Veranstaltung Mitgliedshochschulen
Plastic packaging has become an integral part of everyday life. Buying long-life food, transporting everyday products, or protecting them is difficult without such packaging. The consequence of our actions is that more and more plastic packaging is needed and, therefore, produced yearly. Plastic packaging is a success story. It is light, cheap, available in various shapes and qualities, …. and has a long shelf life. But that is precisely one big problem: Due to the long shelf life, we have a significant problem if the plastic packaging is uncontrolled in the environment. In addition to being a massive waste of resources (most plastic is petroleum-based), plastic packaging is usually only used once.
Against this background, the lecture will address the following questions: Who is responsible for the flood of plastic packaging? Is plastic packaging really that bad? How can consumers reduce plastic packaging?
In addition to practical examples, various scientific studies on avoiding plastic packaging will also be shown.
Head of Department at the Chair of Marketing and Management of Renewable Resources at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences on the Straubing Campus for Biotechnology and Sustainability. Thomas Decker has been analyzing the prerequisites and conditions for sustainable consumption for 20 years. To do so, he primarily conducts surveys of consumers and experts. His focus is on applications in agriculture, using renewable raw materials and renewable energies. In addition to his research, he has been lecturing on consumer behavior and markets for renewable raw materials for many years. He also supervises students’ doctoral theses and dissertations.
In addition to his scientific work, Mr. Decker runs a part-time agricultural business. Among other things, he produces grain maize or wheat and experiences the effects of climate change due to changes in his forest.
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Environmental Lecture Series Summer Semester 2025
BEYOND THE SHELF: The environmental debt of our consumption
Every product we take off the shelf and buy comes with a hidden cost – one that is not reflected in the price tag. While we focus on convenience, affordability, and trends, what remains unseen is the environmental debt our consumption creates. From forests cleared for farmland, to rivers polluted by factories over mountains of waste piling up in landfills.
The lecture series Beyond the Shelf: The Environmental Debt of Our Consumption uncovers these hidden consequences. How are the resources for our everyday items extracted? Where do our discarded goods truly end up? How much energy and water are used to produce the things we consume without a second thought? And who – whether people or wildlife – pays the price for our demand for more? Some of these costs are invisible, like the carbon emissions from shipping goods across the world. Others, like electronic waste dumps, are deliberately ignored.
By understanding the debt we are creating, we can begin to make more responsible choices – for ourselves, for others, for the planet, and for the future. Now is the time to look beyond the shelf and ask ourselves: What price are we truly willing to pay?
