The Irony of World Consumer Rights Day

 When I was checking my Shopee app on my phone a few days ago, the first thing I saw was this ad that popped up: 

A clickable advertisement that re-directs users to the discounts and Vouchers page.

I also noticed other e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Zalora having massive promotions commemorating the 15th of March, or World Consumer Rights Day. The idea is to of course attract consumers to the low prices and encourage them to purchase items that they have been meaning to purchase. These advertisements aimed at increasing e-commerce sales is seen as beneficial and necessary for boosting Singapore's economy following the pandemic and for achieving Singapore's goal of becoming Asia's leading e-commerce hub (Bala, 2021). However, according to Consumers International, the original motive of this day was to promote awareness for the protection of the rights of consumers, which include: the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. On their page, they also have a tab labelled 'sustainable consumption', which addresses plastic pollution and 'greencommerce' or the sustainability of e-commerce. Ironically, I feel that rather than bringing awareness to the rights which consumers have, this day has instead been seen as an opportunity for businesses to profit and sell as much as they can to consumers, which consequently affects the environment in terms of increased waste and pollution from the transport of goods. Additionally, these ads on e-commerce sites are often not followed by an explanation of what World Consumer Rights Day is about and provide no links to the original organisation's website, hence losing its meaning. 

Focusing on plastic alone, the pandemic has led to an increase in the number of plastic products disposed of, including that of packaging for goods bought online (Peng et al., 2021). This negatively affects our oceans when the rate of increase in demand for plastics exceeds the rate of treatment of plastic waste. The unrecycled and left-over plastic waste, also known as Mismanaged Plastic Waste (MMPW), then ends up in the environment, going into oceans where they are transported further away and often harm marine animals. According to Peng et al., 2021, their research found that the increase in online shopping has indeed resulted in increased packaging material generated as MMPW. This is as seen from the figure below. 

Global generation of MMPW following the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Source: Peng et al.

Although packaging makes up a relatively small percentage of MMPW source waste, it is still significant enough seeing as the values are measured in million tons. Furthermore, the monthly promotions, cheap prices, and encouragement of consumerist behaviour will only continue to increase spending and online purchases, thus detrimentally affecting the environment. Undeniably, the pandemic has called for more medical resources which also contribute to MMPW waste. Still, the reduction of plastic waste through more environmentally-conscious spending is one area where all consumers can significantly impact the environment. 

References: 

Bala, S. (2021, June 28). Singapore wants to be an e-commerce hub as Asia’s digital economy grows. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/28/singapore-wants-to-be-global-e-commerce-hub-amid-asia-digital-adoption-spurt.html

Consumers International. (n.d.). World Consumers Rights Day - Consumers International. https://www.consumersinternational.org/what-we-do/world-consumer-rights-day/

Peng, Y., Wu, P., Schartup, A. T., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Plastic waste release caused by COVID-19 and its fate in the global ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(47), e2111530118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111530118