the Breathe Network is a new initiative on simpler living, kicking off with a series of events around the UK in the next 2 months. It would be nice if some of this fed into the election debates too: one of the causes of our present financial crisis, probably the main cause, is greed and overconsumption. But I don't hear anyone challenging an economic model based on consumer capitalism and personal debt.
One volcano in Iceland has thrown our airfreighting industry up in the air: green beans from Kenya and strawberries from New Zealand might be short at Tescos for a while longer, though I imagine the goods will all reach their appointed homes long before the stranded passengers. In normal times, there might be some discussion about whether, as a country, we need to change our patterns of consumption and spending. A few extra wind farms here and there isn't going to have much of an impact when, if the whole world consumed at UK levels, we'd need a couple of extra planets to satisfy the appetites.
'less stuff, more life' is the Breathe networks tagline. Sounds good, the issue is always the detail...
We are constantly told that the important thing is economic growth. But growth generally means consumption, means more stuff. Only a certain amount of that stuff is sustainably produced. Seems to me that a future of endless growth eventually leads to a scorched black planet - regardless of whether you believe in human-caused global warming.
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