Consumer Behaviour

I am convinced that we as consumers can very much influence in which way businesses and economic power in a free market system will develop.
By 2050, 20% or 2 bn of the world's population, children and adults will struggle each day to find enough food and water in order to survive. If we relativize this projection of the human condition with the industrialized countries' push to consumption, our hassle to manage all the ads and marketing messages we are confronted every day, take your time, think and decide on where you want your consumption behaviour to be heading to.
Today I read a journey report of Ulla Lenze in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, from her last visit to Mumbai. This brings up the question of where these 2 bn life struggling people are located, and in that respect under which human or inhuman condition?
I think a fundamental question is, whether we need to continue to consume in our traditional way, to keep growing and save our economy in the industrialized world? Another fundamental question is, whether we can consume on one side, and at the same prevent the complete depletion of Earth's resources? What can we learn from history, from tradition? What can we learn from earlier crisis?
I believe that economic development will bring prosperity, benefit all countries and people, with a goal to be sustainable from a resource perspective and with the main objective, to reduce poverty and inhuman survival conditions.
We must change our consumer behaviour. Not only we as consumers. We must have leaders and businesses who exemplify and promote such behaviour. As consumers we have to learn ourselves and share our new knowledge with our children, our neighbourhood and community, how sustainable consumer behaviour is lived, whether its food, clothes, computers and more. We have to be more critical and promote those articles and providers who strive for sustainable economic development. We must learn to read and understand product labels, take into account the life cycle of a product, that is how a product is produced, where it comes from, where it will end or be recycled.
We have to be critical in our buying decisions. Do we really need the product? Why do we need it? To whom does it bring value? Does it help us to protect our environment?
We, as consumers in the industrialized world, have the power, means and solutions, to support and help the world to develop in a sustainable way. Do we need a new mobile phone, laptop or other computer device every year? At what speed and frequency, a new electronic device should be launched onto the market, what purpose does it serve? Do we have enough energy efficient resources to electrify our mobility needs, to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases?
We have to be educated, empowered and be able to rely on the world's most powerful, visionary leaders and industries, who can develop and follow a global and sustainable economic roadmap, and who support us in our endeavour to make our planet more transparent, more human and fair for everyone. The solution is in us, the solution is in everyone.