Consumers in the U.S. have come to expect convenience and affordability in many of the things they purchase on a regular basis:
And the list goes on…
While we may underestimate our individual impact on climate change, the choices we make have consequences. In the U.S., (which leads the world in cumulative Co2 emissions) each of us produces around 16 tons of greenhouse gases per year as a result of our choices and lifestyle. With more than 7.7 billion people now sharing this planet—many of them with improving living standards—our combined carbon footprint is a real problem.
As a result, many companies are now offering more climate friendly products. Following the “cradle to cradle” or C2C concept, they are moving away from the current industrial model to a new system with safe products and sustainable materials.
There are things we can do now to begin to break old habits and create new ones. With information and awareness, you can decide if your impact will be a positive one for the earth.
Our new shopping mantra should be “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle,” a well-known maxim in the environmental movement. Another “R” that could be added to the list is “Re-think.” In order to address climate change issues in our purchases, we need to re-think everything.
Time to watch THE STORY OF STUFF. This short (21 minute) animated documentary recounts the lifecycle of consumer goods – from extraction and production to distribution, consumption and disposal – and explores the disaster of shopping. It suggests that we have more stuff but less happiness. Curiously both fun and informative, it also feels ridiculously current, even as it was made sixteen years ago.
Our new shopping list (below) will expand as time goes on. For now, it will hopefully inspire you to explore, experiment, and create new habits.
A note about the products on our site: The products we include in our Shopping list are both a collection of items we’ve discovered and those suggested to us by friends. We only showcase products we believe are useful as we navigate towards a more climate friendly world. If you choose to purchase something by connecting from our site, that affiliate link will not increase the cost of the product but we might receive a small commission, that will be exclusively used to support Climatechangeresources.org.
If you know about a product that you think helps reduce our carbon footprint, please send us a note at shopping@climatechangeresources.org. We’d love to hear from you!