Consumerism Vs. Conservation

There are lots of approaches to address Human Consumption that is linked to Nature Conservation. If one can look to own's life, what are your actions/choices in a given day? Let's start with as soon as you get up in the morning.

1. How many minutes do you shower?

2. What are the products you use?

3. What food do you eat?

4. What kind of car do you drive?

5. How many tissues do you use when you dry your hands in public washrooms?

6. What's your house size? etc.

Do these questions seem mediocre to you? Well, don't call 'em mediocre because, well, as complicated as CONSERVATION and CONSUMPTION sounds, once put it in a microscopic level, meaning evaluating your own lifestyle, it can be fairly simplistic.

Calgary is one of the growing cities in Canada; as a Calgarian you should be proud of the many actions and initiatives that the people and the government do for the benefits of sustainability and taking care of the environment.

Take a look here!

However, not many cities around the world are following the lead. But wait, let's not point fingers too quickly. As mentioned in the beginning portion of this blog post, why not look at one's lifestyle. The clothes you wear, the food you eat, the products you use are all major contribution to what impact/impacts you leave in the environment. Going back to elementary science classes, this is called "Ecological footprint" of course, this has other names such as "Carbon footprint", "Anthropogenic usage" (if you want to be extra-classy). For those non-science nerds out there, this is best described as, 'less-is-more'. For this means, there were people that decided to live in the woods and self-manage their resources. If this is you then by all means go for it, for the rest of us that live in cities such as Calgary, it doesn't necessarily mean we have to go back in Ice ages and live like cave-men (and women).

So yes, it is true EVERYTHING that you do and use in a given day will and influence the environment around you, not just around you but the whole world. Take a second look to where your products are made. 'Made in China'? Yes, you got right. While the rest of the front page news, CNN news, social media post, etc. give highlights to the most polluted places in the world, what the news DON'T recall is the connection between the high rate of consumption to high level of GHG emissions, poor water quality, etc. Let's say for new-Phones, everybody LOVE their phones. The next-generation of millennials have them as young as what, a 5 year old? Yes, these technologies may be design in ahem...California, but if you look closely, its parts and manufacturing places are in China! So let's do a little brainstorm…

What is added here is...what happens when our phones ran out of battery? where do electricity comes from? In Alberta, most of electricity production comes from coal. Though, as part of the Albert Climate Leadership Plan, its goal is to phase out coal plants in the next 20-30 years. We Albertans complain about harmful Coal residues and emissions, well why complain when you have a phone to charge and re-charge and so on...

Refer to this link.

One can argue the economic benefits of such booming markets. The economic growth of countries that support World Trade of consumerism has been enormous for the past decades. With this, there has been high employment rate and support of a higher standard of living.

Then again, the modernized society is much embedded to the latest technologies and improvement of efficiency of products. As a global citizen, can't we be entrepreneurial thinkers where we still support nature conservation and still enjoy our lifestyles?

Looking back at the phone example, yes we ALL need phones, to get connected with our loves ones, give mom a text back that you will be home late tonight. But, is having that much additional features all worth it? Take a step back next time you take a selfie ✌ and post in your Social Media feed.

A suggestion of an important quote,

"More, more, more".

Where human nature desires of more; more = happiness. There is less attention given to how much we have fortunate lives (if you look closely that is); take a look at your near-by thrift stores. For those that don't know how thrift-stores are run, product goods and merchandise are all public donated. These are then profited to sales floor and depending on the store, funds then can proceed to Non-profit organizations to support community awareness and support. If you get the chance to look around, you'll then realize, wow-we-buy-alot-of-stuff.

How do you think these donated items ended up in thrift stores? so yes, stuff, stuff, stuff and more stuff are added! Christmas is in upcoming months, later, we'd soon hear Christmas deals, promotions, sales, etc. Instead of worrying and stressing about what to get who, why not use the time to spend quality time together? Remember, less-is-more. This is where environmental awareness meets human induced-improvement of quality of life.

Getting off-topic, nope! Not really. Brilliant and talented scientists would all agree that the greatest medicine to meet worldly-worries (environmental conservation is one!) is thinking locally and eco-friendly. Making wise decisions for your own life-matters. Yes, perhaps the worry of Christmas season is over-consumption of buyers and when January comes, one's credit is hiked up a thousand times. But really, what is one act/choice you can do that requires...'less is more'?

Well mine is, I find time to volunteer with local churches and organizations. I also put my support on these organizations to increase community wellness. When I was younger, I find myself spending too much time in my social media post and asking my parents money to buy more fashionable clothes, stuff in malls. However, as I grow older, my life-values changed. I find that connecting with community members in the most simplistic way is both a win-win to help conserve the environment and people relationships. As a teenager, I didn't have a clear view that everything that we use comes from natural resources and thus can impact the world we live in. I am glad that as I finished my studies in the realm of environmental science, the lifestyle that I choose everyday can be a prominent example to conserve the beautiful environment we live in, the running rivers, the trees, the birds...and of course to believe that they are all as valuable as a human life.