Skip to main content

Conscious consumer


In GEG we had several discussions about the ways to protect the international environment. Most common comments were about strong regulation, better technology or having the global north subsidize the global south. Now I did not disagree with all of those points, but I do disagree with one quite ferociously. 
            I find the desire for “better” technology to be a way to get around the actual problems we face. I believe people use this as an excuse to exempt themselves from having to make any serious changes to their own life style. For example, I have heard we need more efficient energy use or for better battery technology to store electricity. How about using less? That is not something people in GEG seemed open to doing.
            On the other hand, I am obviously an advocate for changing consumer habits; buying less stuff, eating vegetarian and using less electricity. In America, for better or worse, we set the standard for the rest of the world. Developing countries view our disposable lifestyle as one of affluence. If you buy something for only a few moments, how wealthy must you be?
            When my professor brought up this topic it seemed to shock some of my classmates. Just how much of an impact do the trends in the US have on the rest of the world? In an attempt to use less fossil fuels, we caused the palm oil boom. Popularizing fish as a healthy alternative to red meat has caused strain on wild fish populations. These are only two examples of the issues we have caused simply because of the amount of influence we have on the rest of the world.
            When my partner and I presented our topic to the class, it was quite eye opening for me. We focused on the international movement of wastes. To some extent I was already attuned to these general issues but the magnitude of the effects this waste stream was shocking. The developed countries have created so much pollution that the developing countries are starting to push backChina and other countries are turning away the waste they use to accept, forcing the developed world  to deal with our own wastefulness. Moreover, Norway has proposed the addition of plastics to the list of hazardous wastes under the Basel convention. If this measure goes through, I imagine it would have an enormous impact on the international community. The international movement of plastic waste could be hindered to the point of forcing developed countries to deal with the problems they have created.
A lot of the class really reinforced the views I had going in. Namely that law is very unhelpful in addressing environmental issues. The law moves slow whereas technology and companies move fast. As a society we are in a state of constant anticipation for the next new thing to hit the market. If there were stronger regulations in place around production and disposal, we would not be on the brink of a crisis. The law has failed to keep up with the demands of our wasteful society.


Popular posts from this blog

Four years in and still figuring things out

Initially I was drawn into this world of sustainable living based on posts I had seen on social media. These ranged from very simple changes to reduce plastic consumption all the way to people that did not use toilet paper because it was too wasteful. ( Americans use more toilet paper than anywhere else on earth. )  This wide spectrum was incredibly daunting at first. How far was far enough? On the other hand, at what point would I become a social outcast for the ideas people were suggesting?             Then the real questions started popping up in my head. Were these people on social media even remotely correct in the assertions they were making? I did not have the foggiest clue. This is the point where I started to do actual research. I realized fact checking was going to be incredibly important in accepting this lifestyle change and convincing others that it is a worthwhile cause.   ...

There are two sides to every story

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, there are plenty of people that will push back against my choices. One such push back came in a GEG class quite unexpectedly. It was simply an off handed comment by my professor. I do not believe he intended as a slight against me in any way, but it really made me think about how people view my choices in protecting the environment.             I believe were talking about the impacts of disposable diapers and my professor said, “just wait until you have kids, things will change.” It really struck me in that moment that people see environmentalism as a trend. Something to be put on hold or given up when life gets in the way. To be clear, I was in no way offended by his comment, quite the opposite in fact. I took his comment to mean that I have work to do. Maybe I should give more credit to advocating for changes in the law. That would provide more legitimacy to the changes I ...

Not for the love of animals, but for sustainability

I do not necessarily subscribe to a specific diet. I do not claim to be vegetarian or vegan even if most of my meals meet those requirements. I guess you could call my diet plastic free. It sounds strange but that is the goal when I go shopping for food.             I was really inspired after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. His book really focused on being in touch with the food we consume. So much of what we eat today is highly processed with added sugars, emulsifiers and stabilizers. Our great-grandparents probably would not recognize most of what America is eating today as food. Pollan’s advice for a healthy diet is, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Image source.              It is well understood that the meat industry in the US is a major environmental problem.   Beef production requires a significant amount of na...