I'm very good at being content. I'm amazing at it, actually. Sometimes this skill is not helpful. I'm not so ambitious, so there's no five-year plan. I don't think about the future, but the way I live allows me to try to improve things, rather than make them worse.

Maybe I do think about the future. I have a pension, but that's because I'm not great with money and in 40 years I don't want to be on the breadline. My parents split up when I was young and we didn't have much money, so I do think about it. I would have liked to put 100% of my money in ethical funds, but at this stage that's not sensible, so I've got 30% in there. I avoid alcohol, tobacco, arms and any institution that plays a role in increasing developing-world debt. It makes me happy, and I do think some energy companies will be a good investment - they'll have to be with the way the world is going. I know I'm just a tiny drop in the pond. Anything I can do to make things better makes me happy.

I'm a real product of my mother. She's an old commie and it was drummed into me that our actions had an effect, so I always banked with a cooperative bank.

Happiness can come when people act as a group. It leaves me at a loss when I see people who don't vote, don't take a stand, don't even recycle. I don't let that get to me, though. Contentment is important. I'm not so much into the striving as I am into the appreciation.