Guilty Wallet – Ruhel Mohammed (United Kingdom)

Friday, 30 October 2009 00:00

On one hand gadgets are an absolute must for society, and on the other they are the core reason for so many of today's worldly eco problems. As today's society becomes ever more conscious of its carbon footprint and tries to make a step in the right direction, one cannot help but see the overwhelming answer to the issue of going GREEN is being deliberately overlooked.

Some are of the opinion that the largest problem in going green is stopping or reducing our “consumer culture”. Today we are at a stage where we have enough technological power to solve many of our problems, but we as consumers are encouraged to solve the problem with a purchase. A hundred years from now people will be as green as ever and our carbon footprint will be as small as ever - but our consumption power will be as large as ever and the issue of waste and landfill will still be as large as ever. But instead of millions of tones of irresponsible design, we will have landfill full of high-tech green gadgets.

We spend for so many reasons, but it is undeniably true that we spend through one of these vessels: greed, lust, pride, wrath, sloth, gluttony and envy. Although spending and debt are the foundations of the capitalist society, we should be careful of excessive spending or greed.

The guilty wallet tries to reduce the impulsive consumer society and poses the question 'do I really need this'?