The Negative Effects of Consumerism

The modern society of consumerism and rampant ‘development’ is destroying our world. The biggest problem with consumerism is the fact that people do not realize that there is a problem. We are already consuming resources at an alarming rate and quicker than our planet is able to replenish.
If we focus on Western countries where the culture is the most developed, the problem is even greater.
It has been estimated that if everyone on earth consumed the same amount as the average US citizen four planet earths would be needed to sustain us. The story gets worse with even wealthier countries, with an estimated 5.4 planet earths needed to sustain us [1] if we all lived at the same standard as the United Arab Emirates.
There are a number of negative effects caused by the contemporary consumerist society.
How does consumerism affect the quality of life on our planet?
Effects of consumerism on society: Global inequality
The huge rise in resource consumption in wealthier countries has led to an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. As the age old saying goes, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
Using the latest data, in 2005, 59 percent of the world resources were consumed by the wealthiest ten percent of the population. Conversely, the poorest ten percent accounted for just 0.5 percent of resource utilization [2].
Building on this, we could look at the trends in spending, and where this money could be better used. It has been estimated that just US$6 billion would provide basic education worldwide. Another $22 billion would give every person on the planet access to clean water, basic health services, and sufficient nutrition [2].
Now, if we look at some areas of spending, we can see that our society has serious problems. It is estimated that every year, Europeans spend $11 billion on ice cream – yes, ice cream! This is nearly enough to bring education to every child on the planet. Twice.
Building on this figure, around $50 billion is spent on cigarettes in Europe alone, and around $400 billion is spent on narcotic drugs around the world [2].
Effects of consumerism on individuals: Obesity
Research shows a close link between the rise of the modern culture of consumerism and the worrying rates of obesity we are seeing around the world. However, this should come as no surprise, since consumerism implies exactly that – using as much as we can, rather than as much as we need.
This causes a domino effect of problems on society. Over-consuming leads to obesity, which in turn leads to further cultural and social problems.
For example, medical services are stretched further and further as the worldwide obesity rates rise.
In the USA, per capita medical expenses are said to be around $2,500 more for obese people than for people of a healthy weight [3].
Effects of consumerism on the environment: Pollution and resource depletion
As well as obvious social and economic problems, consumerism is destroying our environment.
As the demand for goods increases, the need to produce these goods also increases. This leads to more pollutant emissions, increased land-use and deforestation, and accelerated climate change [4].
We are experiencing devastating effects on the planets water supplies, as more and more water stores are used up or diverted as a part of intensive farming procedures.
Waste disposal is becoming a problem worldwide, and our oceans are slowly but surely becoming a giant waste disposal pit. It is estimated that over half of the plastic produced every year is single use – this means that it is used once, and then either thrown into landfill or finds its way into the environment.
According to scientists, up to 12 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year, forming giant floating garbage patches all over the world [5].
What can we do?
It is obvious that we need to reduce consumerism and change our current lifestyles, otherwise the planet we know will cease to exist.
We are currently consuming resources at an unsustainable rate, which is causing mass environmental destruction and social problems across the world.
Make a change today by reducing materialistic possessions, increasing recycling, and raising awareness in your community.
[2] http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consumption-and-consumerism
[3] https://consumafooderism.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/obesity-and-consumerism/
[4] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0111_040112_consumerism.html
[5] http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/02/here-s-how-much-plastic-enters-ocean-each-year
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does consumerism give effects to the species on earth (especially animals)
why consumerism will lead to obesity ? hmm..?
This process is already happening. Look at the USA. Buying food has become so cheap that it is fine to buy and eat a lot of it. But because the quality is often not very good, it is extremely unhealthy and often leads to obesity. This also means that companies often manipulate people to buy their stuff. The use of cheap and extremely unhealthy ingredients (often cheap, especially trans fats) to create a cheap but tasteful product. But because of the low quality of the actual product, it does not really quench your hunger for a long time so that you buy more after a short while because you are hungry again (and it doesn’t matter to you that much because it is cheap). This is why you consume large quantities of extremely unhealthy and fatty foods that make you obese. Do you understand why?
Will the air pollution get better if consumers decrease? Please answer this question, thanks.
Hi Chi,
Yes, air pollution could potentially get better if each one of us decreased our demand for goods. It’s because less products would be manufactured and less natural resources would be used.
This would also reduce the need for energy that is used during the mining, processing, production, transportation of products, food or anything else we are regularly using. And as you probably know, most of our energy comes from burning of fossil fuels, which emits lot of pollutants into the atmosphere.
Hope this answers your question :).
Sara
Not necessarily…consumers don’t really need to be decreased but…if we take a step towards helpful measures like planting trees, protecting trees, reducing use of vehicle,so on….the condition of air may get better….
Hope my reply was helpful
But let’s not forget that with increased consumer demand, comes the greater need for more land to meet the demand. Hence, leaving little land to plant trees and in a fast-paced era, one can only risk to avoid vehicle usage and getting fired from their jobs for getting late consecutively.
This blog is intended to help us promote responsible consumption.
none of this answers my question wich it “what are the four issues of compassionate conservatism?” If u could answer this question that would be amazing.
I like your analysis however I can’t help but think you’re confusing consumerism with capitalism. Consumerism isn’t just about “consuming”, its about doing what’s best for the consumer. If given the chance, I believe most people are educated enough now to make a positive decision for both their and the worlds health. Capitalism has led to the rise of corporations that continually cut cost in order to meet larger expectations from investors and to line their own pockets. Many of these corps create their own demand, creating new markets with the “next big sell”. Government oversight is supposed to regulate corp greed, however many politicians are backed by corp parties. This leads to corps cutting costs (seen with BP oil spill, Purdue chickens, McDonalds, KFC, etc) to stay increase profits.
They cut costs because Consumers want Cheap Products, They need to make profit and be able to produce Cheap products. Look around you, people go crazy for a bargain. Black Friday and Boxing Day is a classic example of this.
Not all Capitalism is corporate Greed, there is small Businesses and Big Businesses that try to produce the quality over quantity. Tesla is an example.
The alternative is to have the Government own all the capital and if you think they are corrupt now then they will be even more corrupt when they own all of the profits.
What about the effects of consumerism on our mental states?
https://www.businessinsider.com/consumerism-is-making-us-depressed-2012-4
what about its complexity on sustainable development