In class we discussed wether there should only be sustainable products available to consumers. Well, what if instead of having only a regulation on the products that are available on the market what about restricting the amount that consumers can consume? Is it necessary for a new product to be created every 3 minutes somewhere in the world? It is a fact that we live beyond our means, and it is also a fact that this world is made up of finite resources. The world’s population is also growing. This is what I call a horrible equation because it can only be equal to infinity. Is there anything in this world that is infinite? Thus, it is a fact that we will run out of these resources if we continue to live and consume as we currently are. Now imagine a world with these resources available only to a few. Who should be able to access these resources? The highest bidder?
The point I’m trying to get across is yes perhaps companies should do their best to be sustainable but companies aren’t the source of the problem. The source of the problem are the consumers that are consuming, in other words the human psyche. As every year goes by, new inventions are created to make our lives easier or render us more efficient. Things we never thought we would need. Objects we actually could live without. I won’t lie, I wish I was a billionaire, with five personal cellphones, a massive yacht, have new clothes for every day of my life and have more cars than relatives. I am what’s wrong with the world. I have too much greed and I want more than I actually need, luckily however I’m pretty sure I’ll be dead before the results of my actions will directly affect any of my descendants. This is why sustainable marketing really should only involve changing consumer behaviour to live within his means because anything else would actually be unsustainable. At least until we are able to create infinite resources. Companies should have adopted cradle to cradle a hundred years ago. Will we ever be able to reach a sustainable planet? We certainly don’t currently live on a sustainable planet…
“Earth provides enough to satisfy everyone’s need, but not everyone’s greed.” (Mahatma Ghandi)
Very insightful post! I understand where you are coming from and sometimes I wonder the same. We can all agree that over consumption is what is really destroying our planet Earth. Why doesn’t the government put a quota on the number of products we can purchase as you suggested? Consumerism is SO entrenched in our society and economy that is will not happen any time soon .For one, consumerism does have a bright side. It creates jobs and keeps the economy alive. If there were such quota many businesses would go bankrupt and people will be looking for jobs. If we look at the big picture, we do not need 10 pair of shoes. However, the production of lets say our 9th pair of shoe is the outcomes of many hours of research, skills, design, planning, labor of thousands of people who directly or indirectly rely on our consumption for survival. As you mentioned, we need businesses to adopt Cradle-to-Cradle approach A.SA.P. Nike seems to be incorporating this approach here
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/06/11/design-and-performance-reconsidered.
Ideally, Yes Planet Earth and future generation would be happier if we consume less but choosing to buy “sustainable” products might just be the most viable alternative for now.
I definitely agree that consumerism is at the root of many environmental crises, but the reality is that any government who tried to restrict how many things people could buy would be immediately voted out of office. People take their liberty very seriously. A more practical approach, and one of my favourite philosophies, is called “libertarian paternalism:” The idea was popularized in a great book a few years ago called Nudge, and it basically says that you can influence people’s behaviour using very subtle interventions that don’t restrict their freedom (hence the libertarian part) but that still make certain behaviours more likely than others (hence the paternalism part).
One of the simplest examples of this kind of ‘nudge’ is simply placing certain products at eye level and other convenient locations in a store to make their purchase more likely. This has been proven to be effective in getting people to buy healthier foods in grocery stores – although most stores are not designed with this in mind. This kind of approach – along with other strategies – might be effective in encouraging more ‘green’ consumption too, without restricting people’s freedom. I can’t recommend the book Nudge highly enough for learning more about this approach.