Darren Barefoot is living Canadian
Darren Barefoot is one of those guys that seems to be doing everything, all the time. He wrote a great book with Julie Szabo, Friends with Benefits and has decided to “live Canadian” for one year. As soon as I heard about the project, I wanted to know more!
Sarah: Darren, first, tell us about what you do for a living?
Darren: For the last eight years, I’ve been a partner at Capulet. We’re a web marketing agency that works with non-profits and technology companies.
Sarah: Then on top of that, you’ve decided to live Canadian for one year. What does that mean exactly?
Darren: Well, I’m going to do my best to only consume Canadian products, services and media. I’ve divided that effort into 12 categories (there’s a handy chart showing them all at http://1y1c.ca/about), and assigned each category to a month. January was household goods, February is clothing and so forth. The categories are cumulative, though, so while things are still pretty straightforward now, they’re going to be tricky by the end of the year.
Sarah: What inspired you to do that?
Darren: I’ve been asked this question a lot, and I wish I had a better origin story. In truth, I just thought it would be a fun way to make myself think more carefully about the stuff I consume, and maybe inspire a few other people to do likewise. It’s a bit of a cognitive trick, the way counting calories or every cent makes you hyper-aware of what you eat or how you spend.
Sarah: You’re not very far along, but what do you predict to be the most difficult thing to either find or give up?
Darren: April is TV and movies month. I go to the cinema a lot, like once or twice a week. Even in a big city like Vancouver, at any time there’s probably zero to one Canadian movies showing in theatres. So I’m going to miss the pleasures associated with going to the movies.
Sarah: Aside from learning more about Canadian products, what do you think will be the outcome of your year of living Canadian?
Darren: It’s still early days, so I’m somewhat unsure, but I hope I can maybe shine a light on some under-appreciated Canadian products and services.
Sarah: Finally, do you feel this project will better prepare you for a zombie attack (fact: all Canadians are obsessed with zombies)?
Darren: I’ve had a lot of suggestions for homemade recipes for things like shampoo or soap. While the project is more about thoughtful consumption than do-it-yourself, those tips would keep fresh as a daisy when the zombies come.
Darren, thanks so much for sharing your project with us! If you’d like to follow along, you can read Darren’s blog or check out his tweets.
Photo: Kris Krug