Making consumption decisions
The main principle I embrace when it comes to my personal consumption is living with less. In the previous entry I made notes about my "sufficiency list". Living with less doesn't feel like a compromise or a sacrifice. I experience it as liberating. I try to avoid ownership of objects as much as possible too. For example, whenever possible I borrow, and I share many items with the human being I live with. But consuming some things is unavoidable. For example, it is difficult for me to imagine living here in Denmark in winter without clothing. I feel that what helps me make better decisions, apart from living with a lot less than what is the norm in our society, is asking myself how I would personally feel about working in any part of the supply chain or living very close to the fields and factories where the items I consume are produced.
What led me to thinking this way was my childhood experience. In my stepdad's garden, far away from the summerhouse, there is a cold water tap. Because it's there only for occasional use, there is no system of grey water disposal, so that water goes directly into the ground. On occasions I would wash a dish or my hands with the water from that tap. I was always careful with the soap I used because I realised that this water will remain in the garden, and whatever is in that water will end up in the food grown in the garden.
I would not feel comfortable working in a factory, especially in a country where labour and environmental regulations might not be strict, that uses chemicals that are harmful for human and non-human health and ecosystems in general. I would not feel comfortable living close to a field where conventional cotton is grown. I would feel much more comfortable working in a factory that is certified, pays fair wages, avoids harsh and harmful chemicals. As I am in academia, my work is very different to that of fellow humans who work in factories that make the items I then buy and live with. But contemplating their life and placing myself in their situations is helpful and humbling, and, I believe, helps me make better choices.