Instagram and Facebook are full of advertisements saying buy this product and save the planet. "Swap your unsustainable product for this one." The fact is that quite often the most powerful thing you can do for the planet is to buy nothing.
The average American has 300000 items in their house and one in ten use storage facilities. So the simple fact is that we already have too much stuff. If you haven't watched The Story of Stuff now would be a good time to do so.
60-80% of total climate impacts are due to household consumption but of that only 20% is due to driving using fossil fuels and heating and cooling our homes. 80% is due to the emissions produced by the manufacture and transportation of the things we consume. So you can see that reducing what we consume is a very powerful way to decrease our individual impact on the planet. I wish I could find the reference for saying that we should all aim to reduce consumption by 80% but I can't.
The IPCC report says that our best chance of avoiding climate breakdown is to have low energy demand, low consumption and a plant based diet.
The Power of Not Buying
1) Reducing consumption reduces emissions, pollution, plastics, transportation emissions and human exploitation. While China is one of the world's biggest emitters of carbon 33% of it is manufacturing for exports to US, UK, Europe and Australia. China's per capita footprint is 1.6 global hectares which is almost sustainable. The people who are buying the things from China and other high manufacturing Asian countries are the ones who should be responsible for these emissions.
2) Boycotting companies than have not been responsible global citizens hurts their profit margins and viability forcing either change or going out of business. Coke, Pepsi and Nestle are the biggest companies whose products are found in ocean cleanups. Fast fashion pays women 39c an hour for working long hours in appalling conditions. Rana Plaza is just the tip of the iceberg.
3) Increases your savings to provide an economic buffer or for climate resilience. Currently the Household Savings Ratio in Australia is 2.4. Two years ago it was double this and in 1980 it was 15. This is a huge problem because it means that households have no safety buffer if there is economic uncertainty (as predicted in IPCC report) and no means of implementing climate resilience measure like insulating the house or installing solar.
4) Quite often you are paying for something that costs practically nothing and you are just paying for the packaging. The most obvious example of this is water in plastic bottles where you can be paying up to 2000 times what it would cost you to get it from the tap. You are literally paying for the packaging. Another one that amazes me is herb teas which are easy to make by picking a few leaves or flowers of easy to grow herbs and pouring boiling water on them.
5) You don't actually need it (even the "sustainable" version). The first one that comes to mind for me is cotton buds. Buying the non-plastic one instead of the plastic version is a little pointless since you don't need the product in the first place. I would also add hair dye, most cosmetics, coffee pods, air freshners, toilet ducks and most clothes and this article has more. For an excoriating article on buying fun useless gifts read George Monbiot's Gift of Death.
How to not buy
Follow this decision tree
One thing that I find useful is considering what is the purpose of the thing you want. Then thinking whether there is something else you already own or can do that does that purpose. On a simple level when you buy a Coke you are quenching your thirst, which water does better without the plastic pollution, environmental exploitation, health problems caused by the first choice.... and you save $3.
The next most important thing is to wait 30 days. Mostly your impulse to buy it is over in that time and you are on target to reduce your consumption by 80%, but if you still need it buy good quality by ethical companies.
Plan ahead. If you know that there are frozen oranges or homemade ice blocks waiting for you in the freezer at home it is easier to not buy an ice cream on a hot day. Bring your water, bring your lunch, bring everything you usually need for whatever you are doing.
Use services instead. It is hard to get away from thinking you need to own everything but using services for occasional use things is better than buying. Think libraries, tool libraries, car rentals and dress renting.
If you are boycotting a brand make sure you let them and your friends know by posting on social media with them tagged in the post. Brands and companies don't change because it's the right thing to do. They change when they risk losing money by not doing it. Think of the consumer pressure to ban plastic bags at Woolworths and Coles, Streets ice creams underpaying employees, CUB beer boycott.
Stay away from temptation, don't go into shopping centres or watch/read advertising and you will soon find that the occasional necessary trip into these shops creates a sense of disgust instead of enjoyment.
Think about not buying news media too. If your news media isn't talking about climate change and is full of advertising maybe it is time to cancel your subscription.
Write do everything you buy for a week and then look at how much of it is wants instead of needs. This also gives you a good idea of how much you are going to save by lowering consumption.
