WELTbewusst – the Guided Tour on Sustainable Consumption and Globalization
WELTbewusst Tour in Strasbourg
Straight through the city center, on the international tracks of our consumption – together with you, we want to discover how greatly globalization has long been a part of everyday life. We follow the tracks of everyday consumer goods, which often travel around the world before making it to the store around the corner. We want to show the alternatives that are available to us as consumers and how we can exert an influence on worldwide companies through our behaviour. It would be best that we discover all of this together with one WELTbewusst (WORLDaware) guided tour, directly in the shopping district of your city. Sustainable consumption certainly doesn’t change the whole world, but it is part of a change and can therefore make a big difference for humans and the environment.
Consumption – Globalization – Sustainability?
You surf the Internet, watch MTV, listen to hip hop, practice capoeira, eat sushi or hamburgers, wear jeans and drink coke? Then you are at the centre of the matter. Under globalization, one understands the process of increasing international integration. In addition, world trade, international politics, the exchange of cultures and, for example, the globalization of environmental problems in the form of climate change are counted as well. Consumption designates our expenditure of things such as food and clothes. Our consumption is naturally affected by our needs and the money that is available to us. It is also affected by advertisements. And young people are a target group that is particularly liked for three main reasons: They are relatively easy to influence, they already have their own money and they are the customers of tomorrow.
Today, consumption and globalization are connected closely with one another. Youth on all continents wear the same jeans and sneakers, hamburgers are eaten worldwide and millions hear music on their MP3 players which were made in China. We want to examine the question of where and how these things are actually produced a little more closely. We want to find out what the companies don’t tell us in their advertisements. Afterwards, we will look for possible ways to configure our own behavior in a more sustainable manner. As consumers, our hand plays a role as well. With the way we consume we can influence the use of ressources as well as labour standards around the world!
If all humans lived as we do in Germany, we would need three planets; however, we only have one. This means that we use resources faster than they regenerate. It is an over-exploitation upon nature and humans. Sustainability means using only as much as can be taken from nature without damaging it, so that future generations discover a world that’s worth living in!
20 percent of the world population use approximately 80 percent of the natural resources. That is primarily us in the “western world”; therefore, we should be the first to consider our lifestyle in relation to sustainability and global justice. So? How extravagantly do you live?
More Information on our tour and the topic? You can download the English version of our booklet here.
WELTbewusst International
The project has many years of experience and we are happy to share it with partners form abroad. We already conducted workshop in France, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland and some of our volunteers exported the concept to other countries. Please contact us if you are interested in starting a guided tour in your town or country. Als let us know if you have a similar project in your community – we are looking forward establishing an international network soon.