Jon Kortajarena: “I am an imperfect environmentalist. I do what I can. Of course sometimes I do it wrong, but doing nothing is worse.”

Jon Kortajarena (Bilbao, 38 years old) repeats several times during this conversation “we don't have time.”

He refers to 2030, the moment that the UN has set for the consequences of climate change to be irreversible.

“Really, there are small gestures that cost nothing but can help change things a lot,” he says.

The more than three million followers of the model and actor are more than used to seeing him collecting plastic on beaches in the Basque Country, carrying banners in Greenpeace actions or traveling to Vanuatu, an archipelago near Australia “from which people have already had to flee.” .

They are climate refugees.

And it is something that will soon be common if we do not try to provide solutions,” he says.

He is more than used to receiving criticism, “and I know that I could upload nicer or kinder things to the networks, but I feel responsible because I have a speaker and, really, I do it from the heart.

I don't care about the rest."

All the images in this editorial, made with Wallapop clothing, have been designed to talk about a challenge related to consumption.

In this photo, Txema Yeste and Jon Kortajarena wanted to reflect the enormous amount of advertising impacts we receive per day: 6,000.TXEMA YESTE

He began committing to the climate cause more than 10 years ago.

“It was through my aunt.

She works at a local supermarket;

“They began to realize the amount of waste they generated and decided to implement small actions, such as selling products in bulk or recycling packaging,” she recalls.

“Little by little I also began to recycle or think very carefully about what she bought and what she didn't.”

During that time he became involved as a volunteer with Al Gore's foundation, The Climate Reality Project, with whom he traveled to areas affected by climate change and in 2019 he received an award from the same entity for his work as an activist, “although I do not consider myself such.

I am no expert either, but I have traveled to places where natural disasters have occurred and I have seen the effects of global warming although, in reality, we are seeing them every day.

I simply listen to those who know, activists and scientists.

The data is there and it is incredible that many people look the other way.”

Laws are beginning to fight against planned obsolescence.

Starting this year, manufacturers have the obligation to facilitate the repair of an object for at least 10 years.TXEMA YESTE

Kortajarena practices what he calls “imperfect environmentalism”: “In other words, I do what I can.

Of course sometimes I do it wrong, but doing nothing is worse.

For example, for my job I take many planes, what can I do, but if I work within Spain I always ask to go by train,” he says.

“And that extends to any small gesture.

I know that many people cannot always consume completely sustainably, but there are always small decisions that, if they are collective, help.

Let each one do what he can to the best of his ability.”

Some time ago he himself, and despite working in fashion, began to consume less: “We have been educated in consumption, even that it is more profitable to throw away clothes than to repair them, the same as with telephones or some machines.

What many do not know, for example, is that since last year there have been laws in Spain that force the manufacturer to repair things up to 10 years after purchasing them, or at least to provide parts for the repair.

It is not known why the manufacturers are not interested.”

He is aware that “governments have to act.”

Four years ago, he himself sent a letter to Pedro Sánchez expressing his concern, to which the President of the Government responded by saying that he shared the same concern, “and it is true that this year some key laws are going to be put into effect, such as the one forces companies to take charge of the ecological management of their own surplus merchandise.

But more is needed.

Information is needed, above all.

People are taught to consume, but many do not know what happens when they consume uncontrollably or how some things are made.

The other day they told me about ultra fast fashion and my hair stood on end,” he says.

According to the UN, the consumption of materials and energy is the main cause of climate change.

Promotions that seek impulsiveness, such as Black Friday, are more harmful than they seem.

“Now or never” is not so necessary. TXEMA YESTE

Jon Kortajarena's fight against the dictatorship of the new has now led him to become an ambassador for Wallapop, the most important resale platform in Spain.

He himself has gotten involved with the creative agency to provide the idea for the campaign.

“We thought that appealing to the personal was the right way to raise awareness,” he explains.

They finally decided to show home videos of his childhood and others that he kept on his phone from his work trips, “and I appear at the end, because the idea is that it could be anyone's childhood.

We are all born in a bed that others have used, when we go to restaurants we eat with cutlery that others have used, we live in houses where others have already lived, we sleep in hotels with sheets that others have used... Why shouldn't we use the clothes that others have worn?

I usually buy second-hand and in addition to finding incredible things, if the clothes have arrived here in perfect condition, it is because they are of good quality," he says, and confesses that it is one of the few times in which he lends his face to a campaign. “of something that is really needed.”

This image symbolizes the impact of digital purchasing: many e-commerce uses techniques to encourage impulsive and unnecessary purchases.TXEMA YESTE

According to the

Hot or Cool Institute

, dedicated to measuring the impact of fashion consumption on society, we should only buy five new clothes a year: “It's not about not buying, but about knowing what you're buying.

If there were many of us who thought twice about what and how we buy, companies would have to change the way they do things.”

Laws are beginning to fight against planned obsolescence.

Starting this year, manufacturers have the obligation to facilitate the repair of an object for at least 10 years.TXEMA YESTE