On Concept Of Sustainable Consumption

Since the 20th century, the mankind has created enormous productivity and abundant wealth of society, which has improved the level of human consumption greatly. At the same time, this has also leaded to resources excessively mining and the whole world ecological environment degeneration, and then threatens human own survival. The international community generally think unanimously that this is caused by such reasons as unsustainable consumption and production mode, etc..In the fifties of the 20th century, under the background of fact that economic development and material are abundant, the western developed country took the lead in entering the high consumption society that follows"consumerism". On material aspect, consumerism display at developed country development model on"high expending, high investment, high pollution, and high consumption drive the economy to grow at high speed"; on the culture aspect, it regards consumption article and service increased day by day as the most lofty one, and the sign of higher life quality as well. This makes consumerism become ethical, natural and general. The extensive consumption desire of consumerism does not release from people's heart, but make out with such means as the advertisement, etc., which is unreal and unable to really be satisfied forever.So, we must discard the consumerism, and take the road of sustainable consumption. We should implement appropriate consumption, green consumption and spirit consumption. From the individual angle, appropriate consumption does not break away from people's normal need, with the limit of people's health; from the overall angle, appropriate consumption requires the mankind to control the level of consumption within the bearing capacity range of the earth. Appropriate consumption is a kind of harmonious consumption, requiring the mankind both of the same era from different interests colony and of the different eras to consume honestly. Green consumption is a kind of consumption view helping human and society develop naturally and harmoniously. It not only emphasizes the important function of consumption, but also puts emphasis on the dynamic equilibrium between consumption and environment. It is a consumption activity with resource consciousness and environmental protection consciousness, and also a kind of reasonable consumption surmounting self- high-level. After the basic living needs are satisfied, life quality is determined by spirit consumption. Because spirit consumption does not need a large number of resources, and will not cause great destruction to the environment, it can be said to be a kind of easy consumption pattern with extremely high payback.The implementation of sustainable consumption is a system engineering. It needs the government's correct direction, public participation and development of environmental education to the consumption subject. The implementation of sustainable consumption facilitated by government mainly depends on such macro adjustments and controls means as legislating, making the policy, system, mechanism, etc.. Consumers'education is the main content of environmental education, which in fact involves implementing the environmental education in a more effective manner, establishing resource consciousness and environmental awareness, bringing up personal consumption subject, national consumption subject and enterprises consumption subject with high sense of duty. With the deepening development of consumer's educational activities in the countries all over the world, a large amount of non-governmental environment protection organizations are set up, which are playing a more and more important role.