Are we truly reducing our footprint, or are we just trading plastic bottles for a mountain of stainless steel, each promising a slightly different shade of ‘green’?
“Go reusable! It’s better for Mother Earth!”
We all hopped on the reusable tumbler train—and proudly so, because we believe we are saving the environment from the clutter of single-use cups ending up in landfills.
Tumblers have become a trendy fashion statement, with various brands luring consumers to buy the latest color, design, size, and shape. And so, we obliged, promptly adding another tumbler to our collection. And then another…because, well, look at the latest color drop! This creates unnecessary high demand for a product that is supposed to last for many years, with one brand claiming that it lasts a lifetime. Content creators feature unboxing videos, generating clamor for a product that is supposed to be used a thousand times over for it to become beneficial to the environment.
Our hearts may be in the right place when we thought buying another tumbler is helping the environment. When it comes to tumblers, however, more isn’t merrier. Have you ever thought about what it takes to produce a tumbler—literally, how much resources are used to manufacture one?
We often see the “snapshot” of the life of our loved items —only when we get to meet or interact with them at the point of purchase and product usage. What we do not realize is that our loved items have “lives” outside the realm of our existence – it has past and future “lives”, normally unbeknown to unassuming consumers. Let’s step back and look at the whole life of our beloved tumbler.
In its past, minerals were mined, refined, and molded into the tumbler we know in various sizes, shapes, and colors. As it is being transformed, acres of land were dug up, fossil fuels were burned for energy, and pollutants (greenhouse gas emissions, toxic chemicals) were emitted. This results in significant environmental damage. To get to the retailers and eventually to consumers, transportation and packaging are required, adding to the product’s environmental cost. In its future, our tumbler will be buried under dust in one corner, representing unutilized resources; or worse, left rotting (or not!) under heaps of garbage filling our landfills.
If you can step back and imagine that, then congratulations! You developed a new set of lenses called “life cycle thinking”. Life cycle thinking is a perspective that looks at the whole life – or “life cycle” – of a product. This principle looks at the nooks and crannies of the product to measure the resources it needs and the energy to process it, so we can better understand its impact on the environment. To some extent, it can also be used to look at societal issues (e.g., equitable trade, labor rights) associated with the manufacture a product. With this thinking, we can compare the environmental benefits and damages of products on equal grounds. For example, a study by a group of researchers from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (Changwichan & Gheewala, 2020) found that using a stainless-steel cup 140 times can offset the greenhouse gas emissions of using one single-use plastic cup. If another stainless-steel cup is purchased, the user will need to use it for another 140 times to offset using one additional plastic cup!
Suddenly our well-meaning “better” choice already looks like a towering tumbler clutter in one corner of our room. Fact check: your third (and more) tumbler isn’t saving the world!
When we buy “environmentally friendly” products, it doesn’t mean that we are saving the environment. We might be purchasing more than what we truly need. The more we purchase, the more we promote extracting resources from nature, polluting the environment more, and damaging the quality of our ecosystems. As consumers, we are still accountable for how we use our products, how many times we use them, and how we throw them away. With life cycle thinking, we can have a better perspective if we really need to buy that latest color drop of new tumblers.
We really need to reflect on our consumption decisions as consumers—are we truly reducing our footprint, or are we just trading plastic bottles for a mountain of stainless steel, each promising a slightly different shade of ‘green’? Are we saving the planet, or did we just create yet another product trend to feed our inner shopaholic self, disguised as sustainable consumption?
As consumers, we have the power to choose—choose consciously, choose sustainably. The power is ours.
Dr. Jonna C. Baquillas is an Associate Professor at the Department of Marketing and Advertising, Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University. Dr. Ivan Gue is the Chairperson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gokongwei College of Engineering in the same university. They are engaged in research and projects focused on circular economy, sustainability transitions, and sustainable consumption and production.
The views expressed above are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
