What is to be done

Welcome to YouChoose, a blog where we explore ways of living sustainably. This week I wanted to share a few thoughts about the recent Glasgow climate conference that ended this past week.

After all the news and coverage the conference ended as expected with little agreement among the parties. It is hard to convert goodwill into action when countries economies are at stake.

For those of us who are convinced of the urgency of the matter it is easy to feel discouraged and come to the conclusion that we have no control over the decision making process. What is lost in the process is the notion that we are the buyers that are at the end of the supply chain. If we remove the buyer from the process the producers are forced to change. What can we do as single individuals to achieve what the world conferences constantly fail to achieve? In this post let’s go over one of the topics discussed, one that I consider perhaps the most important: Trees and forests.

Deforestation poses an existential threat to our Earth and to our very physical and spiritual being. It causes loss of biodiversity, extinction of species, soil erosion, air quality deterioration, and a change in the precipitation patterns that affects the entire hydrologic cycle. In addition, it causes the loss of life and spiritual heritage of communities whose livelihood depends on the forests. It is not an exaggeration to say that by erasing forests we are erasing our very soul. Many, but not all, of the countries participating in the meeting have agreed to stop deforestation by 2030. Whether we believe it or not is a different story.

Powerful economic interests are at the source of the problem. Let’s have a look at the economic drivers of deforestation and how we as consumers are part of it. Deforestation is mostly driven by these sectors: Agriculture (mostly palm oil, soy, cocoa and coffee), mining and logging (mostly industrial logging, mining, oil and gas), urbanization: (urban expansion with related consequences).

Although there are complex issues behind each sector the majority of the products causing deforestation are found in our homes and on our tables. In other words we are financing deforestation with our shopping. Here are some things we can do to avoid that our money is used to destroy the planet.

What finances agriculture driven deforestation?

Among companies responsible for deforestation we find the biggest retail chains. Their shelves are packed with meat and palm oil ingredients sourced with the destruction of forests. Amazon Watch (amazonwatch.org) keeps a record of the commodities companies that cause the largest deforestation, the banks that finance them, and the retail stores that buy from them. You can check it out to find out where your money is going. For those of us who don’t want to finance large scale environmental damages avoiding meat in general and specifically meat from fast foods goes a long way. Fast food companies are among the largest customers of meat suppliers known for their destructive practices.

Just as meat, leather products are linked to deforestation. The fashion industry, including luxury brands, has a very poor record of checking the provenance of their leather materials.

Another important step is to avoid all products with palm oil (Yes! you can survive without it). Many grocery stores use palm oil in their own baked good, in addition to purchase from companies known for their poor environmental records. Palm oil of untraceable origin is also widely used in big brand cosmetic industry.

Bananas (except perhaps organically grown), avocados, cocoa and coffee have a negative environmental impact, unless grown sustainably. Be careful when buying and only buy products with certified sustainable practices.

What finances logging and mining driven deforestation?

High demand for new furniture and wood products is a driver of deforestation. You may be surprised to find out that many popular furniture stores in the US are fueling deforestation. I myself was fooled long time ago when I bought a dining set in a major US furniture store because I trusted the word of the store employee who ensured me that their wood was sourced by traceable suppliers. I later found out that the store in question had a poor record of choosing their wood suppliers and acquired wood from unverified sources. I never forgave myself for not having researched better the store ahead of time.

For this reason it is important to research the store record on deforestation before purchasing furniture and to avoid furniture made from tropical woods. Unfortunately too many furniture stores still have no problems dealing with tropical woods from Asia and South America, wood from endangered Eastern European forests, African and North American old growth forests without controlling the entire supply chain.

Gold, lithium, and rare earths elements are used in the jewelry business and in the manufacturing of electronics and batteries. An average phone can easily last more than 5 years, yet on the average people replace their phones every 2.5 years. Our continuous demand for the latest smart phone model contributes to deforestation. Keeping our smart phones and tablets as long as we can is a good practice to reduce the demand for always new devices.

This week the EU, whose insatiable hunger for meat, soy, coffee, cocoa, and palm oil makes it one of the largest financier of deforestation announced that they are considering blocking the imports of such goods from high risk regions unless the products are certified deforestation free. I am sure the proposed legislation will find much opposition from big conglomerates. We consumers however can control where our money goes by researching companies and following the money trail. Although it is not possible to be 100% sure of what we buy we can certainly be better informed. So this Christmas instead of asking for a new smart phone, a new piece of jewelry, a new SUV, or thinking of replacing the entire living room because we are just tired of it let’s all reflect on what we can give back to our Earth and instead plant a tree or make a small donation towards a reforestation effort.

The YouChoose app provides several links and information on unsustainable wood and food, hopefully the information is useful.