Cropped image of a bag of vegatables on a bike

Celebrating the world ‘green consumer day’ is one of them. Celebrated globally every year on 28th September, it raises awareness around recycling, reusing, and reducing the products and waste that comes out of them. Different companies and individuals show different ways of celebrating this day, by ditching the plastic bags for a day, maybe using e-vehicles to commute to work for that day, maybe planting a sapling to celebrate the day with families, and so on. Even big names like Walmart are taking green steps by adopting some eco-friendly activities as part of their operations.

As topics like global warming and climate change are becoming more and more prevalent to discuss, and now more than ever people have realised the crisis our planet is in right now, the term “green” is being much more used in several fields and before so many names, to show how conscious we are environmentally, and how eco-friendly the output is.

Green consumption is no different here. It is a term that is closely related to sustainable development. A safe form of consumption that in no way harms the mother earth and can go on sustainably with the present and future generations. The concept highlights a consumer’s responsibility for addressing the environmental problems and the ways it can take part in the eradication of the problems, by adopting environment-friendly behaviour towards their consumption habits, such as clean and renewable energy, organic products, and having an environmentally conscious approach towards the companies they are using the products of.

When it comes to going smoothly, green production and green consumerism go hand in hand. People create for people to use. It’s always been all about them and their way of tackling the problem. Reduced plastic and other non-biodegradable wastes in the packaging, how efficiently the energy is being used during the production process, and to what extent was the company able to lessen the release of emissions and other pollutants during the production and transportation processes, before it ends up in the hands of consumers. These are some points both the production and consumption side of the society is getting conscious about.

To further promote this consciousness, companies, governments, and individuals are encouraging people to be green consumers. The more green consumers out there, the more the demand for eco-friendly products, and the happier our planet earth will be. But the concept needs a considerable shift in mindsets and practical efforts to be put in.

People want to go green, but they expect companies and governments to lead the way. According to a global survey, 61 percent of consumers say that governments and consumers should be the leading ones in tackling the climate change issue. Several campaigns around the topic, all across the world, by several companies and governments, are already taking place.

So, in case you are not a green consumer, or just thinking about becoming one, at least to some extent, this is the day when you can start thinking about how to do today’s grocery shopping in a greener and more sustainable way. Small baby steps will add up towards a bigger environmental cause, and it will all be worth it in the coming years.

Tazeen Ansari