From ingredients for dinner to a new outfit, Americans love to buy. Although many people enjoy shopping and often find their mood lifts after doing so, how much is too much? Is consumerism in America out of control?
Nonessentials
When we really get honest with ourselves, much of what we buy, we don’t even need. Every year, Americans spend $1.2 trillion on nonessential goods –– that’s trillions of dollars going toward items we could live without.
- The size of American homes continues to grow, more than doubling since the 1950s.
- On average, a 10-year-old child owns 238 toys, but only plays with 12 per day.
- American women own 30 outfits each, on average. In 1930, women owned only 9.
- American homes have more TVs than people.
- Compared to 50 years ago, we consume twice as many material goods.
- Americans spend more on fashion accessories ($100 billion) than they spend on college.
Consumerism and the Environment
The things we consume –– from necessary grocery items to meaningless decorations –– are responsible for 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 50-80 percent of global land, material, and water use. While it’s easy to blame global warming and waste problems on large companies and businesses, our individual actions do make a difference.
As the American consumers’ demands for goods rises, producers release more pollutants, increase deforestation, and accelerate climate change. Consumer demands create environmental toxins we’ve already discussed on the blog, like plastic and animal products.
Money for Good
Habits to spend instead of save not only put Americans into debt, but also erases the opportunity to use excess money for good causes. If we stopped buying nonessential items (that end up damaging the environment anyway), the money could be donated to charitable causes, needy families, or church missions. Instead, most of us are choosing to buy another pair of jeans that won’t fit in our closet.
Solutions & Alternatives
What can we do to combat consumerism in our lives?
- Go on a spending-fast. Restrict yourself and see how long you can go without buying anything.
- Make a list. When you go shopping, make a list and only buy why is on that list.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. When we buy things we don’t need, it’s often because we believe we need them in order to be cool or likable.
- Stop finding fulfillment in material things. Life is more than the things we own – It’s time to start finding our happiness outside of materials we have.
Minimalism
According to The Minimalists:
“Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter from life’s path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution.”
Minimalism can help us evaluate what we need and what we don’t need in our lives. While some people believe Minimalism requires us to own a certain small amount of items, but the core of Minimalism is simply to only own the things that are important to us. Adopting characteristics of Minimalism into our lives helps us remove the impulses of consumerism.
This post is one part of a blog written for Dr. Philip Patterson’s Feature Writing class.
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