Splitting the Goods and Services Tax in two, and taxing goods at a higher rate, would help to reflect the extra environmental damage done by products that are bought and later thrown in the rubbish.
Most people appear happy to describe wine in one or two words. And yet …
John
The reality of the market is that most wine industry sales are very simple and bulk oriented. People are interested in wine being cheap, and tasting reasonably good. So why is the language so flowery?
Forest fires, often the result of land clearing, are becoming a major issue for Indonesia and its neighbours.
EPA/Azwar/AAP
The world’s rainforests are still being slashed and burned at a dizzying rate to make consumer products. But now there are signs of real political will, especially in Asia, to rein in the destruction.
In the era of wearable technology, we live as devices of our own devices.
flickr/Keoni Cabral
To be good global citizens, we must stop churning through energy-hungry devices. Earth cannot cope with the burdens, including mountains of e-waste, that electronic consumerism creates.
Digging up that nature strip and planting tomatoes is one way of reducing consumption.
Mosman Council/Flickr
What does your vision of a sustainable future look like? Some people imagine a world where technology solves the world’s most pressing environmental problems.
Don Featherstone, the creator of the iconic lawn ornament, died in June.
Ryan Hyde/flickr
How can we live within the means of our planet? Almost all environmental literature grossly underestimates what is needed for our civilisation to become sustainable.
Seeking constant distractions and identifying with brands and status symbols, we struggle to escape the superficial self.
Shutterstock/Sean De Burca
In the first of our series, On Happiness, the question is whether unsustainable consumption and debt can ever bring us happiness. The global financial question was a chance to take stock, yet did we learn anything?
Make no mistake: patriarchy and capitalism are completely entwined.
Shehan Peruma/Flickr
Wednesday Martin’s book Primates of Park Avenue has stirred debate over the so-called “wife bonus”, but feminism needs to be about more than the ability to buy things.
Architect and designer Michael Graves in a 1962 photograph. Graves passed away earlier this month.
PBS
Fingers crossed, we are soon to be inundated with Christmas joy disguised as presents from our family and friends. I received my first card more than a week ago and a present – now sitting under the tree…
Lights, shopping, presents … it must be Christmas.
Magnus D
The “spirit of Christmas” is all about universal goodwill, caring about others and the importance of family and friends, right? Or is it about shopping? The festive buying frenzy is the clearest indication…
The evisceration scene. Connoisseurs of zombie cinema will know that this is near mandatory but, at this point, I’m going to assume that you have no idea what I am talking about. It goes like this. Imagine…
Confucius stands guard at Beijing’s Renmin University.
George (Sam) Crane
In today’s China, the philosopher Confucius is back. To mark his 2,565th birthday this September, the nation’s President, Xi Jinping, paid homage to the sage at an international conference convened for…
First in line Jason Ray (left) and Moon Ray (right) line up outside the Apple Store in New York, ready for the launch of Apple’s iPhone 6.
EPA/John Taggart
Just as with all the earlier versions of the iPhone, rumours abound about what Apple will announce this week in relation to iPhone 6 – new screens, different sizes, powerful chips, faster processing and…
Many trolleys have been reduced to roaming the countryside in search of work.
Patrick Wilkin
Ever since there were shops, people have enjoyed window shopping. But a new phenomenon is emerging that takes the habit to the extreme. If you save things to your Amazon wishlist without ever actually…