Sustainable Living: Conscious Consumption

With increased awareness on sustainability issues, we are looking more closely at the things we buy. We are more and more aware of materials used in production that are harmful not only to our natural environments, but even to us humans. Bio or Eco labelling are becoming increasingly common across the globe in order to provide a more sustainable alternative. 

There are various labels and brands now that certify specific ecological or social conditions. These are very important, not just as an indicator to us as the consumer, but also as an awareness campaign amongst consumers, producers and sellers worldwide. These brands are spreading and creating a very positive influence on the various parties in production as well as the consumers.  However, that said, there are limits to these.

Firstly, there are many different brands, but most of these tend to focus on either ecological/biological issues OR social issues. While I am of the firm belief that they are interconnected and not separable, few combine the two categories. Therefore you must choose if you care about the future of our natural planet or of the people in it. This can be a difficult choice to make.

Another issue is that in order to create an official label, you will have to set official standards. Official standards must in turn have specific definitions and delimitations. If we take a specific example; just because something is marked Bio or Eco doesn't mean that no pesticides were used. The use of pesticides is clearly delimited and regulated, but still possible. This doesn't mean that we should just ignore ecological branding because it is useless anyway, but we should be aware that it is not completely pesticide-free. 

There are plenty of scientific or non-scientific literature out there discussing the pros and cons of this so I will not go further into the details of that, but suffice to say that things are complex and imperfect even if you chose all your purchases carefully after branding. There is room for improvement. However, we can still assume that the majority of the goods labelled with sustainability indicators are better from and environmental and social standpoint than the generic goods we buy.

The way I see it, the most important result of sustainability branding is awareness. Consumers are seeing a difference and given the chance to choose. Even those who are not interested in sustainability issues (though in my opinion we all should be) will be exposed to this information in they daily tasks. It might not change the behavior of those who do not particularly foster these opinions, but it creates an awareness and spread of information.

As they say of most problematic situations; recognition of the problem is the first step to recovery.