Tune your Shopping Radar to the Environment
Become aware of the environmental implications of your consumption, and purchase those goods that have the least impact on our future.
Understanding the resources embedded in the products we buy, and using this knowledge to guide our purchasing decisions, is difficult. Advertising is a powerful means of influencing our purchasing decisions and there is often little information available about the energy, water and other environmental inputs required to produce the things we buy. If we are able to overcome these obstacles with a bit of willpower and research, we will be better able to make purchasing decisions that are aligned to environmental concerns. Not surprisingly, moving from the heavily advertised (and high energy and water) product lines will often save you money. It's like being paid to have greater peace of mind!
How to do it now!
In the absence of standardised product labelling that explains the environmental inputs to the products we consume, we need to apply a common-sense check list to everything we buy. The following environmental shopping filters are a broad guide to some basic rules that will help us select products with minimal environmental impacts.
- Buy locally produced products - Assuming all else is equal, buying local goods eliminates the tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions required to transport the goods (see our 'Buy Local & Seasonal Food' action).
- Buy efficient products - When purchasing products that have ongoing operational costs (ie energy, paper, water) ensure the product is the most efficient of its class (See our 'Install Efficient Appliances and Fixtures' action).
- Buy recycled products - Recycled products efficiently reuse materials that would otherwise be buried or burnt (see our 'Purchase Recycled Goods' action).
- Seek products with pro-environmental labels and certification - The following labelling programs exist to aid selection of products on the basis of their efficiency and their environmental and social impact.
- Wood and Paper - The Forest Stewardship Council certifies and labels wood products that are harvested sustainably (see our 'Buy Paper and Wood Responsibly' action).
- Coffee, tea, chocolate, rice, sugar etc - Fairtrade certifies and labels products that are sourced from developing world producers in a way that protects them from the effects of globalisation (i.e. poverty and the resulting decline of the environment) (see our Buy Fairtrade Food & Products' action).
- Avoid products with excessive packaging - Consider the whole product, including the packaging, when evaluating its environmental impact. Can the package be recycled? Is it necessary? (see our Avoid Products with Excessive Packaging' action).
- Avoid consuming endangered animals - Every day we consume tonnes of endangered fish (see our 'Don't Eat Endangered Fish' action).
- Avoid toxic cleaners - The introduction of toxic products into the home or office is bad for your health and bad for the planet (see our 'Use Non-Toxic Cleaners' action).
- Buy hydroponics - The use of hydroponics (and glasshouses) results in a significant increase in edible food volume per litre of water, uses less chemicals (no herbicides and little if any insecticides) and has a smaller footprint, no run-off of chemicals to ground water or streams, uses less carbon based fuels per kg of product than field crops and creates more employment. Glasshouses can actually reduce food miles by enabling crops to be grown for longer seasons within local areas.
Why this action is important?
When we climb a mountain, we approach it one step at a time - otherwise it all seems too hard. This action outlines some small steps that help us apply our concern for the environment to every purchasing decision we make. In this way we can start to change our world.