By Barnes Mawrie
The former US President Barack Obama has rightly pointed out that “we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.”
The impact of climate change is being felt worldwide. Erratic weather conditions are being witnessed from time to time. In India we are seeing the erratic behaviour of the monsoons. When we were children many years ago, we used to feel the arrival of the monsoons right from the beginning of June and they would last even till August or early September. They were days of endless rain and cloudy weather. Today we are witnessing a drastic climatic change. The monsoons are short and unpredictable. Flash rains are becoming more frequent and the sudden heavy downpours cause a lot of havoc. This summer in some parts of India like UP, Rajasthan etc., due to the delay of the monsoons people are experiencing an unbearable soaring heat which has claimed the lives of many. Besides this, there is drought and shortage of water. In Maharashtra for example, the wells have run dry and the water supply has reached a critical stage. It is already season for the monsoons but it seems that the monsoons are playing hide and seek. Climatologists are predicting worse scenarios in the coming years. We are all aware that climate change is playing havoc on our planet and the process is irreversible.
As one of the inhabitants of this planet Earth, I feel greatly concerned about the well-being of our God-given home. Climate change is definitely not a natural outcome, but it is the result of irresponsible human behaviour. Here I would like to bring to the awareness of all my fellow earthlings that one of the principal causes of climate change is our consumerist culture. This is a self-imposed contemporary culture which is based on the economic law of demand and supply. The law says that “the greater the demand for a commodity, the greater the supply grows.” When the price of the demanded commodity decreases the demand increases. In a mechanized world where mass production is the practice of the day, commodities tend to become cheaper as they are produced at lower cost. This leads to a higher buying potential of the public. However, when the demand grows there has to be greater production which implies that more natural resources are required. This means more pressure on Mother Nature – more extensive mining of minerals, more deforestation, more factories built, more energy required, more pollution produced and so on. Demand on the other hand is the result of a consumerist society. Globalization has only augmented consumerism since there is availability of commodities of all brands from various countries of the world. Today when we go to a shopping mall, there is no longer the problem of scarcity of goods but only the problem of choice. Consumers are easily lured into purchasing more and more and the culture of consumerism gets more entrenched in our society.
Consumerism is a perverted human behaviour that is based on the principle of “use and throw.” In richer countries of the world people buy commodities, use them for some time and then get rid of these. There are rich people who buy dresses only for occasions and then they dispose them off. China is one country where consumerism is growing at a rapid rate since people have become economically better off. This is the reason why China has developed into the biggest producing country. Name anything that is not made in China today. Consequently, China has become an energy-hungry country because of the extensive production process. Chinese goods are in great demand all over the world because they are cheaper in comparison to goods from other countries. India is one country where Chinese goods are being bought extensively. People continue to buy new products while simultaneously they dump away the used goods. These commodities continue to be imported which results in the increase of garbage which in turn pollutes the land, air and water.
It is evident therefore that consumerism is the primary culprit of the vicious cycle of climate change. Take for example, a few decades ago, there were very few automobiles in Shillong. First of all, there was lesser demand for such goods on account of their high prices and moreover there was also a limitation of choice. Thus people who owned cars in those days would run them for years, repairing them from time to time. There was no such “use and throw” culture but people would maximize the utility of goods. Those were the days when we could walk freely along the streets and breathe fresh air. There was neither traffic jam nor pollution nor garbage issue as much as we face them today. Today however, consumerism has caught up with the people of our state. There are so many brands of vehicles at affordable prices, and so even a poor family owns at least a two-wheeler today. Rich people change their vehicles from time to time. The result is that pollution and traffic jams have increased in our cities. Other kinds of goods are being purchased, used and then disposed of. This is adding to the amount of garbage in every city. Thus the consumerist culture has caught up with every one and the poor victim is our Mother Earth who has to bear the brunt of our human greed and luxurious lifestyle.
It is evident that the problem of climate change can never be reversed until and unless humans begin to change their wasteful behaviour and lifestyle. Our generation is notably characterized by a “shopping culture,” a “technology hungry culture” and a “use and throw culture.” All these are the outcome of consumerism. Therefore, if we want to save our planet from the imminent disaster, we need to modify our behaviour, put an end to the present culture of consumerism and learn to live simpler lives. We have to follow the principle of “reducing needs, maximizing utility, saving energy, living economically and acting responsibly.”