Beef With ‘Green Consumerism’

Paul Hawken, an author and longtime environmental activist, said the current boom in earth-friendly products offers a false promise. “Green consumerism is an oxymoronic phrase,” he said. He blamed the news media and marketers for turning environmentalism into fashion and distracting from serious issues. A recent study showed that 35 million Americans regularly buy products that claim to be earth-friendly. So what is the problem you ask? The problem is that the common mind-set right now holds that, all we’re going to need to do to avert a large-scale planetary catastrophe is make slightly different shopping decisions. When; in fact, our consumption culture is the real problem. Consumers assume that by buying anything, whether green or not, we’re solving the global warming problem. This belief is a misperception, and does not have any affect on our consumption habits. Americans in particular are notorious consumers. Did you know that Americans consume 24% of the world’s energy but only constitute only 5% of the world’s population? I guess you can say we are hogging all the resources, literally. Where is the focus on consumption? We cannot buy our way into global cooling. The fact is; we need to consume less, period. For instance, instead of buying five pairs of organic hemp jeans, we could just as easily learn to buy one pair of regular jeans and be happy. The fact is, climate change is more caused by politics and the economy than individual behavior, it has nothing to do with what we buy, it has to do with how much we buy as well as things like mass transit, housing density, the war and subsidies for the coal and fossil fuel industry. Therefore, it is understandable why some critics hold that trendy green consumption is a distraction from the real problem. But, what about awareness, isn’t that important? I for one believe that we need to move in baby steps. I think it’s great that ‘green’ is fashionable. The more people that dress the proverbial part, the more likely they are to learn and act on the real issues. Do you agree with these opinions, do you think green trends with no focus on consumption cuts is a good start, or merely a distraction? Taken from: The New York Times Reuse…Save up to 90% off list price and save the environment too when you shop at UsedCisco.com By Joshua Levitt E-Commerce Sales and Marketing Manager for UsedCisco.com Sign up to receive the Green Your Network blog via email Syndicate the Green Your Network Blog via RSS Digg This Blog