Green consumerism
The environmental movement and green consumerism is getting more media attention and public awareness. As you watch the TV, read the paper and listen to people talking – the environment is an important topic for debate. It seems everyone is jumping on the eco bandwagon.
When you are shopping, how difficult is it to move away from your old favourite, tried and tested brands to try the natural and eco friendly alternative? Perhaps your shopping habits have become stale, as out of routine you pick up the same products every week. Even with internet shopping you can pre-programme your lists of brands without having to literally walk down the shopping isles.
My question is why aren't we buying more green products or even demanding more of them to be sold? What is stopping the green consumer - is it habit, confusion, unfamiliarity, doubt of performance/quality or lack availability which form your environmental preferences?
Would you be prepared to go out of your way to become a green consumer, to change the way you do everyday things?Quite simply I do. I use my bicycle come wind, rain or shine to commute, to fetch my shopping and to get from a to b (no nasty carbon emissions on the bike OR use of fossil fuel). I travel to a variety of shops and farmer's markets rather than just the one out of town hypermarket. At home I make sure products last a long time, I recycle what I can and am mindful of the waste I create. Most importantly I am mindful of how much I buy and constantly reassess my shopping habits to make sure I don't buy for sake or unnecessarily.
My frustrations are that the choice of eco products is relatively small and that they are more expensive. This does not encourage YOU to go green. Choosing from a good range of well priced, certified eco products in your local supermarket would be much easier. When I buy eco products, I choose them carefully and ensure that they hold standards which fall under my own eco preferences. It takes more time and costs a little more money. This I class as my responsibility to make a difference however small for the benefit of the environment and our future generations. That said, buying eco products won’t save the world alone, it’s ONLY one step in the right direction.
That said, buying eco products won’t save the world alone, it’s ONLY one step in the right direction.Being concerned about the environment doesn’t necessarily push people into action with their own lifestyles. I know plenty of people who are concerned about the ongoing damage to the natural environment, yet they are happy to merely chat about it. Eco lifestyle choices can be small or large and really depend on the individual. Even the smallest environmental gesture helps.
Less buying please!The most important point to take away from this is that buying green is only part of a whole lifestyle change. To truly consider the environment and your place on the planet, think about the phrase ‘less is more’. It might be trendy to be seen to be buying green, to be a member of the eco chic and eco elite - but should we be buying more at all?Look at the following options, which would be the greener choice?
Option 1: Travelling 15 kilometres by car, getting stuck in traffic to go to the eco shop to buy an eco product which is manufactured in a foreign country, imported by air and distributed by road. You use only half of the product before throwing it away as you bought 2 new products for the price of 1 yesterday and are eager to try them out.
Option 2: Walking to your local supermarket and buying a non eco product which is manufactured locally. You then make the product last as long as possible, recycle the packaging and container once it has been used.
Worth thinking about!
Think about the impact of simply things that you do every day, and how each action has a grander reaction in the natural environment. Then you can start looking at how to reduce your own ecological footprint.
Being truly eco conscious is to:
A. reduce how much you buy B. buy products that are good quality & last a long time C. avoid buying on impulse D. consider what you are buying - spend some time researching a product before you buy it e.g. what makes it eco friendly if it is shipped 1000's of miles from China? E. be mindful of the miles you travel in your car for shopping F. think less is more
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