Economic downturn great news for the Planet

With less money to buy things, people are going to buy less and use less. This is great; there will be less construction, less need for paper and packaging, less automobiles and less of many other things... Not the best way for society to consume less, but the most effective!

There will be a need to keep an eye out for shortcuts being taken to make products cheaper by using less sustainable production techniques or using less sustainable materials. Hopefully pressure from NGOs and the media, as well as the recent spurt in transparency through online campaigns, will restrict the success of companies that try such shortcuts.

In the meantime, it can be expected that with prices of carbon being factored in, prices of water and transport increasing, and new ideas to integrate the environmental costs of products; prices for many products will continue to increase, further reducing consumption. With otherwise downwards pressure on inflation, this will be a good thing, and something consumers might be able to weather (unlike last year when inflation was so high).