Tons de verde : um estudo sobre as concepções e práticas cotidianas de consumidores verdes em Mato Grosso

Abstract

Consumption acts as a representation of culture and social structure, defines and diffuses cultural practices, ways of being and feeling, but for a long time, the study of consumption and all the process that involves it has been neglected, especially in the social sciences. From the gathering of three factors: public environmentalism in the 1970s, concern for the environment by the business sector in the 1980s, and the rise in the 1990s of concern for the affluent societies' lifestyles and consumption, which could have environmental impacts, consumption gains space in academic research and also becomes political agenda. With this, we observe the emergence of types of consumption, such as the so-called green, conscious or sustainable consumption that brings the question about the individual, corporate and public responsibility about what is offered, bought, used and discarded. Given this growth and urgency framework of public discussions and international policies on sustainability and considering two factors: 1- everyday life as a dimension of reproduction and social transformation and 2- omnipresence of consumption in everyday life, the aim of this research is to unravel how it manifests itself the idea of sustainability in everyday life. For this, I adopted the theoretical-methodological contribution of everyday sociology and conducted 14 semi-structured interviews with consumers in the state of Mato Grosso who call themselves conscious, green or sustainable, paying attention to their practices, and the meanings attributed to consumer decisions. and the dilemmas faced that paradoxically encourages unbridled consumption and disposal and individual responsibility for the collapse of the environment. The built data help the understanding of a complex society, in which many divergent values coexist by contributing to reflection on how sustainable consumption practices unfold, including the notions of conscience and dilemmas in the small decisions of everyday life.