Corpobligation: Strong economic growth, a high Canadian dollar and low unemployment creates risks and opportunities,
depending on consumer choices
The
higher Canadian dollar has turned the USA into a “candy store” and Canadians are expected to fly more than ever this holiday season. Greater
wealth allows ridiculous decadence (pet psychiatrists and luxury condo
developments). At the same time, economic wealth and consumer confidence allows us to make more sustainable choices and to make real changes in how we consume and structure
our lives.
Risks
Whether we are busy at work or we wish to treat the kids, families are going
to restaurants more and more.
This has repercussions on health: "Given that 26 per cent of Canadian children aged 2 to 17 are considered
overweight or obese - and Type 2 diabetes among youth is on the rise -
it's surprising that healthy menu options offered to adults have not
made their way to kids' menus."
Part of the reason for the lack of healthy options at restaurants is
the lack of demand and the lack of information. Transparency or the
lack therof has serious implications for the ability of families to
make healthy choices on food. Excess food consumption spills over into
decadence in other parts of our lives.
Travel is great when it exposes us to knew experiences and teaches us about
different people and places, but flights come with a very real cost of
greenhouse gas emissions and straight out pollution. Thus, Canadian “Snowbirds”
or sun seekers place their grandchildren’s futures at risk, when they choose to
fly south. This has received increased attention in the UK and Europe ,
where local
travel, by train or bus, has become a more socially accepted vacation.
Even in the United States people are considering the environment in
their travel choices, although they would prefer to pay less than 5% extra to protect the environment. The Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail
media makes the environment-free irresponsible point that travelling to
the United States is ideal now because of the high Canadian dollar. If
Canadians travel more by plane, the Canadian dollar's rise could hurt
the environment. So is all doom and gloom?
Opportunities
"I need to fly somewhere warm!” “My kids love that restaurant”… Of
course, we would all love to have everything we wanted, but at what cost? Cost
may be the starting point of the solution to avoiding these consumption related
risks: carbon offsets, shared costs of sustainable production practices, fair
trade premiums, and better transparency. If you want to fly, you could pay for
carbon offsets that go towards sustainable power . If you want to eat local food
grown sustainably you could share the cost of maintaining ecosystems with
farmers directly. When choosing products, you can choose fair trade products or products sourced-ethically so that labour standards and economic
justice are improved.
Profits can also play a role in shaping the ways that things are made and
what gets to market: consumer demand “can” drive markets. I write “can” because
consumers need to have information to make informed choices (ie what is in the
restaurant meal, where is something made). Producers can also “go organic” or
keep production local, if consumers will pay a little bit extra.
I would suggest three ways to change our view of consumption:
1. Consumption
is political – demand products that match your view of the world
2. Think
about the future when choosing what to buy – do you really need the all
inclusive vacation in Florida
or could you go camping or cross country skiing?
3. Decadence and Decay are more than words that
start with D – thinking about and helping others does more than reduce
“going-to-the-bar-guilt” (that feeling of walking by a homeless guy and then spending $8.00
on a drink). Helping others strengthens communities and understanding between
communities: economic justice is the basis on which to build a sustainable
society. Consuming a less may also ward off complacency and it couldn’t hurt
the waste-band of those fair trade trousers.
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