Green Consumerism: Problem, Panacea or Just One of Many Good Ideas?

[photo from MSNBC.com]

Monica Hesse wrote a thoughtful article a couple of days ago in The Washington Post - "Greed In The Name of Green." She voiced the frustration that many within the environmental movement share – that green consumerism is not really environmentalism and in fact may be doing more harm than good. Hesse questions whether people really need all these new green products that are coming to market. She quotes several experts who say that the real way to go green is to use less, not buy more “less worse” stuff. She questions whether people really need luxurious products like Anna Sova organic cotton towels and whether those that buy them are really doing anything at all in the name of the environment or are simply couching their desire for luxury behind a veil of environmental integrity. Essentially, she is questioning whether our capitalist, consumer-based society is capable of righting itself. Putting it another way, perhaps what she is really asking is can our modern, capitalist system be made to function in balance with nature? Is that possible?

These are critical questions with which we must grapple if we are to implement sound strategies for solving the environmental challenges before us. For example, does buying an Energy Star rated flat-panel TV really help the planet? Does buying the latest "eco-friendly" Air Jordan XX3's really help the planet? Does purchasing a $50 organic cotton bedding set from Target really help the planet? Does eating Stonyfield Farm organically and ethically made yogurt really help the planet? Does purchasing a Recycline tootbrush made from recycled Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups really help the planet? Does using Pangea's all-natural shower gel really help the planet? Does buying a Toyota Prius really help the planet? Does purchasing renewable, formaldehyde-free, soy-based insulation for our homes to reduce energy consumption really help the planet? Or do all of these purchases do more environmental harm than good? To answer that question, we really have to get clear about what environmentalism stands for. What do we environmentalists want? What is absolutely vital and cannot be compromised?

I would offer that what is absolutely vital is to bring our way of life back into balance with nature. That means we solve Global Warming, ensure abundant access to clean drinking water, improve air quality, and address hundreds of other issues that have thrown our relationship with the planet out of whack. And we do it not just for the developed world, but for the entire planet. On this score, I think most environmentalists would agree with me.

However, unlike Hesse and other environmentalists, I do not believe that the only socioeconomic model that can bring our way of life back into balance with nature is one predicated on sacrifice. I believe we are smarter and more capable than that.

I do not believe that the capitalist system is broken beyond repair and, I do not believe that green consumerism is an oxymoron. Green consumerism is one of several vital tactics that must be folded into a larger environmental strategy if we are to get really serious about addressing environmental challenges. That strategy requires that we be not only conscious consumers but active citizens demanding that our local and federal government act on the environmental challenges confronting us. It means supporting non-governmental organizations that do the critical environmental work that does not get assigned value in the capitalist marketplace or fall under government auspices. Consumers, businesses, non-profits, and government must all be marching in step if we are to succeed.

And success need not look bleak. Can we imagine an abundant, thriving economy in balance with nature? Can we imagine well-paying jobs with good benefits that contribute to the solutions? Can we imagine healthy schools, hospitals and homes? Can we imagine enjoyable, alternative transportation systems? Can we imagine a way of life that is better precisely because we have embraced a green strategy that encompasses all aspects of society? I believe the answer is yes, not simply because I’m a dreamer, but because I actually see it happening today in thousands of communities, on hundreds of college campuses, inside some of the largest corporations, and in the basements and work-shops of a veritable army of green inventors, designers, and entrepreneurs.

People are creating 21st century environmental solutions. If we are to embrace and implement them then we must move beyond narrowly defined definitions of environmental action, develop broader constituencies and welcome all those to the table who want to participate.

-- Josh