Posted by Snow in 
I was scanning Stephanie Kaza’s excellent book “Mindfully Green” and an operative key phrase popped out. Unlearning Consumerism is the class we all need to take. The current generation of Western cultural residents have grown up in plenitude and conspicuous consumption.
Pride in extraneous possessions and energy and waste has been bred into us, from the 1950′s as proof of our security and the 1980′s as proof of our economic superiority. This arrogance has resulted in generational traditions of excessive purchasing and credit materials consumption that even now cannot be stopped.
The home and corporate entity as materialistic consumer has been proven in environmantal suit after negligent manufacturing litigation. The opportunities to introduce toxic material into the air and earth and water abound partially generated by the need to produce material goods for sale.
Markets react to consumer demand. Keynes proved this, and his theories operate today in almost every commercial entity and currency. But individual decisions about goods purchased must be informed and eco-friendly, displaying an awareness of sustainable practices that improve quality of life for everyone now and in future.
Consumerism plays to buyers who look for the smallest price. Price ignores feasibility of manufacturing safely and responsible sourcing. The ethical employment and payment of individuals for materials. Need analysis has to be part of modern consumerism.
Consumer buying decisions are the focus of millions of hours of study, research, and analysis by marketing research firms. Nostalgia, memory, experience, every kind of trick is employed to get consumers to grasp more, more, more.
Advertising created to hijack your senses and cognitive powers streams from every source possible. Print ads, video, even music shouts the name of designer brands, luxury cars, the good life. In these moments, an encyclopedia of everything one owns does not flash before one’s eyes.
Inventory lists of everything you own force an individual to acknowledge the plenitude they already own. Slowing down the buying process until you have verified the actual need merits the expenditure of resources must be a critical part of the new sustainable consumerism.
This is when recycling becomes less a part time hobby but a tangible resources. Replacing outworn goods or unusable materials with working ones does not always mean a credit card receipt and a big box at the curb. We can all see the connection now from the sales counter to the landfill. Stopping the flow of traffic is up to us.
RSS Feed