Do we really need brand new clothes from a certain brand or a special producer? It shouldn't matter what you wear or have, clothes and belongings do not define you or who you are. A lot of people today buy clothes from the internet. A lot of people here in Iceland buy clothes online from foreign websites because it is a lot cheaper, but it increases our carbon footprint a lot. We do not need all this stuff, there is a difference between wanting and needing, we need clothes, but we have way too many, just because we want to. We do not need all those electrics, we want them. We do not have to buy all this food when we are going to throw away one third of it anyway.

I agree that our wants can be sacrificed in order to help reduce our footprint. Other luxuries that we can give up include eating beef. It may seem like this would not make a difference, but eating less beef means the demand for cattle farming decreases. Since cattle release methane and their upbringing requires greenhouse gas emissions, eating less beef would help reduce their impact on global climate change. It would take a small personal sacrifice for many people to make a real difference.

MWalker-SJR State
I couldn't agree more, in todays world we are so focused on having the newest clothes and things, it practically defines who were are3 as a society. We don't differentiate well between wants and needs, and we often don't consider its effect or cost. Is it really necessary to have a certain thing, and get it brand new? There are so many other options, like buying something used, or not buying it at all. This is something I took from my calculated carbon footprint, and it's something that is easy to improve.

I agree too, most of use can afford our wants and we don't give it a second thought if we actually need it. Most of use love have the latest models of technology or clothes and showing them. We can all do little things and make big differences like recycling, donating, saving power, eating less meat and saving trees by using less paper. If people eat less meat that will make a huge impact on the society and climate change. After all this is our world and its our job to look after it.

I agree as well. People of this generation are more focused in having the latest model or brand in phones, headphones, clothes, bags, etc. Most of these expensive brand-named items are unnecessary and simply there to make one feel better about themselves. Cutting down on them would not only improve our footprint, but also help us save some money on things that are more needed in our lives. Even resorting to eating more chicken than beef would help one’s footprint. We have to ask ourselves 'is this item really necessary for my life?' If we can differentiate what is needed and what is not, it can be huge a start in improving our footprint.

The minimalist lifestyle is definitely the way to go! There is a small town in Japan that has zero waste due to their strict recycling laws. They have over 45 categories to sort their waste into. The town's people were interviewed on how they have changed and most of them answered positively. They explained that it was difficult at first but they now understand what is really a necessity and what isn't needed at all. The local chef even explains how he gives his left over food to the local farms to use as compost which gives nutrients to the vegetables that he eventually uses for his dishes.