Conservation is the act of conserving; decay, waste, or loss; preservation; official supervision of rivers, forests, and other natural resources in order to preserve and utilize natural resources to prevent depletion.
As consumers, we are faced with the challenge of achieving greater consumption as an economic benefit but without adversely affecting our environment. We must learn how to alter our lifestyles and reduce our ecological footprint to work toward a more sustainable rather than consumable future.
Not all consumption has the same impact on our environment. In order to effectively reduce environmental damage, we must acknowledge that some consumption of food, water, clothing and shelter is necessary for survival. Rather than eliminate consumption we should look at our patterns of consumption to understand whether or not we are consuming too much of certain products and whether these products can be produced, used and disposed of in less damaging ways. For example, if we look at the use of gasoline, we know that burning gasoline emits air pollutants and the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It is possible to look at alternative forms of energy to help reduce consumption rates. (Brower and Leon, 1999, 5-12)
