Tiny Choices Q&A: Consume and Conserve?
By tinychoices | August 9, 2007
Welcome to Tiny Choices Q&A, where we open the floor for discussion on questions which y’all have submitted (read the first list of questions here).
From across the pond, Leansky asks:
Can ‘consume’ and ‘conserve’ ever be compatible?
Jenn: This is such an interesting question, and it’s such an interesting time to be asking this question. It seems like “Green” has hit the mainstream in a big way-you can’t read a blog, listen to the news, or flip through a magazine without being bombarded by ORGANIC and NATURAL and HEALTHY and ECO-and this is overall an amazing thing. We’ve finally hit the point where these discussions are happening in everyday settings, by people who used to write us off as damn hippies.
Karina: For example, the DIY ethic has taken off like gangbusters - sites like make and craft and supernaturale and getcrafty and instructables and craftster are hugely popular and community driven!
Jenn: And on a personal note, both Karina and I are surrounded by crafty folks who value handmade and vintage goods more than storebought, which really helps drive home the fact that the price an object costs has nothing at all to do with its intrinsic value. But there’s also a whole lot of Greenwashing going on too, whereby products are touted as good for the environment, with the subtext being “buy green to save the earth; shop to save the planet.” Which is kind of true- we do need to produce & purchase green to save the environment. We do need to modify our industries & our food production/consumption to be less damaging. The catch is that we need to start buying less stuff overall, because the production of it all is a major environmental nightmare… and this is a discussion that’s not yet happening in a big enough way. The bulk of our waste does not come from individuals but from industry, and as such, that’s where the biggest ecological impact can come from. People are now beginning to buy recycled stuff and repurposed stuff and organic stuff and biodegradable stuff, which is infinitely better than buying the same old-school stuff… but I think that real change will begin to come when we as a culture shift to producing and buying less overall, with more of what is produced being ecologically sound.
Karina: On top of that, people have started to demand more quality goods (from fashion mavens on “what not to wear” to people demanding a car that will out-last its warranty). Classic styles are back in fashion (even though currently they’re tempered with that most ephemeral of decades - the 80s) because they have lasting power.
Jenn: And of course, there’s the long-lost concept of repairing what we’ve already got.
Karina: Plus there’s the current open discussion of products today that are designed to break (see, for example, the book Made for Obsolescence), which just fosters more consumerism.
Jenn: So, yes, I do think that ‘consume’ and ‘conserve’ can be compatible, because this is how I try to live, and I don’t have any personal wars being waged over the issue. And I hope that the culture at large can shift in this direction sometime soon.
Karina: I know I can come across as hopelessly optimistic at times, but as a society since WWII we’ve valued our access to inexpensive goods, and I think we may be at a point today where paying more for lasting quality and good design is becoming more acceptable and even important. As that happens, I think we’ll find that it’s a lot easier to consume and conserve at the same time.
What are your thoughts?
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9 Comments
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They are natural opposites, but if you learn to consume consciously, then it isn’t as much of a contrast.
I wonder if they are natural opposites, or just natural opposites in our culture?
I think you are right Karina, we need to irradicate functional obsolescence - the speed of technology upgrade is frightening at times and that is even with the manufacturers controlling market release so products get at least some shelf life
I wonder if the speed of technology upgrades are what contribute to the over-all market obsolescence strategy? by this I mean: if consumers didn’t expect to have to buy a new laptop every year to stay current, would they be as amenable to purchasing new jeans so frequently?
I recommend Heather Rogers’s book, “The Hidden Life of Garbage,” which also explores the origins of “built-in obsolescence” and the birth of a society of discards.
It also examines the privatization and consolidation of waste management, and the phenomenon of exporting our waste.
I’m glad you reminded me of this book, Sangu - I had forgotten that I meant to read it!
I agree with the need to buy less stuff overall. I also believe in trying as much as possible to purchase locally produced items from small manufacturers, but that’s a difficult task in this day and age. I’m concerned that large corporations view sustainable living as a trend that will go away, and that they only intend to do the bare minimum needed to label their product “ecologically friendly”, and what’s so friendly about any product brought to the USA via container ship from China, then shipped by truck to a big box store?
I’m no big box apologist, but it is heartening to see how some of the shops usually seen as the worst of the worst are using their buying power to leverage less packaging from suppliers and using greener shipping options. there are no easy answers, but I’m glad to see that the concepts of making tiny choices towards greener solutions is going up the corporate ladder as well!
You’re right Karina, the environment is definitely reaching boardroom level now - just as a compliance became such a key issue about 10 years ago the environment is moving up the ladder. Corporates now seem to realise that the environment can have financial affect on their businesses and is making them sit up and listen. Issues like ethical sourcing are things they cannot afford on a PR basis to ignore any more.
As one global charity organisation (who do not have either an ethical sourcing or environmental policy) said to me recently - we need to be seen to be on the side of the angels! So we are now writing both for them and carbon auditing their UK and overseas operations.