The European Union yesterday launched its "Generation Awake: Your choices make a world of difference!" initiative, which encourages consumers to bear resource efficiency in mind when shopping. The campaign was unveiled this week in Poland by European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik and Polish Environment Minister Andrzej Kraszewski.

The campaign aims to raise awareness amongst consumers about the need to use scarce natural resources wisely, with the eventual objective being making a habit of resource efficiency amongst European citizens when it is rolled out across Europe.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said, "With our economy in difficulty and our resources dwindling, it's time to start rethinking some of our habits. Using resources more carefully not only helps protect the environment, but saves money and reduces business costs. It's about using less to do more. Everyone can do their bit. We just need to wake up!"

‘Generation awake’ principally uses social networking to spread its message. A viral clip, a dedicated website and a Facebook page which incite viewers to undertake "Generation awake'' challenges, including using only public transport for a month or reducing showering time to save water.

Though being initially launched in Poland, the campaign is a Pan-European initiative to protect the Earth’s resources. The campaign is being sponsored by NGOs, private enterprises and the EU; it will soon be launched in the Czech Republic, Hungary and the United Kingdom.

Voluntary measure will have little effect say Green MEPs

However, although the campaign claims businesses can use its message to their advantage; as an opportunity to offer more sustainable and efficient goods and become more innovative, the scheme has been criticised for passing too much responsibility to the consumer.

'Generation Awake may well increase consumers’ understanding of the impact the waste they create has on the environment, but it may prove difficult to change Europeans’ buying habits when little has been done about wasteful companies, including large supermarkets, which produce a significant amount of food waste, or actively promote more sustainable businesses.

Research in Europe increasingly pints to a shortening of the food supply chain as the best means to curtail avoidable waste in the food and farming industries, as well as directly empowering farmers. Moves to this effect have been suggested by research and policy organisations and have recently been embraced by the EU; the policy to support moves towards a shorter, more efficient supply chain features prominently amongst the European Commission’s Common Agricultural Policy proposals unveiled last week.

The European Commission's resource efficiency roadmap, unveiled last month, which aims to steer companies operating in Europe towards eco-innovation, has taken flak from Friends of the Earth for not going “far enough” and from Greens within the parliament for a lack of targets or concrete measures which could be implemented immediately.

Commenting on the Commission’s strategy, Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout said, "Europe is the region most dependent on imports and, clearly, reducing our absolute consumption of imported resources should be an urgent priority now the era of cheap and plentiful resources is over."

Eickhout said that, given the lack of concrete targets and flaws in its delivery, he doubted whether "the voluntary approach outlined by the Commission will suffice to realise a resource-efficient Europe."