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Jillian Luna

Professor Ludwig

English 101H

11 October 2017

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

Many people find themselves surprisingly disappointed when buying that one 'last thing

often falls vastly short of meeting societys coveted concept of happiness. Consumption can only

meet certain needs, and culture sets standards as to what those needs should be. Because human

desire is insatiable, attempts to satisfy these infinitely expanding needs through the simple

acquisition of goods and services continue to prevail. Simple consumption then morphs into

consumerisma social disease. This obsession with acquisition has become the underlying

principle of American life. To keep up with this popular lifestyle choice, big corporations are

constantly mass producing new merchandise. In turn, the world's vital resources are becoming

depleted waste and pollution in the atmosphere increases. Capitalism was designed as a

mechanism for efficiently allocating scarce resources, encouraging human ingenuity, and

improving the quality of life for those willing and able to participate in the system. This

economic model has been prodigiously effective at enabling people to convert natural resources

into fungible commodities and monetary wealth. By transmuting vast amounts of natural

resources into marketable products, capitalism has generated an unparalleled degree of wealth

and prosperity. In theory, the production of wealth and the collective quality of life can be

constantly enhanced under this economic model. Although it is considered to be the driving force
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of the American economy, a shift away from consumerism must be put in place in order to

prevent further damage to the planet.

The futile culture of consumption and consumerism is depicted in Alan Durning's article

The Dubious Rewards of Consumption. According to Durning, the happiness derived from

consumption is based on the comparison to others and oneself. In other words, the satisfaction

comes from matching or outdoing others or "outdoing last year" (Durning 773). The standard of

living then shifts at the rise of each generation, each needing more than the last. Therefore, each

generation grows to regard more luxuries as necessities and a new luxury is sought after. The

emergence of new trends continues to fuel the rising consumption attitude. As the demand for

goods increase, the need to produce these goods also increases. This exponential increase leads

to more pollutant emissions, increased land-use and deforestation, and accelerated climate

change.

Consumerism has led to the industry booms of fashion and technology. As people attempt

to keep up with the trends, these companies constantly pump out new products and pieces

ready to hit sale floors. These booming industries and factories account for the earths

deterioration of natural resources and toxicity of the atmosphere. Despite being different

industries, the similarities in the ways by which consumerism affects the fast changing pace of

both technology and fashion are clear.

Fast fashionlow-cost clothing collections based on current, high-cost luxury fashion

trendsis, by its very nature, a fast-response system that encourages disposability. In order to

assure customers return, high street retailers routinely source new trends in the field, and

purchase on a weekly basis to introduce new items and replenish stock. While many are
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concerned about the environmental and social impact of their non-fashion purchasing decisions,

very few apply such principles to their consumption of fashion. Disposability plays a key role,

along with speed and style, in fast fashion (Joy 273). In many cases, these clothing pieces

deteriorate after ten washes by which time the item will no longer be expected to retain its

original value, due to poor-quality materials and manufacturing. In a survey done by Dr.

Annamma Joy, Leticia, a Hong Kong office worker and participant explains that she " '[fills] up

big garbage bags of things and then throws them away. It is a lot of wasted goodssome of

which [she] may not even have worn more than once" (Joy 284). This excessive gathering of

belongings is a crime that a majority of Americans have cluelessly committed.

The environmental impacts of fast fashion range from chemicals used to produce textiles,

which pollute rivers and oceans, to high levels of pesticides and energy usage. One of the biggest

environmental impacts created by fast fashion stems from the use of synthetic fibers. For

example, polyester emits almost three times more carbon dioxide in its lifecycle than cotton.

Polyester is also present in 60 percent of todays clothing, and it can take decades to degrade. In

2009, about 21.3 million tons of polyester were used in clothing, a 157 percent increase from

2000. Fossil fuels are needed to produce polyester, and the materials carbon footprint is almost

three times that of cotton (Joy 280).

Almost as quickly as fast fashion trends, technology is constantly updating and being

released. Current models quickly become yesterdays trash. The production of electrical and

electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing global manufacturing activities. Rapid

economic growth, coupled with urbanization and the growing demand for consumer goods, has

increased both the consumption of electric and electronic equipment and the production of waste
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electric and electronic waste, which can be a source of hazardous substances that pose a risk to

the environment and to sustainable economic growth.

To address potential environmental problems that could stem from improper management

of waste electric and electronic equipment, numerous countries and organizations have drafted

national legislation to improve the reuse, recycling and other forms of material recovery from

waste electric and electronic equipment in order to reduce the amount and types of materials

disposed of in landfills. It is estimated that about 66 percent of waste electric and electronic

equipment by weight consists of metals such as iron, copper, aluminum and gold and nonmetals,

with other pollutants making up about 34 percent of the e-waste. Plastics were the second largest

component, by weight accounting for approximately 21 percent of all waste electric and

electronic equipment. There is an added danger that some of this plastic is flame retardant and

can be damaging to the environment if not disposed of properly (Robinson 186). Waste electric

and electronic equipment should not be combined with unsorted municipal waste destined for

landfills because electronic waste can contain more than 1000 different substances, many of

which are toxic, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, and hexavalent chromium

(Robinson 187).

