We have all come to expect a certain amount of living space, and it is not necessarily sustainable for all of us to have such space. If everyone in the world lived in 4000-6000 square foot homes, we would run out of space very quickly. What limits should be placed on how large a home someone can have? What are some alternative housing solutions?
We often don't think of all of the things that go into what we buy. This overuse of resources threatens the ecosystem services they provide. Some environmental economists argue that we need to put a monetary value on ecosystem services so that they can be properly valued. On one hand, this seems like it might be a good way to eliminate the problem of negative externalities. On the other hand, money often has a corrupting influence, and it's difficult to assign an accurate value to ecosystem services. Take a look at the following article on pricing ecosystems. After your read it, post your thoughts here. What are some thoughts that putting a price on ecosystem services would help us to make more ethical sustainability decisions, or do you think that it could actually lead us toward unethical decisions?
https://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/ecosystem-services
Our consumer culture encourages us to equate the accumulation of stuff with happiness. This seems to be an important part of the cycle. With the exception of the things that we truly need, like shelter, food, and clothing, we buy other things mostly because we think it will make us happy. What are your thoughts about the things you bought in the last month that you just wanted. Why did you want them? Did you think they would make you happy, and were you correct? If people did not think that purchases would make them happy, do you think that it would significantly impact the cycle of consumption?