Effects of Consumerism on Culture and the Environment
Valerie Cunningham Giribala Joshi
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Effects of Consumerism on Culture and the Environment
Valerie Cunningham Giribala Joshi Summer 2020
Texas Woman’s University ENG 6403 Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Dr. Lackey
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Table of Contents 1. History and Context
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2. Propaganda
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3. Environmental Pollution
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4. Activism and Solutions
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5. Effects of COVID-19
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1. History and Context
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/trade-in-the-1600s Overview Cultural consumption affects not only our economy but also our environment and behaviors. The animal kingdom consists of consumers and producers. Many animals build homes to protect their families and store just enough food for the winter. Humans have taken that practice to whole new levels by not only making sure they have safe homes but that they keep building and buying more than what might be considered necessary. In society, people have looked to having objects to provide them happiness and to have more comfortable lives. This brief look at economic history begins to tell a story of the never-ending
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cycle of buying goods that can create bills, then working to pay the bills and throwing things away only to start the cycle all over again. What is driving this “hyper-consumerism” behavior: religion, propaganda in the commercials, or emotions? We continue the question: are all of our accumulated things making us happier, and what is our behavior doing to the health of our planet? Teacher Resources National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/koppen-climate-classification-system/ Texas State Historical Association https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/doogz This article provides information about the first oil fields in Texas and the en Youtube- Mandeville, Rousso, Oldenberg and Economic theory appropriate for high school and maybe middle schools https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=Youtube+Videos+-Ethical+C onsumerism#id=1&vid=0b10911f3e79d5e00fb8345470bc84ae&action=view Research Sources “Consumerism, Conformity, and Uncritical Thinking in America.” Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH), 2000, https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846775/Frantz%2C_Gregory.pdf?sequence= 1&isAllowed=y Leonard, Annie (Writer, Narrator). The Story of Stuff. Documentary, directed by Luis Fox, edited by Braelan Murray, 4 Dec. 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM. Lebergott, Stanley. Pursuing Happiness: American Consumers in the Twentieth Century. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1993, https://www-jstor-org.ezp.twu.edu/stable/j.ctt7zvmp1 Lewis, Alan, and Credo Reference. The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour. Cambridge UP, 2012, https://search-credoreference-com.ezp.twu.edu/content/title/cuppeb?institutionId=2115&t ab=contentshttps://search-credoreference-com.ezp.twu.edu/content/title/cuppeb?institutio nId=2115&tab=contents Lewis, Paul. “In Buying We Trust; The Foundation of U.S. Consumerism Was Laid in the 18th Century.” The New York Times, 30 May 1998, https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/30/arts/in-buying-we-trust-the-foundation-of-us-consu merism-was-laid-in-the-18th-century.html
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Payne, Christopher. The Consumer, Credit and Neoliberalism : Governing the Modern Economy, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/texaswu/detail.action?docID=987914. Rosenberg, Emily S. “Consuming the American Century.” The Short American Century : A Postmortem, edited by Andrew J. Bacevich, Harvard University Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/texaswu/detail.action?docID=3301099. Stole, Inger L., and Ebrary, Inc. Advertising on Trial Consumer Activism and Corporate Public Relations in the 1930s. Urbana, Ill.: U of Illinois, 2006. History of Communication, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/texaswu/reader.action?docID=3414023. Vries, Jan de. The Industrious Revolution: Consumer Behavior and the Household Economy, 1650 to the Present, Cambridge University Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/texaswu/detail.action?docID=347224. Wright, Erik Olin and Joel Rogers. “Chapter 7: Consumerism.” American Society: How it Really Works, W. W. Norton & Company, 26 Feb. 2015. https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/ContemporaryAmericanSociety/Chapter%207%20--% 20consumerism%20--%20Norton%20August.pdf
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2. Propaganda
