Abstract
Consumption is the utilization of economic goods or natural resources. Studies of consumption are used to determine how and why individuals consume, and how their habits affect our society and the environment. While human consumption is increasing rapidly, a problem of overconsumption is arising. Over-consumption is a result of consumption being too high that sustainability cannot be achieved.
Alternative sources of energy are being used today to reduce the amount of energy being wasted. These alternative sources arise from the advancement in technology; examples would include solar power and fuel-efficient vehicles.
The wealthiest of the world accounted for 76.6% of total private consumption, the poorest just 1.5%. North America is the highest consuming country. Overconsumption in North America is a way of life. Billions of dollars are being spent by corporate advertising to make products and services appealing to people and also to re-shape people’s attitudes and emotions to convince them in buying their products. North Americans are exposed to on average 3000 advertisements per day.
People consume a variety of resources and products today having moved beyond basic needs to include luxury items and technological innovations to try to improve efficiency. There are important issues around consumerism that are needed to be understood and thought about. How is consumption affecting the environment? What is a necessity and what is a luxury?
Consumerism and consumption are at the core of many societies. The impact of consumption has to be considered whether positive or negative.
Consumption as a term is in itself neutral. It refers to the utilization of economic goods and or natural resources. The concern, however, is linked to particular consumption patterns that are disregarding the environmental equilibrium. Some practices affect negatively our environment, notably the draining of natural resources. Another concern, also, is the degree to which the consumption of goods, and by extension natural resources as well, has plummeted to levels that are no longer sustained by the environment. This is particularly distinctive of some regions of the world, namely the rich industrial world who take on the responsibility of great share in world consumption. Given these skewed patterns, one’s consumption does affect the environment either positively or negatively, depending on how one is conscious about environmental issues.
Consumerism as a social lifestyle: an environmental assessment
Consumption in itself is not problematic. Merriam Webster defines the term as “the utilization of economic goods in the satisfaction of wants or in the process of production resulting chiefly in their destruction, deterioration, or transformation” (Merriam Webster). What creates problems is the adoption of some consumption patterns that are harmful to the environment, namely overconsumption and the draining of natural resources.
Global consumption growth is a subject of interest of many stakeholders, notably energy-related institutions, conscientious individuals and associations, environment-friendly organizations, and so on. The concern is justifiable because there is an ascending trend. There are hardly statistical analyses of world private consumption but it is understood that most capitalist countries, notably the US, adopt consumption-led strategies for growth and therefore their growth is linked to private consumption.
Indeed, underlying private consumption lays a culture of consumerism encouraged by the politico-economic systems. It is interesting also to see that the Chinese government has been encouraging consumption as a basis for growth (Yaming, 2008, p 41), to cope with the other capitalist countries. The model that it has developed is an emulation of the American model after the Depression and post-war Europe (Yaming, 2008). In all these regions of the world, consumerism has been encouraged as a lifestyle by the concerned economic agents and strategy-crafters, notably governments but also corporations and firms.
Consumerism as a social phenomenon reflects an unbalanced prioritization in consumer behavior. It is best illustrated in juxtaposing statistics of consumption of livelihood-related goods and secondary (and perhaps luxury) counterparts. For instance, 12 billion dollars are spent in the US and Europe on perfumes while 9 billion dollars are spent on water and sanitation for all internationally (Global Issues, 2008). So part of our unbalanced consumption patterns is the nature of goods on which we spend money.
Underpinning the consumption of this secondary-importance good is extensive use of advertising that pushes people to buy always more than what they need. Always concerning capitalist societies that tend to be also consumer societies, one would dare say that advertising is ubiquitous. To illustrate the omnipresence of advertising, studies have shown that Americans are exposed to 3000 ads every day. Various techniques are deployed from ambient advertising, in public spaces, to digital and virtual advertising.
The marketing element in consumer behavior is important to account for to better frame the discussion about consumption. It is a variable to break down the issue and understand how capitalist societies have been fostering the trend. Understanding the underlying mechanisms shows that also, on an individual level, we share responsibility in the way we consume.
