Over the last few decades we’ve seen expansion and growth that boggles the mind. Now that we are in a recession that is looking to be one of the most severe in many decades, it’s amazing to see how consumption can just drop so significantly. Consumer spending has decreased drastically, the automotive industry in the US is in complete turmoil and even the more stable foreign automotive brands like Toyota and Honda are showing losses and reduced production for the first time in many, many years. Sales have dropped off by 27% at Toyota in the first quarter. Toyota’s worldwide production dropped by 46% year over year. Honda’s production dropped by 37% and Nissan’s dropped by 45%. Millions of automobiles aren’t being built this year due to the drop in demand.
Imported goods from China and other countries is down significantly. The decreasing trade around the globe is saving millions of gallons of fuel that would be used to transport these goods. Millions and millions of dollars worth of energy that would have been used to manufacture goods is not needed which is helping reduce emissions from the various energy plants around the world.
Frugal living is suddenly sexy around the country. People are reusing and recycling materials that they once tossed aside without a second thought. The reuse of those materials is decreasing demand for new versions of those items.
The bottom line is that overall consumption of just about everything is down. I’d love to see estimates on what this means for the environment if anyone has any data or articles to send my way. There is no question that this recession has done more for the environment than any “earth day” initiatives out there. The only drawback to all of this progress is that many people are likely to return to their previous consumption levels once this is over.