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Conscious Consumption and Sustainable Development

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

Definition

To consume consciously is a process of deliberation to purposefully and thoughtfully consume what is beneficial and necessary and not consume unconsciously things that are unhelpful or harmful. Conscious consumption also is a philosophy and growing social movement that encourages citizens to become aware of the impact of their consumption practices on their own health and well-being and to consider the social, economic, environmental, and communal implications. This movement pays attention to the effects of media and advertising on citizen-consumer behavior. Conscious consumption may form part of government strategies used to promote ways to address the growing crises of climate change and noncommunicable diseases.

Sustainability requires a focus on principles of equity, inclusion, and distribution and the long-term state of the environment (Hopwood et al. 2015). Sustaining species and ecosystems must be done in ways that allow them to go on renewing themselves indefinitely...

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Correspondence to Kathleen Kevany .

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Kevany, K. (2019). Conscious Consumption and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_269

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