"Voting With Dollars" Is Useless
Channel: R E A
Date: 2018-11-08

#votingwithdollars #ecofriendly #greenwashing

Voting with our dollars is useless! Voting with our dollars is useless? Well, to be clear, it is not completely useless, but it is not the best and fastest way to change the world. 

Firstly because going green is not enough. Research shows that green and non-green consumers actually don’t have a much different ecological footprint and that often non-green consumers are, in fact, taking better care of our planet without even knowing it compared to green shoppers. Meaning, that going green can actually bring some unwanted results, such as having the same or a bigger footprint than people who aren’t green.

The second problem is that we are often very eco-friendly in one area in our life, but we forget about other problems. And therefore maybe do more harm than good: we buy soap without palm oil, but we use our car all the time.

The third problem of voting with our dollars is that no matter how worried we are for our planet, as long as we are buying, we ourselves are the problem. Green or non-green, the results are pretty much the same. The act of buying is the act that has the biggest impact, what we buy is secondary.

But living in the world today, it is almost impossible not to consume. I mean, there is minimalism, a movement that encourages people to buy less and get rid of stuff we don't need. And while it is great for the planet, it can also encourage more shopping while you are adjusting to a new lifestyle.

But even if this whole green non-green situation looks bad, it is not so bad! We can change the world and help our environment in a different and better way than by buying green. We can donate our money (or time) to organizations, associations, and NGO that we believe in and are fighting for the changes we want to see in the world.

Because buying local shampoo is great, but doesn’t do much on its own. But if we give all the money we spend on green products to organizations who are making big things happen, we actually contribute a lot more than just supporting a neighbor. 

Buying green for our health is a great idea, but doing so just to help our environment is not the best idea. We are, in general, doing too little, too late. But if the whole system changes, then we all have to adapt. 


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SOURCES: http://www.erscp2012.eu/upload/doc/ERSCP_Full_Papers/CsutoraM_The_ecological_footprint_of_green_and_brown_consumers.pdf
https://qz.com/920561/conscious-consumerism-is-a-lie-heres-a-better-way-to-help-save-the-world/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuQbmLCTEc