As summers get hotter across the world — and Japan potentially faces its hottest summer on record — we’re met with a paradox: To stay cool, it seems we’re compelled to consume more. We consume more energy to cool our houses, and buy more stuff to try and combat the heat. That’s especially true in Japan, where consumerist habits and the changing of the seasons are close allies .
As effective as some of the many summer products may feel, the overconsumption they signify is the very thing that got humanity here in the first place. Manufacturing and the production of plastic, along with our insatiable appetite for food, speed, stuff and travel, and the resulting waste, all contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions making the world dangerously hot. So at this moment, when the planet’s ill health is in sharpest relief, it’s worth considering real ways to minimize cost and consumption — ranging from the traditional to the technological — without succumbing to dangerous heat.
Here are some ways to stay cool that are better for the planet. Walk down a city street in July or August and you’ll see an abundance of gadgets and accessories dangling from pedestrians. Sun parasols and hand-held electronic fans are ubiquitous.
Among the newer trends are cooling necklaces — plastic rings that you put in your fridge or freezer which act as a wearable ice pack — and devices that look like over-ear headphones which contain fans that blow air up toward your face. These che.
