Environmental Justice and Sustainable Purchasing: Reducing Consumption

"Being a responsible investor or a conscious consumer is not about recanting capitalism, but about making informed choices."

Philipp Rickenbacher is the chief executive officer at Bank Julius Baer in Zürich, Switzerland. In the following viewpoint, the author argues that global trends indicate a shift away from indulging and buying luxury items as consumers become more conscious of what they buy and who they buy it from. Rickenbacher explains how strict labor and environmental regulations in developed countries have driven manufacturers to developing countries where these companies do not face such restrictions and can produce goods more cheaply. However, the author maintains, consumers are placing an increased value on the conditions in which products are made. Consequently, Rickenbacher asserts, customers increasingly engage in conscious consumerism, in which their purchasing habits are influenced by the social, environmental, and political factors involved.

"When wannabe environmentalists try to change purchasing habits without also altering their consumer mind-set, something gets lost in translation."

Buying green is a sign that people recognize the need to protect the environment, claims Monica Hesse in the following viewpoint. However, she argues, consuming green products is not the solution. Consumption will not solve the nation's environmental challenges, Hesse explains. To be truly green means to buy less, not green, she maintains. Replacing products thought to be environmentally unsound increases consumption, which in turn increases environmental problems, she reasons. Hesse is a staff writer for The Washington Post.

How can we better conserve and live sustainably? Learn how to find sustainable furniture, find green items on eBay, and even how to green your website. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how we define waste and value. Making environmentally good choices when furnishing your home is easier than you think and can make a big impact on the planet. This program teaches the value of repurposing salvaged materials into original furniture and how it is an essential choice to help solve problems caused by excessive consumption. Learn where the raw materials we sit, eat, and sleep on come from and how they impact the natural world. Renew, revive, and restore!

Only one third of the waste in the United States is recycled or composted. Why? Industry, through its practice of planned obsolescence, plays a major role; our lives are almost totally dependent on unrecyclable petroleum products. In order to reach zero waste, we need to change our relationship to garbage and view the things we discard as resources, rather than waste.RACING TO ZERO examines our society's garbage practices in terms of consumption, preparation, use and production, and discovers some amazing solutions in San Francisco, which is successfully taking the necessary steps to reach zero waste. Cities all over the United States have instituted zero-waste policies of their own, and it is through these mandates that we are challenged to think differently about not only how we handle our garbage, but what it can become.

Zero-waste consumers live a lifestyle that aims to minimize waste, maximize recycling, avoid excessive consumption and prefer products that can be reused, recycled or repaired (GRRN, n.d.). This study provides insights into the behavior change process of zero-waste consumers and gives
details into the motivators that impacted consumers. Their journey is analyzed with help of the five stages of the Transtheoretical Model by DiClemente et al. (1991) and its behavior change constructs. Furthermore, motivators of this behavior change are categorized and analyzed by means of the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Oakley, Chen, & Nisi, 2012).

Whether collecting, storing or hoarding, we’ve always had our issues with stuff – not least deciding what’s worth having