Interview with John Tracey

Head Teacher at Kingussie School

Materialism was the biggest ecological problem identified by John Tracey. He talked about experiences of having student exchanges between Malawi and Scotland and that the people in Malawi had much less material goods but seemed to have more joy. Material possessions do not bring happiness. The pursuit of possessions leads to long hours of work in order to earn enough money to support a rich lifestyle. This in turn leads to less quality time with friends and family or engaged in leisure activities. In purchasing new items we are also contributing to the depletion of natural resources.

The solution suggested by the head teacher at Kingussie School was education. Experiences like exchanges with people from other countries can bring perspective on what really matters.

The image of materialism that John Tracey talked about was of a family shopping on the weekend each with bags full of new items.

The positive image was of a card in which people from all over the Earth are holding hands in peace.