Drug addictions – phone addictions – gambling addictions – shopping addictions?
In a world of addictions, shopping addictions don’t seem so bad, but these shopping addictions fueled by consumerism are a little-known problem that is kept in the shadow of more surface-level addictions.
While consumerism may be seen as a helpful concept because it gives people the ability to buy cheap products easily, it is really a huge problem for society because it leads to high demand for products that negatively affect the environment, feed addictions, and pump inflation.
According to a study of economic impact on the environment by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, up to 45% of greenhouse gas emissions result from the creation of products. While some items like food are essential, over 10.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released annually to make goods like cars, packaging, clothes, and small business products.
Due to the rise of consumerism, the demand for these products is shooting up and, along with it, a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Along with polluting the air, consumerism also pollutes water. According to a study on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry by the United Nations Environment Programme, 20% of global water pollution comes as a result of the dyeing and treatment of clothes in the fashion industry.
Bangladesh, being the eighth most populous country and the second largest clothing producer in the world, faces significant risk due to severe water pollution. In Bangladesh, over 1.5 trillion liters of water are used annually in factories, contaminating waters with carcinogens such as oil, phenol, pesticides, copper, mercury, and chromium.
Farmers, unaware of this danger, irrigate their crops with these waters, spreading invisible toxins throughout the country in their food. What on the surface might seem like a fashion industry capital is really an unseen poison, threatening upwards of 170 million Bangladeshi people.
A single pair of jeans uses 3,781 liters of water and is equivalent to emitting 33.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, 87% of clothing fibers end up incinerated or in landfills, with a truckload wasted every second.
While the $2.4 trillion fashion industry employs 300 million people worldwide according to the United Nations Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, it is one of the least sustainable industries, producing more carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Despite the Bestseller Group and the H&M Group starting to invest in large wind energy projects in Bangladesh, change will not come without awareness of the buyers’ consequences of overconsumption.
Along with harming the environment, consumerism also diminishes mental health. Economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen calls this “conspicuous consumption,” where brands use advertising and trends to manipulate people into defining themselves by their possessions.
While shaping consumer identity, buyers risk shopping addiction. A report on impulse buying statistics by Capital One Shopping says that 73% of Americans shop impulsively, spending an average of $281.75 monthly, with 20% of shoppers making single impulse buys over $1,000.
This highlights a huge problem. With America being the largest consumer in the world, and projected rises in consumer spending, shopping addictions show no sign of slowing down.
While consumerism stimulates the economy and supports capitalism by encouraging small business and market production, inflation also comes as a result of consumerism.
According to the economic principles of supply and demand, high product demand raises prices, fueling inflation. As companies profit, wages and disposable income rise, creating a cycle of higher prices, wages, and spending.
Next time you check out the newest clothes, gadgets, or tools, reconsider where your products come from. Ask if it’s an impulse buy and if it’s worth supporting corporations that pollute the Earth, propel inflation, and fuel addiction.
