when it costs the earth

Consumption and environmental impacts are rising steadily with household incomes.

Everything we buy has an impact on the environment because almost everything requires energy, water and other resources to produce. This intense demand on the environment is not always obvious at the point of purchase.

Only around 15% of our individual environmental impact is through direct use of water and electricity in the home. The rest can be traced back to other goods and services we consume, including food. In fact, the majority of our environmental impact is included in the food, goods and services that we consume, rather than our own personal energy and water use. Goods (such as clothing) have a high environmental impact because they require materials to produce and are often manufactured using energy intensive processes. Australians spent around $14 billion on new clothes in 2006. 382 billion litres of water were used to produce those clothes. That's more than half of the water in Sydney Harbor.

Buy Less

One of the easiest things that we can do to reduce our environmental impact is to simply buy less.

• Hire rather than buy.
• Choose clothes and other products that will last.
• Reuse and repair rather than repurchase.
• Buy recycled or recyclable products and cut demand for new materials.
• By choosing products that demand the least resources to produce, package and transport, your impact is felt in the reduction of greenhouse pollution (through less landfill and energy use) as well as less water use.

Although spending creates jobs, we can take a different approach to spending without hurting the economy. Consider buying services over goods, as they tend to require more labour and have a smaller environmental impact.

Waste Less

Australians spend $10.5 billion each year on things they don't use. Not only is this a waste of money but it's a waste of environmental resources. Next time you're out shopping, think about whether you really need something or are just impulse buying.

Australian Conservation Foundation - Consumption Atlas www.acfonline.org.au.