Emma Johnston
Stop! Put down that drink!
by STIR Sub-Editor, Emma Johnston
Do you ever stop to think about how much you spend on things that you don’t really need? We all do it – whether it’s on restaurants, snack food, entertainment (guilty!), transport, clothing (especially guilty… *sigh*), holidays, or more.
In "The life you can save: Acting now to end world poverty" (2009) Peter Singer uses the example of a drink.
Australia is a country where safe drinking water is available straight from a tap yet everyday Australians spend money on bottled water, soft drinks, caffeine and alcohol.
Think of the costs:
- The cost to you.
$2.50 a day spent on a bottle of water 365 days a year = $912.50. I’d prefer my $912.50.
The human cost. $2.50 doesn’t seem like much but around the world 1.4 billion people are struggling to live off $US1.25 (or less) every day. - The environmental cost – plastic bottles.
We all know that plastic is not eco-friendly: it won’t break down. Plastic is therefore going to hang around, polluting our earth, for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Ouch. - The environmental cost – carbon emissions.
Bulk loads of bottled water need to be transported to retail outlets: whether it’s by truck, boat or aircraft, a significant load of carbon emissions are released into the Earth’s atmosphere as a result.
Some better options:
- Make the choice to buy products that support charitable causes. If you must buy bottled water, choose OneWater – a brand that uses 100% of its profits to fund water supplies in needy villages
- Instead of purchasing a drink everyday, use eco-sustainable cups or bottles to bring water/coffee/whatever you feel like from home! Everybody loves the KeepCup.
- Keep informed and stay aware.
See the Global Poverty Project's 1.4 Billion Reasons Trailer and make the commitment to end extreme poverty. - Read up on Bundannoon, a town in New South Wales that voted to become bottled-water-free based on environmental grounds
What if the money we would have spent on unnecessary items went to a better cause?
What if that money went to someone who really needs it? Find Peter Singer’s book at your local library, bookstore or on Amazon and start thinking about how you’re spending your money and where it could be better used.
In the Western World we have a luxurious lifestyle and it’s easy to forget...
“that even in the worst of times, our lives remain infinitely better than those of people living in extreme poverty”
(- Singer, p. xiv).
When people are living off less than $2 a day it’s undeniable that what we consider “loose change” could really make a difference to the survival of others.
Every day an estimated 50,000 people die from preventable causes.
It’s a harsh reality but by choosing to spend money on things we don’t need, instead of contributing to charitable causes, we allow these deaths to take place.
YOU and I have a responsibility to do something! Now!
