Killer Consumption

Photo Credit: Heamosoo Kim @heamosoo

Oh, consumption. So many folks absolutely love you. They can’t wait to get something new, something shiny, something “on trend.” But oh, consumption, how miserable you are. Especially for the Earth.

Last month, one person after another told me, “I am trying to get my home back in order after the holidays.” Knowing that most folks had not hosted large parties due to the COVID-19 restrictions on gathering, I asked for clarification. What did they mean by “get my home back in order’? What was out of order?

It turned out that folks were referring to all the things they needed to give away, rehome, store, or find a place for as they returned their homes to their pre-winter-holiday condition. It was shocking to me to hear that some folks were spending entire days returning their homes to their pre-winter-holiday states. Did they have that many things? Yes. Yes, they did.

We have been taught by advertisers who bombard us with messages via television, radio, podcast, website, newsletter, email, social media platform, billboard, and every other way conceivable to buy, buy, buy. Consume, consume, consume. That is what gives us our value, our worth, according to advertisers. But so few of us even pause for a moment to think: Do we actually need what advertisers are selling us? Would we even want it if we weren’t associating it with the images of beauty, fun, wealth, sex appeal, good parenting, and popularity that advertisers are using in their ads to make us think we will attain those elusive possessions if we only purchase their things. We want to be objects of desire, so we are primed and ready to fall victim to the trap of believing that if we possess specific items advertisers are promoting then we will be envied, accepted, beautiful, rich, popular, and good parents.

But that’s not how it works. And in our hearts we know that.

I invite you next time you think you “need” something to consider whether or not you truly do. Could you live without it? Could you be joyous without it? Could you be healthy without it? Could you have good relationships without it? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, I invite you to hold off on buying whatever the object is. The fewer things we all purchase, the fewer of the Earth’s fiite resources will be needed to produce said things. The fewer of the Earth’s finite resources we use to produce consumer goods, the better off we will all be.

Now, if you find yourself with far too many things already, and you want to rehome them and give yourself the gift of more physical space in your home (which we all know simultaneously gives us more emotional and mental space in our hearts and minds), you can find places to donate by searching on Ecosia or whichever web browser you use for “places to donate -____ in zip code _____.” Or, you can start your search for places to take your lovingly-used-but-no-longer-wanted goods here, here, and here.

Give the Earth (and your pocketbook!) a chance to breathe. Make fewer purchases. Consume less. Reconsider what you truly need.