The Breakdown of Globalization

Special thanks to Mo for sending the link to this incredible lecture

Canadian consumers rank second-last in green survey

We’ve bought in to the materialistic, consumer culture that robs us of the essence of our existence…

Huge homes, widespread car culture push Canada to back of the pack

CBC News

Canadians scored dismally in a 14-country survey on environmentally friendly consumption patterns, in part owing to a widespread car culture and a penchant for big homes.

The survey, which was released Wednesday, was conducted by the polling firm GlobeScan for the National Geographic Society. Canada finished ahead of the United States but behind Brazil, India, China, Mexico, Hungary, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Spain, Japan and France.
According to the National Geographic survey, 52 per cent of Canadian respondents said they drive alone daily. According to the National Geographic survey, 52 per cent of Canadian respondents said they drive alone daily. (CBC)

“I think that the survey results … really set an important reminder to Canadians that on a per capita basis Canadians’ footprint is really quite heavy compared with other countries,” said Eric Whan, GlobeScan’s director of sustainability, at a press conference Wednesday.

One thousand consumers from each of the 14 countries completed the online survey about their consumption patterns between Jan. 11 and Feb. 13. Participants answered questions about housing, transportation, food and their purchasing habits and were given a score out of 100. Government action and industry were not assessed.

YOUR SAY

‘Brazil uses less heat than Canada, duh! A lot of canadians would love to enjoy brazilian type weather all year round. ’

—Taylor

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The researchers acknowledged that financial and cultural circumstances may have influenced the rankings, with developing countries scoring well. But, they argued consumers everywhere can choose to be more environmentally friendly in their consumption habits.

“Regardless of why consumers behave in an environmentally friendly way — whether it be driven by health concerns, whether it’s a cultural thing, climate, income … or a real conscious decision to be more green — the fact is individual consumers in developing countries have less impact on the environment than the average consumer in wealthy countries,” Whan said.

“In this sense, it really doesn’t matter why they behave in the way they do — the fact is, their behaviour does have an environmental impact and consumers anywhere can change in many ways, many of their behaviours for better or worse.”
Brazil, India earn marks for small homes

The survey found that 29 per cent of Canadians have nine or more rooms in their houses, putting Canada at the higher end of the spectrum for house size. Canadians were also penalized for heating their homes.

While acknowledging heating as a necessity in Canada’s northern climate, the researchers said Canadians scored low because of the way they choose to heat their homes.

“The Canadians being one of the highest users in the market basket of energy overall was quite surprising,” said Lloyd Hetherington, GlobeScan’s executive vice-president.

“We know that there’s penalties there for living in a colder climate, for being stretched out in a large country but by and large in most of these indices, Canada did not score well. There’s a lot to be done.”

By comparison, Brazil earned high marks for having smaller homes, infrequent use of home heating and widespread use of renewable electricity. Respondents in China and India also raised their green index value for the use of solar panels to heat water.

In terms of transportation, Canada ranked 12th out of the 14 countries surveyed with 52 per cent of respondents saying they drive alone daily. The survey also found 87 per cent say they have one or more vehicles in their households. In contrast, 22 per cent reported using public transportation at least once a week. China ranked well in this category, though the study noted car use there was growing notably.

Canadians scored well in recycling with 59 per cent of respondents saying they always recycled and 46 per cent said they donated items that could be reused. About 50 per cent of Canadians also said they have energy-saving washing machines and/or refrigerators and freezers. China, India and Brazil led in the consumer goods index, with most consumers reporting they purchase green products and own few appliances.

With more Canadians saying they buy locally grown foods, Canadians ranked fifth in the food index. Canada also earned points for below-average consumption of bottled water at 52 per cent.

The study also found 19 per cent of Canadian consumers believe environmental problems will negatively affect their health though only 20 per cent said they were actively attempting to lessen their impact on the environment.

The results of the survey were weighted according to census data to best represent age, gender and education demographics for each country. The results are considered to be accurate within 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time.

