Consumption is necessary since all people need to have goods and services that we cannot generate by ourselves. But although consumption is something legitimate, the spiral of consumerism in which we are involved represents an excess that results in the overexploitation of the planet's resources. The problem is that we not only use resources that are finite and cannot be renewed, but also that we overuse those that can be renewed and that are doing so at a lower rate than they are consumed.

Its most obvious effects are climate change and the loss of biodiversity, with the resulting consequences that this entails: change in weather patterns, rise in temperatures, more intense storms and heat waves, drought, melting ice and rise in sea level, air pollution, depletion of energy and mineral sources, excess waste, loss of species, food shortages, more diseases and epidemics, poverty, migratory displacements, increased mortality, etc.

Reducing the consumption of all types of resources is essential to ensure environmental sustainability, but for this it is necessary to have information that facilitates the development of a more responsible consumption. There are some critical indicators that must be known.