Beyond Design

Page 137

Terrorism is the last resort of the desperate environmentalists, who say that the ecosystem is on the brink of irreversible destruction. They firmly believe in what they are doing. They don’t see the things they do as an act of terrorism, but as an act of love towards the environment. Another form of direct environmental action that requires more creativity is civil disobedience. It often requires careful planning and detailed preparations to safely carry out protests and achieve high media attention. One of the strongest supporters of civil disobedience is the Adbusters Magazine. As one of theirs Buy Nothing Day anticommercial says, the average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, ten times more then a Chinese person, and thirty times more than a person from India.*4 However, by choosing not to buy a product, not to enter a store, or not to read an ad, we are still responding to the marketing efforts of organizations.

GO GREEN

Emerging in the early 1990’s, enviropreneurial marketing (EM) has become the latest form of ecomarketing. EM is a very different method from the previous environmentally based approaches, which mostly ignored the entrepreneurial aspects of environmentalism. This, by contrast, gives a free-market approach to environmentalism. The roles have shifted, and the activist today is not a member of the Green Peace or governmental regulator, but the corporation itself. Environmental imperatives are now market opportunities. Armed with the idea of corporate entrepreneurship, creative marketing, and innovative technologies, enviropreneurs are the last warriors of the ecologically correct society. There is another, faster way, to get to the EC society. At least, this is what a group of environmental extremists, better known as eco-radicals or eco-terrorists believe.

*4 Cha, Tae-Wook; The Harvard Design School Guide To Shopping, Ecologically Correct; Director Koolhaas, Rem, Published by Taschen GmbH, 2001 (Pg. 305—319)

A brilliant concept that has turned the meaning of the slogan the more I spend, the more I save. The ideology of ecological correctness is behind almost every aspect of shopping. From the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, and the malls we shop in. EC has rapidly become one of the main organizing devices for the consciousness of consumption, and soon every company that is not EC will see a major loss of profits.

137

Final_I_Hope2.indd 137

3/7/06 11:20:49 AM


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.