Inglês — potenciação

Good Stuff? - A Consumption Manifesto:The Top Ten Principles of Good ConsumptionConsumption is one of life's great pleasures. Buyingthings we desire, traveling to beautiful places, eatingdelectable food: icing on the cake of life. But too often theeffects of our blissful consumption make for a sad story.Giant cars exhaling dangerous exhaust, hog farms pumpingout harmful pollutants, toxic trash pestering poorneighborhoods - none of this if there weren't somethingto sell.But there's no need to trade pleasure for guilt. Withthoughtfulness and commitment, consumption can be a forcefor good. Through buying what we need, produced the waywe want, we can create the world we'd like to live in.To that end and for the future, a Consumption Manifesto:Principle One. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This brilliant triadsays it all. Reduce: Avoid buying what you don't need-and when you do get that dishwasher/lawnmower/toilet,spend themoney up front for an efficient model. Re-use:Buy used stuff, and wring the last drop of usefulness out ofmost everything you own. Recycle: Do it, but know thatit's the last and least effective leg of the triad. (Ultimately,recycling simply results in the manufacture of more things.)Principle Two. Stay close to home. Work close to hometo shorten your commute; eat food grown nearby; supportlocal businesses; join local organizations. All of these willimprove the look, shape, smell, and feel of your community.Principle Three. Internal combustion engines are polluting,and their use should be minimized. Period.Principle Four. Watch what you eat. Whenever possible,avoid food grown with pesticides, in feedlots, or byagribusiness. It's an easy way to use your dollars to voteagainst the spread of toxins in our bodies, land, and water.Principle Five. Private industries have very little incentiveto improve theirenvironmental practices. Our consumptionchoices must encourage and support good behavior; ourpolitical choices must support government regulation.Principle Six. Support thoughtful innovations inmanufacturing and production. Hint: Drilling for oil is nolonger an innovation.Principle Seven. Prioritize. Think hardest when buyinglarge objects; don't drive yourself mad fretting over the smallones. It's easy to be distracted by the paper bag puzzle,but an energy-sucking refrigerator is much more worthy ofyour attention. (Small electronics are an exception.)Principle Eight. Vote. Political engagement enables thespread of environmentally conscious policies. Withoutpublic action, thoughtful individuals are swimmingupstream.Principle Nine. Don't feel guilty. It only makes you sad.Principle Ten. Enjoy what you have-the things that areyours alone, and the things that belong to none of us. Bothare nice, but thelatter are precious. Those things that wecannot manufacture and should never own-water, air, birds,trees-are the foundation of life's pleasures. Without them,we're nothing. With us, there may be nothing left. It's ourchoice.Umbra Fisk, Grist Magazine.Slightly adapted from: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1470Access on June 1, 2007.

What does the author state about recycling?