The Greening of Consumption: Challenges for Consumers and Businesses

Abstract

Abstract The concern for the condition of the natural environment requires taking a new approach towards consumption and meeting consumer needs (Bocking 2009). Despite many initiatives related to the paradigm of sustainable development and the concept of sustainable consumption, the situation is still far from a general departure from mass consumption and consumerism. The article aims to try to synthetically organise the views of other authors on the challenges of greening consumption, both for enterprises and consumers in the context of social responsibility. Competences play an important role in this process. The greening of consumption has not yet been widely propagated in societies, including also Polish society. One of the crucial elements of greening consumption is the purchase of ecological/organic food products. To learn about the behaviour of Poles towards the issue discussed in this article, the authors conducted a study on a representative sample of Poles (N = 1,000) during Nov. 15–27, 2021, using the Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) technique (which is an online surveying technique that fits into the quantitative methodology of market and opinion research) and online panels as part of the omnibus study. The survey shows that only 7.1% of the respondents have never purchased ecological/organic food products. Among buyers, 21.8% do it rarely/sporadically, 40.1% occasionally/sometimes, 20.2% often/try to choose ecological products when shopping and 10.8% do it very often or always. Among the respondents, 55.3% declared that ecological/organic products are expensive but still worth the price due to the health benefits they bring. Noticing the advantages of these products, 63.7% of respondents would like to buy more of them. In view of the results obtained, it can be said that it is necessary to disseminate the main greening consumption ideas that are apparent from this study, and this can be done through education, building consumer competences or visualising the effects of the continuation of current consumption habits. The problem of protecting the natural environment, discussed in numerous documents issued by governments and international organisations and in scientific publications, cannot remain unnoticed. Greening consumption is a challenge for companies whose production should be rational in using non-renewable natural resources, reducing or eliminating toxic waste, using recyclable packaging and introducing ‘clean production’ principles aimed at obtaining consumer products using more cost-effective and healthier methods. It is also a challenge for consumers, who should replace perishable goods with products with a longer life cycle, consume goods and services more sparingly and cease to accept planned obsolescence of products or unethical behaviour of enterprises towards their employees.