Every day we are exposed to a barrage of information, advertisements, and stories in newspapers, on billboards and on television… information that tells us what is important in the world… advertisements that tell us about our priorities in life… and billboards that encourage us to want more. It may seem all too easy to just accept what we read and what we are told… But stop and think about what is really being said?… What are we really being sold?… What are the real messages?… Who is telling them and why are they telling them?… Who benefits from these messages?

These messages ultimatly are produced so the consumer will consume and ultimatly for the companys own finantial gain. These companys often use methods of marketing which when you think about it are quite insulting alot of them are saying you need their STUFF to be special and valued. It is almost as if the some adds are aiming to make viewers think they can sell us hapyness which obviously doesnt work but people get sucked in over and over anyway.

Next, reflect on your own thoughts and perceptions… What assumptions are you making about the messages you read and hear?… How do your personal values influence these perceptions?… How has your family life, culture, gender or faith shaped the way you interpret these messages… the world?"

I realise that not everything you hear in advertisments is true and I dont think I have been brought up to be too materialistic and I definatly dont think I read too much into anything that trys to tell me i will 'be a better person' if i have a certian 'thing'. However I think my generation, and the ammount of marketing you hear every day has contributed to me having some feeling of associating status and value with stuff and I probably do sometimes buy things for this reason.

There are always competing interests in debates about sustainability and it is important to build tolerance around different interests and perspectives. However, it is also important to keep questioning and scrutinising what it is that people and institutions are actually seeking to sustain.

I think it is important to be tolerant of other peoples ideas on sustainability because if people were to work together to make anything sustainable then people are obviously going to have to adapt in the short term. making anything sustainable is going to affect everyone involved and not always in a good way initialy. I also agree that the people need to have a firm grasp on the concept of sustainability and what they want to sustain before they go ahead and make changes. This is because some changes that may seem sustainable may also have negitave impacts that need to be looked into.