Josephine O.

Ampit BS EST - 4

Date: January 25, 2013

Overconsumption is the Problem, not Population

The single most important environmental issue today is over-consumerism, which leads to excess waste. People buy too much. People think we always need new and better stuff. Will people ever be satisfied? There will always be something better or cooler on the market. Because people live in a capitalistic consumer culture, people have absorbed things. Overconsumption has become a worrying issue and a detrimental trend in the modern world. The main problem is that people have lost the meaning behind the phrase waste not, want not. Peoples want and desire more and more because advertising and corporations tell us it is what people need to be fulfilled. As that happens, the waste we produce starts to pile up, as broken objects, out of fashion items and packaging. And it tends to enhance over consumption. In addition to our over powering amount of trash that builds, we also have to look at where all the products that we have come from, how they were put together, and the environmental exploitation and desecration that may have occurred to make that product. Some developed nations, individuals consume and purchase far too many products, which are all too quickly consumed and not re-used, repaired nor recycled and after their usefulness has passed, are simply discarded or sent to landfill refuse sites. It will argue that overconsumption of goods and products are seen as one of many common problems arising today and will continue to be ever more problematic until action is taken. I will argue that as populations rise and become more affluent and developed the consumption of goods and natural resources generally tend to grow exponentially and in many cases unsustainably leading to serious consequences. The reasons for overconsumption in modern developed societies could be said to be somewhat complex and not only linked too many countries greater affluence but also to satisfy individuals personal needs. In the course of over consumption, the importance of developing behavioral change along with a possible return to the previous generations days of fixing and repairing faulty or damaged goods would be one way of reducing the amount of electrical goods or electrical waste that are often discarded. Further, to increase and actively promote full recycling to endorse it within the home/organization; so as to more effectively reduce paper and energy misuse would be of immense added benefit. Society needs to understand the dangers of producing and over utilizing too many precious resources in the needless overproduction of goods; and the potential devastating environmental effects that will subsequently occur.