Over the past few decades, we have been buying a lot more things. I mean, why wouldn’t we? They help us tell time. They help us brush our teeth. They even help us secretly watch cat videos (don’t lie, I know you do it). Things really just help us live better. But, what a lot of people don’t know is that things are actually hurting us on a large scale. The more things we buy, the worse our environment gets and the worse climate change gets.
In this post, we want to explain to you the ins and outs of why the culture of buying things (consumerism) may be the cause of our doom.
What is Consumerism?
To realize the dangers of consumerism, we have to understand what consumerism is. In its simplest terms, consumerism is the idea of promoting people to buy and consume goods and services. As time has progressed, consumers have been led to believe that buying more goods means a better future and that a successful life relies on buying and consuming more goods. The effect of consumerism leads to a world in which an individual is judged by the number of material possessions they have. Now, this may sound a little far-fetched, but we are already seeing the effects of consumerism on our society today. The truth is people are obsessed with having the new PlayStation or getting the new iPhone, and our world is spiraling into the endless pit of buying goods (ughh why so dramatic).
Where our Goods Come From
Have you ever wondered where the chair you are sitting on comes from? No, I don’t mean Ikea, I mean where did each individual part of the chair come from. The answer is the environment. The wood in the chair probably came from the Amazon rainforest and the metal for the screws was probably mined in Africa. You are probably wondering why the materials don’t come from America if we are buying the product in America. Short answer: money. It’s a lot more expensive to cut a tree down in America vs in the middle of Brazil. Another reason is that America is losing a lot of its natural resources. In the last few decades alone, America has lost nearly 30% of its natural resources. To combat this, corporations have resorted to stealing resources from third-world countries where resources are more abundant and cheaper. Not only is our environment in America getting destroyed, but countries all around the world are facing the effects of mass extraction of resources and the overproduction of goods.
What Resources are we Losing
So we know we are losing our natural resources at a rapid pace, but what resources are we losing and how long do we have until they are gone forever?
- Water
Water is by far the most dangerous resource to lose. Without it, we will die (no exaggeration). It is true that water as a whole is abundant in the world, but accessible freshwater is incredibly scarce. With the population increasing and the need for water in producing goods, we can be seeing a lack of water affecting our lives in the near future. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in the next 5 years, 1.8 billion, or about 23%, of the world’s population will be living with absolute water scarcity.
- Oil/Natural Gas
Oil is also an incredibly important resource in keeping our world moving and is used in almost every production process, not to mention in our transportation and even our energy. Unfortunately, the amount of oil reserves we have are only enough for the next 36 years and the amount of natural gas reserves we have are only enough for 48 years. However, oil and natural gas are not good for the environment in the first place and, luckily, alternatives are already in the works.
- Phosphorus
Phosphorus is not just any chemical, it is essential in creating plant life. Without phosphorus, plants will struggle to grow. The problem is we are running out of phosphorus fast and with a growing population, we will start losing more phosphorus at a quicker pace. If new reserves of phosphorus are not found, we can expect to run out in the next 50-100 years.
- Coal
Coal, though very important, is probably the least at-risk natural resource we use. Though we have huge coal reserves, coal is getting exponentially higher in demand, especially in countries with high populations like China. Estimates have us running out of coal within the next 188 years. (Like oil and natural gas, coal is often burned in the process of producing goods, which just emits more greenhouse gases. So, it’s better to use alternatives for burning coal.)
Affect On Our Climate
It’s not just the extraction of natural resources hurting our climate due to consumerism, but also the production of goods. The production process of some goods results in the release of many greenhouse gasses and other chemicals that can directly impact the environment. Some products are produced with many chemicals and when these chemicals are no longer needed, they are dumped into the environment. In fact, the dumping of chemicals is not a new topic. Companies have been using this tactic to save money but they have begun (knowingly) hurting the environment and the people living there. As per the release of greenhouse gases, we have already discussed that and you can learn more about that in our blog It’s Getting Hot in Here! So as of right now, consumerism hurts our environment through the over-extraction of natural resources and the unsafe production of goods, but it doesn’t end there.
Where Do Our Products Go Once We Are Done Using Them?
Ok, so now we have a product in our house, say it’s an iPhone. Maybe you have the iPhone 12 right now, but the iPhone 13 just came out! Well, it’s time to do that same old pattern again: throw out the “old” product and buy the new iPhone, a perfect example of consumerism. So, what happens to that iPhone 12 you threw out? Where does it go? Most likely, the usable parts in the phone will be taken out for re-use, but the majority of the phone will be sent straight to a landfill or an incinerator. This is the final major way consumerism hurts our environment. With more products being bought, it results in more old products being thrown out. This results in bigger landfills and more products being incinerated, both of which harm the environment severely. When products are burned, they aren’t only releasing greenhouse gases into the environment as a result of burning, but the chemicals in these products are also being burned and released into the air. So now we have established all the ways consumerism hurts our environment, so why do we keep buying?
Why We Keep Buying
There are two ways companies keep consumers coming back and buying their products on a cycle: planned and perceived obsolescence.
Planned Obsolescence
Planned obsolescence is actually a very simple term and we see it all around us. Essentially planned obsolescence is the idea of intentionally making a product terrible. No seriously, you make a product bad and you make it break easily so people are forced to buy it again. Planned obsolescence is all around us. For example, Apple stops updating older generations of their phones to force customers to buy a new phone. Apple could easily update their older generations of phones but they want more people to buy newer phones. Another example is lightbulbs. Lightbulbs are designed to die after a while so people are forced to buy new light bulbs. I know, it’s *bleeping* stupid.
Perceived Obsolescence
Perceived obsolescence is not as obvious as planned obsolescence. Instead of the company purposely making their products bad, perceived obsolescence is when a company makes a new product that is a lot nicer and newer. Obviously, a consumer doesn’t have to buy the better-looking product, but when people see them using an old product, the consumer is basically peer pressured into buying the new product. A phrase for planned obsolescence is “Keeping up with the Joneses” and it was created in the ’50s. The phrase is an idiom explaining the comparison and beauty of your products to your neighbor’s products. To keep up you have to keep getting the newer product.
The ideas of both planned and perceived obsolescence originated in the 1950s after World War 2. Since then, consumerism has just been building and building.
What Should I Do?
Well… stop buying stuff!!! Actually, I take that back. Buy things when you need to. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t indulge and get some nice-looking clothes, because that’s not harmful in itself. What’s harmful and what you shouldn’t do is buy things that you don’t need or won’t use to full capacity because this will unnecessarily use resources that will contribute to climate change and potentially put lives at stake. And, it’s not even that bad if you follow this rule. You help the environment while keeping some extra money in your pocket, too. Win-win!
Conclusion
As you now know, climate change is not as simple as it seems. In fact, these topics that we know to fall under climate change like greenhouse gases, deforestation, rising sea levels, and overuse of natural gases all have roots in consumerism. The reason climate change is more prevalent now than ever is because of our lifestyles as humans. Through consumerism, we are hurting our environment on our own, and the problem is we aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. It’s up to people like me and you to start making a difference in our lifestyles to do whatever we can to limit this chaos.