Ethical Consumption: What it means to be a consumer

Over the past five days of adjusting to living zero waste, I have realized that it is much harder than I imagined. I find myself trying to pretend like I have not made waste. Mainly when my partner and I go somewhere, I will ask her to get something that produces paper waste or trash and let me have a few bites so I can say that I was not the one producing the waste. I will get more into this on my weekly update on Sunday, but I have also realized that the majority of this waste is coming from the capitalism based need for consumerism. Consumerism has taken control of our society. I cannot go a single day without thinking of something that I want or “need.” I told myself that for the next month I was not going to buy anything because realistically I do not need anything. However, I find myself constantly making mental lists of things I need. I need a new AUX cord for my car because I broke mine. I need tights for a party I want to go to this weekend. I want to buy a snack. With these things comes the pollution and environmental harm of production, packaging, dispersal, and use.

This semester, our class has been talking a lot about the relationship between environmentalism and consumerism. I have been asking myself can someone truly be an environmentalist if they are still rooted in consumerism? Can people actually break away from the constant desire to buy and have more stuff? Though we did not discuss, “What’s wrong with Ethical Consumption?” by Jo Litter in class, Litter raises some important points about consumerism that we did discuss in our classroom setting. Both consumption and ethical consumption are very large topics to discuss. I attempt to live my life as an ethical consumer, or at least as a conscious consumer. I attempt to live a vegan lifestyle based on animal rights. I also try not to buy from companies that promote sweatshop labor or do not treat their workers with respect. However, companies hide their practices making it difficult for people to educate themselves about corporation practices. Litter discusses the relationship between ethical consumption, consumption by middle-class individuals, and the hidden costs of products (Littler 6). Current issues are making ethical consumerism more trendy, and more expensive. This makes ethical consumption less obtainable for conscious middle-class individuals (Litter 6-7). There is a socioeconomic divide due to shaming around consumption practices even though individuals high on the economic chain make some of the most environmentally harmful consumption based decisions.

For me, the idea of consumption relates to my current self-learning about waste because there is so much more waste in the world rather than the trash I am collecting. My ideas so far in this process are quite jumbled. A part of me wants to completely educate myself and live off the grid to have the smallest footprint possible, but I also know that is not possible at this stage in my life. That idea is also a very privileged idea. I would love to find ways that my current mission to understand zero waste or minimal waste could be made more accessible to an average person who cares about the environment. One of the largest problems with environmentalism is the lack of accessibility even though most people concerned with climate change are those in low-income communities that will be affected the most. How can I make my learning more accessible to others? How can more successful zero waste activists do their part in environmental justice and equality? Can I be an ethical consumer, or am I just a conscious consumer?

Work Cited:

Littler, Jo. "What’s wrong with ethical consumption." Ethical consumption: A critical introduction (2011): 27-39.