This is at WPVE, a branch of NPR. Maybe we can start by stopping them from selling products?
Can we address climate change without addressing consumerism?
Is it possible to address climate change without also addressing consumerism? A listener in Muncie wanted to know.
It’s no secret that the less stuff you buy, the less energy and materials are needed to make that new product — and that’s good for the climate. There are other kinds of consumption too — like how much electricity we use in our homes or how much gas we use to fuel our cars.
Amrou Awaysheh is the executive director of the Indiana University Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab. He said many businesses have set aggressive goals to lower their carbon emissions and more companies are making consumers aware of what they’re doing for the climate.
That means consumers can make a positive impact by “voting with their dollars.”
“If they choose to buy products and goods from a company that doesn’t care about the environment, or doesn’t care where the raw materials are extracted from — then that’s on them,” Awaysheh said.
Or, those companies that say they care about Hotcoldwetdry can stop selling products. And the climate cultists can stop buying stuff, stop using electricity, stop using fossil fuels.
Zach Schrank is a sociologist at Indiana University South Bend and teaches classes on the intersection between the environment and consumption. He said there are other things you can do to reduce your impact — like buying things used and sharing items with your neighbors.
But Schrank said just by being in an affluent society like the U.S., we consume more and we don’t always have control over that.
Sounds like an excuse to blow off walking the talk.
“It is the responsibility of the entities that are making these things and the governments that are regulating the production and sales of these things, so that consumers have good options,” he said.
So, basically putting the government in charge of the economy? Huh.
