Our whole system of reward and progress is based on consuming and producing ever more goods and services. What is the definition of consumption? Consumption is the vital foundation for economics, as well as the broader economy.
A lateral shift challenges our conventional way of looking at the world.Definition: Consumption, in economics, is the way that consumers and markets exchange, use, and destroy goods and services. How then, might we begin to embrace some of these approaches in our day to day? In the spirit of contemporary research practice, a commonly used technique for drumming up new ideas is found in lateral shifts in thinking. But the real opportunity for innovation comes not from within existing paradigms, but from challenging the paradigm itself. These are the criteria for our human-centeredness, and it is within this context that business-minds continue to frame opportunities for innovation. We've become a culture driven by convenience-driven solutions that makes our life easier, and more convenient with less immediate cost. Similarly, within most consumer products we use, we pay for the costs of making the widget, but then simply toss it in landfills, ignoring the costs that future generations will have to pay for dealing with the hazardous materials in our electronics and appliances that we simply throw in the trash with an "out of sight/out of mind" mentality. In a world with increasing CO2 concentrations affecting health of our ecosystem, clearly the tree has value, yet we ignore this value in our accounting. The paper we use is priced against the costs of labor in cutting down the tree, the fuel and equipment needed to harvest the tree, and the operational costs of the pulping factory that turns that tree into sheets of paper. Within the timber industry, every aspect of the process is given a cost - except the tree. And the money exchanged forms the basis of our economy.īut just as we emerged from the dark ages to a new era of social and artistic enlightenment, we are now entering the post-industrial age with the realization that the well being of our economy is not separate from the health of our natural resources. These interactions are anticipated, researched, designed, and re-evaluated for improvements. Although it may come as a surprise to some, a very high percentage of these interactions are the focus of somebody's business. Within the context of our day-to-day lives, we encounter dozens, if not hundreds, of interactions with various products, services, and environments relative to our lifestyles. There is incredible economic opportunity if we learn to reframe problems, seize opportunities and design solutions by looking beyond the consumption-oriented economic model. This, unfortunately, is flawed logic - digging slower won't stop a hole from getting deeper. We've seen an explosion of everything from recycled paper to hybrid cars to green cleaning products to energy efficient electronics as purported solutions. Ironically, the modern green response to these new environmental and social pressures attempt to make things better through new or altered methods of consumption. The Shift from Human-Centered to Resource-Centered Design Recent market meltdowns, regulatory limitations on off-shore manufacturing, and the social and environmental impacts of a consumption-oriented economic model has given rise to a challenge - does our economy need to be focused solely on spurring consumption in order to survive?
As we continue to gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of global growth, it has become clear that our consumption-centric lifestyle has challenged our planet's ability to support us.
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