Responsible consumer behaviour by Neil Hughes https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr Reflect on your own sustainable consumption behaviours vis a vis food. How effective do you think these acts are? Do you engage in other forms of food action that are collective rather than individualised? If so why? Share any thought s you might have on the padlet below. en-us 2019-09-12 09:16:36 UTC 2025-11-11 19:08:35 UTC hello@padlet.com Answer 1 han_jeffery90 https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/388679459 I live in a shared house with three other roommates. Two of us make a big effort to be green. We recycle everything we possibly can (and bought an extra recycling bin because we were always overflowing on our first one), use eco-friendly washing up sponges, use tote bags for shopping, buy recycled kitchen roll etc. Small things, but important things. Yet our other two housemates never recycle or pull their ‘green’ weight in the house (even after it’s been brought up to them a fair few times). I think this speaks quite a lot to what Warde is talking about when he says “[i]f people held green values tenaciously and deeply enough, they might be more assiduous in turning their general sympathy for the environment into new behavioural commitments.” I’m not suggesting my housemate and I are a perfect model of ‘ethical consumption’, because of course there is so much more we could do, but we are a pretty good starting point and we work together on this as well, which really is paramount. Collectively as a house, I feel we are pretty ineffective with our recycling and I can imagine I’m not alone in this because it really does come down to individual acts turning into collective acts. I think this hits upon Warde’s point when he suggests that there is “a basic failure to see consumption as a form of social and practical activity.”]]> 2019-09-24 08:44:07 UTC https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/388679459 https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/399977987 I have been a vegetarian now for 2 years and was a pescatarian for a year and a half prior, purely for environmental reasons (I also have dairy alternative milks and vegan margarine – I enjoy cheese too much to become a full-time vegan… though I attempt to have a couple vegan days every other week). I believe more people now are cutting out red meat for sustainable/environmental reasons, partially due to the increased information people see on social media (FB, Instagram and Twitter) as well as sustainable campaigns e.g. ‘meatless Mondays’. For example,  not eating one hamburger you save 1300 gallons of water. I find Facebook and Instagram are strong platforms to bring to light the environmental concerns the food industry has on the planet (I often repost articles I read on these platforms) – reflecting a ‘personal responsibility’ (Warde) for my eating habits. Could this be seen as collective measure of food action through promoting change, as my individual actions I hope turns into collective?
To an extent, you can argue ‘National governments do not have the powers, and nor probably the political will, to intervene authoritatively to determine exactly what items can and cannot be consumed.’ (Warde) – but could authorities introduce a ‘fast-food’ tax / carbon tax to food?? to discourage people from buying from mass food corporations e.g. McDonalds/Burger King?  - the carbon footprint of one Big Mac cheeseburger is 3.4 – 4.82kg of CO2 (the same emissions as 1.8 Litres of petrol). The Big Mac is sold in over 100 restaurants across the globe – 2007 estimated 550 million big macs are sold each year in the US alone (CBS News).  == roughly equivalent of 990,000,000 litres of petrol 
Collective forms of food action in Nottingham is limited, it is disappointing Nottingham does not recycle food waste which is a great waste of potential bio-energy. I am keen on recycling in my university house, however regardless of the poster that I have made and me telling them – my housemates do not take the time to see if the item can be recycled (still believe if its any type of plastic, it can be recycled). Could government introduce a nationwide recycling scheme to make it easier to recycle? (Reflecting the point of ‘failure to see consumption as a form of social and practical activity’)
]]> 2019-10-20 14:14:44 UTC https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/399977987 Vegetarian :-) https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/400202672 I love being veggie !]]> 2019-10-21 09:55:59 UTC https://padlet.com/neil_hughes/3gva693mvyjr/wish/400202672