fredag 4 november 2011

Blog assignment 2


What is the real price of consuming?

Annie Leonard talks about many important things in her presentation, things we all know about but almost always choose not to care too much about. We all know that the earth’s resources decreases rapidly, that the environment are being destroyed more and more because pollution among other things, so why don´t we do anything about it? Annie gives us a very good solution to how we could at least slow down the destruction of earth; don’t consume as much as you do now.

The fact that we connect consumption with status and contribution to the society (yes, sadly it´s a fact for too many people) is a big problem. If everyone realized that the enormous consumption we have today does not help either the earth, the society or ourselves, hopefully the consumption would slow down. Of course we have to consume to make the countries go round, but we have to cut down. If we continue consuming, companies will continue using the earth’s resources until they are all gone, and we can´t let that happen.

It´s interesting that she actually found reports were companies have discussed how they can produce products that will breake as soon as possible, not so fast that the customer will be upset, but just so fast that the customer will go and by a new product. If we should start buying more quality products, that lasts ten years instead of one year, then we would not help the companies to produce these crappy things... More importantly, if we would start paying more for the products, if we stop choosing the cheaper one of two products, then would the employees who work in the factories hopefully get paid more and would get a chance to get a better life standard.

I could write about this for a long time, because it is such an interesting and important subject, but to sum it up; how much is our overconsumption worth?? Is it ok that enormous amounts of toxic pollution are let out, that the rainforest are deforested, that people have to work with toxin almost every day for almost no money, just so we can buy one more unnecessary product?

What would happen if we all would cut our consumption down to half? Could YOU cut your consumption down to half and are YOU willing to do so? 

4 kommentarer:

  1. Den här kommentaren har tagits bort av skribenten.

    SvaraRadera
  2. I definitely agree with you on every point, especially on how it is essential to cut down our consumption and how everyone must take on some of the responsibility.

    SvaraRadera
  3. Surely as a first step would be interesting and appropriate to do an energy plan and truly understand how much energy we need and where we could reduce a lot of waste.
    Today we would have at hand all the answers to create a sustainable world, a world more human and accessible to all, with much less discirminations and injustices, but to realize we should change our scale of values ​​and instead of profit should we have the humanity and the environment as core values ​​and guiding our every choice from them.
    For example, we can produce food without having to waste or consume fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers, known agronomists have discovered the most sustainable forms of agriculture such as permaculture and synergistic, allowing to exploit the mechanisms intrinsic to 'ecosystem, of course, fortunately we forget large expanses of monocultures. Imagine also the houses made ​​of green building as well as healthy and well insulated ad hoc non-toxic and natural.

    A medicine that combines new technologies with old techniques and the use of herbs that has always accompanied us in our evolutionary path, a drug is not subject to pressure from pharmaceutical companies.
    A technology that is designed to last as long as possible and that is completely recyclable when they can no longer support us. Anyway we CAN create a sustainable world. We MUST do it!

    SvaraRadera
  4. I completely agree with you Sofia, we must go for the products which are not crappy instead we should buy the stuff which can last longer and that will really help in reducing the production of the crappy products. It will be a very good idea on our part to at least contribute towards environment and the resources which our next generations can use......

    SvaraRadera