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Contents:
1 - The state of consumption today; 2 - Making better energy choices; 3 - Boosting water productivity; 4 - Watching what we eat; 5 - Moving toward a less consumptive economy; 6 - Purchasing for people and the planet; 7 - Linking globalisation, consumption and governance; 8 - Re-thinking the good life.
Review:
This is the 21st edition of a series widely and justifiably regarded as one of the best annual reviews of its kind. There is always the temptation to rely on reputation but this text has been consistent in its quality of work. What has not always been seen is an immediate impact - the text is quite densely written with few of the illustrations we expect. This might be off-putting to the beginner especially in schools but this year's focus will be guaranteed to get people thinking.
Rather than provide a round-up of a range of events the focus is squarely on consumption. Apart from the obvious connection with the reader this is a less usual way of looking at resource depletion and so it's a great way of looking at the use of the planet. Prior to the opening chapter is a timeline of key events through the year. Looking at a range of areas from food to genetics and governance we get an excellent set of news snippets each of which can be followed up. The text proper starts with a look at consumption in that Erlichian perspective of per capita demand. However, this is not just straight usage but the encouragement to consume via advertising which is under the spotlight. This chapter finishes with a 'behind the scenes' case study dealing with plastic bag consumption and its reduction. Chapter two focusses on personal demand for energy. It starts with the conventional energy trends and then moves on to consider policy choices and new technologies (with computers as the end case study). Chapter three looks at water but from the point of view of productivity - supply, rather than demand. There's global studies of water losses and efficiencies in cities. Next, there's food. Like water, this is a requirement of life but also like water it can be used more or less efficiently. The focus here is on the positive side - organic produce, genetic selection - but the negative side - globalisation of food - also gets a mention. A range of cases are used to illustrate the ideas presented - chicken, chocolate, shrimp and soda. Up to this point its been a question of looking at how much we consume from where. Chapter five suggests we might want to consume less. The opening lines look at the idea of planned obsolescence but this develops into more environmentally-friendly ways of cradle-to-grave tracking of resources. If we can consume less then we can also purchase more sensibly as chapter six shows us. 'Green procurement' is a limited idea so far but it is gaining strength daily as we see from the examples given. Since governments are major purchasers it makes sense to start here (as increasingly, governments are doing). Chapter seven moves away from resources towards politics as the idea of 'McWorld' is being debated from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Fair trade is seen as a ideal with students often leading the way. Finally, there's the idea that perhaps the direction we are going is not the best one: chapter 8 is one way of investigating alternatives.
This volume lives up to the reputation of earlier issues. Rather than have a global overview it chooses to take a very personal perspective, consumption, and use it as a vehicle to explore changes in our ecofootprint. The examples engage the reader by focussing on issues of everyday experience and concern - an excellent teaching example. The quality of writing is, as always, excellent. As with previous volumes this must-buy should be an essential part of the library, both personal and institutional.