I recently received a comment about the Polarwarming.ca website that suggested the content should encorporate a more “balanced” approach to the climate change debate.  For those not aware, the current content adheres to the conventional wisdom (within the Arctic context) that the climate is changing and as a result there is a trend toward continued reductions in sea ice concentrations throughout a large portion of this region. 

While the comment in question should be regarded as positive, it has opened my eyes to a larger void that seems to be overlooked in mainstream media, the issue being one of consumption.  Mass consumption on a global scale is the primary driving force that enables economies to grow and in turn fosters the development of civilizations as a whole, the downside being that it precipitates climate change vis-a-vie greenhouse gas emissions.  

I experienced a real life example of this dilemma when a quirky fun fact outside a local coffee shop depicting how many trees per year are cut down in light of an individual regular coffee drinking habit caught my attention.  Placing my order I commented on the fun fact and received a reply to the effect that I wasn’t making things any better with my coffee purchase.  This led me to realize at least at the micro-level that the major issue to rectify the climate change phenomenon is to create a sustainable loop on the present manufacturing-consumption-disposal linear equation of mass consumption.

This idea is by no means re-inventing the wheel, but more or less reinforcing and encuraging the three Rs approach to a greater degree: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  Emphasizing a positive state of mind that takes this into consideration provides a framework which is both ”green-friendly” and also addresses the other major by-product of climate change that is largely overlooked in the media — resource scarcity.