Practical Guide for the World’s Citizen
For a BETTER and HEALTHIER world
In your everyday life (especially through consumption) you can either create suffering or save lives. Through little changes – which often don’t cost anything or need any extra time – you can change the world for a better one! → explain me that!
Introduction
How to best use this practical guide
Global Challenges: - Inequality and poverty → more information?
- Environment → more information? - Fresh water → why a challenge?
- see more challenges here!
Possible Answers
(but there are many others ... )
Consumption and Acquisition
General principles:
- practice a responsible and conscious consuming → more information?
→ buy what you need
→ know what you are (really) buying
→ be conscious about your impact as a consumer
→ correspond your purchases with your opinions
Food in general:
- buy FAIR TRADE labelled products → general info!
- buy organic food → why and where?
- buy products of your region, if not possible
- of your country, if not possible
- of your continent → see the difference!
- Don’t buy genetically modified food → lots of dangers!
- buy products with a non-polluting packaging → like which?
- buy from companies having social, ethical and
environmental guidelines and
- boycott companies with harmful conduct/policies → how to distinguish them?
Vegetables and Fruits:
- buy seasonal fruits and vegetables → check out the list!
- buy organic fruits and vegetables → why and where?
- don’t buy packed fruits and vegetables → why not?
Beverages:
- buy drinks in glass or then
- in plastic and
- don’t buy drinks in cans → why distinguish?
Meat:
- become vegetarian or → your impact as meat consumer
- reduce your consumption of meat onto environment and Third World!
Clothes and shoes:
- buy FAIR TRADE labelled clothes and shoes → info + where to find!
- buy second hand and resell your own old cloths → your shop close!
- buy clothes and shoes produced in Europe → why?
- buy from companies having social, ethical and
environmental guidelines and
- boycott companies with harmful conduct/policies → how to distinguish them?
Furniture, Handicraft, Paper, Cosmetics etc. :
- buy FAIR TRADE labelled products → info + and where to find!
- buy second hand furniture and sell your old → why and where!
- buy furniture with an environmental label → as for example?
- buy furniture with wood from your country (or close) and
- don’t buy furniture with wood from the rain forest → why distinguish?
- buy recycled paper (toilet paper, for printer etc.) → get informed here!
- don’t buy products (cosmetics) tested on animals → how to know?
Consumption of energy:
Our abusive consumption of energy destroys the environment and directly harms Third World countries who don’t waste as much energy as we do ... → more!
General principles: - use the energy you really (!) need and
- don’t waste it! → list of general links!
- turn off the light when you leave the room
- always cook with the lid/cover on the pan
- try to use the same hotplate several times
- buy household appliances and light bulbs with a low energy consumption → more!
- don’t leave your household appliances on stand-by → you loose money!
Examples: TV, computer, modem, radio, CD, hi-fi
- use the stairs instead of the elevator → even healthier!
- don’t leave the windows open in winter (only for airing the room)
- heat your room to 20° Celsius and not 22° or more → immense difference!
Consumption of water:
Water may manifest itself as an acute problem on a global level in the very near future. It’s obvious that the wars of the 21st century will be for the blue gold ... → more!
General principles: - use the water you really (!) need and
- don’t waste it! → see general links!
- don’t shower for 30 minutes (10 - 15 minutes are sufficient)
- to shower is always better than taking a bath → some numbers and info!
- use the lavatory flush responsibly → read how!
- don’t let the water run whilst brushing your teeth,
- while shaving,
- while shampooing in the shower or
- while washing up the dishes
- start your washing machine only when filled up to the top
Waste
We are getting drowned in the mountains of garbage we produce! → some numbers?
Reduce (avoid everything which is not necessary):
- don’t buy packed fruits and vegetables (depending on the package)
- don’t buy books or DVD’s with an immense package (as at the Kiosk)
- print your papers always on both sides
Reuse (a lot of articles can be used several times, including for other purposes):
- reuse the little plastic bags from the supermarket for your next shopping trip
- don’t throw away plastic cups after one single use
- papers printed only on one side can be reused for print tests
or then for taking notes and drafts
Recycle: → see benefits!
- sort / classify your garbage and → see what & how!
- put them into the corresponding container
Buy (and use) less contaminating materials: → like which?
- don’t buy your olives (etc.) in cans, but
- buy them in glass
- don’t put aluminium underneath your pizza when heating it up in the oven
- don’t wrap your sandwich with aluminium → why?
Transport
Living in a mobile world has disastrous effects on the environment ... → read more!
- always walk or take your bike, if it is too far
- take the public transports
- don’t use your car unless there is no other means of transport → see why!
- for large distances, best is to take the train, if not possible
- the bus, if not possible
- the airplane → check difference!
- Use the system of car sharing; always fill up your own car and → how to do?
find other drivers with the same route
Tourism
Tourism can either destroy whole ecosystems and indigenous societies or serve as a tool for development and global peace ... → read more and see general links!
Cultural Understanding:
- travel with an open mind
- accept local habits, customs and traditions → important !
- learn some 20 words of the local language
Be conscious about your Social Impact:
- Don’t give money or presents to children → why not?
- Always buy from adults (and not from children) → why?
- Eat local food and buy local products
- use locally-owned restaurants and hotels → see the difference!
Be conscious about your Environmental Impact:
- Take your waste with you for correct disposal
- Use water sparingly → your impact!
- Don’t take domestic flights → see Transport!
Finances
We are living in a capitalistic world, money rules the planet ... → more information!
- open an account in an alternative bank and/or → explain me this!
- invest your money in funds with ethical, social and
environmental guidelines and principles → how to find them!
