The Canadian Responsible Consumer

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Be a Responsible Consumer – It Always Makes Sense

We are a Nation of Consumers. In every facet of our daily lives, we are all using, consuming, resources. How we use those resources and how much of those resources we use effects the environment around us and the ecology of the entire world.

The pollution of the environment has been an ever-increasing concern for both science and the general public. The industrialization of agriculture, the prodigious expansion of the chemical industry, and the crucial need to generate more and cheaper energy has caused a continuous release of man-made organic chemicals into the world's ecosystems. The atmosphere, near all bodies of water, and many soil environments have become polluted by a vast and varied cocktail of toxic compounds.

Many of these compounds have the potential to produce adverse effects in humans and other organisms: These include the danger of acute toxicity, genetic changes, cancers, and birth defects for humans and other organisms. Some of these toxic compounds are also resistant to physical, chemical, or biological break-down, they have become an extreme environmental burden.

The Canadian public is increasingly becoming aware that problems – including environmental ones – cannot and will not be solved by government alone. More and more people are realizing the need to organize and act collectively to influence the social changes necessary to build Canada into an environmentally responsible nation and are searching for new innovative ways of living in concert with the environment and the ecology around us.

Call it; Environmental citizenship – a personal commitment to learning more about the environment and to taking responsible environmental action. Environmental citizenship encourages individuals, communities and organizations to think about the environmental responsibilities and rights we all have as residents of planet Earth. Environmental citizenship means caring for the Earth, caring for Canada and above all, caring for ourselves and our children.

The idea of environmental citizenship was first developed by Environment Canada. It is now spreading around the world. It is an idea similar to and compatible with environmental stewardship in the Christian, Islam, and Judaic traditions, but is not committed to or associated with any particular religious or cultural tradition.

Environment Canada Atlantic Region – Environment Canada Ontario Region Environment Canada Central Region – Environment Canada Pacific and Yukon Region

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