State of the World

»Environmental      Destruction
»Social & Economic      Injustice
»Militarism & Conflicts
»Increasing Consumption
»Expanding Eco-Footprint
»Third World Debt

Good News

Concious Choices

»Actions To Take

There is enough in the world for everyone's need; there is not enough for everyone's greed.
   - Gandhi

To live means to consume and consume we do, 24 hours a day - air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat.  In addition to these  basic life essentials we consume ever increasing amount of goods and services - cars, houses, appliances, computers, furniture, books, travel, entertainment - the list of things and services we have come to depend upon on is endless.  And the current capitalistic economic system depends on us on our continued and increased consumption and does it's best to make us want more, desire more, buy more, upgrade more, pollute more and waste more.

Environmental Consequences

However, there is a price to pay for this uncontrolled consumption.  Perhaps, we do not yet realize that everything we consume comes from the natural world - it is extracted, mined, farmed, grown, fished, cut down - and the resources on this planet are limited.  As we continue to consume at an ever increasing rate for the illusion of a "comfortable" life, the planet suffers under the over-extraction and pillage of resources - forests, fish, soil, minerals, water... resulting in degraded and collapsing ecosystems, habitats and species.  In addition, increased consumption creates increased pollution and waste and the very essentials for life - air, land and water get more and more polluted and toxic.  

Social Consequences

Perhaps, we also do not realize that, if we take up the lion share of the planet's resources,  than others have less to live on.  Currently, 80% of the world's resources are used by a minority of the world's population (17%).  There is a flow of precious resources from the global South to the North - land, water, forests etc. are exploited and used for producing goods and services for the minority of the world's population instead of being used to provide the basic necessities of food, water, health, sanitation etc. for the rest of the world's population.  Moreover, in order to fulfill the consumption "wants" of the rich minority, precious resources are often directed towards frivolous or luxury items further depriving the poor of the world.