Lab+Assignment+One

For my personal ChangeCamp event, my focus would be in the consumption of sustainable resources around the globe, especially in the third-world countries. As consumerism sweeps across the world and consumers are more or less affected by mainstream media propagandas, our demand for commercial products has led to more extraction of the planet’s resources. In my perspective, the problem here is threefold: we are demanding for too much stuff, the processes by which we extract all the resources cause more damage and we cannot help but want to shop for more.

Even though the current consumption patterns are problematic, changing consumer behavior is not enough because we cannot stop people from shopping, especially when our choices at the supermarkets or the fashion stores are pre-determined and limited by political and institutional forces beyond the store. Thus to change these consequences, my strategic plan for the ChangeCamp would involve a series of participatory events such as public campaign involving popular bands in local communities, web blogs updated by various stakeholders, or fashion shows advocating the idea of a “Green Planet” to attract people’s attention. The events should be both interesting and educational to teach people to step beyond our role as consumers and reclaim our identity as engaged citizens in an environmental-friendly society.