Sustainable Choices: Is it Up to Us?
We often hear on Ted Talks, Youtube channels, and many other motivators talk about the how the impact that we make in this world are entirely up to us and our willingness to make better choices. It is maybe because we are so exposed to this idea, we often apply this idea to everything that we do including making sustainable change throughout consumption process. On another hand, more than we realize, we don’t really choose the choices that we are presented with, but we are given the choices that are chosen for us.
While it is true that we have a choice in making sustainable purchases, the sustainable ‘choices’ in the market are not in most consumers’ consideration set during making purchase decision mainly because of its unaffordability and unavailability. The higher costs of sustainable products have long been the main reason why consumers move away from green labeled products. Availability of raw materials, logistics, and the overall nature of production of sustainable products are not efficiently embedded in the infrastructure of the current system. With the current conventional business model of taking, using, and discarding, we would not make the substantial progress that we need. Our process and nature of operations are deeply embedded in our consumption lifestyles. This is a problem that is bigger than making choices as it is integrated deeply in the infrastructure, a systemic problem.
With my limited experience in the field, the only feasible solution that I could think of is for firms to work together to benefit each other. While this kind of practice is starting to appear in discussions and conversations, it still not widely used in the industry. Instead of fighting over the market share of the environmentally conscious consumer, businesses should collaborate and work together to gain economies of scale to provide better prices which will expand the market eventually.
http://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/can-we-afford-sustainability
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0019850112000909
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10806-005-5485-3
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.702/full
Everything is connected… no one thing can change by itself
-Paul Hawken
kiannab
February 27, 2017 — 12:35 pm
Do you think that consumers should be in charge of forcing companies to change their actions and work together to invest into sustainable practices? How do you think consumers can best show their desire for change, if unable to purchase the more expensive sustainable options? Protests? Boycotts? Lobbying?
TessDavies
February 27, 2017 — 2:53 pm
Interesting conversation to be sure, where do you think governments and Non profits fit into this solution?
BrodieMcLaughlin
February 27, 2017 — 4:08 pm
Liken to your Paul Hawken quote, consumers are often left in the dark about the value chain of the products available for purchase. Traditionally, corporations have been thrusting the idea and responsibility of sustainability on the consumer, when, as you mention, the choice is not always necessarily theirs. With companies becoming more transparent, they are taking on some of the responsibility that they previously had placed on customers. These transparency measures and certification systems are enabling easier choices for consumers, while at the same time, apply pressure to competing organizations as their products gain trust and traction in the marketplace.