Blog 8 My Stuff and consumption Habits

I am quite proud of my consumption habits. I am a self proclaimed very frugal (not cheap!) individual. I don’t need the latest video card for my computer, nor do I buy a pair of shoes every 3 months.

I am one of those evil 2 wheeler motorcyclists that people love to hate. I buy 2 tires every year, plus the drive chain, sprockets. Lets not forget about the sheer amount of pollution my exhaust pipe spews into the atmosphere. In my defense, I don’t own a car, and the fuel consumption on my bike is about 5 L / 100km, which is very decent by car standards. However the emissions is not something I’m proud of.
But getting away from my hobby, I am not a big consumer. I don’t believe in spending any of my hard earned pennies. I try to save as much as possible for those inevitable rainy day events. I try to recycle whenever possible. When I visit the grocery store I always use a reusable cloth bag (which is the only bag I can get at the superstore).

The lecture in class revealed that the soles of running shoes contain many heavy metals and other toxic substances. I haven’t bought a new pair of shoes in 3 years, but that doesn’t help much when everyone else’s shows are walking toxic waste repositories.

I recently purchased a metal water bottle. I think plastic water bottles for the most part are a huge waste. However they are convenient when running out of the house or going on a hike and you need to keep the weight of your backpack down.
More pressure needs to be put on manufactures to find alternative methods of production of goods. I also think that the manufactures should implement recovery systems for products. Items such as computers contain many rare metals, and a lot end up being thrown into landfills. If the manufactures would even offer an incentive, albeit a small one, for the return of some computer components, I believe this would be a major step in the right direction.

Also, manufactures should make products that don’t need to be replaced every 6 months. This will affect their bottom line at first, but I believe that if a manufacturer will stand behind their product for 3-5 years, more people would be inclined to purchase it.

I think there needs to be a major shift in our society away from consumerism. People need to realize they don’t have to keep up with the Jones’, and that there is no shame in having something older. The whole image is everything and bigger / newer is better is a very destructive image

A new way of thinking is required, but that in itself is wishful thinking