English: About my priorities

Consumption is an important concept in economics, it helps economy’s growth and success. When we buy something, we are contributing to an entire chain. From the producer to the distributor, several companies may continue to exist and keep people’s jobs because of consuming. So, employment rates benefit from consumption. Taxes benefit also from both, employment and consumption. Social security benefit from taxes. So, as you can see, this is all connected.

But in some cases, we may spend money in products and services that do not add much thing to our lives, money that could be useful to face other expenditures or even to saving. Superfluous spending that is what we are referring. It is important to be aware of that, reflecting about the choices we make when we are consuming. On the edge, superfluous spending may lead to wasting and that deserves our attention.

Let us reflect about our priorities regarding consuming, particularly about superfluous spending and wasting, and to what we can do differently.

Encourage to a responsible family consumption
In order to encourage to a responsible family consumption, you should identify the major spending items in your family, in a regular month, trying to identify the relevant ones and eventual superfluous spending, bearing in mind, the role of consuming on the economy.
Showcase alternatives to superfluous family spending
Aiming to be a responsible consumer, you should be able of establishing your priorities regarding the things that a family usually buy and analyse superfluous spending that eventually are made. Regarding that, you may point out alternatives, that is, more efficient products or even a change in a specific habit.
Create scenarios to avoid wasting
First you should identify what could be a waste in a family consumption context and then, identify ways to reduce it, namely what can that waste represent in an average familiar budget.

Encourage to a responsible family consumption

You may use these links or others to collect some information about the impact of consumption on the economy, major spending items in a family context and ideas to a responsible family consumption:

https://www.thebalance.com/consumer-spending-definition-and-determinants-3305917
https://www.thebalance.com/consumer-spending-trends-and-current-statistics-3305916
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1031245?seq=1
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/why-responsible-consumption-is-everyone-s-business/
https://www.weforum.org/platforms/shaping-the-future-of-consumption
Afterwards, you should identify the consumption spending in your family in a regular month, detailing different kinds of expenditures – Housing; Financial Services and Insurances; Health care; Education; Cable, internet and mobiles; Food; Other non-durable goods - and its relevance to your family’s wellbeing. Is all the spending relevant or is there a part of it that is superfluous? Use a presentation to sum up your conclusions and then, discuss it with your family.
Showcase alternatives to superfluous family spending

You may use these links or others to get some ideas about different priorities people may have in what spending money is concerned, as well as alternatives to superfluous spending:

https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-consumption-3026292
https://web.extension.illinois.edu/toughtimes/menu_spending.cfm
https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-prioritize-your-budget-453693
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-an-ethical-consumer-3026072
https://www.thoughtco.com/ethical-consumer-challenges-3026073
Then, you should present your own perspective, making a map with: 1) what should be the priorities in terms of a family consumption; 2) what can be considered as superfluous spending and 3) what can be considered as alternatives to that superfluous spending.
Create scenarios to avoid wasting

You may use these links or others to collect some tips about what can be considered wasting, the situations in which it can occur and scenarios to avoid it:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/reduce-food-waste#section1
https://greatist.com/health/how-to-ways-reduce-food-waste#1
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-reduce-food-waste
https://greenactioncentre.ca/reduce-your-waste/14-ways-to-reduce-water-waste/
https://greenactioncentre.ca/reduce-your-waste/food-waste-is-a-bigger-problem-than-you-may-think/
You should create a poster or a film, what suits best your objective, identifying ways to reduce wasting in a family context and what can it represent in an average familiar budget. To complete this task, you should research by your own, get your perspective and get the opinion of other members of your family so that your poster or film could have a global perspective.

After complete this WebQuest, I can:

Reflect about the impact of consuming on the economy	Yes	No
Establish priorities	Yes	No
Describe wasting	Yes	No
Select major spending items in my family	Yes	No
Analyse superfluous spending	Yes	No
Discuss about wasting situations	Yes	No
Encourage to a responsible family consumption	Yes	No
Showcase alternatives to superfluous family spending	Yes	No
Create scenarios to avoid wasting	Yes	No

*If you answered NO to more than half of the statements, you should go through WebQuest again and acquire more knowledge and skills if you answered YES to almost all questions; congratulations on your great success!

It is important to understand the impact of consumption on the economy. We should not forget that there are people’s jobs behind the goods and services that we buy. Therefore, besides giving us pleasure, spending money has a useful component.

Nevertheless, it is also important to have a conscious and responsible attitude towards our daily routines regarding consumption. “Why did I buy this? What did I have in mind when I decided to buy it?” – did you have already this kind of thought? If so, this is a useful WebQuest for you. If not, never mind: you know that prevention is better than cure, right?

By doing this WebQuest, you were challenged to reflect about the consumption pattern occurring in your home, made by you and your family. But also, you were confronted with superfluous spending and wasting. Even if that is not a reality in your family, you may have had the opportunity to reflect about some situations that occur in a family consumption context and identify what may be improved regarding spending money, aiming to a responsible family consumption. It is all about defining your priorities!