If I am distracted from the environment I stop caring. I have recently moved into a new flat, a stressful enough task, especially when you are moving in with your girlfriend for the first time. Biodiversity loss, ice caps melting, or encroaching desertification seem like nothing compared to who waters the flaccid basil plants or understanding how to work the new sulphur-washing machine. During this time of transition my recycling was non existent and I cared for nothing outside of our small studio. But now the storm has blown itself out, we’ve unpacked, the basils dead, the dusts settled and I can once again see what I’ve been ignoring, my self interest readjusted back to normal and I am again concerned about the environment.
What I’m really concerned about is that recession society will mirror my psyche during the flat move. I ignored the outside world, long term and sometimes slightly abstract goals like council tax during my house move, what happens if society forgets environmental ethics and edges away from things like green consumerism.
It is a well known pattern that a recession is bad for green consumerism. What I mean by green consumerism is the everyday products which are promoted for their green credentials, fair trade tea, locally sourced wine, and seaweed fishcakes from a sustainable fish farm in Bognor, whatever. This stuff is more expensive than its competitors; the way it makes profit is not via traditional competitive advantage but through a moral and ethical advantage. As people get poorer, suddenly ‘no union tea’ seems more appealing and the 35p extra you pay for a fair-trade logo seems extravagant. We find it easier to avoid these small ethical choices in the same way I found it easier to stop recycling. But the problem with the cheap alternative is that they often have a larger environmental impact. They are sold so cheap because of inhumane wages, sidestepping regulations and exploiting land. In addition to this there is a lack of transparency when looking into their sources and production lines, this in turn strengthens the selective memory of a cash strapped recession consumer.
Article by Alex Scrase
