Today, the average person in a rich country (Hello, Canada!) consumes 13 times as much as the average person in a poor one. Our consumption is fuelling climate change and making the whole world vulnerable to viruses like COVID-19. We are using up the planet at a rate 1.7 times faster than it can regenerate.
“The 21st century has brought a critical dilemma into sharp relief: we must stop shopping, and yet we can’t stop shopping,” says J.B. MacKinnon in his brilliant but confronting new book, The Day the World Stops Shopping, where he argues that ending consumerism is what “saves the environment and ourselves.”
The Tyee is co-hosting the book launch event for MacKinnon’s book with Upstart & Crow and the Festival of What Works on Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m. PDT. You can sign up for the online event for free here.
We plan to jump right into the debate about what "things” really matter to people, and with this in mind want to ask:
What things are you willing to stop buying new, or at all?
* Please note that all poll answers will be publicly viewable, but anonymous.
Please note that Tyee Barometer polls are only intended as a quick and engaging non-scientific snapshot of our readers' opinions on various topics that fit with The Tyee's very broad editorial mandate. They are not intended to be seen as a representative sampling of BC opinion.
