Consumption and the Environment
An introduction to an old concept…
The issue of consumption cannot be separated from a more fundamental question:
What is it we value?
Through our behavior, we demonstrate our priorities, preferences and value systems, and they in turn help to prioritize our moral obligations towards ourselves, others, and our environment. For example, is aesthetic appreciation something to be valued intrinsically, or is beauty an instrumental value insofar as it affects the quality of human life? An argument for aesthetic preservation is frequently tendered when issues of human over-consumption are discussed. For many, the beauty of nature and the diversity of life forms are what give meaning to our lives. Yet, with current rates of resource consumption and human population growth, the carrying capacity of the earth is approaching criticality, and we can not indefinitely afford to rely on technological progress and human ingenuity to increase carrying capacity. Even if global resources were equitably distributed, they are inadequate to support unlimited population growth.
Knowledge of this fact brings the ethics of environmental consumption to a personal level, and requires each individual to ask: what proportion of the earth’s limited resources should I consume? In addition, what are the unintended consequences of excessive consumption? We hope to help the individual examine consumption and its effects on the environment from a variety of perspectives, keeping as a focus the ethical consequences of individual and collective decision-making.