Consuming Passions And Environment

 Life/Philosophy — by Pratap Antony 

    “Runaway growth in consumption in the past fifty years is putting strains on the environment never before seen.” The United Nations’ Human Development Report 1998 (UNDP Report)

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN – LAMENT

When will we ever learn?

That “conspicuous consumption” only satisfies our shallow need

for positive appraisal, self-esteem and Identity.

That happiness is not the result of acquiring material possessions

When will we ever learn?

To recognize the distinction between needs and desires,

And when we seek satisfaction greedily and thoughtlessly,

Satisfaction is brief and it diminishes

When will we ever learn?

That increased consumption doesn’t lead to higher life satisfaction

And that consumption does not substitute well-being

When will we ever learn?

That our own value, status and fulfilment is not gained through

material things, but on how we value our quality of life

Rather than the quality of stuff we buy

When will we ever learn?

That with more possessions, we do not improve our life or image,

Or enhance our own personal value, but we lose touch with

Worthwhile values while displaying our personal inadequacies

When will we ever learn?

That we don’t always need what we want

And that money does not buy happiness

When will we ever learn?

Consumption and consumerism have major environmental impacts,

and are not ecologically sustainable

When will we ever learn?

That with great purchasing power we acquire great responsibility,

We cannot persist with consumption-induced environmental damage.

When will we ever learn?

That we are co-dependent on nature; we are not more important

than any other element in our environment

When will we ever learn?

Knowing that resources are finite, to make use of limited resources

with care and mindful awareness

We must learn

before we reach a point of no return

to consume resources responsibly,

waste less, and conserve and preserve more.

We must learn

the value the idea of living sustainably and to reduce consumption,

And reuse, recycle, repair, reform and to restore

A very important aspect of careless consumption is the ecological impact on our planet is – If we keep consuming, what are we giving back?

In an entry titled, ‘Unsustainable consumption – the mother of all environmental issues?’ The European Environment Agency says “Consumption of products and services impacts the environment in many different ways. For example, the things we buy contribute, directly or indirectly through the product lifecycle, to climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and resource depletion.” www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/unsustainable-consumption-2013-the-mother

“Most of the environmental issues we see today can be linked to consumption,”

Gary Gardner, director of research for Worldwatch.

We must consider that great responsibility follows inseparably from great purchasing power

Pratap Antony is a Passive activist. Active pacifist freelance thinker and writer. Writes on an array of subjects: ecology and environment, social justice and pluralism, management ideas and issues. Music: western classical, jazz, and Indian classical dance.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/05/20/consuming-passions-and-environment/