Consumerism

Eco-lifestyle Consumerism

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Eco-lifestyle consumerism of dubious values seems to be all the rage these days. Many smart marketers have figured out that it’s easy to sell new products to urban consumers who feel guilty about their consumption and ecological impact.

The newest one is buying into “community solar farms” that are these vast areas of farm land covered by solar panels that sell into the grid. The consumer pays a little extra on his or her bill – or maybe about the same with tax credits – and they subsidize the construction of these urbanized farm fields or former forests. They argue it’s carbon-free energy, although it’s heavily backed up fossil generation of the grid. The fossil plants work “less hard” with “less load” so they burn less fuel when assisted by the solar, but it’s still all supported by our fossil-fuel grid while using up valuable farm land and forest land. If we took land that was going to be a solar farms and put it into traditional non-urban uses, what would be the impact on the climate? It would at least be less ugly solar farms to look at.

Geothermal heat that uses refrigerant to pump or dump heat out of the earth using large quantities of electricity is also a popular thing – it’s a new high-end product that can be sold by well drillers – who traditionally could only market their service to rural dwellers beyond the city water supply. I’m equally cynical about this technology, because it uses incredible amounts of electrical energy to power it – theoretically from renewable sources – but rarely that’s case as intense amount of energy to power a geothermal system comes from the fossil-fuel grid.

I don’t discredit the early pioneers in this green technology, but I think it’s valid to ask questions, even if we shouldn’t be necessarily defending the status quo. Certainly, we should be doing everything to get solar panels on existing buildings, as solar is proven technology that is simple and inexpensive. It doesn’t consume land on existing structures, it is long lasting, even if it’s as toxic as the rest of electronics it powers. I think we should increase efficiency standards on new buildings and furnaces, work to do more to improve energy efficiency on existing buildings. Geothermal should be considered as an alternative to air-source heat pumps both in existing and new buildings, but it should not be promoted as a way to “consume more” with “zero impact”.

It’s stupid to ignore the climate crisis we are all facing. But throwing money at so-called green technologies that do little to actually address the problem of over consumption and over population isn’t necessarily a good answer.

Are greenie products good for the environment?

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Are greenie products good for the environment? 🌎

Like everything, it depends.

Sustainability is a popular thing these days. Marketing premium greenie products like solar farms and electric cars is all the rage. You can’t open social media without seeing their advertising. But in many cases, I’m really not sure if they are that good for the environment.

Buy Less

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It’s is trendy to be green these days.

More and more companies are offering so-called green products, that are biodegradable, organically farmed, or are natural. They all promise that they not only will make your life better, but are also easy on the planet. But the truth is most of them are pretty bad for our environment.

The truth it’s always better to buy nothing at all and minimize consumption then buy green products. Any time you purchase something it is a product that has been produced and made out of products from our environment. Most products contain a variety of non-renewable resources, that will never be replaced once you consume them.

Do you really need that new television or computer? How about that sofa bed or other piece of furniture?

Our biggest source of solid waste is from the consumption and disposal of the big objects in our lives: our furniture, our housing. Indeed, if you could learn to live with older furniture and older equipment you could do much to reduce your impact on the earth. While we can often buy new at low prices, we should think twice and consider our impact on the planet.

Instead, we should focus on investing more and buying less. If you save money, and buy only things you need that will have a lasting benefit on your life, but a relatively minor environmental impact. Reduce expenditures on things that depreciate quickly in value, and invest in things that either depreciate slowly or gain value.

Barn Trash Cans

Why do we buy so much stuff? – Vox

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Why do we buy so much stuff? – Vox

What’s at the root of modern American consumerism? It might not just be competition among the brands trying to sell us things, but also competition among ourselves.

An easy story to tell is that marketers and advertisers have perfected tactics to convince us to purchase things, some we need, some we don’t. And it’s an important part of the country’s capitalistic, growth-centered economy: The more people spend, the logic goes, the better it is for everybody. (Never mind that they’re sometimes spending money they don’t have, or the implications of all this production and trash for the planet.) People, naturally, want things.

But American consumerism is also built on societal factors that are often overlooked. We have a social impetus to “keep up with the Joneses,” whoever our own version of the Joneses is. And in an increasingly unequal society, the Joneses at the very top are doing a lot of the consuming, while the people at the bottom struggle to keep up or, ultimately, are left fighting for scraps.

It is funny a few weeks ago I was reading Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and he was pointing out how by even the 1830s, consumerism was a big thing, so much that it wasn't uncommon for families to regularly pile up their broken furniture and other detritus and have big ol' bonfires. Nowadays, while farmers and rednecks still do the bonfire thing, ordering up dumpsters for purges is a regular thing.