Creating A Brighter Future

When thinking about how we can make our world more sustainable over the past few weeks and over the years, we have created a mental mode for ourselves. We all have to come up with a solution to solve these problems in order to achieve the sustainable environment we have all been seeking to develop. I realize that it is hard for people to adjust to routines they are not use to, but in order for us to make a difference and have an impact on the world, we have to learn to adjust to what is best for the environment and ourselves. I believe that limiting consumption, giving more than you take, and being open minded to new opportunities are just a few traits we can take to envision a more sustainable future.  

Limiting Consumption

There are two kinds of consumption, over consumption and under consumption. Neither one is better than the other. According to the article Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture, the political measure that combat consumption plays a huge role due to the advertising industry, shopping culture, government policies, and the weak household and community economies. These four things cause us to be over consumptuous because of the popularity and the want of the newest and latest products.  This article also states, “Whatever share of our acquisitiveness is part of our nature, the compulsion for more has never been so actively promoted, nor so easily acted upon, as it is today.” Being an apparel-merchandising consumer I feel all of us fall short in grasping that being over consumptuous is not sustainable. We hurt our environment more than we help it.  Limiting what we consume and giving back more is another valuable characteristic of being more sustainable.

Giving Back More Than You Take

In the article, Limiting Consumption Toward a Sustainable Culture, the ecological equivalent of the Golden Rule is, we should learn to give back to environment more than we take away from it. By living with this ethical principle, we can take another step towards a sustainable future. This will enable the future generations to carry on what we have started. Specifically, we can limit our consumption but also donate excess garments and interior goods to places such as the Goodwill and allow them to prosper from our poor unconscious purchases. I feel this is an important mental mode to follow in order to grow more environmentally aware and to make a difference.

Open-Mindedness

According to Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness, Tom Lombardo states, “opening the mind to future possibilities and raises one’s perceived self efficacy in realizing positive possibilities,” is a very important characteristic in being a cautious consumer.  If we fully grasp this mental mode, we can allow ourselves to be open and wiling to accept the more sustainable solution even if it is different from what we have been doing in the past. With simple steps of being conscious of our mental mode, we can set the framework of new ideas and solutions on a sustainable ground.

When creating a mental mode for ourselves and our future we have to take into consideration these three characteristics; limiting consumption, giving back more than you take, and being open minded to change.  If we start putting these actions into motion, our future generations will benefit from our sustainable ideas and be able to carry out these aspects as well as create new innovation for their future.