SHOP BETTER FOR BRITAIN! (AND THE PLANET)

As the Uk starts to emerge from covid-19 lockdown, and the High St slowly starts to open up again, our esteemed Prime Minster put out the rallying cry to “Shop for Britain”. Because apparently we can shop our way out of this crisis.

And yes, in the short term, we need the economy back on its feet. People need jobs, they need wages, to pay their bills and their mortgages, and to put food on the table.
But hold on a minute.
The coronavirus pandemic has been horrific, for those who have had the illness, those who have lost their lives to it and their families, and for those on the frontline. It’s been a very real and immediate threat.
But we have a very real, very much bigger threat ahead of us in the shape of the climate crisis, and this is one crisis that we aren’t going to be able to shop our way out of.

Let’s be clear here. I am NOT having a go at anyone who queued up to get into Primark, Sports Direct, or any other shop. I think we’re all craving a bit of normality, and for some, shopping at their favourite stores will give them that much needed sense that things are getting back to normal. That the worst is over. Maybe some people genuinely needed new clothes if their kids had grown over lockdown or for other reasons.

But we’re at a crossroads. A crossroads where get to choose the future we want for our kids and future generations. That is the reality of where we are.
We can choose to continue to consume at the same rate. Often quite unconsciously, without a huge amount of thought. If we’ve got Amazon Prime we can get pretty much whatever we want, next day! AND free delivery! What on earth could be wrong with that?

Well….quite a lot actually, so I’m glad you asked.

We live on a planet of finite resources and we’re very quickly running out.
We live on a planet whose ecosystems have developed over millennia to the finely tuned balance they are in, and we’re fucking them up (technical term).
We live on a planet of infinite beauty and wonder and awe.
And it’s not our planet.

We live in a system that demands infinite growth on a planet with finite resources.
We live in a system that puts profit above all else.
We live in a system that is killing the very planet we live on.

We live in a society that tells us more is better. Bigger is better.
We live in a society where convenience is King.
We live in a society where our desire for a cheap t-shirt is somehow more important than the basic safety of the people in some godforsaken factory making those clothes.
We live in a country, and at a point in history, where our own Prime Minister, and the front pages of all the newspapers, are telling us it is our civic duty to get out and buy stuff.
Even if we don’t need it.
Because we’ve got to keep the wheels turning. That is the goal, above all else.

The priority, rightly or wrongly, for the government, is the economy.
And yes, as I’ve already said, people need jobs. Of course they do.
But we’ve seen very clearly over the past few months that the government will move heaven and earth to protect the economy. I have no idea how many billions have been spent on the furlough scheme (very rightly so).

But we can keep the wheels turning, we can support the economy, we can help to provide jobs, in many different ways. And we can do it without giving our money to companies whose business models have a hugely deleterious effect on the planet and the people in their supply chains.

When we spend money we cast a vote for the kind of world we want.
If we’re in the privileged position where our buying decisions aren’t governed solely by our financial situation (and I fully acknowledge that is very much not the case for a lot of people) then as I see it, we have a responsibility to get informed and to make better decisions about where we spend our money, more of the time.
I’m not asking for perfection (I’m far from perfect myself). We’ll all have times when we make a decision based on convenience, or on price, or on something else other than the planet.
What I am asking for is that you give your buying decisions some thought. Even if you then end up buying the same thing, you’ve considered other options, weighed up the pros and cons. Taken the planet into account.
You haven’t bought just because Boris told you to.