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.

They just don’t give a fuck about you:George Carlin on Education

IT’S CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM AND YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO BELIEVE IT.

and (Why America (the World) Sucks…They got you by the balls!)

This entry is part 1 in a series of entries exploring monetary systems with regards to public knowledge and awareness in the United States and Canada, its origins and history, and present day status. What better place to begin than with a video from George Carlin, about the state of affairs today…

From MatthewGood:

http://www.matthewgood.org/2008/03/you-have-to-be-asleep-to-believe-it-pt1/ 

Plastic Bottles

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

The Story of Stuff

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

HOPE…

“A broad, interspiritual American culture is being born and is becoming increasingly conscious, aware of a horizon of meaning and spiritual life that can overpower the predominant culture of entertainment, consumerism, and an essentially heartless capitalism. Under the surface of this society, with the intense meditative discipline being observed by several millions of spiritual seekers, a torrent of consciousness is rising in American humanity and other nations as well that will have its effect in time.”

-Wayne Teasdale, Roman Catholic monk

Taken from an essay included in “Spiritual perspectives on America’s role as Superpower”… a fantastic  book containing 16 essays written by profound religious and spiritual teachers of multiple faiths (Catholic, Muslim,Jewish, Buddhist, Vedantist, Protestant, interfaith traditions). More quotes to come as I read more and more…

PS. Great insights on ’security’ a few posts ago! Reminds me of Pearl Jam lyrics in “I’m Open”:

A man lies in his bed in a room with no door
He waits, hoping for a presence, something, anything to enter
After spending half his life searching
He still felt as blank as the ceiling at which he stared
He is alive, but feels absolutely nothing, so is he?

When he was six, he believed that the moon overhead followed him
By nine, he deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact, no trade-backs
So this is what it’s like to be an adult?
If he only knew now what he knew then

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

why we consume (in very blunt layman’s terms)

Quite simply, I think over consumption is a result of the emptiness of our culture… The notion that there is a correlation between consumption and fulfillment, wealth and happiness, is deeply embedded within our culture. I think individuals have a very tough time feeling fulfilled when many work in a job they hate for 8 hours, come home to a microwave supper low in nutritional value , watch reality t.v., read a fashion magazine that tells them they need to buy this cream and that lotion to feel beautiful, and then fall asleep on the couch to the 11:00 state funded network news. On the weekends they spruce up their lives by watching football and drinking a case of budweiser, and call themselves spiritual beings by trying hard not to fall asleep during Sunday service. The interesting thing is the advertising agencies of budweiser, of the microwave dinners, of the football game, etc. would have you believe, through the brilliance of their marketing campaigns, that consuming their products will help to make you feel like you’re happy and fulfilled. We’ve bought in, believing in the misnomer that drinking excessive amounts of budweiser on a friday night will help you feel happy, accepted, attractive, invincible…. just like the image the tv commercials so aptly personify. And so in order to fill the void of living this cultureless life comprised of empty cultural calories, we reward ourselves with an unnecessary new pair of shoes, or the latest cell phone, or a new car, because it makes us feel good, it makes us feel like our peers will accept us, but yet we are totally oblivious to the effect that this purchase has on the ecosystems of the world. Our appetite for consumption provides the markets for ‘the machine’ to exist and so ‘the machine’ will make every effort to ensure that you comply and be a good citizen and continue to consume. Immediately after 9/11, George Bush, in his address to the people, informed citizens that the best way they could help America was to go out and shop!!! (reference still being sought after). The machine desperately requires your non questioning compliance to consume, and as a result spares no effort to ensure that you are inundated with messages to buy shit. Probably more frightening than this is the realization that many aspects of our culture have been set up to ensure that we feel unfulfilled in order to create a desire in us to buy shit. Or that much of our consumption stems from the fact that our lives are so busy with the responsibilities of a 40 + hour work week that we will spend our hard earned money on convenience products that promise to free up more time in our day so we can watch more t.v. They are selling the product of ‘convenience’ because it is so desperately desired in our hyperactively hectic lives.

I think the solution is simple, but will not be easily attained: shopoholicism is a major problem, with devastating ecological, political, and social consequences that we need to be aware of…. rather than continuing the trend of mindlessly consuming, we need to find healthier, more natural ways of seeking happiness and fulfillment. Perhaps an emphasis on play, on relaxation , on exercise, on socializing, on reading, on pondering, on thinking, on wondering, on loving, on truly LIVING is what we need to reduce our ecological footprint. Our current emphasis on competition, on material wealth, on consumption, on vanity items, on social status, on PROFIT AT ALL COSTS, is leading us in a very dangerous direction , both individually (highest ever recorded rates of depression, anxiety disorders, low mental health) and collectively (global warming, growing gap between the rich and the poor, a very likely World War 3)…… Open your eyes, open your hearts, open your mind, open your soul….

Peace and Love,

D