Life Skills of a Sustainable Consumer

by A. Salces Cajes, PhD

I had the opportunity to share in an online forum the life skills of a sustainable consumer. Given the time allotted, I came up with a list as shown in the picture. Let me briefly describe each one of these life skills.

Be a smart and wise spender. This a basic life skill that any one can practice at the earliest possible time. This simply means spending within one's means or income. Since we are now living in a VUCAD  (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, disruptive) world, our source of income is unstable, to say the least. Spending lower than what one earns is important to manage one's balance sheet. This can be done by applying sound financial management, such as buying only the essential items and saving for the future.

Invest in your future. Saving is not easy, especially if one has trouble making ends meet. But given an opportunity to save, this life skill is a must in preparation for one's future. The life expectancy among Filipinos is about 71 in 2020 compared to about 54 in 1950. Thus we need  safety nets as we advance in age, such as by investing in loan associations or cooperatives that provide higher annual interest earning, getting health insurance, creating a retirement fund, and by leading a healthy lifestyle. 

Reduce your ecological footprint. The country's supply of natural capital (biocapacity) is lower than the population's demand (ecological footprint). Thus, the Philippines has been on an ecological deficit since the 1960s. Our strategy under the new normal should include the "surgical operation" that Atty. Tony Oposa has been advocating -- CPR! This means conserving, protecting and restoring our life systems or natural resources. Some of the ways by which we can practice this life skill is by reducing, reusing and recycling products through zero waste management. Another way is by doing plant-based diet --more food derived from plants and less from animal products.

Practice ecocycle thinking. This is a higher form of life skill that builds on the previous ones. The reference document is nature itself and her laws. Francis Bacon said that "nature to be commanded must first be obeyed." Barry Commoner rephrased this as "nature knows best" in his four laws of ecology. Just as nature recycles every single drop of water, human beings should learn biomimicry to solve human problems. This life skill demands that the materials that society produces should be assimilated by the environment without damaging the natural capacities and services. It also challenges people to use more renewable resources and less non-renewable resources, to avoid stock wastes that require "garbage cemeteries" or landfills, as well as to turn away from a throw-away society that is driven by unbridled consumerism. 

Be a green consumer. Being a green consumer or a green purchaser is a life skill that requires a mindset that favors green products, eco products, products with green labels, organic products or products that have the lowest possible carbon dioxide equivalent footprint in the entire life cycle. As a sustainable consumer, one should avoid "willful ignorance" in choosing and buying items sold in the market place. Consumers have the power to influence the consumption and production patterns into something that approximate the infinity business model.

Invest in natural capital. One can develop this life skill through gardening, natural farming, tree planting, rehabilitating coral reefs, etc. As a sustainable consumer, one can also say no to products that are derived from environmentally destructive activities. At the community level, this can be done through sustainable development approaches like agroforestry, organic agriculture, community forestry, and by protected areas management, such as establishing marine sanctuaries and ecotourism sites. Investing in biocapacity or natural capital is a strategy that complements the reduction in ecological footprint.

Life Skill: Compassion

by A. Salces Cajes, PhD

Compassion is hard to practice because our default mode is self protection. Anger occurs as the brain releases catecholamines that trigger a short-term burst of energy. J. Blair (2018) defines anger as “a response to a perceived threat to oneself or to another. It is a response to frustration”.

Anger is neither a pleasant experience nor a proper moment to make decisions. For sure, no one wants to work with an unpleasant person - the bearer of anger. To overcome anger, we redirect (not suppress) it. One way to redirect anger is by distraction — read a book, go to a beach, take care of your plants, or write a letter to the concerned person to express your frustration and then burn the paper or delete your file.

Another way is by reappraisal - listen, check the context, understand the events, etc. Reappraisal can help us become more compassionate. In the process we also train our brain — the supramarginal gyrus of our cerebral cortex — to differentiate our own emotional condition from that of other people. Thus, we have the power to manage anger and the capacity to practice compassion.

Let’s keep in mind Aristotle’s words of wisdom: “Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”