We are all subject to advertising and probably the young demographic is the primary target. Therefore, our response to advertising and our choices of consumption make us also part of the environmental deterioration that is put on the account of consumerism. Being bombarded with ads must e contributing to the consumption cultures where we live now, to the detriment of the environment.
The influence of consumerism on the environment is indeed almost common sense knowledge nowadays. Food consumption best illustrates the individual and private responsibility in rising consumerism.
Food waste is one of the aspects of the environmental toll that consumerism is responsible for. It is particularly acute in industrial countries, causing ecological and natural losses (Griffin and Sobal, 2009). Studies, based on data analysis and interviews, have found that between 1998-1999 just in one US county, some 10,205 tons of food waste have been produced (Griffin and Sobal, 2009). A micro-analysis has shown that the distribution of waste is 20%, processing 1%, distribution 19%, and 60% of food waste was generated by consumers (Griffin and Sobal, 2009). Furthermore, less than one-third has been used in recycling or composting. To better illustrate the futility of food consumption behavior in that one county, the study commented that the total food waste could have fed the county residents for a month and a half (Griffin and Sobal, 2009). This shows that agricultural products are used in a manner incommensurate with needs in industrial regions.
Lately, a link between food waste and climate change has been declared. The British minister for Climate Change, Joan Ruddock, has been calling on British people to cut down on shopping (Hickman, 2007). He calls for culture to diminish the unnecessary shopping Britons throw away one-third of their food (Hickman, 2007).
In terms of numbers, the criticized “cultural” trend translates into 6.7 million tons of waste. Each household squanders, accordingly, around £250 and £400 worth of food annually (Hickman, 2007). The environmental negative effect of this unbalanced use of food is illustrated in the fact that the waste emits gas methane, one in waste junks, as a result of the process of rotting. The gas, in turn, contributes to the current global climate change. This fact is put forth by environmentalists who contend that methane emerging from food going rot is 20 times more pernicious than carbon dioxide emissions (Oliver, 2008).
The argument of overshopping has been stressed in the discussion of food waste in Britain. Underlying the buying trend, it was advanced that was not an element of un-planning. The food usually was kept in the fridge at an inadequate temperature, below what ought to be (Hickman, 2007). Another traced problem has been that food simply was going past its best by date. These elements show a disregard for the importance of consuming only what is needed. It shows also unawareness of the environmental impact of waste. The trend was found to be particularly significant among the young demographic (Hickman, 2007).
There is another aspect to this- marketing power overconsumption. The impact of ads on consumption behavior has been found to also be a pertinent variable. The “buy one get one free” ads in supermarkets have influenced the buying decisions of consumers, according to the analysis of the behavior of 300 households (Hickman, 2007).
Energy consumption: A drain to natural resources
On the other hand, for energy consumption, world energy consumption is expected to grow by 50 % between 2005 and 2030 (EIA, 2008). The growing energy consumption is draining natural resources and causing a variety of problems.
The well-known truth, nowadays, about the huge consumption of energy, notably in the industrialized world is causing fears. Indeed, the fact that energy is mainly taken from a nonrenewable resource- the focus on renewable energy is only budding- nurtures concerns about the depletion of fossil fuels.
An optimistic trend, see the significant reliance on non-renewable energy as something that would be rectified spontaneously, through market mechanisms. Nonetheless, markets are usually oriented towards making a profit rather than caring about the environmental toll of energy consumption (Global Issues, 2008).
There is an environmental stake in developing renewable energy-based industries, beyond the economic benefits. However, they overlap in that both motivations could ultimately lead to a reduction of the negative effects of the use of gas and fuel. There should be an investment in technical procedures that use little of the non-renewable substances.
There are several low-carbon technologies. This includes degradable plastic, carbon capture, and domestic fuel cell. The techniques refer, respectively, to the production of plastic that degrades by a process of oxo-degradation, forcing oil and gas up from a borehole by pumping a liquid or gas into the underground chamber containing the fossil fuel and converting chemical energy to electrical energy (Carbon-Info, 2009). The list is not exhaustive. The existing budding technologies have the potential to be further developed.