→ Choose YOUR answers to the global challenges ←
Food for thought about
Global Peace
Changing the world
And if all this is not enough, join one of the thousand NGOs that are rocking the world informing people about what everything goes wrong on earth. And of course, send this practical guide to all your friends ;o)
Epilogue and Contact
if you want to know more about this practical guide
!!! Thanks for your Interest !!!
Background Information
→ Change the world: Globalisation and your power as a consumer:
Globalisation is a reality. We will never be able to erase it or turn back the clock to when it wasn’t a reality. What we can do is change the course of today’s globalisation to make it fairer, healthier and beneficial to the whole world.
The consequence (or the very definition) of globalisation is the sharp rise in the flow of goods, capital, information and ideas and philosophies. As a result, whenever anything of relative importance happens in any place in the world, it will also affect the majority of other regions, states and individuals. Air pollution is a particularly illustrative example; it is obvious that we all live in a small atmosphere and we are all affected by climate changes (although to different degrees depending on the region).
Linked to this concept of globalisation is the notion of consumer power. Businesses want to earn money, so they need to sell what they produce (or what they have bought from another manufacturer), therefore they are totally dependent on consumers. Anything that consumers will not buy will not be manufactured. In this way, we as consumers can decide what will be produced (and under what conditions), whether it is food, cloths or rubbish.
These two concepts combined have the consequence that we in Europe can make a farmer in Burkina Faso suffer or we can guarantee him a better life. We don’t know him, he lives very far away, but our daily behaviour affects him more than we can ever imagine. We have to take full advantage of our power, in order to change the world for the better!
→ back!
→ Introduction and explanation for the reader:
The first and foremost aim of this practical guide on how to be a responsible and conscientious consumer is to inform. Many times there is no shortage of people who want to show their solidarity or look after the environment, but there is a lack of adequate information. Furthermore this guide aims to show the global impact of people’s daily behaviour. The basic idea is to show that you don’t have to become an Oxfam or Greenpeace volunteer in order to support the Third World or to save the environment; it may be much more effective just changing your daily habits, as many of them are at the root of the problems we are trying to fight (read more about this principle here!)
In this guide, you will find simple suggestions for alternatives regarding these daily habits that usually do not require much effort. Of course this depends on each person, as everyone has different circumstances. The idea is to propose possibilities and alternatives, which each reader can choose from and adapt to his/her own life.
The guide is organised so that the actual suggestions can be read very quickly (in just 3 pages); it is not necessary to read all the extra information (approx. 30 pages). You will find the general principles always in green, the specific suggestions in red and the links to more detailed explanations as well as extra information (some “shocking” figures and useful web-sites) in blue.
For more information about this guide, please read the → epilogue at the end.
→ back!
→ Inequality and poverty:
Today, the world’s truly important resources (capital, technical knowledge, information, and water) are distributed in a manner that is more disproportionate than ever before. This has resulted in the North becoming super-rich and the South becoming super-poor. The list of causes is infinite: Economic pressure from the North and neo-imperialism, corruption, the heritage of colonialism, lack of education and health care, failed development policies, local conflicts, unjust structures and much more. You can find tons of literature and information on each of these themes (see the list of links further down), here we will just give a little reminder of the most relevant facts regarding poverty and inequality (taken from the newly released Human Development Report 2005, Chapter 1 → download the complete PDF here):
● Economic poverty:
One in five people of the world - more than 1 billion people – still survive on less than $1 a day, a level of poverty so abject that it threatens survival. And another 1.5 billion live on $1 - $2 a day.
[Compare: Each cow in the European Union is subsidised for more than $3 a day].
● Hunger:
More than 850 million people, including one in three preschool children, are still trapped in a vicious cycle of malnutrition and its effects. [...] Around half of the deaths of preschool children are directly attributable to interactions between malnutrition and infectious disease.
Everyday there are 30’000 children dying of starvation!
... while there would be enough food to nourish 110% (!) of the actual world population. Jean Ziegler (official delegate of the UN for the rights to nutrition) points out very clearly: “Every person dying of starvation is victim of a murder!”
● Primary education:
About 115 million children are denied even the most basic primary education. [In addition to that there is the inequality in duration and quality of education:] On average, a child born in Mozambique today can anticipate four years of formal education. One born in France will receive 15 years at vastly higher provisions.
● Access to water:
More than 1 billion people lack access to save water and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation. Diseases transmitted through water or human waste are the second leading cause of death among children worldwide.
● Inequality of wealth:
For most of the world’s poorest countries the past decade has continued a disheartening trend: not only have they failed to reduce poverty, but they are falling further behind rich countries. [...] In 1990 the average American was 38 times richer than the average Tanzanian. Today the average American is 61 times richer.
● Health expenditure:
Per capita spending on health ranges from an average of more than $3000 in high- income OECD countries with the lowest health risk to $78 in low-income countries with the highest risks and to far less in many of the poorest countries [for example down to $4 in Tanzania].
Angry enough to become active? Scroll down to the next page !!!
More information on the web:
http://www.undp.org
→ Web site of the United Nations Development Programme. The most trustworthy source that exists: Everything on development, loads of statistics and information about specific countries!
http://www.globalissues.org
→ Absolutely fantastic web site with concrete topics like: The causes of poverty, third world dept, sustainable development, as well as about environment, geopolitics, human rights and so on.
http://www.oxfam.org
→ Oxfam international, world wide the biggest NGO in the field of North-South inequalities. Always with updated campaigns on different issues. Links to their national organisations (16 countries).
http://www.choike.org
→ A portal on Southern Civil Society. About people, society, environment, communication and globalisation. Very interesting articles about what is going on between North and South.