Assist. Prof. Feyza Uzunoğlu Saçmalı, a faculty member at our Faculty of Islamic Sciences, presented a paper titled "Use of Second Hand Goods in the Context of Sustainability and Religions" at the symposium themed Environment and Communication organized by Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University.
In the presentation, Dr. Uzunoglu emphasized that all the things in the universe are verses of Allah, and living creatures are precious beings that commemorate(dhikr) Allah according to Islamic thought. At the same time, she touched upon the concept of stewardship and the belief that the universe belongs only to God in Christian thought. It also was emphasized that although secularization has dramatically increased in today's world, religions still determine people's choices, and she reiterated that eco-theology could help with the increasing environmental crises after the Industrial Revolution.
The qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews with Christian and Muslim participants were analyzed. In the interviews, it was concluded that adherents use second-hand due to religious motives and awareness of contributing to sustainability. In the research, it was stated that this case can be explained by the concept of shame culture used in cultural anthropology and social psychology and that such norms should be changed and various solution suggestions were presented. In addition, the impact of social media on overconsumption habits was touched upon, based on Thorstein Veblen's concept of conspicuous consumption and Bourdieu's concepts of embodied cultural capital. It is also stated that recycling, which makes the product return to its raw material and enters into a new production process, causes waste of labor, resources, time, and carbon emissions. It has been suggested that many products not produced as 'disposable' can be reused and that expanding second-hand use will contribute to sustainability. For this reason, it was proposed that second-hand use should be encouraged instead of recycling.
Information about the symposium: https://cevreveiletisim.beun.edu.tr