Jonathan T. Park, student of environmental sustainability science, argues that economic

system is designed to use up more fossil fuels than our environment is designed to handle. The

known total of the Earths extractable supply of fossil fuels is around 2,750 gigatons, of which

745 gigatons are owned by fossil fuel companies (204). The proliferation of neoliberal capitalism

and industrialization, coupled with population growth, is cultivating an ever-growing demand for

fossil fuels that shows no signs of abating. Recent data gathered by the U.S. Energy Information
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Administration shows there is no indication that the market is responding to the undeniably dire

social need to consume fewer fossil fuels. The global demand for fossil fuels is a function of the

global population, and both categories are experiencing consistent annual growth. Thus, as

population grows, the subsequent demand for fossil fuels grows, diminishing the total supply and

jacking up the market value. Inevitably, the fewer fossil fuels that are available, the more

valuable they become (205). In turn, the usage of fossil fuels and environmental destruction shall

continue.

Because the American economy was built on capitalist values, many believe

consumerism and overconsumption are key to economic development as both factors combined

make up 70 percent of the nation's GDP. The modern economy is structurally reliant on

economic growth for its stability. Economists have to be able to answer the question of how a

continually growing economic system can fit within a finite ecological system (Jackson 1015).

Some may argue that American consumers have shifted their spending habits towards

environmentally green products. Matthew Kahn, a Professor of Economics in the Environment

and Public Affairs Department at UCLA, author of the book Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will

Thrive in the Hotter Future, hypothesizes that, as capitalism proliferates, and generates greater

wealth for more people, the demand for higher quality products, and a higher quality

environment, will likewise expand. Capitalism assumes that supply follows demand, and thus as

the demand for products that are conducive to a healthy environment grows, suppliers will

abandon environmentally-degrading products and processes and adopt ones that are

environmentally friendly in order to meet the new demand. In this way, capitalism will naturally

phase-out dirty fuels, wasteful practices, and low-quality goods that erroneously consume scarce
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resources, before permanent damage is done to the environment (4:59). The American lifestyle

does not need to be given up or thrown away as this system is beneficial to both the environment

and the economy.

The simplest solution seems to be regulation. However, this economy consists of billions

of transactions every day. There can never be enough inspectors, accountants, customs officers

and police to ensure that all or even most of these transactions are properly carried out. It is

virtually impossible to assure regulation would remain ethical through the hierarchy. Moreover,

those charged with enforcing regulations are not immune to corruption themselves. Therefore,

regulation cannot be the sole solution to the issue.

The true solution to decrease natural destruction is to change the spending habits of the

consumer. Although easier said than done, a shift away from consumerism would obviously be a

dramatic change for American society and culture. However, American capitalism does not need

to come to an end in order to promote this nationwide change. The optimal American lifestyle

calls for a new balance between consumption and other human pursuits. Sadly, this lifestyle may

call for the imminent end of the era of cheap oil, the prospect of steadily rising commodity

prices, the degradation of air, water and soil, conflicts over land use, resource use, water use,

forestry and fishing rights, and the momentous challenge of stabilizing the global climate

(Jackson 1015). However, our fundamentally broken economy is in desperate need of renewal

and revival.

Modern society strives after a mirage of wealth, yet little do we know or understand that

greed only sucks us deeper into the desert of want. Consumerism has left us in an endless

pursuit of satisfying needs that society constantly inflates. At the end of the day, prosperity goes
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beyond material pleasures. It resides in the quality of our lives and in the health and happiness of

our families. It is present in the strength of our relationships and our trust in the community

(Jackson 1016). Prosperity encaptures our ability to flourish as human beings within the

ecological limits of a finite planet. The challenge for our society is to create the conditions under

which this is possible. It is the most urgent task of our times as two of the largest industries in the

world take steps that are proving to significantly harm our world. We tend to fall under the

impression that to be a prosperous nation, we need to be most advanced in every technological

field. However, advancement in technology and production of goods will hold no significance

once the environmental consequences of our actions take their toll. As a nation, we must also

come to terms with the fact that our western ideology of advancement is not only harming

ourselves but the rest of the world, as well.

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Works Cited

Babu, Balakrishnan Ramesh, Anand Kuber Parande, and Chiya Ahmed Basha. "Electrical and

electronic waste: a global environmental problem." Waste Management & Research 25.4

(2007): 307-318.

Etzioni, Amitai. The Crisis of American Consumerism. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 4 Sept. 2012,

www.huffingtonpost.com/amitai-etzioni/the-crisis-of-american-co_b_1855390.html.

How Markets Will Beat Climate Change: Q&A With UCLAs Matthew Kahn. Performance by

Matthew Kahn, Youtube.com, ReasonTV, 5 July 2012,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWChDY4JzRw.

Jackson, Tim, and Peter Senker. "Prosperity without growth: Economics for a finite planet."

Energy & Environment 22.7 (2011): 1013-1016.

Joy, Annamma, et al. "Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands."

Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, vol. 16, no. 3, Sept. 2012, pp.

273-295. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2752/175174112X13340749707123.

Papola, John. Think Consumption Is The 'Engine' Of Our Economy? Think Again. Forbes,

Forbes Magazine, 30 Jan. 2013,

www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2013/01/30/think-consumption-is-the-engine-of-our-econ

omy-think-again/.

Park, Jonathan T. Climate Change and Capitalism. Consilience, no. 14, 2015, pp. 189206.

JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26188749.

Robinson, Brett H. "E-waste: an assessment of global production and environmental impacts."

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Science of the total environment408.2 (2009): 183-191.