The “decreasers” : a challenge to the consumer | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

Sociologists call them “decreasers”. In France increasing numbers of them are refusing to consume ever more. They reject the spiral of the consumer society. While the rest of the population think only of increasing their purchasing power, the “decreasers” prefer to work less, earn less and spend less. It’s not about throwing away everything they own, but of progressively reducing their consumption by adopting an economical life style based on the “Resourceful” system. It’s a program that is attracting more and more of the French. It’s impossible to calculate the number of “decreasers” in France, but it’s a real trend, an increasingly less marginal strategy for adapting to the crisis. The “decreasers” are not misers, but ecologists who favour the “resourceful” system. In real terms they save on energy, water, electricity and petrol. They limit what they throw away, the travel as little as possible by car or plane, they boycott supermarkets and eat organic food produced locally to limit transport and packaging. So, who are these “decreasers”? What are their solutions for buying less and less, to limit their waste and to avoid the use of the car? We meet consumers who have decided to change their way of life.