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Sustainability is Sexy, Blind Eco Consumerism is Not
Topic: Sustainability
by Laura, 2021 Cohort
I care about the environment; I’ve held placards, I’ve picked up litter and I’ve told my mum off for buying avocados wrapped in plastic. I am also that person who has to buy a new reusable shopping bag almost every single time I go to grab the groceries.
I, like two in five Australian customers, am an “eco consumerist”; willing to pay more for the “eco friendly” version of products.
Don’t get me wrong eco consumerism has many benefits, from keeping the environment in the public eye, to making the buyer feel good about their purchasing decisions, to increasing demand for and reducing the production cost of eco friendly products. Informed eco consumerism can also benefit the environment, reducing the amount of plastic packaging in waterways, micro plastics in clothes and overall emissions generated.
Blind eco consumerism, however, can do more harm than good in the fight for a more sustainable future. Blindness in eco consumerism occurs for three main reasons:
We fall victim to “green washing” tactics by companies where they make bold sustainability claims that redirect consumers attention from the true environmental record of the product. Classic examples include vague claims like “all natural”, “green” or even “eco friendly” or misleading claims such as “contains no CFCs” or “chemical free”. An orange could be classed “all natural” as could a citrus cleaning spray in a plastic spray bottle while CFCs have been banned for over 30 years.
We fail to consider the life cycle emissions of the “eco friendly” versions of products, partly due to green washing. Life cycle emissions are difficult to calculate as they take into account emissions generated at each stage of the products life. This includes stages such as, the growing and harvesting of the materials in the product, transportation, and the used product ending up in landfill or going on to be recycled. Any individual product’s life cycle emissions depends on factors such as how far it travelled, how efficiently it was created and how long it was used for; a plastic shopping bag bought from Coles in Sydney for instance would have a different footprint to one bought in regional Victoria.
We become complacent: it is easier to be lured in by green washing and get that serotonin hit from our, albeit blind, eco consumerism than it is to research the background of each company claiming their cleaning sprays have 10% less plastic and are “green”.
My collection of reusable shopping bags is unfortunately a classic example of blind eco consumerism with most needing to be reused over 50 times to be a more sustainable option than a single use plastic bag. Ask yourself, how many of your reusable shopping bags have made it to their 50th use before being thrown away?
While it is heartening that so many Australian’s are willing to pay more for the “eco friendly” version of products, the next step is to recognise that informed decisions make a greater positive difference than mere good intentions.
Additional Resources#
Best article for reusable shopping bag statistics:
Best article on green washing:
Best article on product life cycle:
Best article for eco consumerism trends Australia:
Explore this topic further#
- Harris on Seeking Sustainability in an Age of Complexity PDF{.link-ext target=”_blank”}
- William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle{.link-ext target=”_blank”}
- Wikipedia page{.link-ext target=”_blank”}
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This content has been contributed by a student as part of a learning activity.
If there are inaccuracies, or opportunities for significant improvement on this topic, feedback is welcome on how to improve the resource.
You can improve articles on this topic as a student in "Unravelling Complexity", or by including the amendments in an email to: Chris.Browne@anu.edu.au
I care about the environment; I’ve held placards, I’ve picked up litter and I’ve told my mum off for buying avocados wrapped in plastic. I am also that person who has to buy a new reusable shopping bag almost every single time I go to grab the groceries.
I, like two in five Australian customers, am an “eco consumerist”; willing to pay more for the “eco friendly” version of products.
Don’t get me wrong eco consumerism has many benefits, from keeping the environment in the public eye, to making the buyer feel good about their purchasing decisions, to increasing demand for and reducing the production cost of eco friendly products. Informed eco consumerism can also benefit the environment, reducing the amount of plastic packaging in waterways, micro plastics in clothes and overall emissions generated.
Blind eco consumerism, however, can do more harm than good in the fight for a more sustainable future. Blindness in eco consumerism occurs for three main reasons:
We fall victim to “green washing” tactics by companies where they make bold sustainability claims that redirect consumers attention from the true environmental record of the product. Classic examples include vague claims like “all natural”, “green” or even “eco friendly” or misleading claims such as “contains no CFCs” or “chemical free”. An orange could be classed “all natural” as could a citrus cleaning spray in a plastic spray bottle while CFCs have been banned for over 30 years.
We fail to consider the life cycle emissions of the “eco friendly” versions of products, partly due to green washing. Life cycle emissions are difficult to calculate as they take into account emissions generated at each stage of the products life. This includes stages such as, the growing and harvesting of the materials in the product, transportation, and the used product ending up in landfill or going on to be recycled. Any individual product’s life cycle emissions depends on factors such as how far it travelled, how efficiently it was created and how long it was used for; a plastic shopping bag bought from Coles in Sydney for instance would have a different footprint to one bought in regional Victoria.
We become complacent: it is easier to be lured in by green washing and get that serotonin hit from our, albeit blind, eco consumerism than it is to research the background of each company claiming their cleaning sprays have 10% less plastic and are “green”.
My collection of reusable shopping bags is unfortunately a classic example of blind eco consumerism with most needing to be reused over 50 times to be a more sustainable option than a single use plastic bag. Ask yourself, how many of your reusable shopping bags have made it to their 50th use before being thrown away?
While it is heartening that so many Australian’s are willing to pay more for the “eco friendly” version of products, the next step is to recognise that informed decisions make a greater positive difference than mere good intentions.
Additional Resources#
Best article for reusable shopping bag statistics:
Best article on green washing:
Best article on product life cycle:
Best article for eco consumerism trends Australia: