Earthworm 🐌Ok, things are getting controversial. I am convinced that we need a change in human behaviour*, but how?
These people suggest social engineering (with tools we know are working, such as marketing). Is this just PR-washing? Shouldn't people be educated not to be manipulated so easily? Can we afford the luxury to wait until the wider population/consumers receive such strong direct feedback in form of floods and wildfires and change by themselves?
"Just one-quarter of the world population is responsible for nearly three-quarters of emissions. The authors suggest the best strategy to counter overshoot would be to use the tools of the marketing, media and entertainment industries in a campaign to redefine our material-intensive socially accepted norms.
“We’re talking about replacing what people are trying to signal, what they’re trying to say about themselves. Right now, our signals have a really high material footprint –our clothes are linked to status and wealth, their materials sourced from all over the world, shipped to south-east Asia most often and then shipped here, only to be replaced by next season’s trends. The things that humans can attach status to are so fluid, we could be replacing all of it with things that essentially have no material footprint – or even better, have an ecologically positive one.”
*= of course, it's corporations and administrations that have the levers in their hands and deserve all pressure. But as consumism was hammered in our heads, it might be time to have people understand that it can be even more fun to do things that actually benefit us (insert: walking with your friends in the forest, singing and dancing on the street, sharing stuff and skills in your community, celebrating your elder's knowledge...)
Any thoughts?
#Marketing #PR #SocialEngineering #Greenwashing #Degrowth #EcoSocialTransformation