create the future. And we need to all decide we can and must to live in a different way. 

M: Do you think we can succeed in onboarding everyone with us to take that decision collectively?

S: When I look at the plastic crisis and the climate crisis, the fundamental is that it’s a human rights issue. But when you look at politics, you see more and more divide and the rise of extremes. We need instead to address the fact that we are united in our shared humanity. Not only have we lost understanding of our place in the natural world, we have lost sight of our place amongst each other. There’s so much more that connects us than divides us. But right now, we are vulnerable to this misleading narrative telling us that we are different, where fundamentally of course we are not.

M: Difference and lack of humility right?

S: There’s a wonderful saying: no ego no problem. And it’s not just the ego of one leader, it’s the ego of his minions. All these middle managers who have such massively inflated sense of importance, that they feel entitled to speak outrageously and treat people disrespectfully. And this has become our way of measuring success. Our humanity will be our success, not bullying powerplays. We need to redefine our metrics of success. What is true power? What is legacy and impact?

It may sound strange but I love going to funerals and listening to the eulogies. Seeing how that person has touched people in such a deep and emotional way and the void their absence will leave. So what’s the true success of their lives and how do we measure that? Is it about the people they have impacted positively? The love they’ve given and received? Or just about the money they made, the size of their business, or the quality of their reports? 

We live in a hyper-consumerist world. We’re on the treadmill, running after ways to earn more, to buy more to define who we are by the things we own. Buying stuff we don’t need to impress people we don’t know. I welcome the day when we will move to a place that is much more emotional and spiritual and joyful, when we finally recognise what really matters.

M: Such as love?

S: Many people, men in particular, are scared of the L-word. It’s very alien to them and I think they believe it exposes them to weakness. But I think of love as the ultimate strength. It’s the strongest emotion we can ever have. 

I learned recently that we are born with two emotions, fear and love. And right now we are ruled through fear. Stop thinking that love is passive, we are not talking about soft power here! Love is fierce, it’s a heavyweight force for good and we need to tap into that. So yes, it’s not a red-heart-on-valentines-card love. It’s a force and it’s a force against evil. It’s absolutely infinite. And it’s a habit. We’ve forgotten how to flex that love muscle and we need to remind ourselves.

M: Anything that matters is a practice. 

S: I was very fortunate to be born an optimist. As an entrepreneur it’s kind of an essential quality otherwise you’d just never bother starting. And making stuff happen out of nothing, pushing against the grain and trying to do something that’s genuinely different, like Nicolas is doing for Mover, it requires extraordinary resilience. And the way that I can maintain that optimism, that resilience, is by reconnecting, through friends and family, plugging into nature. 

I like to go on micro-breaks, to different places, to lift my head up and see things from different perspectives. I am never happier than walking up a mountain or sailing, being part of that big expanse of an ocean. 

And dancing. Dancing freely and wildly, with a Margarita in hand (chili, extra lime, salt), laughing with my friends. We, humans, are majorly water and energy, electrons bashing against each other. Being able to stimulate that vibration, it’s a great way to get out of your head and into your body. That’s what I love about the whole philosophy of Mover. It’s about being by doing, by moving, with every garment made to help you to feel comfortable and free, whatever activity you’re doing.

M: That’s definitely what unites our Movers. By the way, do you have an afterword for them? 

S: There’s something I want to share, a story about my mother. She gave us the most incredible childhood. We had very little ‘things’ but it wasn’t about possessions that made it magical.. The amount of love she poured into us was really phenomenal. She died a couple of years ago aged 94; probably the most wonderful death you could ever have. She was ready to go, absolutely ready to go, and when she did her last words were this, she had her arms outstretched to all of us and she said: “The only thing that matters is love”. 

And what wonderful words to leave her four kids with, to be given that message. So here’s my message to you Movers: the only thing that matters is love, and the expression of that love comes in many different ways. For me it’s by going on an adventure with the people that I love, doing something that makes me feel alive.