Our series EcoHomeLife Explains brings you topics in relation to sustainability and explains terms, concepts and relationships. In this series, we will explore the relationship between consumerism and the environment.
There is no doubt that we live in a consumerist society. According to the Cambridge Online Dictionary, this means that we highly value owning things and as a result buy lots of goods, many of which we don’t need.
Rather than just tools we use, things have become a representation of what and who we are, according to an interesting article on the website of the British Psychological Society. Our possessions become a way to signal to which group we belong or want to belong.
Because this consumerism is very lucrative for manufacturers and sellers, we are constantly pushed to buy more through advertising. This leads to an over-consumption where we buy things just to own them, not because we need them or even necessarily want them.
But what does all this have to with the environment? Our consumerist society is responsible for the destruction of our planet, including climate change. And here is why…
We Use Huge Amounts Of Resources
To feed our consumerism, the things we buy have to be made and to do so, we need to use resources. These resources include water, land, fossil fuels and materials such as metals, wood, and other non-metallic materials.
The problem is that our world-wide resource consumption is rising. The United Nations Global Resources Outlook report 2024 estimates that our resource consumption will rise by 60% by 2060 compared to 2020 levels.
The use of materials is also increasing, on average by over 2.3% per year according to the UN’s report. That’s no surprise, given over-consumption is ripe in all rich countries. The more money we have, the more things we buy.
These resources are limited, and we are wasting them on things we don’t really need. To sustain our resource consumption with its upward trend, we will need two Earths by 2030 to feed our need for resources.
A key issue is that the environment is never considered when new products or technologies are developed. Our economic infrastructure hasn’t been built to take our planet into account. (Panizzut et al., 2021)
Plastic Made From Fossil Fuels Powers Our Consumerist Society
One of the most used materials today is plastic. Everywhere you look you will find plastic: clothes, carpets, gadgets, appliances, tools, furniture, building material, cars, etc.
And the reason is simple: plastic is a highly versatile material that’s cheap. However, the vast majority of plastic, in fact more than 99%, is made from fossil fuels. The chemicals that create this useful material are so-called petrochemicals, which are made from petroleum or natural gas.
We know that fossil fuels are the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for global warming and climate change. (Sei et al., 2020) So in order to stop a climate catastrophe, we have to stop using fossil fuels as much as possible.
Scientists agree that we have to keep fossil fuels in the ground if we want to meet the target agreed in the Paris Agreement, namely to keep the Earth’s temperature below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. (Rayner 2020)
This means we need to transition to renewable energy sources, but we also need to cure ourselves of our addition to plastic. Because simply moving from fossil fuel-based plastic to bioplastic – which is made from renewable sources – won’t work.
That’s because the production of bioplastics has quite a high environmental impact. Land use combined with the use of pesticides and fertilisers, which would be necessary to grow the source material is responsible for the negative impact.
At the same time, manufacturing bioplastics involves chemical processes which are energy intensive. (Tabone et al., 2021)
So we need to reduce the amount of plastic we use to the bare minimum and only use plastic where no other material would work. And that’s where consumerism comes in again.
Our focus on things and the need to buy them, creates a huge demand. And unless we reduce this demand, we will struggle to bring down the amounts of plastic that is needed. Consumerism and the environment aren’t easy to combine, because of this.
Consumerism Creates Huge Amounts Of Waste
One big issue with consumerism is that it produces a lot of waste. In order for us to be able to keep buying things, they have to be cheap. But to keep prices down, inferior materials and production processes are necessary.
In other words: the quality is low, which means that things don’t last. And what do we do if something is broken or damaged? We throw it away and buy a new one.
Let’s take the example of clothes. Consumerism has created the phenomenon called fast fashion. Clothing shops change their range every few weeks for consumers to buy. Fast fashion brands produced double the amount of clothes in 2020 than they did in 2000. (Niniimäki et al., 2020)
But in order to keep this affordable, the clothes that are produced are of low quality. After a few washes, the seams start to unravel and holes appear.
The result: the clothes get thrown away, and new ones bought. And this happens every few weeks, so you can imagine how many clothes get thrown away each year. Almost 75% of fast fashion clothing items are thrown away and end up in landfill. (Castagna et al., 2022)
And it’s not just the consumers themselves. The clothes stores also throw away anything they can’t sell before the new items arrive. It’s cheaper than recycling them, so off to landfill it all goes.
On top of this, these clothes are made from synthetic fibres such as nylon and polyester, which means plastic of course. As they degrade over hundreds of years, they shed microfibres, which are basically microplastics.
They get eaten by animals, absorbed into the soil, and they even get into us humans through drinking water and the fish we eat. (Surana et al., 2023)
And it’s the same with other things. It’s cheaper and easier to buy a new washing machine if the old one breaks down. Broken vase? Throw it away and get a new one.
Rather than repairing our things, we just throw them in the bin, thus creating a huge amount of waste.
Can Consumerism And The Environment Coexist Peacefully?
That’s the big question. Can we continue as we are while also protecting the environment? No, is the answer. We need to move away from being a consumerist society. Scientists have estimated that if people in the EU were to reduce their consumption of goods, the EU’s carbon footprint could be reduced by 26%. (Thøgersen 2021)
Imagine how big an impact it would have worldwide. And the good news is, it’s something that every single person can do. It won’t cost any money; on the contrary, it will save you money.
We just have to stop buying things that we don’t need, just for the sake of owning them. I know, it’s easier said than done. Especially with adverts constantly telling us about all the things we can’t live without.
But it’s possible. I have changed my behaviour when it comes to buying things. I only buy things I need, including when it comes to clothes.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can never buy anything because you want it rather than because you need it. But it’s about awareness and intention, aiming at reducing the amount of pointless things we buy and own. Here is how I do it:
- Whenever I consider buying something, I ask myself: “Do I really need this?” If the answer is no, but I really want it, I ask
- “If I buy it, will I use it regularly?” If the answer is probably not (you have to be honest with yourself here), then I won’t buy it. If I think I will, then I ask
- “Will it make me smile/happy/feel better to use it?” If the answer is probably not, I won’t buy it. If the answer is yes, I will buy it.
At first, I noticed that I thought that I needed lots of things. But as time went on, I more often than not told myself that I didn’t need whatever it was. It’s astonishing how little things we actually need in life.
Now I hardly buy anything that I don’t need. I haven’t bought any clothes for a few years now, because the ones I have are still perfectly fine.
I have also started to try and repair as much as I can. And if something can’t be repaired I see if I can make something else out of it. Especially with clothes, this works quite well.
We don’t have to give up buying things, but we have to be more conscious about why we want to buy something. Often, it’s just because we saw an advert or TV or social media, but if we think about it, we can make the conscious decision whether we need it or not.
Try it out! Challenge yourself to buy less and save our environment.
