The bigger issue is getting on to a new path. I think lessening is complicated because one of the things we know from a lot of the social science research and common sense is that getting people to give up what they have is very difficult. So you would argue for lessening the scale of our consumption? All consumption has environment impacts and one of the issues I have been most concerned with in my work is the scale of consumption. But by consumption I don’t just mean households, I am also thinking about the whole chain of effects that lead to the appearance of a computer or a car or a house. That may be a slightly simplistic way of thinking about it. How do you see the two as linking together?Īt the most fundamental level we can think about all environmental pressures on the planet as stemming from consumption because production, after all, is only for the purpose of consumption. Judging by the books you have written and your research, your two great passions are finding out more about consumption and the environment. Juliet Schor, the author of "True Wealth," suggests how we can rethink our patterns of consumption and approach our relationship with nature in a new, less damaging, way. For a daily selection of new article suggestions and FiveBooks interviews, check out The Browser or follow on Twitter. Previous contributors include Paul Krugman, Woody Allen and Ian McEwan. This interview first appeared in The Browser, as part of the FiveBooks series.
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