Consume with Care

Being Ethical Consumers

‘Consume with care’ compels the adverts and campaigns commemorating 5th June 2015 as World Environment Day.

There is an impact our actions have on the environment; think air pollution, water contamination, land degradation, soil erosion and natural resource depletion. We are pushing our planet to its ecological limits; we are consuming resources faster than they can replenish (e.g. we cut trees faster than they can regenerate). In 2009 it was estimated that humanity used 40% more than nature could regenerate.

It is projected that the population will increase from 6.7 billion in 2006 to 9.2 billion by 2050. Each day 200,000 more people are added to the world food demand, many from developing countries. The more our population grows, the more resources we need to support our needs.

Further, through innovation and technology, we have found new ways to generate and use these resources! Our needs and behaviors are ever evolving.

We are radically changing the way we use our land to meet our needs faster, cheaper, and with greater fortitude.

A growing human population’s incessant demands are exhausting our natural resources and we are rapidly heading towards a tipping point causing irreversible changes to the Earth’s ecosystem.

Qs – Is there anything you and I can do?
Ans – Yes! Consume with Care!

Qs – How can one consume with care?

Step 1 – Be environmentally literate.

An environmentally literate individual is one who has knowledge and a broad understanding of the subtle and yet intricately woven web that connects humans and societies to each other and to the natural systems and has the attitude and behavior to incorporate environmental and social considerations into daily decisions both in professional and personal capacities.

Step 2 – Do more with less

Remember your parents/grandparents asking you to switch off lights when not in use? Or not wasting food on the plate? Or to fix that leaking tap? Frugality – for some of us translates to being miserly, but in its true essence it means ‘not wasteful’. It boils down to the 4 R’s mantra – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! Remember ‘When you throw something away, there is no away! It remains here on our planet.’

Step 3 – Demand more transparency

Know the impacts business and industries are having on the environment not just in using the natural resources but also in producing waste like greenhouse gases, effluents clogging our water bodies and the non-degradable waste being heaped into the landfills.

Step 4 – Shop Ethically

You vote with the choice you make. While shopping, know the impacts of our purchase and habits. Choose products and services that not only meet your needs and your taste but also your values. Avoid products you disapprove of like polluting cars, genetically modified crops, cosmetics with microbeads etc. In a free market, businesses respond to consumer demands; which means that all of us with more awareness and through collective efforts can be an agent of change.

Step 4 – Push for improvements

Stand up in support of ethical consumption, raise your concerns against unsustainable practices; promote environmental literacy among your family, friends & colleagues. Push for improvements in the way we consume – as shoppers, as businessmen and as citizens.