Charles Newman – CEO of Resource Media

“The most important thing is to be positive whatever life throws at us”, Charles Newman.

What is your job about?

• Resource Media is a social enterprise. It was established 15 years ago to promote and communicate ideas of sustainability
• We produce magazines and information.
• Primarily the media we produce is aimed at the waste reduction industry, but if you have an interest in the topics its open to everyone.
• We make magazines for groups as the Green Party, and provide communications support
• We provide communications support for trade bodies
• We also have internships to help people get into the world of publishing and currently have 4 colleagues who were firstly on internships with us.

 

What issues do you address?

• Resource use and sustainability
• Obtaining value from waste resources
• How people view waste resources
• We communicate the ideas of zero waste and look for innovators to showcase
• We cover a spectrum ranging from litter pickers to high tech companies
• Awareness and the psychology surrounding waste materials
• We want to raise awareness of individual consumers to those people who are in the business of dealing with these materials

 

What moved you to take action?

The team, the staff have been there for a long time and we all instinctively connect with the subject. It’s a very motivating force You have to be interested in people, science and sustainability, its an interesting intersection. I’ve always found waste fascinating.

 

What were the obstacles that you had to overcome?

• Mainly financial, having the financial resources to do the things you want to do.
• Our ambition sometimes exceeds our capacity.

 

 

What helped you keep going in hard times?

• I don’t want to do anything else
• We care passionately about the issues, products and our audience
• Conviction – this is a valuable thing to do
• You have to believe in what you are doing

 

What first prompted you to become interested in environmental issues and when was that?

It has always been there. I have always been interested in the collective – what’s good for a community or society. There’s always been a conscience about these things, but often until you come across the right connection with it you don’t always know what you are meant to do.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being very happy) where would you rate how you feel about your life?

I have a wonderful life and family, but I do have health issues, which are impacting on my life. The most important thing is to be positive whatever life throws at us.

http://www.resourcemedia.co.uk/