After years of continuous growth for the UK economy, we are facing spiralling resource costs. However, as consumers tighten their belts, the Government’s priority is the more ‘pressing’ challenge of the economy, and not moves to tackle climate change and protect the environment.

Twenty percent of the world’s population consumes over 80 percent of the Earth's natural resources. Rising consumption levels currently outstrip the biological capacity of the Earth by 25 percent each year and if all countries achieved UK levels of wealth, the global population would need the natural resources of four or more planets. Although the UK’s personal debt totals £1.4 billion and is increasing by £1 million every five minutes, every year we produce more than 434 million tonnes of waste and throw away one third of all groceries we buy.

CIWEM believes that savvy consumers can reduce their outgoings and help the environment.

CIWEM wants people to understand that unfettered consumerism will harm their financial security and damage the environment. Now is the time to change our behaviour to reduce our consumption levels, thus saving money and helping the environment.

Simple steps should incorporate the reduce, reuse and recycle philosophy and could range from fitting energy saving light bulbs to forgoing the latest trend-led unsustainable fashion, and unplugging mobile phone chargers to turning down your hot water thermostat.

Nick Reeves, CIWEM Executive Director, says:

“this is the age of ‘me, me, me’, where you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it. But be warned – there is a price to pay that is greater than overdraft charges or the credit card bill. Consumerism is rapidly exhausting our resources and breaching the capacity of the Earth to support us.”

“Coping with tough economic times and helping to do your bit for the environment are not mutually exclusive. By making a few intelligent changes to our lifestyles we can make decent savings in the pocket and reduce our environmental impact. Everyone knows that energy prices have soared recently but Britons have an enormous opportunity to ease that pain – the UK tops league tables for amounts of energy wasted. We also overuse our cars – walking saves on fuel and has obvious health benefits. These are not new messages but now is a good time to emphasise their importance.”

“The Government should take a similar approach with its energy policy and place greater emphasis on the benefits that can be gained from good environmental practice. If we do this, we could become debt free in a sustainable, more equitable world.”