Tag: Consumerism

Why Materialism Doesn’t Work

“The old fable continues to echo down the centuries. The waiting rooms of psychiatrists are filled with rich and successful patients who, in their forties or fifties, suddenly wake up to the fact that a plush suburban home, expensive cars, and even an Ivy League education are not enough to bring peace of mind. Yet …

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A Culture of Consumption: Living in a Material World

I’ll let you in on a secret. You know that shirt you received on Christmas? The one that you were thrilled to wear the first time around? Slightly amused by the second time? And all too soon, you realized the novelty was gone? In a couple of months, the same shirt will inevitably end up …

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Unsustainable Consumerism Part 4: Disposal

After three posts on the materials economy we’ve followed the story of our stuff through extraction, production, distribution, and consumption.  What’s left? Well, what do you think happens to our stuff after we’re done with it?  I mentioned in my last post that 99% of the stuff we purchase gets thrown away within 6 months.  Today …

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Unsustainable Consumerism Part 3: Distribution and Consumption

So far we’ve explored the incredible destruction of finite environmental resources as we extracted materials for our consumer products.  We’ve been shocked by the amount of conflict around our world that was literally caused from the fight over possession of these resources.  We’ve seen how millions of people globally suffer unhealthy, unfair working conditions to …

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Unsustainable Consumerism Part 1 – Extraction

It’s been about a year and a half since I bought a new pair of running shoes, three times the “recommended” usage time frame.  Now there is only slight wear and tear, but what makes me, as a consumer, feel that I am doing something wrong by not buying the latest style or most updated …

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¿Cuántos Esclavos Trabajan Para Usted?

Read this Post in English ¿Sabe dónde está hecha su ropa? Que manos recogieron los tomates que usted come? ¿Cómo los cosas que usa a diario se fabricaron? Su respuesta probablemente es no, y la verdad es que la mayoría de nosotros no tomamos el tiempo para averiguarlo. Podemos leer la etiqueta cosida en nuestra …

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How Many Slaves Do You Employ?

Do you know where your clothes were made? Whose hands picked the tomatoes you eat? How the items you use on a daily basis are manufactured? Your answer is probably no and the truth is that most of us don’t really take the time to find out. We might read the label stitched to our …

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