Six Cultural Trends That Are Not Saving The Earth
Photo credit dvortygirl @ flickr.
4.Pill Popping and its Pollution (Global)
Prescription drug use is growing, and 95% of these prescriptions are maintenance drugs - i.e. not called upon for treatment of acute illness, designed to be taken forever. Slowly, all this pill popping is polluting our water, and doesn't seem to be making us healthier. And it's not just the U.S. that is medication nation - the fastest growth markets for pharmaceuticals are Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Photo credit samantha celera @ flickr.
5.Luxury Consumption Moves East (Asia)
From JWT's 100 Things to Watch in 2010 comes this trend - the rise of luxury brands and luxury overindulgence as some wealthy consumers in the western nations eschew excess while the newly rich in the newly developed Asian economies go for it. Fine wines, art, and antique diamonds (at least they are 'recycled') top the list of favorites.
Photo of a busy beach by ♥Lilac♥ via flickr.
6.When the Going Gets Tough...(Europe)
Europeans basically go on vacation. We all deserve time off, right? And budget airlines made much of the recent study that shows data demonstrating that low-cost airlines have a smaller carbon footprint than the big carriers. However, this study proposes that tourists surveyed rarely consider the climate impact of their travel (yet), while demand for flights in Europe, where many of the biggest budget carriers originated, is expected to triple by 2030.
