Consumerism

What is consumerism? According to Wikipedia Consumerism is a "social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in large amounts." Our nation is known as the nation of consumers, all we do is shop. Being aware of consumerism matters because it is good to be aware of what is going on. There are many things in the media that encourage us to purchase goods and services. Such things are commercials and advertisements. It is good to know where the products you buy come from. There are four steps to consumerism. The first step is extraction, extraction of resources from the environment, like trees, water, and animals. After the resources are extracted they are mixed with toxins, this process is called production, which is the second step. The third step is distribution, after the products are made they are distributed to stores. Products prices are kept low so that they are sold quick and more shipments of goods can come in faster. Products change every year just to make consumers purchase new products every year. We consumers want the new, updated, and in-style products. Without them we feel out of date and like an outcast. Advertising is used to show us consumers the new products that are created. The media and advertising also hide the steps behind creating products. They don’t tell you about the environment they destroyed and the toxins that are put in your products. Also since most products are planned obsolescence, pretty much meaning they are designed to go to the garbage, this is the fourth step, disposal. These products last about six months before they break and are thrown out. When they are broken they go to disposal, and they are either disposed by incineration or they are thrown into a landfill, both which create pollution. A very little percent of the waste gets recycled and then the cycle of consumption starts all over again. This is why it is good to be aware of consumerism. There are alternatives to consumer culture though, such as “...a strategy known as ‘voluntary simplicity,’ otherwise known as ‘downshifting. Our planet urgently needs us to explore alternative ways to live, and one promising way to lessen our impact on nature is to reject the high-impact lifestyles of consumer culture and voluntarily embrace ‘a simpler life’ of reduced consumption.”1 As stated before, our culture needs to downshift because we are having a huge impact on the environment. We need to cut back on this consumer culture and start living a simpler life before we ruin the planet. 

1.http://simplicitycollective.com/start-here/full-simplicity-essay