Image from Nishika Datla.
It’s the holiday season once again, and with that comes festive celebrations, spending time with friends and family, and, most importantly, holiday shopping! In the movies, Christmas is very much about the spirit of giving and helping those in need, but in reality it has become a commercialized holiday that companies profit off of. Around this time of year, every ad you see is trying to convince you to buy something as a gift or for the sake of holiday spirit. We like giving gifts to our loved ones and making people happy, but oftentimes the act of gift giving lacks thoughtfulness or meaning, and we just ask people what they want. The obligation to give gifts around the holidays has led to increased consumerism and overconsumption that is causing devastating effects on our planet. Inflation has been high over the past year, but this hasn’t stopped people from spending a ton of money on things they don’t need.
Black Friday was just a few weeks ago, and most people can’t help but feel as if the once shining epitome of American capitalism has lost its luster. Black Friday used to be a single day of can’t-miss deals where people rushed to the stores, camped out in lines for hours, and even fought over products. People would buy so much that they would be set for the entire year ahead. However, over the years, this glorious day has turned into weeks if not months of mediocre and unappealing sales. Some companies have even been caught increasing prices ahead of Black Friday and then discounting them to the original price. What was once “80% off” has become “30% off.” This change in sales has made Black Friday feel less special and decreased the hype for it overall. Online shopping and the pandemic are undoubtedly causes of this downfall. Some people still go to malls for the experience, or out of tradition, but the majority prefer to shop online from the comfort of their homes. The pandemic made many of us very reliant on online shopping. With everything available at your fingertips, people are more susceptible to buying unnecessary products, and it seems pointless to go to a store where you might not even find what you want. Although in person attendance has declined, the amount of consumerism has not and in fact has increased with the prevalence of online shopping.
The main reason consumerism is such a problem in the U.S. is because of the effects it has on the environment. The level of waste we create is staggering. The process to bring us our Amazon orders not only creates immense plastic waste, but also contributes to carbon emissions from the factory, plane, and truck that they take to get to your doorstep. Due to our level of consumption, companies produce goods at such an excessive rate and deplete our resources. Additionally, companies are making things worse quality and they end up in landfills after fewer uses.
Social media has only intensified the problem of consumerism and has glamorized overconsumption. Influencers have been promoting “retail therapy,” and telling their audiences that they absolutely must buy products they don’t necessarily need. An example of this overconsumption is the trend of skin care routines that require dozens of products and tools. Another recent instance of this is how influencers have been doing “pack my Stanley with me” videos where they equip their water bottles with unnecessary items: sanitizer, keychains, and lip balm that all require attachments. There are random traditions that are promoted year round as well that try to get people to buy more things, such as the recent trend of “boo baskets.” People online prioritize aesthetics and performative lifestyles over sustainability. Moreover, platforms like Instagram and TikTok shop advertise products for extremely low prices from sites such as SHEIN and Temu. Products from these sites are undoubtedly made unethically, yet people feel the need to buy them due to how they are advertised. A lot of products are heavily marketed toward younger children who are more impressionable. This especially happens during the holidays with things like toy advertisements.
People often feel like they don’t make much of an impact, and convince themselves that as an individual buying things in excess isn’t that big of an issue. We see influencers online care about overconsumption and the environmental impacts performatively when in reality they are part of the problem. A recent social media trend has been “Underconsumption Core,” which is about having less, but it has kind of been a joke.
What are we really doing to solve this problem? Just reflecting on your part in consumerist culture doesn’t enact real change, action does. It seems impossible to see real change happening in the near future. Most people see the reality of things and feel disgusted, but don’t change anything about their lifestyle. We need to collectively shift our mindset and see consumerism as the urgent situation that it is. Now, we aren’t asking you to give up all of your belongings and live in the woods or even to be a minimalist, but perhaps consider buying less things that you don’t necessarily need or that you won’t use for long. This year for the holidays, try to buy from local businesses or second hand products. If everyone does this, we will have less stuff end up in landfills. We need to emphasize balance. Underconsumption shouldn’t be a trend, it should be our reality.