Can we be Conscious Consumers?

In the business world, there is the idea of Human-to-Human (H2H) connection, which is especially prominent in terms of attempting to grow customers and build relationships with them through marketing and social media.

But, what if we had Human-to-Planet (H2P) Connection in business, and also in our personal lives?

Human-to-Planet Connection: Business Perspective

As business owners, reducing our impact on the environment is something that we have some decision-making control in.

That is to say, that we can make decisions regarding how we might...

• Reduce the commute and travel (international) for ourselves and our staff for business purposes
• Use eco-friendly products in the workplace
• Use more renewable sources of electricity to power offices and perhaps data centres
• Use less paper in advertising and marketing
• Develop more sustainable products and services to improve lives and are not damaging to the environment
• Consider being part of the Circular Economy or the Sharing Economy to use existing resources, but instead of wasting them or not making the most of them, we use them in different ways
• Have more sustainable packaging and less plastic packaging
• Question and understand the morality and ethics of our own businesses from a planetary perspective

Human-to-Planet Connection: Personal Perspective

Getting Lost: Better Connection to Humans and Nature

Having weaker human connections and lack of connection with nature are linked with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Perhaps an increase in technology use is also a factor.

Research shows that "mood boosters" come from the natural spaces and having close relationships with others; H2H but also H2P:

"The Harvard Study has found a strong association between happiness and close relationships like spouses, family, friends, and social circles. “Personal connection creates mental and emotional stimulation, which are automatic mood boosters, while isolation is a mood buster,” says Dr. Waldinger. This is also an opportunity to focus on positive relationships and let go of negative people in your life, or at least minimize your interactions with them."

Source: Harvard Medical School

"...it appears that interacting with natural spaces offers other therapeutic benefits. For instance, calming nature sounds and even outdoor silence can lower blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which calms the body's fight-or-flight response."

Source: Harvard Medical School

Diet

I'm not saying become a vegan (although that is amazing for the environment if you are!), but if you're a big meat-eater, you may not be aware of the impact your diet has on the environment.

It's becoming clear that eating beef is the most damaging dietary choice we could make to the environment, even if we buy it locally (Our World in Data, 2020).

Source: Our World in Data

As so much land and water is needed to grow crops to feed the cows, farming of cattle is one of the main reasons for deforestation.

Animals

We've nearly wiped out 60% of wildlife since 1970.

Illegal wildlife trade is depleting wildlife numbers and contributed toward SARS and Coronavirus that started in China.

Deforestation is displacing many animals and is being replaced by cattle or a single plantation (such as African oil palms for palm oil production) with the wildlife ecosystem around it not existing as it is not its natural habitat.

Some of these can be changed, if we simply buy differently.

As Consumers, We Have the Power to Choose What We Buy

Why does capitalism make us consume more?

We all know that we live in a capitalist world, but where does businesses' need to grow and to please shareholders come from?

In the mid-20th Century, the ‘corporation’ (business) was for everybody to invest in, in return to receive well-paid jobs, innovative products and public institutions.

Bondholders, suppliers, shareholders, employees and community were the five key stakeholders of businesses and this model helped build the middle class, in particular the selling of stocks, in which people could invest in businesses.

However, that was disrupted by Milton Friedman in an influential article in 1970 called the Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.

Milton Friedman was an economist; he believed that corporations run on greed and there should only be one stakeholder to please - shareholders - meaning corporations were then owned by shareholders and the only obligation businesses had was to make profits.

As businesses are incentivised by profits, capitalism drives growth. Growth drives profits. Whilst this can be beneficial to society, however it can contribute to inequality as costs need to be cut to drive profit and this ideology can also impact on employees' pensions, employee pay and the full payment of state taxes.

What’s good for corporations through shareholder capitalism, isn’t always good for the community, workers and the planet. For example, capitalism thrives on growth but the planet is finite: Capitalism isn't just bad for the environment, it's really bad for society's equality.

How to Hack Capitalism: Be an Activist through Buying Habits

The way capitalism works currently means that consumers have the power to choose and market forces then reign. Consider consumer choices you're making. For example, if less beef was consumed, fewer cows would be needed and more forest would exist.

But, can we say goodbye to our current lifestyles where we consume vast amounts?

With the likes of Amazon and online shopping, we've become accustomed to everything being available at the click of a button - seemingly good value, but may come at a human cost (for example, low paid workers working very long hours by vulnerable people) or an environmental cost (for example, international transporting carbon emissions). Plus, online shopping could encourage more consumption.

We can begin to question our own customer behaviour by being more aware of the impact of it - are you buying because you need it or because you want it? What role does marketing and cultural norms have in your buying habits?

Consume Less, Care More: Be a Conscious Consumer

Our consumption is speeding up, becoming overconsumption; when it should be slowing down.

If we consumed less, we have the power to change the environmental cost of the following:

• Fast Fashion: Huge negative environmental cost through "water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste", as well as unsold merchandise due to rushed turnaround and errors made plus, burning of overstock. Watch The True Cost if you're interested in finding out more.
• Fast Furniture: Environmental damage to forests as well as human cost of light furniture through 'tipping' as a safety hazard - particularly to young children.
• Plastic Production and Oil (Fracking) Increasing: Although we are aware of the plastic issue in our oceans as a result of Blue Planet, plastic production is set to rise by 20% by 2050. Due to the recent US fracking boom, oil production is rising. Plastic is also impacting on our health - human fertility is affected by plastic chemicals entering our bodies - from sources such as bottled water.
• Water Crisis: Cities such as Sao Paulo and Cape Town have already experienced water shortages. With deforestation and climate change here, this is set to get worse, with water shortages predicted to impact England in the next 25 years.
• Waste and Recycling Problems: As I discussed in a previous article, plastic is difficult to recycle and around 9% of all plastic has been recycled. Waste was being exported to China but since the ban in January 2018, waste and recycling waste is now sent to developing countries, such as Malaysia and Turkey.
• Paper Shortage: Some books in print may be harder to get hold of due to paper shortages and is one way paper supply shortage is impacting book publishers. Demand for paper is coming from the need for more recyclable packaging.
• Sand Shortage: We're running out of sand as well, which is not one you'd expect. Urbanisation is a driver for this as people are moving from the countryside to city dwellings.

Human Population of 10 Billion by 2050

As Chris Packham's programme found, our population started as around 2.5 billion people in 1950 and in a space of 70 years, has risen to around 7.5 billion people.

It's predicted that the human population will rise to 10 billion by 2050. It's possible for 10 billion humans to live on the planet, if we consumed less.

//

About Chloe

As a mother and entrepreneur, the environment is on my mind a lot - I want to leave behind a great planet for my children. My business is in market and user research and I have a background in social science and psychology. I'm always learning about how things work in society and culture - from business, industry, market consumer and user perspectives. I'm personally interested in sustainability and the culture of customer behaviour.