Ethical living is the philosophy of making decisions for

daily life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or Normality (behavior), normal. Human diur ...

which take into account

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

and moral values, particularly with regard to

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

, sustainability,

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

and animal welfare.

Practice and implementation

At present, it is largely an individual choice rather than an organized social movement. Ethical living is an offshoot of sustainable living in which the individual initially makes a series of small lifestyle changes in order to limit their effect on the environment. Making the decision to start to live ethically can be as easy as beginning to

recycle Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

, switching off lights when leaving a room, buying local organic or fair trade produce, or eating less meat. Many people often go further by re-using/re-cycling waste water, using

renewable A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...

resources in their homes such as solar panels or atmospheric water generators, or replacing driving with greener modes of transport such as biking. Many, however, believe that even more drastic lifestyle changes need to be made in order to combat climate change. For example, the impending increase in our world's population will likely exacerbate resource scarcity and increase carbon emissions. For this reason, many believe that ethical living could mean taking control of one's reproductive health and "requires social solutions such as increasing women's empowerment in public and private life, and broadening the population movement beyond the family planning and reproductive health movements in order to raise its chances of success." File:Clean Air India Movement cycle drive promoting eco-friendly measures.jpg, File:Kids create eco-friendly art aboard MCB Hawaii 130416-M-DP650-004.jpg,

National and international policies

As Maxwell T. Boykoff, an assistant professor in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the

University of Colorado, Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

argues, "initiatives and plans that were formerly confined to the climate-controlled quarters of high-level policy briefing rooms and scientific conference halls are increasingly prevalent around the kitchen table, bar stool, front porch and corner shop" making ethical patterns of consumption influential on

domestic Domestic may refer to: In the home * Anything relating to the human home or family ** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication ** A domestic appliance, or home appliance ** A domestic partnership ** Domestic science, sometimes c ...

and international policies. For example, there are many governments, such as

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, that strive to create a "climate neutral society" focused on "trend breaks in technology, policy instruments, industrial, transport and agricultural practices, residential designs, and societal behavior". While there are many calculators and venues with which to measure overall national and state level "ecological footprints", measurements for individual and community footprints are more difficult to measure. For this reason, the impacts of individual ethical living choices or "green living" can be inconclusive. Some researchers question the amount of carbon footprint reduction that can be achieved through "pro-environmental" behavior as surveys have found that "no significant difference was found between the ecological footprints of the two groups – suggesting that individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour do not always reduce the environmental impacts of consumption." This phenomenon has led to a new proposition known as the "behavior-impact gap (BIG) problem" where researchers realize that there may not always be a proportional relationship between changing lifestyle habits and a decrease in one's carbon footprints.

Critiques

Although ethical living is growing in popularity, many in the environmental movement believe that the responsibility of ethical practice should also be placed on "

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

". They argue that while individuals can change their daily habits, the most significant changes can and should be made by large organizations and

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

s. Many criticize this argument, however, as they claim large organizations and multinational corporations increase consumption and perpetuate neoliberal and capitalistic tendencies leading to a loss of focus on "liveable wages, affordable health care, decent education, breathable air, and clean water." Another criticism of the ethical living movement is many individual consumption changes need to be made, however, “it will take more than a well-intentioned review of individual shopping habits to address our present ecological crisis.” Lovibond, Sabina. Essays on Ethics and Feminism. Oxford Univ Press, 2017.

Practice and implementation

National and international policies

Critiques

See also

References

Further reading