We hear every day about buying local, fair trade, zero waste, sustainable development… What do these trends have in common? Responsible consumption .
In fact, what does responsible consumption really mean? It is a mode of consumption that takes into account the basic needs of individuals, the environmental impact of the goods produced, the social economy as well as the preservation or maintenance of resources for future generations. This is obviously only one definition among others, but it reveals the essence of the twelfth goal of the United Nations Development Programme : “do more and better with less”.
Our perception of responsible consumption
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The responsible consumption observatory of UQAM (hereinafter the “OCR”), founded in 2010, has this issue as its mission and aims to understand responsible consumption within the community. The 2018 edition of the Responsible Consumption Barometer paints a picture of the situation in Quebec.
According to the study carried out by the OCR, 63.1% of the population claims to consume responsibly. While more than one in two people consider buying an electric car to be the choice with the greatest impact on the environment, the rest of the respondents distribute their votes towards food choices.
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Private companies, the media as well as the State, through various regulations and financial measures, encourage us to consume in different ways according to their interests. Often, the promotion of a consumer good is carried out by emphasizing for example the sustainable development or the fact that the product is ecological. However, and we have seen this recently in the case of electric cars , the situation is never rosy.
It is sometimes necessary to go further than the trends promoted by the market and influencers, in particular with regard to the environmental and social impact of the stages of production and transport of products and their raw materials.
The importance of asking questions
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The basics of marketing aim to convince the consumer, and it would be fooling ourselves to believe that a company is not going to bet on the strengths of its product to sell it. In addition, sustainable consumption has become a trend on which many companies rely in their marketing and commercialization.
That's why it's important to learn about the choices we make when it comes to consumption. Whether it is for the purchase of a bamboo toothbrush, an organic banana or a piece of furniture, it is our duty as citizens to inform ourselves, to ask questions, and to seek to know the origin of a product, the path it travels, and the impacts of its production and transport to get to us.
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In this sense, it is obvious that local and proximity trade allows a search for information facilitated by the reduction in the number of participants. Moreover, the source of the good is often close to the consumer. The “At the heart of the business” section of the Signé Local blog also aims to demystify the environment of products by meeting creators, producers and owners.
If this research can be laborious, it is still up to the consumer to question the impact of the coveted product, according to its necessity. Of course, misinformation can greatly harm the process, but it is always possible to find reliable sources and meet the producers, designers and other actors of the coveted product. If the average consumer sharpens his curiosity even more, we can hope to move towards a more transparent commercial world and, at the same time, more responsible!
Happy shopping!
Reviewed By Melanie
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