Thomas Cole (1801–1848) from the Amon Carter Museum Overview Society is exposed to countless commercials touting the benefits of a product over another using disinformation and propaganda. The above picture portrays an idyllic view of what life could be like if a city dweller wanted to move west. One can see what looks like a more peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. This painting was one view of life, but the other message was to look at what settlements are doing to the forests. Truly propaganda had been around for centuries, but with the advent of television in the 1950s, there came an increased opportunity for the public to spend more money. In this section, we explore how levels of living standards have grown and what steps the government has taken to control propaganda in our daily lives. We also explore the need for the public to empower themselves as they practice critical thinking to make thoughtful buying choices. We also investigate how companies create ways to get the public to buy more and keep coming back by introducing customer loyalty options. Yet, one will also discover that sometimes, propaganda can be used to create a possible positive effect, showing that propaganda can have a potential positive side to it. Finally, we can discover that not all propaganda is used for negative responses as in the above picture. Why? This picture could also be inviting Easterners to go West
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for a better and healthier lifestyle. The other idea of buying and selling is again to promote better living conditions. But at what price? Teacher Resources Smokey the Bear, Wartime and conservation symbol. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-smokey-bear-180972549/ Ethical Consumerism https://greenstarsproject.org/2017/12/04/is-there-such-a-thing-as-ethical-consumerism-un der-capitalism/ Research Sources Griffith, Robert. “The Selling of America: The Advertising Council and American Politics, 1942-1960.” The Business History Review, vol. 57, no. 3, 1983, pp. 388–412. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3114050 Accessed 12 June 2020. Lebow, Victor. “Price Competition in 1955.” Journal of Retailing, 1955, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j0lhVeJXYa65dPgf-9pjKJQMuAfGlc9m/view?usp=shari ng Samli, A. Coskun. Empowering the American Consumer: Corporate Responsiveness and Market Profitability, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated, 2000. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/texaswu/detail.action?docID=3000194 Shiller, Robert J. “Spend, Spend, Spend. It’s the American Way.” The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/business/consumer-spending-as-an-american-virtue .html Sanders, Bryce. “18 ways to encourage customers to spend more than they planned.” The Business Journals, 20 Oct. 2017, https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/marketing/2017/10/18-ways-to-encoura ge-customers-to-spend-more-than.html
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3. Environmental Pollution
Angela Compagnone Barcelona, Spain https://unsplash.com/photos/g1xoeXbfuTw Overview By now, it should be somewhat evident that the public is part of a buying and selling consumer environment. Also, we have taken the behaviors of being consumers and producers to a much higher level than the animal kingdom. The issue that one begins to see is what does society do with the mass quantities of trash and pollutants it produces as it pursues the ‘American Dream.’ Most of the solutions damage our earth. Many members of society are conscious of the amount of trash and pollution they produce and recycle as much as possible. Yet, many more tend to ignore the problem and buy bigger and better homes and cars; use more toxic chemicals; and use technology that comes with plastic wrap waste ends up in the waterways, air, ground, and even space. Many have tried to answer these questions and warn the 8
public, but the consensus is that we have yet to become better at thinking through what we believe and purchase. The following articles and research attempt to support the need to change behaviors and become better stewards of our environment by thinking through the daily propaganda. Teacher Resources Disney-Pixar (2008). WALL-E - be sure to only use select parts of the movie. Available on YouTube. National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/microplastics/ https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/aquifers/ https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/nonrenewable-resources/ https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/globalization/ Leonard, Annie. “The Story of Stuff.” YouTube.com., Free Range Studios, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM Leonard, Annie. “The Story of Stuff -Bottled Water.” YouTube.com, Free Range Studios, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 Research Sources Baize, Laura E. “Consumerism And “The American Dream” Have Destroyed Us.” Medium, 25 June 2019, https://medium.com/@lauraebaize/consumerism-and-the-american-dream-have-destroyed -us-d4c7f9c2d5d7. Coghlan, Andy. “Consumerism is ‘eating the future’” New Scientist, 7 Aug. 2009, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17569-consumerism-is-eating-the-future/ Etzioni, Amitai. Happiness Is the Wrong Metric A Liberal Communitarian Response to Populism. 1st Ed. 2018. ed. 2018. Library of Public Policy and Public Administration, 11. Web. Holland, Oscar, and Edward Scott-Clarke. “How laundry is spilling plastics into the ocean.” CNN, 8 June 2020, https://www.cnn.com/style/article/laundry-plastics-microfibers-world-oceans-day/index.h tml O’Loughlin, Michael J. “How “The Americans” highlights the dangers of consumerism.” America: The Jesuit Review, 12 April 2018, https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/04/12/how-americans-highlights-dan gers-consumerism 9
Rhodes, Christopher J. “Plastic Pollution and Potential Solutions.” Science Progress, vol. 101, no. 3, Sept. 2018, pp. 207–260, doi:10.3184/003685018X15294876706211. Speth, James Gustave. The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability. Yale University Press, 1 Oct. 2008.
