4/22/2020

HASHTAG - [#BUY NOTHING DAY] : ESSAY


THOUGH simply buying less seems an obvious solution to our crisis of consumerism, it doesn't reflect our current reality:

UNLIKE in days past, when possessions often held the story of who people were, today the story is told on a server. Photos, music and love letters are stored on a distant cloud.

Ironically, the mass devaluation of things has not caused us to buy less. On Black Friday last year, shoppers in the United States spent a record-breaking $7.4 billion in online sales, according to figures from Adobe Analytics.

So it seems that we are buying more, but the things we buy golf less value for us. What happens when our possessions are relegated to objects of more utility and efficiency, to fleeting signifiers of status.

For one, it becomes easier to discard them.

IN 2018 the World Bank reported that ''without urgent action, global waste will increase by 70 percent on current levels by 2050.''

In June Last, C40 Cities, a network of nearly 100 of the world's biggest cities, released a report focusing on more than 700 million inhabitants consumption habits.

It shows the collective desire for goods and services, including ''food, clothing, aviation, electronics, construction and vehicles,'' is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Rekindling our love of things may be the key to saving the planet. When purchase things we value from both an ethical and sentimental standpoint, we are more likely to preserve them even when they are defunct or no longer in vogue.

Building a culture of sustainability requires a level of collective satisfaction - to love what we have without the insatiable desire for more and to repair what we own without the convenience of casual abandonment.

Many believe the key to fighting the cycle of consumerism and waste is simply to buy less. On Black Friday, some Twitter users voiced their disdain for rampant consumerism under the hashtag #BuyNothingDay.

Minimalism is also making a resurgence among millennials who are not only more environmentally conscious but also do not have the extra income or living space to accommodate things

Though simply buying less seems an obvious solution to our crisis of consumerism, it simply doesn't reflect our current reality.

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on consumerism and planet, continues. The World Students Society thanks author, Bianca Vivion Brooks.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Grace A Comment!