So instead of buying a product to save the world, consider instead the power of not buying.
The average American has 300000 items in their house and one in ten use storage facilities. So the simple fact is that we already have too much stuff. If you haven't watched The Story of Stuff now would be a good time to do so.
60-80% of total climate impacts are due to household consumption but of that only 20% is due to driving using fossil fuels and heating and cooling our homes. 80% is due to the emissions produced by the manufacture and transportation of the things we consume. So you can see that reducing what we consume is a very powerful way to decrease our individual impact on the planet. I wish I could find the reference for saying that we should all aim to reduce consumption by 80% but I can't.
The IPCC report says that our best chance of avoiding climate breakdown is to have low energy demand, low consumption and a plant based diet.
The Power of Not Buying
1) Reducing consumption reduces emissions, pollution, plastics, transportation emissions and human exploitation. While China is one of the world's biggest emitters of carbon 33% of it is manufacturing for exports to US, UK, Europe and Australia. China's per capita footprint is 1.6 global hectares which is almost sustainable. The people who are buying the things from China and other high manufacturing Asian countries are the ones who should be responsible for these emissions.
2) Boycotting companies than have not been responsible global citizens hurts their profit margins and viability forcing either change or going out of business. Coke, Pepsi and Nestle are the biggest companies whose products are found in ocean cleanups. Fast fashion pays women 39c an hour for working long hours in appalling conditions. Rana Plaza is just the tip of the iceberg.
3) Increases your savings to provide an economic buffer or for climate resilience. Currently the Household Savings Ratio in Australia is 2.4. Two years ago it was double this and in 1980 it was 15. This is a huge problem because it means that households have no safety buffer if there is economic uncertainty (as predicted in IPCC report) and no means of implementing climate resilience measure like insulating the house or installing solar.
4) Quite often you are paying for something that costs practically nothing and you are just paying for the packaging. The most obvious example of this is water in plastic bottles where you can be paying up to 2000 times what it would cost you to get it from the tap. You are literally paying for the packaging. Another one that amazes me is herb teas which are easy to make by picking a few leaves or flowers of easy to grow herbs and pouring boiling water on them.
5) You don't actually need it (even the "sustainable" version). The first one that comes to mind for me is cotton buds. Buying the non-plastic one instead of the plastic version is a little pointless since you don't need the product in the first place. I would also add hair dye, most cosmetics, coffee pods, air freshners, toilet ducks and most clothes and this article has more. For an excoriating article on buying fun useless gifts read George Monbiot's Gift of Death.
How to not buy
Follow this decision tree
One thing that I find useful is considering what is the purpose of the thing you want. Then thinking whether there is something else you already own or can do that does that purpose. On a simple level when you buy a Coke you are quenching your thirst, which water does better without the plastic pollution, environmental exploitation, health problems caused by the first choice.... and you save $3.
The next most important thing is to wait 30 days. Mostly your impulse to buy it is over in that time and you are on target to reduce your consumption by 80%, but if you still need it buy good quality by ethical companies.
Plan ahead. If you know that there are frozen oranges or homemade ice blocks waiting for you in the freezer at home it is easier to not buy an ice cream on a hot day. Bring your water, bring your lunch, bring everything you usually need for whatever you are doing.
Use services instead. It is hard to get away from thinking you need to own everything but using services for occasional use things is better than buying. Think libraries, tool libraries, car rentals and dress renting.
If you are boycotting a brand make sure you let them and your friends know by posting on social media with them tagged in the post. Brands and companies don't change because it's the right thing to do. They change when they risk losing money by not doing it. Think of the consumer pressure to ban plastic bags at Woolworths and Coles, Streets ice creams underpaying employees, CUB beer boycott.
Stay away from temptation, don't go into shopping centres or watch/read advertising and you will soon find that the occasional necessary trip into these shops creates a sense of disgust instead of enjoyment.
Think about not buying news media too. If your news media isn't talking about climate change and is full of advertising maybe it is time to cancel your subscription.
Write do everything you buy for a week and then look at how much of it is wants instead of needs. This also gives you a good idea of how much you are going to save by lowering consumption.
So instead of buying a product to save the world, consider instead the power of not buying.
You've encouraged me to plant some lemongrass for my husband's tea. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Jamie
ReplyDelete