Guide to Conscious Consumption
From Observatory
Conscious consumption, or conscious consumerism, can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as shopping for food products that avoid harm to nonhuman animals, using green cleaning products, drinking shade-grown, fair-trade coffee and organic wine free of harmful pesticides, driving small electric vehicles over instead of gas-guzzling SUVs, and boycotting fast-fashion brands and businesses that treat workers unfairly.
This guide will help you make buying decisions that are healthier for you, your family, nonhuman animals, and the planet.
Editor: Reynard Loki
1
The eco-footprint of the wine industry is significant, and some wineries are taking steps to reduce their impact. For conscious consumers, it’s about knowing what to look for.
2
If it wasn’t shade-grown, your coffee most likely destroyed forest cover and wildlife habitat.
3
Milk made from plants is entering the public consciousness (and stomachs) in coffee shops across the globe.
4
We can no longer rely on simple solutions like recycling to solve our plastic waste problem.
5
Society’s addiction to palm oil—the world’s most widely consumed vegetable oil—is killing critically endangered Sumatran elephants.
6
Americans eat more meat per capita than any other country, even though meat consumption is linked to heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
7
Factory farms are harmful to animals, the environment, local communities, and public health. We need a more logical and just food system.
