Browse by subject: Society & culture: Consumption (97)
…Present imperfect
29 Oct 2006
So much for a glistening green future. Back in the present, the SDC’s given the government something of a rap...
York finds its footprint
07 Nov 2006
The people of York are overdoing it three to fourfold on the consumption front. Not to say that they are any worse...
Wikis, webs and modern markets
04 Jan 2010
It’s mardi: market day in the small coastal town of Ganges in southern France, and I find myself at my regular...
Why can’t we live together?
10 Nov 2006
When one becomes two, consumption rockets and sustainability shrinks. If we’re serious about saving the world,...
What innovators can learn from... paint
31 Aug 2010
With roughly 400 million litres sold in the UK each year, the environmental impact of decorative paint is significant...
What has sustainability got to do with… Glastonbury?
19 Oct 2007
Music, mud and... milk? Can Kay Sexton get this festival thing into focus?
What does the future hold for Pepsico?
17 Nov 2009
Pepsico takes steps to ‘future-proof’ and prepare for the challenges of 2030, focusing on sustainability and...
Uncontained delight
10 Jul 2008
Goods without wrappers catch on with shoppers
A shop in Islington is changing the way we look at packaging...
The just capitalist
12 Nov 2006
Martin Wright talks to Adair Turner, former CBI head, now advocate of the firm hand of government
The feel bad society
25 Jan 2008
Oliver James tells Martin Wright how we can stop modern life driving us mad.
The essential ingredients for smart retail
27 Aug 2010
Sally Uren, Deputy Chief Executive at Forum for the Future, whips up a sustainable brand salad.
The bandwagon to be on
14 Oct 2007
Finally, everyone’s at it. From Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, to the Simpsons movie homage An Irritating Truth,...
Sweden pushes for carbon food labels
19 Jan 2010
Calorie-counting could soon give way to carbon-counting, if Swedish trends catch on globally. Sweden’s National...
Students, prisoners flush with pride
26 Oct 2009
Rooftop harvesting systems save money at a London jail and an art college
Stretching the water cycle
10 Jan 2008
Population growth, climate change, rising domestic water use… when water companies peer into the future they need...
Stimulating Signs
07 Nov 2006
Get the big picture from Living Planet as to where we are (and could be) heading; then, for revealing nitty...
South Africa is at the crossroads of sustainability
07 Dec 2009
South Africa today faces a critical choice, argue Peter Willis and Monica Graaff. Either it attempts to put ‘business...
Slow fashion changes gear
04 May 2010
For the past twenty years, we’ve lived in a time of fast fashion – cheap, disposable and deeply unsustainable...
Slimming good for the environment, says study
20 Jul 2009
Countries with low body mass index emit fewer greenhouse gases. Staying slim is as important for the planet’s health...
Signs of vital times
04 Nov 2006
True to form, there are thought-provoking perspectives aplenty in Vital Signs 2001: The Trends That are Shaping Our...
Shrink the economy to stabilise the climate, says Andrew Simms
17 Feb 2010
Slavish devotion to growth is charting a course for catastrophe. Andrew Simms, policy director of nef, looks at...
Sexing the climate
26 Nov 2007
Are men and women different when it comes to global warming? Simon Fanshawe pays manly tribute to sensitivity – and shopping...
Sam Roddick - “I call it ethical erotica…”
06 Dec 2007
Sam Roddick the founder of erotic emporium Coco de Mer talks to Hannah Bullock
Right on retailers?
11 Oct 2007
Supermarkets have a come a long way in the last few years – many are stocking local food, using greener transport,...
Recycled paper cuts water use
22 Jun 2010
New efficient recycling process offers to reduce the paper industry’s water footprint, and produce stock that beats...
Q: What’s in your wallet? A: Power...
19 Oct 2007
Think green consumerism’s the latest thing? But will it last?
Public squalor, private bling
23 Jun 2008
What’s with the diamond-encrusted phones, when we can’t stump up for the common good? David Boyle offers...
Planetary Prospects in Perspective
07 Nov 2006
We’re currently spending the earth’s resources like there’s no tomorrow. WWF’s Living Planet...
Over A Barrel
06 Dec 2007
Ben Tuxworth reveals the true cost of our love affair with alcohol, and asks if we’ll ever be sustainably squiffy...
Major retailers switch off energy-hungry TVs
05 Aug 2010
A consortium of eight UK retailers have agreed to remove the least efficient television sets from their shelves.
Kickstarters for consumer change
29 Nov 2007
Government must help us adopt better habits, says report.
Inner beauty
09 Nov 2006
Not a creature from the depths of the ocean, but England’s ‘ugliest veg’. The Bedfordshire-grown...
Food industry leads on water
24 Nov 2009
Without water, there’s no food. So it’s time the food industry led the way in conserving its most vital raw material,...
Eggstra leg room
28 Mar 2008
The Co-op is the latest supermarket to stop selling eggs from battery hens.
Following a consultation with...
Eat the change, says WWF's Dax Lovegrove
21 Sep 2009
The food system's big environmental impact comes not from running shops and packaging, but from how food is produced...
Choosing better, not giving up
06 Nov 2006
“The UK population has been persuaded to adopt a ‘supermarket mentality’ - we can have what we...
Choice: the curse of the green consumer?
29 Nov 2007
Ethical shopping is booming as never before, but Andrew Purvis thinks it’s time for niche to go mainstream.
Can we be too smart? What is the environmental impact of our growing appetite for ICT?
31 Aug 2010
Our homes and workplaces are getting 'smarter', but how can we balance our appetite for ICT with a sustainable future?
...Can retail lead on green products?
01 Dec 2009
While some retailers content themselves with cheap wins, others are pressing ahead with greener products. It might...
Building trust in brands - without the labels
16 Jul 2010
Everything from a packet of tea to a toilet roll carries a whole litany of assurances about provenance, impact, recyclability...
Bag to basics
11 Nov 2006
Could the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag become a threatened species? More likely a plague of biblical proportions,...
Bad housekeeping
30 Nov 2007
The Brits are increasingly prone to reach for expensive fragrance products to ‘neutralise’ stuffy rooms,...
American Eye
31 Jul 2008
$4 a gallon? It may seem peanuts to British drivers, writes Polly Ghazi, but in shell shocked America,...
After Jamie
09 Oct 2007
The pukka chef might have sprung the issue up the menu, but he wasn't the first to make the links between healthy...
A lot of Bottle
19 Dec 2007
Just why do we splash out on bottled water, asks Ben Walker. And what’s wrong with tap?
