Nurture Nature Now: Finding Our Balance Through Responsible Consumption

Making sustainable living choices enables us to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing our use of natural and personal resources. There are a number of ways to start living sustainably. View this infographic to learn more. 

This month, we will discuss how to live more sustainably through responsible consumption, smart planning when it comes to food, finding ways to be more energy and water efficient, and learning to travel more sustainably.

In a speech made on November 9, 2001, in Al-Khawabi, Syria, Mawlana Hazar Imam stated: “Islam enjoins upon an individual the maintaining of a balance between spiritual life and material well-being, and to ensure that his or her material endeavours are underpinned by the ethical principles of Islam.”¹

How might we connect this vision of balance to responsible or conscious consumption?

The World Economic Forum discusses that “Conscious consumption is not just about what we wear. It is all encompassing: where we live, how we move, the food and drink we consume, how its ingredients have been grown, processed, and packaged, and what happens to the leftovers when we are done consuming.”²

The products we choose are a statement on what we value - from our health to how we advocate for everyone associated with the products we buy. It is imperative that we become better aware of the supply chain behind our products - that is, who produced the product, are human rights protected during production, where did the product come from, and who else benefits from our choices.

These choices should support a carbon reduced and more impactful life - that is, reducing our plastic usage, reducing the kilometres our products travel, choosing products that have less of a carbon footprint, and reducing the waste generated. Our ethical framework guides the choices we make.

Learn more about sustainable living and the Nurture Nature Now initiative.

1. Tariqah Rites and Ceremonies: Excerpts of Speeches of Mawlana Hazar Imam, the.ismaili Canada
2. Forget retail therapy – this is the age of the conscious consumer, World Economic Forum