Consumer counter trend: More living, less having

Somebody passed on via e-mail a thought-provoking piece titled "Paradoxical times." Among other precious nuggets of wisdom, it says that we drink too much, smoke too much, spend too much, laugh too little, watch TV too much, pray too seldom. We have more knowledge but less judgment; more medicine but less wellness. We’re building more and more computers and communicating less and less. We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life. We’ve added years to life, not life to years.

So sad but so true!

Well, all that may soon change, according to expert trendspotter Marita Wesely-Clough, because "materialism, though still in full swing, is losing its momentum." People are tired spending so much time working. Now, they want to spend more time living.

"The desire to work harder to acquire more to enjoy is giving way to the desire to work less to reclaim the time that is our lives," Wesely-Clough zeroes in on this counter trend. "‘Working harder forever’ is being replaced by the new mantra ‘enjoying the time of my life.’"

With our daily "musts" and "shoulds," most people are looking for ways (shortcuts?) to get more things done in less time. Which, according to Wesely-Clough explains why there are now such things as home lawn care, robot vacuum cleaners, gourmet catering not only for events but also for daily meals, auto repair at home or the workplace, and even facelifts or lipos during lunch break.

Vis-a-vis that trend, Wesely-Clough observes: "Increasingly, people want to do for themselves, enjoy the process, bond with other do-it-yourselfers, become experts at changing the oil, edging the lawn, quilting a bed covering, handpainting the walls, creating elaborate scrapbooks and making multiple copies. Evidence is everywhere – home sewing, crafting, home decorating, gourmet cooking, garage sale-ing, Home Depot classes on home repair, how-to books (save a marriage, beat the system, rear children, concoct home remedies, sell for profit on the Internet, rehab houses and learn gourmet cooking)..."

While technology has improved the quality of our lives (though not the quality of our relationships), scientists are developing natural solutions to "sustainability problems that man has created." Clough-Wesely asserts, "Increasingly, science will repair the living world by applying natural principles – using the living world as the model for many diverse designs."

As a counter trend, consumers (who feel they have shopped till they dropped, or are maxed-out and overshopped) will be shopping more and more via catalogs, e-mail and eBay, so Wesely-Clough notes.

And again, overshopped and maxed-out shoppers may soon find megamalls and supercenters simply much too much. Well, the big (or is it small?) news is that people are "scaling down."

Says Clough-Wesely: "People will find that things are ‘too big’ just as Goldilocks did when she sat in Papa Bear’s chair ... Aging and empty-nester boomers are becoming overwhelmed by magnitude – too much to take in, to cope with, to manage.

"Small will be seen as respite from mega; hours saved from dealing with and caring for megas will be treasured. Proliferating neighborhood stores, scaled-down strip malls, variety stores, influx from suburbs, trading mansions for townhouses, micro/mini cars. More being, less having."

Yes, more living, loving and laughing!

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How to tell a good VCO from a bad VCO

You need not be an expert to know what a good VCO (virgin coconut oil) is, says a VCO expert who simply identifies himself as Sing in his e-mail. Sing says he’s had more than 20 years’ experience working for a leading producer of VCO in the Philippines. Here, Sing tells the difference between a good VCO and a bad VCO in answer to an outpour of queries from readers who have gone loco over coco.

Without opening the package, a good VCO must:

• Have water-like liquid color at room temperature; not slight yellow .

• Must be crystal clear, not cloudy.

After opening the package:

• Smell the VCO. It must have a fresh coconut aroma with no sour note and no burnt smell.

• Taste it. It must have a fresh coconut taste without even a slight sour taste. Sour means bad already!

• Apply it on the skin. If it dries out or is absorbed by the skin fast, then the moisture content of the VCO is minimal and can be kept for years. If it feels oily and sticky, moisture content is too high and shelf life is only a few months.

If the VCO is not properly processed, it tends to be slight yellow and cloudy. Slight yellow is a sign that excess heat was used in the processing and not total cold pressed. Cloudy means the separation of the VCO was not done properly. Many impurities were left in the VCO, which is why it’s not crystal clear.

"Do not be fooled by the packaging or pay a high price for it," Sing warns. "What you need is good VCO to use at a reasonable packaging cost. If not, the VCO container will only be a reminder of a bad experience."

A friendly reminder from Sing: "High price is no indication of a good VCO. On the contrary, it is an indication of poor efficiency in processing."

For more info, call cell phone number 0920-2286822; fax at (049)5620088 or e-mail cocoking@msc.net.ph.

Now, hope oil’s right with your world!

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