De-Growth
Introduction
Overconsumption is a growing problem, over extraction from our land, water, and ecosystems is a growing problem, as are the pollutants and human rights violations that stem from these behaviors.
The rich are getting richer by hoarding wealth, while the poorer are getting poorer, and a disproportionate amount of wealth is held by a shrinking few.
Healthy de-growth is possible when a country has healthy safety nets, and it's people allowed to have time to live, learn and grow with their families, friends, and communities, instead of spending more hours at work every week as wages fail to keep up with basic needs.
This page is dedicated to exploring the many ways we can live healthy, full lives without relying on the destruction of our planet to fill the pockets of greedy CEOs.
Benefits of De-Growth
Reduced Pollution
Less overproduction will help our planet recover, reduce emissions associated with work-related travel and corporate energy use, reduce water pollutants, less wear on our infrastructure and more.
Benefits for Companies & Employees
4-Day Work Week
This CEO Says Moving to a 4-Day Workweek Helped His Company Avoid Layoffs "“I started to see a big shift in what was happening to us during those four days,” he says. “The concentration, the focus, the energy, the mindset of everyone just shifted. It was such an amazing experience to see that and I decided, well, we’re not going back. We’re going to stay four days and we’re going to figure this out.”
Bosses and workers agree that a four-day workweek has big benefits for productivity, morale, stress levels and work-life balance, according to recent global experiments.
A majority of workers and job seekers, 81%, support a four-day workweek, and 1 in 3 people would quit their current job for one with a shortened schedule.
Mann says it was a no-brainer to restore everyone’s salaries to 100% even with fewer hours on the clock.
Four years later, the biggest challenge of working a four-day week is continuously reducing priorities to the “big needle movers,” Mann says.
Additionally, he says his team takes a “hyper-focused perspective” to work faster and with less effort, burden and “cognitive overload that can be created in an organization.”
“We’re just figuring it out to make sure we continuously improve the prioritization, the focus, the tools, the processes we have to allow us to be agile yet focused in our given week,” Mann says. “There’s no playbook for this.”
Overall, he’s optimistic about the four-day workweek becoming the new standard in the business world. As more companies use artificial intelligence to work more efficiently, Mann believes the workweek will be less dictated by a set number of hours and more about “the right objectives we get done as a team.”"
Work From Home (WFH)
This is another great way to cut business-related emission, reduce employee stress levels (for most at least), and allow for a better work/life balance.
How to Slow Consumption
Libraries
These wonderful community places are famous for offering books, but these days they sometimes offer a lot more, including tools, puzzles, camping gear, entertainment and cooking supplies, plus more!
Nappies or Diapers
Families with infants in some countries spend as much as a 1/3rd of their income on disposable nappies.
Zero Waste
Organizations
Europe
UK
England
AdBlock Leeds "is opposed to corporate advertising, which damages the environment, creates overconsumption, negatively impacts mental health, spreads miscommunication and sexist and racist stereotypes, and generally favours an unsustainable system. We have a positive vision for urban systems."