Overconsumption

What is overconsumption?

The term “overconsumption” is defined as the

state in which renewable resources are being
exhausted at a higher rate than they can
naturally replenish themselves1. This has
huge implications, many of which are beyond
the scope of our specific waste management
initiative. However, what is clear is that
consuming more than we need to contributes
to our waste production in a big way.

As has been addressed, humanity as a whole

overconsumes and wastes millions of tonnes
of natural resources every year2. In most
instances, our wastes are immediately
dumped into the environment, while relatively
small proportions are recycled or
composted2,3. By definition these practices
are unsustainable, as the resources are
squandered in a way that precludes re-use.
Despite more affluence, capabilities,
technology and resources, all of which can be
applied in ways to properly manage our
wastes, wealthy countries still produce by far
the largest fraction of waste food on the
planet2. Meanwhile, countries that are less
developed, despite often lacking even the
most basic resources to waste sustainably,
contribute significantly less to
overcosumption worldwide3. Unfortunately,
the higher disposable incomes and living
standards of developed nations lead to a
strong correlation with overconsumption2,3,
but more sustainable wasting only sometimes
follows suit4.

The contribution of developed nations to the

overconsumption crisis has been studied at
length. For example, it was found that food
consumption in developed countries is four
times greater than the appropriate
sustainability level6. This means that the
average person in a developed country
consumes organic resources four times faster
than they can replenish! This phenomenon
may partially be explained by the affordability
of natural resources in todayʼs economy, or by
general socioeconomic trends in more
advanced nations3. In order to fully address
this issue, we need to restrain our own
consumption patterns and those of our
neighbours to develop a trend of consuming
less regardless of income or social status4.

Overconsumption in Canada:

A very important question for us at

FoodSmart is: do Canadians follow the same
trend? While there is no data available
specifically for university students across this
nation, our consumptive patterns as a nation
have been examined in depth. It was found
that Canadians wasted $27.7 billion worth of
food in 2012, which equates to 183 kilograms
of food/person7. This statistic is shockingly
high due to the fact it excludes inedible
organic materials. Clearly our consumption
must be staggeringly high when this is the
amount we are wasting. At the local level, The
Whig Standard conducted a survey on
November 4th about composting in Kingston.
Their results showed that only 15% of
Kingston residents ate everything that they
purchased, while 85% said they sometimes or
regularly throw away food7. These data
indicate that the problem is widespread
across our society. Regardless of age or
socioeconomic status, most of us
overconsume. We need to monitor how much
food we eat, but also to waste as little as
possible while carefully adhering to local
composting initiatives.

Within Canada we generally see differences in

food consumption between genders, age
groups, regional population sizes, and
cultures8. The power of determining
consumption rates within Canada is crucial
because we can accurately determine our
agricultural potential based on the
consumption of organic resources that our
population demands8. Canadian conservation
efforts currently employ a uniform top-down
approach to help establish parameters for
resource consumption9. However,
environmental stakeholders are pushing for
higher ground-level responsibility because it
allows for direct interaction with resources on
a personal level9. Recent and future efforts
will be centralized around community
involvement in support in order to be truly
successful.

1. Westing, A.H. Fox, W. Renner, M. 2001.

Environmental degradation as both
consequence and cause of armed conflict.
Nobel Peace Laureate Forum, PREPCOM: 1-16
2. Bridge, G. 2009. Material worlds: natural
resources, resource geography and the
material economy. Geography Compass: 3(3)
1217-1244.
3. Goklany, I.M. 2009. Have increases in
population, affluence and technology
worsened human and environmental well-
being? The Electronic Journal of Sustainable
Development: 1(3) 15-40.
4. Ehrlich, P.R. 2008. Key issues for attention
from ecological economists. Environmental
and Developmental Economics: 13(1) 1-20.
5. Zavodska, A. Uhuo, J.E. Benesova, L. 2012.
Resource recycling and reuse – contrasting
developed and developing countries.
Chemical Engineering and Chemical Process
Technology: (3) 1-9.
6. Carlsson-Kanyama, A. 1998. Climate
change and dietary choices – how can
emissions of greenhouse gases from food
consumption be reduced? Food Policy: 23(3-
4) 277-293.
7. Artuso, A. “Canadians waste billions in food
each year.” The Kingston Whig Standard. 6
Oct. 2012.
<http://www.thewhig.com/2012/10/06/canadia
ns-waste-billions-in-food-each-year>
accessed 1 Nov 2012.
8. Morrison, K.T. Nelson, T.A. Ostry, A.S. 2001.
Mapping spatial variation in food
consumption. Applied Geography: 31(4)
1262-1267.
9. Bradshaw, B. 2003. Questioning the
credibility and capacity of community-based
resource management. The Canadian
Geographer: 47(2) 137-150.