1. Running head: EXCESSIVE CONSUMERISM AND THE GLOBAL CLIMATE 1
Excessive Consumerism and the Global Climate
Sarah Marais
SCI 256
January 6, 2014
Professor Chargualaf

2. EXCESSIVE CONSUMERISM AND THE GLOBAL CLIMATE 2
Excessive Consumerism and the Global Climate
Consumption is the obvious purpose of our nation because only through production,
sales, and amenities does modern civilization operate, calling it progress when more is produced
and purchased each year. Even worsening health is seen as creating wealth as it provides more
jobs and products, counting toward indicators of economic health. However, this requires
extracting and using natural resources beyond necessity, creating toxic byproducts, while the
commodities themselves create pollutants and waste. Additionally, the highest populations
globally use a fraction of resources the richest nations use, and so the issue is resource use above
population. According to Richard Robbins, the biggest reason why consumerism is overlooked
the most may be, “because it is so much a part of our lives that to change would require a
colossal cultural overhaul, severe economic disruption, and massive unemployment” (as cited by
Shah, 2005).
The Problem
According to the U.N. nearly 90% of global resources are consumed by wealthiest 20%
in the world and this requires additional expansion of the resource base into other people’s lands
to meet demand for marginally nutritious cash crops, but which drives a large market, depriving
the poor of their own resources. Monopoly land ownership drives local rural workers out of jobs,
resulting in increased urban migration to cities and affluent countries, resulting in over-crowding,
higher pollution, and health problems. Others will move to less arable land or forested areas and
clearing them to farm, resulting in further loss of habitat for wildlife (Shah, 2005). Additional
land is cleared, including parts of rainforests and other ecosystems, and used for cattle-raising for
commercialized beef exports. Over 50% of grain and water is used in the U.S. to feed livestock
that would directly provide for more people (Shah, 2005). Industrial agriculture uses

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monocultures, eradicating biodiversity of crops, leading to ecological imbalance and increased
crop disease. To combat this, widespread commercialized pesticide use and genetic modification
extends environmental damage over larger regions. Other extractions include oil, metals,
precious stones, and raw minerals (Shah, 2005). Legislative enforcement influenced businesses
to, “migrate dirty industry to poorer countries exempt from emissions reduction standards” and
hazardous wastes are exported to other regions with minimal or non-existent environmental
regulations, contributing to the total consumer waste of our throw-away culture (Shah, 2005).
Human Impact on the Environment
“Our ecological footprint measures show that the world reached its limits in 1986” and
Schor (2010) stated that we have outstripped our planetary biocapacity by 40% (as cited by
Akenji, 2014). Jackson (2009) observed that CO2emissions are still rising over 3% annually
along global extraction of metal ores (as cited by Akenji, 2014). Future projections from the
International Energy Agency (2009), the OECD (2008) estimate that, “current rates of
consumption demand will rise by 40% and further deterioration to urban air quality will occur in
cities” (as cited by Akenji, 2014). Why don't the poor just follow the example of the affluent? In
answer to this, considering their resource base is being used to support our increased wealth,
getting out of economic poverty is not possible; the only resource available them is more people,
thus an increase in population. Moreover, if those countries tried to reclaim their resources for
their own justifiable progress, it would be considered a threat to those currently controlling their
resources. Wars occur because of this control of resources, desire to maintain this way of life,
even if excessive; protecting those resources adds military needs to consumption and toxic waste.
Who is Responsible?

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Efforts to understand why ethical behaviors fail to embed and attitude– actual behavior
discrepancy still exists, despite the consistent message of saving the environment. Exploration
demonstrated that providing more information did not necessarily convince people to act on it.
Carrington et al. (2010) contend that, “consumers are ‘people engaged in socially embedded
everyday practices’ in which consumption is ‘deeply intertwined with social relations and
norms’” and Banerjee’s (1992) demonstrated how people learn from and conform to behaviors of
others (as cited by Yeow, Dean, & Tucker, 2013). However, focus on green consumerism (eco-
labelling, public awareness campaigns, and recycling programs of post-use products) that has
molded procedural tactics to affect the need for structural systemic shift lays responsibility on
consumers to maintain fiscal progress while concurrently carrying the burden to drive society
towards sustainability; which distracts from the critical mechanical alterations needed in order to
accomplish this evolution. The paradoxical consequence of promoting green consumerism is
that, despite ethical and environmental standards, production outstrips the efficiency gains.
Consumer behaviors are locked in by systemic barriers and decisions are subject to social
dynamics outside their direct control. To understand the characteristics of the attitude–behavior
gap, macro factors that influence consumer behavior must be considered.
Solutions
The system of provision’s structure has hardly transformed, yet, it is essential to establish
ecological limits on speed and amount of extraction, pollution, and waste generation; prioritize
reusable and recyclable materials, and “shift taxes away from economic goods to economic
“bads”, while removing incentives and subsidies for fossil fuel extraction” (Akenji, 2014). Lebel
and Lorek (2008) proposed a “sustainable production–consumption systems” (as cited by Akenji,
2014). Across society, daily household consumptive activities are culturally embedded in social

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practices and system designs and infrastructure decide the degree of flexibility an individual has
in accepting sustainable lifestyles. The Attitudes Facilitators Infrastructure model demonstrates
sustainable consumption policy design involving, “values, reorganization of ways of meeting
needs and redefining the notion of societal progress. Returning to local community bonds over
globalization; housing developments planned as hubs that integrate social facilities,
transportation options, and communal utilities” (Akenji, 2014). Given the urgency of the issue,
this model highlights four structural policy methods to shift society to sustainable consumption:
1). changing the default option away from mass-produced unsustainable goods in the market; 2).
measure well-being not only growth; 3). encourage grassroots innovation. Attempts in
sustainable consumption programs have largely been top-down, expert-driven, market-driven
and technical solutions; demoting behavioral ownership, and sidestepping accumulative common
knowledge. However, there are current initiatives practicing sustainable consumption, which can
provide early solutions for larger macrosystems. At grassroots level, people feel connected and
belonging within a self-reliant community they comprehend and trust; inspiring individual
accountability to community.
Conclusion
Clearly, consumer demands and commodity perception toward all life on earth and the
environment is so ingrained into our culture, the thought of lifestyle and economic system
adjustments seems too much to consider. As a direct result, poorer countries face more pollution,
though their consumption is a fraction of ours and, because food is a commodity, only those who
can afford to pay will eat; they are suffering at our hands. As Robbins stated, “someone has to
pay for our consumption levels”. The economic system needs to be brought to within safe
ecological limits, via substantial macro changes and systemic transformation.

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References
Lewis Akenji. (2014). Consumer Scapegoatism and Limits to Green Consumerism. Retrieved
from: http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0959652613003405/1-s2.0-S0959652613003405-
main.pdf?_tid=d84bb0de-9535-11e4-aff4-
00000aacb362&acdnat=1420502102_ace96f26313274610152d54a59e9abeb
Shah, A. (2005). Effects of Consumerism. Retrieved from:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/238/effects-of-consumerism
Yeow, P; Dean, A; Tucker, D. (2013). Bags for Life: The Embedding of Ethical Consumerism.
Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/1610893141?pq-
origsite=summon