Change more than bulbs

That is the transformation sought by Erik Assadourian, senior researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and project director of a new book called 2010 State of the World: Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability.

The culture of consumerism “has taken root in culture upon culture over the past half-century ... [and] become a powerful driver of the inexorable increase in demand for resources and production of waste that marks our age,” says the report. But consumer cultures are unsustainable and are driving the planet toward a “great collision between a finite planet and the seemingly infinite demands of human society.”

Global consumption has grown dramatically since World War II, reaching $30.5 trillion in 2006, up sixfold since 1960. This is, in part, good as it brings in wealth and employment for many (the premise of capitalism!) but today’s prevailing consumption patterns are, quite simply, unsustainable.

Not only the rich but even the poor earning around, $5,000 or $6,000 per person per year, are consuming at rates that will deplete the earth’s resources and cause catastrophic change.

The report sees danger as people in developing nations aspire toward the same consumer lifestyles as their peers in the West.

But how feasible is the“wholesale transformation of dominant cultural patterns” that the report calls for? How will things change to mean “machismo is not about the size of your car, but the fact that you don’t have one at all.”

True, there is more agreement that consumer culture is not only causing environmental havoc, but also failing to deliver the well-being that it promises. Look at the stressed lives around, and you know! But how can such a change happen? Can advertising and media, the very tools that sell consumerism, be used to sell a sustainable culture?

The developing world that has just discovered the heady brew of consumerism will be most reluctant to let go. Even the developed world that has had its time in the sun is most reluctant to abstain from consumerism. What will it need for the world citizens to say 'enough'?