Making the decision to start to live ethically can be as easy as beginning to recycle, switching off lights when leaving a room, buying local organic or fair trade produce, or eating less meat.
"[2] As Maxwell T. Boykoff, an assistant professor in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado, Boulder argues, "initiatives and plans that were formerly confined to the climate-controlled quarters of high-level policy briefing rooms and scientific conference halls are increasingly prevalent around the kitchen table, bar stool, front porch and corner shop"[3] making ethical patterns of consumption influential on domestic and international policies.
For example, there are many governments, such as The Netherlands, that strive to create a "climate neutral society" focused on "trend breaks in technology, policy instruments, industrial, transport and agricultural practices, residential designs, and societal behavior".
"[6] This phenomenon has led to a new proposition known as the "behavior-impact gap (BIG) problem" where researchers realize that there may not always be a proportional relationship between changing lifestyle habits and a decrease in one's carbon footprints.
Many criticize this argument, however, as they claim large organizations and multinational corporations increase consumption and perpetuate neoliberal and capitalistic tendencies leading to a loss of focus on "liveable wages, affordable health care, decent education, breathable air, and clean water.