Would you be willing to give a quick summary on rooibos or link to one? I’m finding it quite available in the UK and Spain now, and wondering how production must have been increased, not having spent any time in WC.
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But at the same consumption level, six people use about 6x the resources of one. And it’s hard to convince people to go down to a lower standard of living (like six people having to share a 1000 sq ft space!), especially those who have been in poor conditions for a long time and are being told they need to accept it by wealthier people.
The world would be better off, in human terms, with 2 billion people who had a high standard of living than 9 billion who have a low one.
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https://www.sanbi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/12rooibos-all.pdf
this is a PDF aimed at schools, but it is from SANBI.
(googling rooibos cultivation impact …
Lots of potato farming there too. And mining threats. I do drink rooibos - it is local, and local employment.
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The 2 would miss the 7 workers who enable their ‘high standard of living’.
Imagine - if the 7 could eat the food they grew, or live in the house they build.
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So, today was the Earth Day event sponsored by my local Sierra Club group. It was held in partnership with a nearby historical museum, on whose grounds it was held; and because this was the museum’s annual Plant Sale, one of their main fund raising events, they were very clear that none of the orgaizations tabling for Earth Day could sell anything.
That meant that we had to tell the Master Gardeners that they could not sell t-shirts, garden tools, etc., which (of course) they wanted to do; but they could promote their own Plant Sale in May. It also meant that my vegetarian group could not sell soy curls and baked goods, which (of course) they would otherwise have done.
On that note, back in 2016, I posted to social media examples of headlines of junk emails that I had received on Earth Day that year:
From SpeedoUSA: “Celebrate Earth Day everyday with PowerFlex Eco Swimwear.”
From Park Seed: “Celebrate Mother Earth with FREE SHIPPING!”
From Jo Ann Stores: “Happy Earth Day! Eco-fun ideas inside.”
The impact of Western countries and lifestyle is: no matter what the theme of a day or event is, the message is “Buy stuff!”
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Yep. Christmas, Resurrection Day/Easter, Valentines Day, Earth Day, pretty much every meaningful holiday gets hijacked by consumerism. To get back to the real meaning of these days we have to simply stop participating in said holiday consumerism
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When talking about “Western Countries”, should we also include China under that banner? I can’t order pangolin in my local restaurant or buy rhinoceros horn at the pharmacy.
Western meaning, First World and (relatively) wealthy versus The Rest.
I live in a First / Third World country.
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