The requirement for most of us to sell our labour and be ever more productive is compensated for by enabling us to increase our consumption. Given this dynamic, it makes little sense to forgo environmentally damaging behaviour when we know we have to work harder in the future regardless of our choices. Consumption is the payback for being ever-more productive at work. We often tell ourselves that we deserve the that lunch of foodstuffs sourced from hundreds of miles away, the highest high-tech gizmo, or long-haul holiday. We say: I'm working hard, I've earned it.