Shopping for a better world
[Music]
[Applause]
when our friends and colleagues are
given the opportunity
to say something about us we’d almost
always be surprised at what they say
sometimes their words are extremely
critical
other times their words holster in truth
that we’d only come to realize
many years after i can recall
in grade 7 during the last year of my
elementary school
during the last weeks of class everyone
is given a survey
that only the graduating students will
be able to participate in
the survey is for the graduation
yearbook and in one section
we were asked to vote for whom a person
is most likely to become when they grow
up
now i wanted to be a female leader or a
businesswoman
but that didn’t happen mom
dad at the age of 13
i was voted the most likely to become
a shopaholic
now their words were not critical nor
complementary
but they hold certain truth and a
journey of self-discovery and reflection
i students
embarked on they knew me too well
fast forward 11 years i began working at
unesco headquarters in paris for the
education for sustainable development
now unesco i found out pretty quickly
that i was different
unlike most my colleagues who had their
background in education
in social sciences political science
law and other humanity degree
i study business i also found out that
some of my colleagues view business
as a force that is counterproductive to
what the united nation is trying to
achieve
they think businesses only care about
profit which is counterproductive
to the united nation goal which is to
achieve peace and well-being
for everyone
now understand why people think
businesses only care about profit
the capitalist society we live in puts
profit
at the expense of society at large
allowing private companies to think that
we need good
right it’s an evil plan in making
consumers the ultimate
victim of materialistic and thoughtless
spending habits we see countries defying
their success by gdp growth domestic
product
defining a country’s success by how much
worth of good it is made
countries and companies somehow have
found a perfect way to realize this
measurement
they want to generate meat
in excess of it so they can consume
in excess of it and it’s an excuse for
them to produce
in excess of it that way they can
generate higher gdp
however when profit is the only thing
that we care about
we forget that these profits come with
consequences
we’ve seen some of these consequences
unroll in the past few decades
we know climate change and unsustainable
economies build on sweatshop
child labor and pollution we have
allowed our greed
to benefit from the short-term gain
we all know what will eventually happen
if we consume as if nature has
infinite amount of resources
i am sure you’re aware of the effect of
global warming climate change
greta and other environmentalist groups
have done a good job in spreading this
awareness
but what is allowing individuals
companies government countries to
continue
to ignore this fact is the excuses
that we make for us
there’s a psychological term called the
socio-psychological phenomena
which is a diffusion of responsibilities
studies have shown that a person is less
likely to take responsibility for their
action or inaction
when a group of bystanders or witnesses
are present
meaning in scenarios where everyone
should be responsible
no one actually feels responsible
individuals blame companies who blame
government who blame economies who blame
other governments
it’s all too familiar cycle
but how can we break this well instead
of relying on businesses to make the
change
we need to change from within
you see nothing just happens changes
doesn’t just come on a platter of gold
we must desire change and take steps
in actualizing it
a concept that i came across is voting
with your money
voting with your money is a powerful way
to drive a sustainable
ecosystem every time we pull out our
wallet to buy a product
businesses actually analyze our buying
behaviors
and in turn collect our preferences to
generate big data
they will then use this big data to roll
out similar products
and products that they think we would
like
voting with your money means you become
informed and are conscious
about your buying decisions
the powerful side of this is that we all
become
informed vigilant buyers who shift our
spending power
according to what is right it translates
into a powerful message
it transforms us from passive shoppers
to vision buyers and collectively our
buying habits
will allow us to build a cleaner
and more sustainable world
for example every time that i buy at a
local store
i tell the businesses that my community
is worth more
than a big box store sell every time
i don’t buy things i tell businesses
that i don’t need anymore things to make
myself happy
every time i buy organic i tell
businesses
that i want more farmers to grow
healthier and more sustainable food
and every time i buy certified fair
trade i champion
and fight against poverty wow who knew
there are so many voting rights
associated with the dollar that i spend
making these conscious decisions will
allow businesses to shift
from a commercial perspective to adopt
to a more sustainable
business model that benefit us
so next time you purchase an item don’t
buy anything that you think is cheap
what’s convenient but buy what’s right
with our collective power we can drive
the society that we want to see
so back to the present after 12 years
i finally found the new meaning
of my elementary title the most likely
to become a shopaholic
yes i am crazy about spending money
because i know that every single dollar
is a voting right
and i’m shopping for a better world most
of the time people want their voices to
be heard
but how can we be heard when we’re not
even speaking
by voting with your money you become
voices that cause
positive change from the very root
and with this i urge you to join me and
shop for a better world thank you