As Canadians continue swapping American-made goods for local alternatives, Jennifer Ellen (Jenellen) Good says the time may be right for conversations to shift from what is being consumed \u2014 to how much.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re living in fraught times and in amongst the chaos, it seems like an opportunity to think differently about the stories we tell about consumerism and our planet,\u201d she says. \u201cSure, let’s buy Canadian, but what about also buying less?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brock University Associate Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film studies stories told about the environment and how those stories relate to the relationship between people and the Earth. For example, she has researched the intersection of fast fashion \u2014 the rapid production and distribution of inexpensive clothing that mirrors fashion trends \u2014 and sustainability.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur collective story is consumption; it is the meta-story that we receive from our screens,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are opportunities right now, a silver lining perhaps, for us to have a more nuanced story about the implications of what we’re consuming, including the effect on climate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The language of economics, she says, has traditionally revolved around growth \u2014 buying and selling at breakneck speed, even if that comes at the expense of people and the planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not encouraged to think critically about consumption because it quickly becomes a false \u2018jobs versus the environment\u2019 narrative,\u201d she says. \u201cWe also don\u2019t tend to have economic discussions about topics like fast fashion and climate, but these tariffs are forcing us to have those conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tariffs are driving consumers to think more critically about the goods they are purchasing, such as seeking out the country of origin and opting to purchase, or not, based on what they find.<\/p>\n