As the 21st century approaches it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that increasing numbers of people will be consuming a bundle of goods and services resembling that of northern populations. While it is impossible to construct an index of the impact of an entire lifestyle on the environment, it is clear that northern lifestyles, and particularly that of the United States, are highly environmentally damaging. Affluence is causing air and water pollution, soil degradation, ozone depletion, species extinction, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic chemcial wastes, deforestation and other environmental disasters. One approach is to change the way we produce and what we consume. Firms can switch to environmentally more benign production technologies.
Consumers can also avoid buying toxic products, recycle, and insulate their homes.
Figure 4.1 Growth versus environmental quality In the short to medium term, it is not likely that these kinds of changes will produce enough improvement in the earth's ecology. In part this is due to linkages among components of consumption 'bundles', in particular linkages between housing and transport which representsubstantial expenditures and are two major sources of environmental degradation. Consider American suburbia. Houses are large and therefore costly to build. They are energy inefficient and cannot be kept cool without air conditioning.