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Brits are consuming less stuff
photo by evadedave (Flickr CC)
How about a spot of good news for once?
According to environment writer and UK Green Party Candidate Chris Goodall, people in the UK probably consume fewer resources and produce less waste than at any time since records began. This means Britons are progressively using less food, fuel, goods, etc. – in short: less ‘stuff’.
The amount of stuff consumed in the UK per person, per year, began to be tallied in 1970 and consumption peaked in 2001 before it started declining. Blame 9/11, blame subsequent recessions, blame the revived Green movement, increased energy efficiency, better technology, recycling, low-flow showerheads, vegetarians, the Internet… whatever. It’s a bit of good news.
Even our intake of food is falling. Although obesity is on the rise, the total number of calories consumed by Brits has been on a downward slope for around half a century, driven by the fact that, compared with previous generations, we do less exercise now and live in warmer homes. Perhaps more remarkably, our intake of meat – the food most regularly highlighted as an environmental concern – seems to have been falling since 2003.
–Guardian
So a nation of lazy fat people who play video games all day and eat junk food has its plus side.
But let’s not pat ourselves too vigorously on our fat, sweaty backs. Consumption rates in the developed world are still unsustainable across the board. Remember the Story of Stuff?
Goodall’s analysis also suggests that economic growth does not necessarily mean that consumption goes up, though it may mean consumption is simply more global than local. What does that say for the ‘Green economy”?
Well, you don’t have to be an economist to know that economic theories all sound good on paper. That is they would if paper had a sound. Anyway, Green growth, or economic growth that consumes fewer resources, surely has its positive aspects. But clearly so does living more simply and distributing wealth and resources more evenly without constantly obsessing about capital.
Read more on this story in the Guardian and also check out the raw data on the UK’s consumption rates, with graphs and explanations, here.
Tags: consume, consumption, economic, Goodall, growth, stuff, UK
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Hello Jo, by the way I appreciate the info, when I’ve read it this morning , I’ve started out reading some articles just to find a logical and rational explanation on why the French government banning vegetarianism, aside from your link and sir Graham’s I managed to read more..in some of the discussions I learned that there were couple of cases like this one………….http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371172/French-vegan-couple-face-jail-child-neglect-baby-died-vitamin-deficiency.html
Here’s my opinion, I am not a vegetarian or a solely vegan, I eat dairy products , I eat seafoods and chicken as my meat source. Before It never came to me how serious this matter is , until you came up with this issue. We all have our own beliefs and different views on what is good and what is not especially for our own body. We became reserve in terms of meat consumption coz of many aspects. One coz of the animal cruelty, and the synthetic use of hormones with the cattle, disease it could give us and most of all the green house effects.
every individual has a different nutritional needs according to her/his activities, place, sex,age depending on body’s nutritioanal deficiency,and sufficiency.
I don’t believe that being a vegetarian could cause imbalance in a diet but there are a lot of people over doing it. If one decided to be a fully vegetarian just makes sure that you balanced it. A lot of fruits and vegetables when applied heat will automatically lose it nutritional value especially vit c. without vit c no absorption will happen even if you have eaten an iron rich food.
a lot of people practice vegetarianism with a very shallow understanding on nutritional facts and I have encountered it with my families, friends and colleagues.
based on the link I have shared, i will not blame vegetarianism as the reason of the death of the infant. it is fully negligence of the stupid parents…
As for the French government, no matter how noble the purpose is, may it for the betterment of all as long as you are not a communist still you should not impose a law suppressing the people’s right to choose what to eat or not……For this I have signed the petition..Thank you Jo.
Thanks Joanna. I’ve signed it. I could hardly believe it’s true, but then I found a Care2 article that clarifies:
http://www.care2.com/causes/vegetarianism-banned-in-french-schools.html
Since you mentioned France, perhaps you’ll be interested in signing this petition (French government forbids people to be vegetarian at school). http://petition.icdv.info/en/accueil
Thanks.
You’ve mentioned Jamie Oliver I’m a fan of his food ministry…last night the episode was when he went to Italy and noticed a big difference between a School canteen in Italy than in London….In Italy’s school canteen they serve all cooked meals like vegetable pasta , tuna sandwich prepared from the scratch no frozen foods. at the end of the show I love the realization he imparted, He said that no wonder that most of the geniuses in our history are all Italians….
This is one of those differences between France and England that is often commented on. Two countries so geographically close and with close histories, but so different in many ways. Diet and food culture is a huge issue. This is one of the things Jamie Oliver and all the numerous cooking shows try to change the UK. How they affect overall consumption, I have no idea. But it is interesting how lifestyle affects consumption and sometimes in surprising ways, like the example of our more sedentary lifestyles (in front of the computer and tv) causing us to consume less.
I’ve read an article written by a Filipino who loves to travel abroad and that time she had visited France. She said that among all the countries she visited for 15 days France is the only country she didn’t gain weight after the entire vacation. Reasons: She observed that even they had eaten may times for the whole day french cuisine though very tasty is served in a very small servings and right after they dined out, they will walk right back to the hotel coz transportation are limited and people has to walk . I am not a vegetarian but I am not also a fan of pork and beef to be eaten everyday especially in bigger servings. Eating something in moderation is what we should be practiced, To eat is for nourishment, glutton is insatiable and a punishment for excessive self gratification.
Thanks
I share your wishes for Poland, though I imagine Poles consume far less per person than Brits do already.
Good news and good article, Mr Graham.
I wonder how it looks in other European countries. I wish people recycled more and ate less meat and dairy products in Poland. Many people that I know make little changes thanks to articles and videos on the Internet though and that’s a good sign.