Eddie Vedder: “Society”

This is probably my favourite track from Eddie Vedder’s solo soundtrack for the incredible movie, “Into the Wild”.  Someone put some visuals to the music. Here’s the lyrics:

Oh it’s a mystery to me.
We have a greed, with which we have agreed…
and you think you have to want more than you need…
until you have it all, you won’t be free.

Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.

When you want more than you have, you think you need…
and when you think more then you want, your thoughts begin to bleed.
I think I need to find a bigger place…
cause when you have more than you think, you need more space.

Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed…
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.

There’s those thinkin’ more or less, less is more,
but if less is more, how you keepin’ score?
It means for every point you make, your level drops.
Kinda like you’re startin’ from the top…
and you can’t do that.

Society, you’re a crazy breed.
I hope you’re not lonely, without me.
Society, crazy indeed…
I hope you’re not lonely, without me
Society, have mercy on me.
I hope you’re not angry, if I disagree.
Society, crazy indeed.
I hope you’re not lonely…
without me.

Plastic Bottles

Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes.

Always Time to Shop.

   

What does it mean when Saturdays for some people are spent in the shopping malls purchasing $220 t-shirts and a whole lot of other expensive goods that no-one NEEDS, while others are outside digging through bins of waste in hopes of finding what they really need, basic survival? How is it that the effects of consumerism are so dangerous and permanent, yet so many people continue to mindlessly walk around malls in there spare time and shop? How do we shift the minds of the population into understanding that the status symbol of wealth comes at a much more expensive price than just the price tag itself? How can we stop the mindfucks and spread the truth legitimately  when the only ones who can afford marketing real estate around the city are the large corporations that depend and thrive off consumerism? How do we tell kids not to shop when shopping malls are one of the only free indoor public spaces that allow and encourage individuals to loiter on those cold winter days?

 

I wonder when and how status symbols became so important, that many people decided to go into massive debt just to pretend they are somebody they’re not by purchasing goods they can’t afford? Why are we still so concerned with ‘wealth’ and how we look? Are we still caught up in judgement? Shit, it seems so elementary. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  Something so basic and yet so challenging for so many people to grasp. If only we could use that energy and money towards real life issues that actually mean something. Instead of focusing on wealth and security, focus on health and happiness. Focus on living a complete life filled with adventure and love. Focus on treating your neighbor with love and respect. Focus on being a wise consumer. Think before you buy. Realize the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Be aware of your ecological footprint. Be smart with your money no matter how wealthy you are. [Only a sucker will spend $200 on a t-shirt.] Be aware of the media and what they are actually saying and trying to sell to you. Smoking Marlboro’s won’t make you feel happy just as a new phone won’t make you satisfied. Re-think style and the cool and influence others. Be a walking billboard for the free spirited soul and be proud of who you are as an individual and not by the clothes you wear or money you may or may not have. Style is something that is acquired through living life and cannot be purchased at the latest clothing store. So go out and create your own style by being who you are and Remember that living life is a way of art…

 

Peace & Love,

Fungi-T.

 

kalle lasn buy nothing day interview on CNN

Buy Nothing Day

As much of ‘the machine’ requires our unrelenting, unquestioning habit of consuming to exist, I thought we could align ourselves with an adbusters initiative…. that of ‘buy nothing day’…. perhaps we could take some time at our next workshop to brainstorm some ways in which our time could be better spent than mindlessly consuming crap we don’t need. Maybe we could come up with a poster idea, find a way to mass produce it, and spread the word around the streets of vancouver…. Here’s a starter list of free (or cheap) activities that give me a greater sense of satisfaction and happiness:-reading (mainly non fiction, but every now and then a fictional story is good for the imagination)-playing foosball, tennis, ping pong (craigslist has cheap used stuff that works great)-going for a walk or a run or a bike ride in the forest-playing my guitar-socializing/philosophizing with friends-playing drop in ice hockey ($5.50)-doing yoga in my bedroom-writing my thoughts down in a journal-playing hacky sack-volunteering time at a daycare-indoor rock climbing (approx. $10)-playing ‘bump set spike’ with a couple of friends