Article by Adhirajnee Dasgupta

Phot by Sardar Faizan on Unsplash

Today, almost all countries of the world live within capitalist economic systems. Countries rely on a system of open markets, private ownership, with varying degrees of government intervention. The capitalist system is built on a model of constant growth, constant production and constant profit therefore companies keep pushing out new products of consumption every day, regardless of whether or not there is a need for the same. The market system today thrives on competition, where brands are constantly expected to innovate and produce in order to survive but is it really necessary for big tech companies to keep producing new smartphones, laptops, tablets every single year all in the name of an upgrade? As a result of this, we have seen the popularisation of the term “overconsumption” in recent years. The term itself refers to a system in which consumers buy goods, not out of necessity but out of excessive desires that may have been formed as a result of external influences such as social media, advertisements, etc. This begs the question that if capitalism works on a system of constant production, can it ever be compatible with environmentally friendly ways of being?

Due to a recent rise in environmental concerns from all around the globe, companies have started adopting “sustainable practices”. Are these practices even environmentally sustainable, or is this just another clever marketing ploy to keep those products pushing and the capitalist agenda rolling while tricking consumers into believing that buying from these “environmentally conscious” companies is actually doing something beneficial for our environment? In reality, it’s actually quite easy to make eco-friendly products or let’s just say market products as being eco-friendly. The same formula of a green label and “made from recycled plastic” is often enough to make consumers believe they are making an environmentally conscious choice. Critics call this practice “greenwashing” – a term that refers to deceptive marketing practices a company will use to portray itself and their products as more environmentally friendly than they really are. Magali A. Delmas and Vanessa Cuerel Burbano (2011) defined greenwashing as the intersection between poor environmental performance and positive communication about environmental performance, ultimately misleading consumers whilst protecting capitalist interests.

Christopher Wright and Daniel Nyberg (2015) talk about “the idea that only more consumption can remedy the devastating consequences of overconsumption”, emphasising how capitalism attempts to come up with a solution for every problem, including climate change, by turning it into a new opportunity for profit. Take fast fashion brands, for example, that constantly use words like “green’ and “sustainable” by saying that their textiles and garments are recyclable when in reality, according to a fashion non-profit, ReMake, 80% of discarded textiles end up in landfills or are incarcerated, and only 20% are recycled or reused.

John Urry (2010) also made a similar argument as to how capitalism is an inherently profit-based system that pushes constant growth; therefore, climate change is built into capitalism because constant growth requires constant production, which requires constant emissions. We can think of eco-capitalism as a good concept, but in practice, it can hardly ever work. It’s a bit utopian in the sense that it is often pushed by big companies and billionaires who profit from the system and are far too blinded by the profit they make to realise that this very system is leading to the destruction of the environment, the ecosystem and eventually the destruction of humans. Richard Smith (2015) puts it beautifully saying “we can’t shop our way into sustainability” calling the world’s current trajectory of capitalism a “collective social suicide”

Capitalist incentives also tend to shift the responsibility of climate change from corporations, companies, billionaires, CEOs to average working class people. Suddenly it becomes all about bringing your own metal straw and tote bag everywhere in order to avoid using the plastic alternatives. There is a certain burden on consumers to be “better” recycle more, re-use, and behave “ethically” when in reality industrial scale pollution, mass overproduction of goods are the real problems here. Individual choices in the marketplace cannot save our planet and climate change is not nearly as big of an issue of personal morality as it is of a systemic issue. No amount of mental staws can counteract the damage done by a system built on profit and endless consumption.

References

● Delmas, M. A., & Burbano, V. C. (2011). The Drivers of Greenwashing. California Management Review, 54(1), 64-87. https://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64 (Original work published 2011)

● Wright C, Nyberg D. Climate change and corporate capitalism. In: Climate Change, Capitalism, and Corporations: Processes of Creative Self-Destruction. Cambridge University Press; 2015:1-27.

● Urry, J. (2009). Sociology and Climate Change. The Sociological Review, 57(2_suppl), 84-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2010.01887.x (Original work published 2009)

● Smith, Richard, and World Economics Association. Green capitalism: the god that failed. London: College Publications, 2016.

● https://remake.world/stories/news/are-our-clothes-doomed-for-the-landfill/

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