       |
ConsumingUsing Consumer Power"The power consumers have to change the conduct and actions of companies comes from their dollars and the choices they make as consumers." The benefits to society of buying ethically are potentially far-reaching. It encourages innovative products and companies while discouraging others that ignore the social and environmental consequences of their actions. It empowers the consumer, giving you a say in how the products you buy are made, and how the company that makes them conducts its business. It can and has made a difference in the past. Who is an ethical consumer? Why Shop Ethically?" To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, states should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption..." Globalisation affects us whether we like it or not. There is nothing wrong with trading goods and services, however when this becomes refor reducing the power of local communities, increasing the divide between rich and poor, driving our ever increasing consumption of natural resources, reducing biodiversity and even significantly reducing the basic protections of animals. Corporate globalisation is a specific economic strategy pursued by the countries of the industrialised world and Trans National Corporations who’s interests they represent. ..... .....Multinational corporations continue to replace hundreds of thousands of small businesses, shopkeepers and farmers that traditionally generate most economic activity and employment. Because big firms, unlike small ones, can threaten to move their operations to countries where the fiscal environment is easier, governments ability to raise tax is being reduced, in addition to governments being under pressure to reduce environmental and labour restrictions on the activities of corporations. The power of the nation state is being significantly eroded by a process that continues to be heavily subsidised by western governments. A Question of EqualityThe real issue is not consumption itself but its patterns and effects. Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%. .... We consume a variety of resources and products today having moved beyond basic needs to include luxury items and technological innovations to try to improve efficiency. ... Much of the world cannot and do not consume at the levels that the wealthier in the world do. Indeed, the above U.N. statistics highlight that very sharply. In fact, the inequality structured within the system is such that .. "some one has to pay" for the way the wealthier in the world consume. In a world of limited resources, a system that advocates an ever-increasing level of consumption, and equates such consumption with personal well-being, economic progress and social fulfilment, is a recipe for ecological disaster. www.enough.org.uk/index.html#intro In the end we look for a society where the environment is respected, where human rights are properly protected and animals are no longer cruelly exploited. But wider than that, we look beyond government control of the way we live and how companies act, believing real power should lie in the hands of individuals and communities. A world like this would require truly radical changes and we see this manifesto as merely the first step along that road... Our central concern remains the empowerment of consumers through the provision of information and by promoting debate about the limits of consumer power. ... We believe that companies of the future should be as open and transparent as some of our better governments are now. It is a myth to insist that rejecting consumerism also means rejecting our basic needs, our technology, our stylishness, or our quality of life. How much is enough? What is Shopping Ethically?The ways in which you can act as an 'ethical consumer' can take on a number of often subtle forms.
Why buy Australian Made & Owned?Where possible it’s good to buy local. There is lots of reasons for this.
Note: Some people argue that foreign investment and international competition are the way of the future. More information: The National Packaging CovenantThe National Packaging Covenant is the leading instrument for managing packaging waste in Australia. It is a self-regulatory agreement between industries and all spheres of government, and is based on the principles of shared responsibility through product stewardship applied throughout the packaging chain. The goals of the Covenant are to minimise the environmental impacts of consumer packaging waste throughout the entire life-cycle of the packaging product, close the recycling loop, develop economically viable and sustainable recycling systems and ensure that the voluntary process continues. The Covenant leaves it to individual companies to detail the measures they have taken. In this way the Covenant gives companies maximum flexibility. The Covenant itself does not specify which actions individual companies should take but, rather, provides for a "menu" of options. A company might, for example, decide to:
From National Packaging Covenant website. Editors note: We are aware that this agreement is industry driven, voluntary and does not guarrentee that signatories are enacting environmental stewardship despite the intention of the Covenant. It is however our belief that such a covenant is a large step towards a sustainable society, and so the signaturies companies, showing a willingness to constructively deal with their packaging, are preferable to those companies who have not signed the covenmant. More on the National Packaging Covenant More on Packaging Ecorecycle Victoria Ollie Recycles |
  
|