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4. Activism and Solutions
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/adapting-yourself-to-take-action-on-the-environment
Overview In the previous section, we learned about unsustainable consumerism. This type of endless consumption has been responsible for not only the depletion of resources but also makes people work long hours diminishing their quality of life and leaving them in debt. As part of the solution, we need conversations to discourage people from using disposable goods, living in large houses and expensive suburbs, traveling extensively in gas-guzzling airplanes, and big cars. Despite the tall claims of the consumer economy, it has halted social progress. Many organizations have been suggesting to redesign the global buy-and-throw economy into a circular one, by reusing and recovering material and products. Activists suggest that fashion should be connected with nature for a healthy future. Placing the Earth and the environment before profit can change the current trend. We need to overhaul the corporate culture. I watched a documentary based on Joel Bakan’s bestseller The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, which explores the corporation’s inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts, and possible futures. The author claims a 12
corporation is today’s dominant institution. Therefore, if people are made aware of the ills of the consumer economy, and leaders in the field of science, politics, and business, come together they can devise ways of sustainable consumerism and lead the common people. Teacher Resources World Wildlife Foundation https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/climate This page has a coupleof tried and usable options for classroom usage, including why it is important to the climate and economics. National Parks Conservation Association https://www.npca.org/impacts/bringing-people-parks-together https://www.npca.org/case-studies/restoring-the-river-of-grass Herond, Anna. DFW Landfill in Lewisville Scales back Business as it nears capacity. Dec. 2, 2019. https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/lewisville-flower-mound-highland-villag e/environment/2019/12/02/dfw-landfill-in-lewisville-scales-back-business-as-it-nears-cap acity/ Debate of shopping online or in person for environmental impacts. Research Sources “Consumerism Environment.” Canadians for Sustainability, https://sustainablesociety.com/social/consumerism#.XuQXaZ5Kg1I Hall, Maxwell. “Beyond Bags, Bottles and Straws: New Partnership to Tackle Plastic Waste from Source to Sea” World Economic Forum, 24 Sept 2018, https://www.weforum.org/press/2018/09/beyond-bags-bottles-and-straws-new-partnershi p-to-tackle-plastic-waste-from-source-to-sea/ “Home.” Earth Logic: Fashion Action, Research Plan https://earthlogic.info/ Kavilanz, Parija. “Got these brands in your closet? You've hit a resale goldmine.” CNN, 23 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/business/resale-clothing-top-brands/index.html Leszcz, Benjamin. “The life-changing magic of making do” The Globe and Mail, 13 July 2019, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-life-changing-magic-of-making-do/ Moss, Kevin. “Don't Read This Article: How Ads Against Consumerism Help Sustainability.” World Resource Institute, 05 Feb. 2018, https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/02/dont-read-article-how-ads-against-consumerism-help-s ustainability Stanislaus, Mathy.“Barriers to a Circular Economy: 5 Reasons the World Wastes So Much Stuff (and Why It's Not Just the Consumer's Fault).” World Resource Institute, 24 May 2018
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https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/05/barriers-circular-economy-5-reasons-world-wastes-somuch-stuff-and-why-its-not-just “The Corporation – Feature, Documentary.” YouTube, uploaded by Encore+, 6 Nov 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQYsk-8dWg
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5. Effects of COVID-19
Some of the shops are unlikely to ever open https://www.just-style.com/comment/whats-the-future-for-fashion-retail-after-coronavirus _id137480.aspx Overview Covid-19 has hugely affected retail shopping. People are spending less on retail, fashion, travel, and they are spending more on grocery and in-home entertainment. Online sale has increased due to the pandemic which contributes to packaging waste. Despite the surge in online shopping, the overall consumption rate has gone down. Even though the decreased consumption is having a devastating effect on the economy and culture, it has decreased credit card debt for several people and offered them and the fashion industry time to think and come up with environmental-friendly ways to do business. Before the pandemic, 150 billion items of clothes were being produced globally for the 7.9 billion population. Some entrepreneurs have been working to raise awareness about sustainable fashion. Can this pause in consumerism pave the way to a society where people—producers, consumers, regulators— start thinking about the harmful environmental effects of the current economic model? Some marketing gurus are predicting that the current pandemic is going to change consumer behavior, and anti-consumerism will change capitalism in the near future. People might break the cycle of excessive production and consumption, and adopt responsible and reformed practices. 16
Teacher Resources Amazon Prime Shopping Effects: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nicolenguyen/environmental-impact-of-amazon-p rime Research Sources Blanchard, Tamsin. “'Put Earth first': can a greener, fairer fashion industry emerge from crisis?” The Guardian, 27 March 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/mar/27/put-earth-first-can-a-greener-fairer-fa shion-industry-emerge-from-crisis Jones, Katy. “These charts show how COVID-19 has changed consumer spending around the world.” World Economic Forum, 02 May 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/coronavirus-covid19-consumers-shopping-goo ds-economics-industry Kotler, Philip. “The Consumer in the Age of Coronavirus.” The Sarasota Institute, 6 April 2020, https://sarasotainstitute.global/the-consumer-in-the-age-of-coronavirus/ Makman, Jon. “Coronavirus Quarantine Could Change Consumer Habits … For Good.” Forbes, 28 March 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2020/03/28/coronavirus-quarantine-could-cha nge-consumer-habits--for-good/#131459e1696c Shaker, Hossam. “Coronavirus: A wake-up call for global consumerist culture.” Middle East Eye. 5 April 2020, https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/coronavirus-wakeup-call-global-consumerist-cult ure. “Survey: US consumer sentiment during the coronavirus crisis.” McKinsey & Company. 11 June 2020, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/survey-u s-consumer-sentiment-during-the-coronavirus-crisis#
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Thank You for Reading! Let’s Strive for a Greener World.
