Blog Entry 12

What is “sustainable consumerism”? Are globalization and capitalism positive or negative drivers in this phenomenon? What is greenwashing? Would you be willing to pay a premium for foods labeled “organic”, “local”, or “fair-trade”? Do you prefer to frequent mom and pop stores in downtown Ft. Myers or patronize chain stores at the Gulf Coast Town Center? What are the ramifications of your behaviors either way? Think holistically.

By being a sustainable consumer, it means that he or she is fully aware of what they are purchasing, and only purchase things that have a minimal carbon footprint and are more ecologically and socially sound. Greenwashing is where the marketing companies deceive the consumers into thinking their products are environmentally friendly. Alot of times companies would spend more money on advertising the "green" than actually spending money and resources on "green" practices. For me personally I dont even know where the closest mom and pop store is for groceries so by default I have to be shopping at the larger Gulf Coast Town Center type stores. Even if i did know where a mom and pop store is for groceries, im not sure i would want to go there and purchase products that will be higher priced. My mom and dad own a furniture store and i know how dificult it can be to run those so for things that focus on higher quality stuff I would rather get my moneys worth knowing the people will put time and effort in making a good quality product rather than just manufacturing one cheaply and make a lot of them and get their profit from bulk sales.

The term downtown makes me picture a place that is older and close together where everything requires parallel parking, meter tickets and tourists walking up and down the sidewalks. Over time it seems as if people have moved away from the city life and prefer to live on lots of their own acreage or in a gated community. In fort myers everything now is either a tourist shop or a lawyers office rather than where people used to live. As we walked around to observe what was around fort myers we came across this sign saying the first concrete sidewalks were constructed in 1906. We learned that the roads used to me made of brick as well. We also had to visit the Southwest Florida Museum of History which did a great job encasing the timeline of what went on in Fort Myers all the way from paleolithic times to present day. As for the change in economy, it is now very heavily reliant on tourism but back in the day it was surrounded by farms and cattle that supported a lot of the local people.