Responsible Consumption.
What, Why and How?
2012
Published by Society for Responsible Consumption
“We have added years to our lives instead of life to our years.”
Responsible Consumption. Why?
European societies have come to live in a paradox*: we have come to spend more, but have less; we buy more, but we enjoy less; we have more experts, and yet more problems; we have more medicine, but less health; we drink too much, smoke too much, and spend money without thinking too much about it. We have added years to our lives instead of life to our years. We are living in times when there are too many shop windows with too few quality, useful products in them, in times of impulsive and superficial relationships. How should our lifestyles be in order to be both healthy and sustainable and bring us happiness?
*adapted from “The Paradox of Our Age� by Bob Moorehead (1995)
A
Responsible Consumer...
Thinks about the social, environmental and economic footprint of a product before buying it. Buys according to realistic needs and not based on personal greed. Chooses local products rather than imported ones. Prefers products made of natural or recycled materials. Thinks about the utility of a product before buying it. Borrows, rents, or shares items that are used infrequently. Buys good quality products, to ensure a long term use. Pays a special attention to product’s labels. Supports fair trade and equitable enterprises. Buys re-useable products instead of disposable ones. Gives up packaging when possible. Says no to plastic bags and relies on reusable ones. Considers repairing or up-cycling broken objects. Reuses products, tries to reduce waste. Collects waste separately (eg. glass and paper separately), encouraging recycling.
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“Think about the social, environmental and economic footprint of a product before buying it.�
Local Food
Have you ever thought about how much your eating habits impact on the economy, environment and the community? Choosing local food you will get the freshest products available and keep the money in the local community. There are plenty of other benefits of buying locally: • local producers will have financial incentives to provide job opportunities for local community and strengthen the local economy; • less cargo ships and trucks will be used to import foreign products and therefore less emissions in the air we breath. Surely we should choose more local food and buy imported products only when necessary? Eating locally also means seasonally! Check out how your diet impacts the environment at: www.footprintnetwork.org
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“How much your eating habits may impact economy, environment and community? �
Ethical Clothing Wearing clothes made of natural fiber makes your body feel happy and healthy. Your body “doesn’t feel at home” covered in synthetic cloth. Go for natural materials, it will help your skin breath, reduce your exposure to allergens and it will decrease your environmental footprint. Buying local clothes just like local food will sustain local producers and protect the environment.
What’s old is new! Second hand shopping makes sense. It is wallet friendly and makes you a fancy member of the growing community of re-users . In this way you save many resources used to produce new clothes and leave more space for forests. Did you know that every kilo of new clothes you buy results in some 25kg of CO2 emissions - the equivalent of powering a lamp for nearly 20 days?
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“Your body doesn’t feel at home covered in synthetic cloth.”
Eco behavior at home and at work If you use energy-saving light-bulbs you use up to 50-90% less energy EVERY DAY. BY using cotton towels instead of paper towels or electric hand dryers you save enough money for your daily eco travel.
Why not go greener at home? It might be easier than you think: • Go for energy and water efficient electrical appliances. This will bring you smaller bills and more money for your personal needs. • Choose multiple use products instead of disposable ones (for example using cloths rather than paper towels to clean surfaces) - you decrease the amount of waste generated and you reduce your contribution to excessive exploitation of natural resources • Consider fixing or up-cycling broken objects. You prolong the product’s life cycle and you expand your creativity. • Give up packaging (when possible), its production costs you and the environment much more than the usefulness it brings. Bulk products are always cheaper and have a reduced ecological footprint. • Make turning off the lights and taps when not used one of your positive habits. • If you are planning on building a house or you just want to renovate your old one, go for natural materials and ecological architecture. You will benefit from a healthier life for both body and mind.
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“You diminish your contribution to excessive exploitation of natural resources.�
Eco –
transportation What about an environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive new approach to transportation?
Less emissions emitted by transportation results in cleaner air to breath.
Using the bus, train, bicycle, metro, walking when possible are all environmentally and economically friendly alternatives to using personal cars.
Less space needed for parking gives more space for green areas and a more pleasant outdoors environment for us all! Find out more at: www.ecomobility.org
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“Less emissions, healthier air to breath.�
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reducing, reusing, and recycling can help you, your community, and the environment by saving money, energy, and of course natural resources. How can we REDUCE? Reducing your consumption or buying less. Designing items in ways that use less material. How can we REUSE? Rather than throwing out things like old clothes or food jars, find new uses for them - and thereby reduce the consumption of new resources. Try to fix broken objects. How can we RECYCLE? Separately collect your waste (glass, plastic etc.) and make sure that it ends up in a recycling centre. There are plenty of materials that might be thrown away as rubbish, but through recycling processes valuable materials are extracted, which may be turned into new products. Up-cycling is an even more sustainable way of recycling – by finding a new purpose for unwanted items before throwing them away.
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“Find a new purpose for unwanted items before throwing them away.”
Eco Labels,
Sustainable
Signs & Symbols
Do you need help in identifying products and services that have a reduced environmental impact? There are several eco-labels and sustainable symbols that you may find useful when considering a purchance.
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EU Eco-label is a guarantee that a product is eco-friendly through its entire life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to production, through to use and disposal. It ensures that the whole process of obtaining a product or service have used resources efficiently.
Looking for energy efficient equipment? Keep an eye on Energy Star label, a voluntary labeling program to help consumers identify products that meet or exceed energy-efficiency guidelines. Find out more at www.energystar.gov
Thinking of products made of wood? FSC certification may help you make a choice. It ensure you that products come from well managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Find out more at www.fsc.org
Would you like to contribute to poverty allevation and sustainable development in poor countries? Buy FairTrade products. The FairTrade Mark is a registered certification label for products sourced from producers in developing countries. This is also a tool that ensures disadvantaged farmers and workers get a better deal and helps overcome barriers to development. Find out more at: www.fairtrade.org. There several sustainable symbols reflect green messages on product’s packages. Looking both at the need to save environment and at their marketing advantages, numerous producers adopted green symbols.
Symbol of eco-packaging
International symbol of recycling
The product is made of recycled material
Paperboard that contains 100% recycled content
Symbol for separate collection
Special thanks to participants in the RRR Youth Exchange for launching and testing most of the ideas presented here.
Contributions Graphic Designer:
Dragoş Marinescu
Text and Photo: Bone Ewald Camelia Onofrei Dharmachari Vajracaksu Diana Călin Fundaţia ADEPT Leila Mamadashvili Miroslav Krsnak Natalia Ciobanu Raluca Naghiu Roxana Itoafa Silvia Cojocaru
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src.romania@gmail.com
We love nature, so this brochure is printed on recycled paper. Organizer: Society for Responsible Consumption Partner: Societal Financier: European Commission through Youth in Action Program This project has been funded with support from the European Commission through the Youth in Action Programme. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. http://ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.htm
www.reducereuserecycle.ro
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