Conscious

Consumption
What we eat, wear and buy can impact
the wellbeing of the environment,
animals and other humans. These materials have been prepared and approved for
educational use for teachers and others working with
students aged 14 to 18.

What is conscious consumption?

Conscious consumption means considering how our purchases impact society and the world
at large. Beyond the financial cost, conscious consumers reflect on whether their purchases
will have a helpful or harmful effect on the environment and other living beings.

Conscious consumption means shifting from:

Taking Making Disposing

Rethinking Reusing Redesigning

How do the choices we make about what we eat,
wear and buy impact the environment?

The production of goods and services – including food, clothing and consumer products –
can have environmental impacts many of us have never considered:

The meat industry
is responsible for
more greenhouse gas
emissions than the
biggest oil companies
in the world.
One pair of jeans can The production of a new
cost the environment smartphone can create
up to 3,781 liters of 79kg/174 pounds
water to produce. of greenhouse
gas emissions.

The way we consume, produce and dispose

of products can also affect the environment.
Three harmful consumption habits include:

Taking Making Disposing

When we think we need
something, our first
instinct of many is to
go out and buy it.
In many places in the
world, there are always
new products being
manufactured.
When individuals and
companies are finished
with a product, the
default can be to
throw it in the trash.

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American teens spend The production of new The average American
$2,300 a year on food clothes has doubled in produces 1,500 pounds
and clothes. the last twenty years. of trash a year.

These habits can lead to the depletion of natural resources (including water and our forests),
the contribution of harmful chemicals into the environment, and increasing amounts of trash
going to landfill.
Is there a
better way?
Many individuals and companies are
becoming more conscious consumers
by changing the way they meet their
food, clothing and material needs.
Three alternative consumption
habits include:
Rethinking
Instead of buying new products,
individuals can rethink whether
they really need a purchase.
Redesigning
Instead of making new products,
companies can find ways to deliver
goods and services in ways that
minimize the environmental impact.
Reusing
Instead of disposing of products
we no longer need, individuals
and companies can find ways
to reuse or recycle them.
Can one person really
make a difference?
Yes!
Generation Z (people born between
the mid-1990s and the early 2010s)
make up the largest generation
in human history. That’s over
two billion people!
While the environmental challenges
we’re faced with are big, we can start
to solve these through making small
changes repeatedly. If every person
makes one positive change to what
they eat, wear and buy, and we multiply
it by two billion, we can start to solve
the world’s biggest problems!
For more inspiration, and ideas of how
you can turn one small change into one
big movement, head over to YouTube
and watch the Little x Little1 campaign.
1 Little x Little campaign: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=OAQird65ulA&feature=youtu.be
What can I do today to become
a more Conscious Consumer?

Many individuals and companies are becoming more conscious consumers by changing the way
they meet their food, clothing and material needs. Three alternative consumption habits include:

What you eat

This climate change food calculator can
help you to find out the environmental
impacts of what you eat and drink!
Simply select a food, indicate how often
you eat it, and the calculator will show
you the potential effects your diet
has on the planet.2

What you wear

Check out the website and app Good on
You to see the environmental impact of
your favorite clothing brands. Good on
You allows you to type in a brand and
see how it rates in terms of its impact
on people, the planet and animals.3

What you buy

Websites such as The Good Shopping
Guide let you see how ethical your
favorite brand is compared to other
products on the market. The website
ranks brands based on their
environmental, animal welfare
and human rights policies.4

2 The Climate Change Food Calculator: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46459714

3 Good on You: https://directory.goodonyou.eco/
4 The Good Shopping Guide: https://thegoodshoppingguide.com/
Want to
learn more?

The United Nations’ Act

Now Food Challenge
Head over to the United Nations’ Food
Challenge website for videos and recipe
ideas to help you to make food choices
that are good for you, and good for
the environment!5

Confronting High Street

Shoppers with A Shocking Truth:
StaceyDooley Investigates
In this video from the BBC, Stacey
Dooley investigates the environmental
impact of the garment industry.6

How People make Only a Jar

of Trash a Year
Check out this article from the National
Geographic with real life examples of
how people have reduced food, clothing
and consumer waste, and tips on how
you can do the same.7

5 The United Nations’ ActNow Food Challenge: https://www.

un.org/sustainabledevelopment/actnow-food-challenge/
6 Confronting High Street Shoppers with A Shocking Truth:
Stacey Dooley Investigates: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=zOe_M3GutdY
7 How People Make Only a Jar of Trash a Year: https://www.
nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/zero-waste-families-
plastic-culture/
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