Saturday, September 19, 2009

Non-Consumerism: A Key Element To Green Living

America is the largest consumer of manufactured goods in the world and while we constitute only 5% of the world's population we consume a whopping 24% of the world's energy. In the United States, there are more cars on the road than there are licensed drivers. Cars and other forms of transportation account for nearly 30 percent of world energy use and 95 percent of global oil consumption.

Most of us have accumulated a mind boggling amount of STUFF. Rendered danger zones to enter at our own risk, our garages, basements, attics and closets are stuffed to the brim with camping equipment, grills, lawn mowers, old, broken and extra furniture, bikes, children's and adult's toys and games, gardening supplies, lumber, tools, broken items waiting to be repaired and boxes still unpacked from our last move (because we can’t find space to put the stuff). Items that at one point in time were considered luxuries such as televisions, cell phones, computers and air conditioning are now viewed as necessities or deserved rewards for all our hard work and all the stress we endure. The quantity of natural resources used in the production of our purchases and the resulting quantity of trash we throw away is staggering.

Some of us shop and purchase as a hobby, as a social event, out of boredom, to relieve depression, to escape bad situations at home, to keep up with our neighbors, friends and family's lifestyles and a host of other excuses. To finance these purchases, we are incurring debt, mostly through credit cards, and working longer hours to pay for our chosen consumer lifestyles, resulting in spending less time with our families and friends and at other worthwhile activities. Worldwatch has reported that worldwide annual expenditures for cosmetics total $18 billion while the estimate for annual expenditures required to eliminate hunger and malnutrition is $19 billion. Hmmm, let’s see…makeup or eradicating world hunger, decisions, decisions.

We have been trained to think by Madison Avenue advertisers that we want and need that bigger, better, faster, newer product and those of us who don't own them are somehow out of touch. A case in point involves my own profession, graphic design. The MAC computer is the standard in the industry tool of the trade and no graphic artist worth their salt would own one that wasn't "maxed out" with the largest hard drive, memory and processing speed. As a result, a large number of us graphics professionals rush out to buy the newest MAC as soon as its release is announced by Apple, along with the corresponding updated software, to the tune of a minimum of $1,900 up to $3,500. It doesn't matter that we bought we our "old" computers less than 2 years earlier or that it is still in prime working order. It's just the thing to do, it’s a new toy and we need (WANT) it. This mentality spills over into all our lives. When TV stations recently went digital, many of us used that as an excuse to run out and buy that big flat screen we've been wanting, paying no mind to the fact our current TVs were still working perfectly and only needed a government supplemented converter box to function. Shortly after digital was implemented, a walk around the neighborhoods showed these discarded TVs sitting by the curbs destined for the landfill.

Ways in which we can reduce our consumption is to wait a year (or two or three) to upgrade our computers, wait until the TV breaks down before buying another one, repair items we already own instead of buying new, shop at and donate to thrift and consignment shops to give goods another chance before they end up in the landfill, buy vintage and antique clothing and furniture made of better quality fabrics and solid materials which have already stood the test of time, instead of buying that new particleboard or plastic treasure we’ve been eyeing, an item almost guaranteed never to remain intact long enough to be purchased by future generations at any antique or thrift store.

We need to change our way of thinking to view non-consumerism not so much as a sacrifice to be endured, but rather as a way to provide a more environmentally moral higher quality of life using the least amount of raw materials, natural resources, energy and waste possible, while at the same time dramatically altering the way we produce, consume and dispose of those goods we do use.

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