Green Habit Campaign - Consumption Consequences/Sustainable Solutions

Consumption Consequences

As a society, we produce, purchase, use and throw away too much stuff.  If everyone consumed like we do in the US, we would need up to 5 Earths to support these habits! Human dignity and our environment are suffering due to this unsustainable consumption. The quality of our air, water, and land, the treatment of workers and animals, are all affected.  The poor and marginalized are disproportionately impacted.  Look at the numbers…

• 40% of Earth’s population currently face serious water shortages; by 2025 demand will exceed availability by 56%
• 70% of oceanic fish stocks are depleted or are at their biological limits
• 42% of Earth’s forests have been lost in the last century
• 65% of Earth’s croplands are degraded
• 25% of all living species have grown extinct in the last 25 years
• Plus other impacts associated with climate change/global warming

It is also important to note consumption inequalities…

• 75% of consumption on Earth is done by 20% of the people
• People in “developed” countries consume resources and produce waste at a rate 32 times higher than those in “developing” countries.
• The US has about 5% of the world’s population, yet consumes 25-30% of the resources

Sources: LCWR 2004 Promotion of Ecological Sustainability Resolution, “What’s Your Consumption Factor,” NY Times 1/2/08

Sustainability

How do we address unsustainable consumption?  By pursuing sustainable living policies and practices in our lives and in our institutions.

Sustainability is simply meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Source: Education for Sustainable Development

…The gift of our internationality sharpens our consciousness of universal needs and call us to foster within ourselves and others a responsible concern for the people of the world.”

— You Are Sent, Constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame