How hipsters and consumer action can fight climate change
She bought cauliflower instead of fennel. He dumped her.
My friend was just dumped. The stated reason? A spur of the moment decision to replace the requested fennel, which was wrapped in layer upon layer of plastic, with a head of cauliflower, which was not.
Her boyfriend made a case that she was inattentive to his needs. But was she really? Whether my friend’s selection was a tragic case of climate martyrdom or the subconscious sabotage of a relationship with the type of person who dumps someone over fennel, it was an illustration of an emerging consumer preference for sustainable production. Final consumers are now more cautious about their choices.
In destroying my friend’s relationship, plastic-free cauliflower demonstrated how consumers could be mobilized in the fight for a more sustainable world through changing the global production patterns..
Final consumers have the power to change the sustainability patterns of global trade
Recent decades saw the emergence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards(VSS), originally certifying products as “fair trade”, “child-free” or “organic”, and now ranging to include such concerns as gender equality or biodiversity. These labels were created and then gained considerable market presence due to the willingness of final consumers to pay more for products which aligned with their values. According to the UN, by 2018 about 20% of cocoa and coffeeproduction globally is certified under some form of a VSS — with a yearly double-digit growth on the size of the certified land.
VSS labelling not only highlighted more ethically sourced products, but reshaped supply chains as producing ‘ethically,’ and being seen to do so, became a source of competitive advantage.
If this could occur in the fight against child labor, it should also be a viable strategy in other non-sustainable characteristics. For example, an increasing collective choice for plastic free — or less plastic intense — products could backtrack through supply chain to create a more sustainable production chain. As the cauliflower to fennel switch shows, this change may not be associated with the direct price premium on a certain certification. In the world where plastic poses direct threat it can be transmitted through favoring products that have ( a lack of) excessive plastic, and the producers that follow these patterns.
Western hipsters lead the way
It is easy to dismiss the movement toward sustainably produced goods as a first‑world indulgence where only the richest population can afford such “feel good” trends. Yet in many ways, consumer preference changes in the developed world drive supply chain evolution.
The developed world accounts for over half of global final goods consumption. Moreover, it is home to the majority of the multinational corporations which drive global production, and is therefore the context in which their policies are formulated. Finally, the need to attract funding means producers benchmark their behavior against developed market expectations, a choice which has seen the emergence of the global movement toward CSR and ESG.
Consumer action is critical in part because political action is distant
The global policy atmosphere toward climate change complex to the point of paralysis. Not only is individual unwillingness of certain countries deterring collective action, but also the opaque definition of what such action looks like.
Effective climate action requires a range of policy responses spread across everything from the coal industry, to recycling practices, to fossil fuels, and the use of plastic. To lesser or greater degree, there is a climate change aspect to every possible human and non-human activity on (and off) our planet.
The impossibility of bringing all “relevant” regulators and policymakers to simultaneous agreement elevates the one actor of critical importance across all climate affecting activities: the consumer.
While an individual consumption preference may seem futile in a global struggle, it is exactly such personal choices which in the aggregate drive market preferences. Capitalism is dependent on an individual: if no one buys a product, it will eventually cease production.
Be the plastic-free cauliflower you want to see in the world
As a consumer, you will never be credited for single handedly halting climate change. That challenge is beyond any individual. Collectively however, a shift toward more sustainable consumption choices overtime will reshape production in ways that slow climate change down.
Neither climate change nor boyfriends who leave you over vegetables are entirely avoidable, but in both the grocery store and our relationships we have the chance to make better choices. Let’s do it.