The environmentally-hostile burrito
Hunched over and half way through my second homemade burrito I pause for a second to catch my breath. As I put down the burrito I can feel the satiety catching up, though still too weak to affect my longing for more. I gaze at the wrap — it’s just lying there, like a stranded whale, bloated and ready to explode! Fat is oozing from a couple of cracks on the side of it — I’ve stuffed it too much. Again — primarily with Santa Maria Taco Spice Mix infused minced meat. Too much meat? Am I eating too much meat? I don’t know… What is too much meat? Is any meat too much?
Why do we do the things we do?
I start thinking: I eat meat every day, multiple times a day, even — and to be honest it’s not really a conscious choice, it’s just something I do, because… well, that’s what you do, right? You just eat meat, lots and lots of meat. It’s bad to eat too much meat, for several reasons — or so I’ve been told, but somehow eating meat just seems as acceptable as taking a long shower because you feel like it, keeping the lights turned on while walking from the kitchen to the living room, falling asleep with the TV on because it’s cozy, keeping your electrical devices on standby because it’s convenient, driving your car in sunshine, brushing your teeth with the water running, buying clothes just because it’s on sale — unconsciously over-stuffing your burrito with meat is an everyday event that has become natural to us in the Western World, but not without consequences.
We first make our habits, then our habits make us.
This is not exclusively about meat, though — it’s about our consumption habits and the lack of transparency and understanding what surrounds them. It’s about the habits that guide us through yet another day of consumption. It’s, on a more serious note, about our lack of insight into our very own consumption habits and the environmental ramifications in relation hereto. For instance;
Do you know what your personal carbon footprint is?
Do you know how you are affecting the environment?
Do you know if your consumption of meat, utilities, water, public transportation, electricity, etc. is acceptable?
And what really is acceptable consumption?
Isn’t that a personal thing?
I am unfortunately without answers to my own questions — and let’s face it; so are you. The average person recognizes that there are major environmental challenges to be solved — now and in the future, but has no idea of how their individual consumption habits are impacting those very same challenges. And that makes it difficult to relate to. A multitude of different services and products are already on the market trying to solve a wide range of these issues and problems. And that’s great, but we as individuals are still left in the dark when it comes to the impact of our personal contribution.
Will the future you be a better you?
Imagine a situation where you would be provided with a simple, detailed, easy-understandable overview of your consumption habits. You would have information about your meat consumption on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis; you would know how much time you spend in your car, how far you drive, where and how expensive it is (both eco and econ); you would know how your utilities might be fluctuating with the seasons; you would know how much carbon emission your wardrobe would be worth; you would know how much electricity you use without direct consumption as a derivative. Put simply, imagine that you would know what your personal carbon footprint is.
Imagine that you, based on personal facts about yourself, would be able to gain insights into your own personal consumption habits, their specific impact on our environment and be given the opportunity to change whatever habit or consumption level you might find yourself uncomfortable or dissatisfied with! Imagine you could measure yourself, without doing much, set goals in accordance to who you want to be and then become that person (a better you)! If that’s not motivation enough, then imagine that you could measure yourself or even your family up against others and compete to become better versions of you!
Imagine that you would be able to understand the impact of what and how you consume — just like you are able to understand your financial situation on a whole other level thanks to the wide array of new financial wellness services (Douugh, Spiir, Mint to name a few), that have mushroomed over the past few years. And then imagine what effect that could have on your desire, not to mention your ability, to change your consumption behaviour.
But; until some genius (sorry, it’s probably not going to be me) comes up with a great solution to this current lack of transparency and understanding, we as consumers are still left in the dark, faced with our own inabilities to change our behavior. However (and maybe it’s just me), with recent technological advancements within both data mining, Open API adoption and IoT, I sense that the future will soon become the present.
I find myself hunched over, mouth filled with Santa Maria Taco Spice Mix infused minced meat — really enjoying the second half of my second homemade burrito, thinking to myself: “I definitely do not need one more, but I am definitely going eat one more because… why not, what is the harm in that”?
