Can you be green? What has ‘green consumerism’ got to do with me?
Jul 14, 2015
Can you be green?
What has ‘green consumerism’ got to do with me?
How should I travel to the shops?
Will I be able to buy locally grown
food?
Where is my local farm shop?
Should I avoid supermarkets?
Don’t packaged foods generate a lot
of waste?
Should I buy food in season rather than imported
food?
Can I buy organic food?
What is green consumerism?
• It concentrates on the things people buy, encouraging us to:
• Reduce our consumption of all products, including energy, water and food;
• Buy products that are environmentally friendly, this includes a wide range of things from washing powder to organic food and clothing.
Where do you shop?
• In the UK the 5 largest retail chains account for 80% of the market
• Their decisions about what food to sell and where to get it from have a massive effect on producers, retailers and the environment.
• Consumers have power when it comes to green issues, e.g. is more people bought organic food, then the retailers would stock more to sell.
• Consumerism is ‘the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions.’
Reduce, recycle, reuse, renew, respect
• Reduce• Recycle• Reuse• Renew• Respect• Which of these affect your life at present?• Which of the 5 Rs do you consider to be the
most important in our drive towards a sustainable society?
Recycle and re-use
What can we do?
• Ecover: http://www.its-ecological.com/ • Not buy this!
Fair trade
Bio-degradable
Farmers markets- why so good?
• Advantages for the consumer:• Good quality produce, often organic, always
seasonal• Low food miles• Low packaging• Supports local economy• Meet the producer and find out about the
product• Certified (by FARMA: as fresh and grown
within 30 miles of the market)• Try before you buy
Farmers markets- why so good?
• Advantages for the farmer:• Immediate payment• No high costs of transport• No costs of retailers (cuts out the middle
man)• Face-to-face selling, with the chance to
explain the product• Opportunity to find out, first-hand, what the
customer wants
The future?
• Farmers’ markets are doing very well• They have grown quickly• Problem for farmers: how long they can
spend running the stalls, some farmers have switched to farm shops on the site of the farm.