Reducing Consumption

An issue that I’ve noticed recur time and time again when looking at sustainability in America is the consumerist nature of our society. Consumption is what drives our economy, structured to thrive via perpetual growth. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we live on a finite planet when the market is flooded with goods from around the world and disposable items. It’s easy to forget that, as the possibilities of what one can buy seem endless, our resources are limited. And with over seven billion people and counting on the planet, it’s important to manage these resources responsibly. Given the current state of the world, I think it’s fair to say that many of us are living beyond our means.

            It might be easy to think of consuming less energy, for example, as making a sacrifice for the sake of the environment. I don’t think it could be more opposite. Reducing fossil fuel use would leave us with cleaner air, lower carbon emissions, and even more money in our pockets. Wouldn’t relying on a diminishing, finite resource indefinitely sacrifice our resiliency, health, and ultimately the planet? It’s a matter of realizing that we could sacrifice the long-term for instant gratification, or we could live in a way that created a stable, resilient society that would thrive long into the future.

            Reducing fossil fuel consumption isn’t just about driving less. Food and other goods take energy to produce and transport to the store. Usually, buying local is the way to go. Something that helps me to make decisions on what I buy is thinking about where it came from, as well as where it will go when I’m done with it. I try to keep questions like these in mind: How far did it travel to get here? Who made it? What is it made out of, and where did those materials come from? How much energy did it take to make? How long will it last? Can I recycle or reuse it?

This past summer, I read a book and watched a film (Netflix) called No Impact Man, a documentation of a New Yorker who led his family in a project of eliminating their environmental impact. That meant buying second-hand, eating only local food, biking and walking, taking the stairs, cloth diapers, giving their TV the boot, and eventually even turning off their electricity. Colin Beavan, the author and No Impact Man, didn’t do the project to tell other people that they should live their lives in the same way. Instead he did it to find out what sustainable changes worked for him and his family, and found a much happier and healthier way of life. His project showed me that it is truly possible to make such changes, even while being surrounded by people that aren’t. It really is possible to live with fewer material things and a higher quality of life. Heck, I’ve been living out of a suitcase and a backpack for almost three months now, and I certainly don’t miss having more stuff. I look forward to returning home and experimenting with my own personal changes--composting, alternatives to driving, eating local, using less electricity, and water conservation.

If you want to check out No Impact Man, this is the project's website: http://noimpactproject.org/

-Katie