These technologies open the possibility to sustain economic growth without an approach that causes a depletion of the environment. They all converge in their power to reduce carbon emissions and cut down the heavy dependence on oil and gas (Barett, 2008).
There is also a behavioral component in the consumption of energy. Alternative modes would be that societies should be keen on adopting alternative green technologies. An aggregate effort of individuals can create the change because there is private use of energy as well. Energy is consumed in households, not only industries.
Conservation is an alternative mode of consumption based on conservation. It is advertised by such green websites as energyalternatives.ca. Conservation is the minimal use of energy in households. This refers to the rational consumption of lightning. This means that it should be used only when needed, the use of natural light during the day as much as possible, and replacing watt fixtures with the smaller ones (i.e. 20 Watt FCL instead of 75 for instance). Another measure would be the omission of any electric devices that consume unnecessarily electricity causing what is called ‘phantom load’. This is easily remedied via the usage of power bars. Another measure could be using a heating system, especially water heating efficiently. The heating system is usually the major consumption utility of households. This could be dealt with for instance using solar-thermal power. All these are examples of what individuals could do.
Differential World Consumption
Consumption levels vary region-wise. The current consumption trends in some regions of the globe tend to be particularly high. The 1995 figures show that the world’s richest countries tend to have high levels of consumption in proportion to their size whereas the poorest consume less. Indeed, the world’s richest 20% are responsible for 76% of private consumption whereas the world’s poorest 20% consume 21.9% (Global Issues, 2008). The world’s 60% middle rich, on the other hand, seem to have moderate consumption at a rate of 21.9% (Global Issues, 2008). It is believed that the trends were not circumvented. Even if levels have come down, the disparities have not. There is always a discrepancy between rich vs. poor.
One should refer, however, to some growing economies like China which witness alarming levels of conception. Such trends are undeniably bringing further changes to world orientation. In parallel with its on-the-growth economy, China has been fostering some environmentally non-friendly practices due to the growing industry and the significant size of its population.
Over the last three-decade, China has been the site of a booming economy, at levels that approximate 10% growth annually (Yaming, 2008, p 41). The economic boom has some aspects to it that are not positive, namely high consumption trends.
More ascension in consumption is to be expected of China and the fast-growing economies of the like. A study shows that where China and India used to be responsible for 8% of world energy consumption in 1980, they have been responsible for 18% in 2005 (EIA, 2008).
The reference to these two countries should draw attention to the new orientation of world consumption. Not only do we have the traditional rich countries consuming higher than the poor ones, but we also have now to take into account the growing Asian economies. Projections anticipate that by 2030, both China and India would be responsible for one-quarter of world consumption (EIA, 2008). This gives reasons to think that there might be still skewed consumption but it is going to be around the axiom of rich and Asian growing economies vs. poor countries.
The figures outlined concerning private and energy consumption show that there is a differentiated world consumption orientation. Within it, rich countries are the ones who consume most. There is also a new orientation in the consumption pattern, as Asian emerging economies consume more as they are growing, which predicts further strain on the environment. They all push to reflect about individual and corporate responsibility with regards to the high levels of consumption worldwide.
Conclusion. Individual and corporate responsibility
From all the above analysis of the issue, it appears that there is an individual as well as corporate responsibility in overconsumption. Consumption growth is due to a lifestyle that is permeated with consumerism. This is nurtured by economies that use heavily marketing tools and bombard potential consumers with ads. The case of food waste is presented to illustrate how private consumption is sometimes conducted irresponsibly, producing waste that not only uses up goods more than needs to be but also may trigger environmental problems. In this case, the potential danger of methane gas resulting from rotting has been referred to. In the end, awareness of this and adherence to simple green procedures can circumvent the trend.
On a larger corporate level, green technologies open the door for better management of natural resources, notably energy. It has been shown how economic growth is often paralleled with consumption growth. Industrial economies, be they first-world capitalist economies like the US or newly growing economies like China, tend to overuse natural resources. Oil and fuel are the main resources concerned with the rise. The discussion has been more about the alternative technologies as a solution to the draining of resources and therefore the issue of energy security has not been tackled; rather, the concern has been to show alternative methods to practices that engender carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change.
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