I developed a deep appreciation for nature growing up in Utah, surrounded by the mountains and beautiful landscape. Now, at UBC, a university at the forefront of sustainability I have dedicated part of my education to studying sustainability in hopes I can leverage my business education to create positive change. A disconcerting aspect of my journey thus far is the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. Although this is partly due to the limited time I have to spend keeping up with news, it has also pointed out problems in the sustainability trend that is beyond myself.
The first problem is businesses that promote greenwashing and consumerism. There is a massive imbalance of information between businesses and consumers that makes it difficult for consumers to make environmentally friendly decisions. A majority of climate change and environmental destruction is caused by the production of consumer goods and global trends of over consumption. The silver lining is that sustainability is now a hot trend and is becoming increasingly important to people all around the world. However, businesses depend on the materialist society we live in that was built by businesses creating unneeded products to satisfy unnecessary desires. So, instead of actually combatting the issue of climate change, most companies are greenwashing and running marketing campaigns to falsely make themselves appear sustainable.
The second problem is that sustainability is an ununited movement. Although sustainability is not a new movement, there is a disconnect between parties about what constitutes sustainability and what the most sustainable practices are. Without clear standards and a lack of government regulation, it is hard for an average consumer to know what to do and who to trust.
Although I am a victim to these issues I look forward to using this class to uncover some truth and investigate the business world through a sustainability lens.
emmaysullivan
February 7, 2017 — 11:19 pm
A few thoughts after reading your post:
– You mentioned that sustainability is a ‘hot trend.’ Trends tend to come and go – how long do you think this ‘trend’ will last? Or is it more of a shift of opinion?
– How realistic is it to ask people to move away from such a consumerist lifestyle? Do you think there will be some people that fundamentally will be unable to make a switch?
Really interesting post – made me think about how much an individual can do + how much blame we can put on individuals. I, like you, feel like we should be focusing more on fixing the corporate structure that got us here in the first place.
KatherineApplebaum
February 10, 2017 — 11:02 am
Thanks for your comment Emma. I believe that as companies like Lush and Whole Foods become more and more popular many feel an increasing pressure to live a “sustainable life.” This is evident in places like Los Angeles where many of the “hip” places for lunch are organic and have plants coming out of the wall. Although it may be a trend now in the sense that it is what is popular to do, I think the meaning behind the trend is impactful and will stick around leading to a shift of opinion. Moving away from a consumerist lifestyle will indeed be difficult. I think it up to company’s to find ways to satisfy consumer wants and needs in a way that has less environmental impact. Perhaps embracing the circular economy methodology?
LucyStephenson
February 8, 2017 — 5:45 pm
My thoughts were similar to ~emmaysullivan~, whether or not if you think that sustainability is a trend and will therefor deteriorate over time. Or would you say that sustainability being trendy right now will allow people to adopt more sustainable practices, and allow them to stick later when the trend dies out. Will we be able to shift consumers behaviour toward being sustainable to a point where it becomes a simple part of everyone’s day and a blatantly obvious thing to do? Like putting on a coat when it’s cold.
KatherineApplebaum
February 10, 2017 — 11:11 am
Hi Lucy thanks for sharing your thoughts. As the evidence of overconsumption becomes more prevalent I believe people who are adopting a sustainable lifestyle as a trend will shift their mindset and choose to live a sustainable life in their own self-interest. It’s hard to make people care about sustainability when nothing affects them but if world resources continue to deplete, garbage takes over the ocean and sea levels rise millions will be directly affected and mindsets will change.