Conscious Consumerism on Combatting Climate Change
When I used to live in Northern California, I would spend my family beach days with a trash bag in hand, picking up empty plastic bottles and miscellaneous debris I found scattered on the sand. An hour worth of work and half a trash bag full later, I admired the cleanliness of my little section on the beach. I remember departing the beach every weekend feeling satisfied with the progress I made — until I returned the following weekend only to see the amount of litter had been replenished, as if someone had purposefully re-dumped all the garbage after I left. So, as accomplished as I felt after every beach clean-up, I quickly realized that my individual efforts were simply not what it was going to take to restore the environment. Something greater needed to be done.
Eventually, as I grew older, and with the help of social media, I learned about the idea of “conscious consumerism” — how I could alter the things I buy — and intentionally do not buy — to foster a more environmental lifestyle. As opposed to anonymously throwing away a piece of litter, I could now speak and express my desires to corporations with my money. The idea of consciously consuming today stems from a history of public “mistrust in government to adequately address” certain problems that are shared by the people. As a result, citizens learned that if we want change, we must first take matters into our own hands. The act of purposefully choosing to support one particular business and purposefully refusing to support another provides a voice to the people, which, when loud enough, will be heard by larger powers and cause them to make changes on the higher level. Conscious consumerism is the gateway to corporate and political change towards environmentalism because it creates competition between businesses to be “greener” as well as encourages businesses to support existing sustainability goals.
Admittedly, conscious consumerism alone is incapable of reversing the immense environmental damage that has been done. Because environmental issues still exist, some argue that conscious consumerism has no impact at all. In fact, a 2012 study comparing the footprints of consumers who try to make eco-friendly choices to the footprints of regular consumers “found no meaningful difference between the two.” This comparison between the impacts of conscious consumers and regular consumers shows no meaningful difference because this data only considers the impact of consumption alone. As a result, the larger — and more significant — implications of conscious consumerism, such as its role in creating “green” competition between corporations and its funding of political environmental goals and projects, are disregarded in this data. In other words, this data solely interprets the effectiveness of conscious consumerism as if it were an end-all-be-all solution to environmental revival. On the contrary, conscious consumerism is not meant to stand alone; rather, it simply acts as a starting point. So, although it is true that conscious consumerism is not nearly enough to save the planet on its own, it is the first spark in igniting real change.
Conscious consumerism is simply a starting point for further environmental change. Change begins with one person making the decision to defy the status quo; once that barrier has been broken — and, if the cause is something to believe in — others will follow suit. In recent decades, as people began to express their interest in eco-products, businesses took notice and adjusted their practices to meet those desires. Now, Dell, HP, Coca Cola, Pepsi, and other “leading brands…compete to see who is greener” by committing to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. Companies that act as substitutes for one another, such as Dell and HP, attempt to “out green” each other in hopes of attracting the majority of the conscious consumer population. As a result of the market’s competitive nature, when one brand is seen thriving from implementing new sustainable practices, the rest are going to try to do the same — but better. After all, businesses are in business to make money, so they are going to accommodate what consumers want in order to maintain profits. This “race to be green” incentivizes corporate environmentalism, and conscious consumerism is the direct cause of this incentive. Without conscious consumerism, businesses would most likely opt for the cheapest and easiest production practices, which are most often the least eco-friendly. In other words, conscious consumerism has changed the ways in which corporations choose to operate by creating competition to become the most environmental.
Beyond the role it plays in directly facilitating environmental business practices, conscious consumerism can have further political implications. One of the most successful efforts of conscious consumerism in politics is the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott against segregation on public transportation. The persistence and grit of the protesters resulted in both the federal court and the Supreme Court ruling “bus segregation…unconstitutional” in Browder v Gayle. The ruling not only marked a milestone for the Civil Rights movement, but also demonstrated the power of individual spending habits in spurring greater political change. With each additional person that refused their business, the bus system crumbled, eventually succumbing to the demands of African Americans in order to revive profits. Despite the systematic racism of the public transportation system at that time, the government prioritized money over their moral biases, demonstrating the power of conscious consumerism. When companies feel they are in jeopardy of losing money, they may go to desperate measures to avoid further losses; conscious consumerism can threaten this type of desperation. Although conscious consumerism in the form of boycotts has been victorious on several occasions, efforts in the opposite direction have also been successful.
As the rise of conscious consumerism in recent decades has encouraged people to seek more innovative outlets for their money to talk, the practice of sustainable investing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds has become widespread. According to The Economist, ESG funds can range dramatically in terms of where the investments are allocated, which expands the possibilities of their impacts. For instance, “One fund focuses on companies that make an impact aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, others in ‘green bonds’ which fund environmental projects.” By funding companies that support existing political environmental goals and projects, conscious consumerism accelerates political attention and action towards achieving those goals. ESG funds are able to have such a significant impact on the environment because of the efforts of consumers in intentionally purchasing a “green bond” over any other stock. In this, conscious consumerism allows individuals to vote with their dollar, similar to how citizens donate to promote any political campaign. Not only has conscious consumerism taught us to align our own spending with our political values, but it has encouraged companies to align their goals with consumers’ political values as well.
Because of this, it is fair to say that individual consumption and large-scale change go hand-in-hand; one cannot happen without the other. Yes, conscious consumerism alone is not enough, but neither is political action alone. We cannot expect those in power to solve our issues without doing what we can day-to-day to solve those problems ourselves. It takes individuals to spur political change, and it takes laws and regulations to ensure that everyone abides by the same guidelines. Change starts with one — whether it’s one person refusing to ride the bus, or another individual buying an ESG fund.
So, even though it does little in itself, I am still going to pick up trash on my beach days — I mean, it can’t hurt! But, I am also going to support the businesses that align with and promote my own personal environmental goals, and refuse the businesses that don’t. The ways in which conscious consumerism steers business productions and operations towards more sustainable alternatives and changes businesses’ goals to promoting environmental policy is the driving force behind combatting climate change.
