The past decade has brought us into a new age of consumerism. Amazon, Uber Eats, and the like allow us to buy at the drop of a hat. It takes no more thought than making your toast in the morning. Instant buying and delivery straight to your door on the same day have dramatically changed our consumption habits. The choice to buy has never been easier—or more tempting—as, thanks to drop shipping and sweatshops, online prices can be incredibly low.
Whilst this is hugely meritorious for disabled people who struggle to access physical shops, and low prices can be a great equaliser, there are negatives. The most important thing is what it takes to get such a high quantity at the low price we have; many fast fashion brands rely on cheap and exploitative labour in the global south or even sweatshops in the UK, like in Leicester. Amazon is infamous for its treatment of its workers: from 1400 ambulance call-outs in 5 years (when they are willing to call an ambulance) to restricted bathroom breaks. The human cost of cheap products is too much. The bottom line has descended below human rights laws, and due to the growing monopoly of these companies, they are getting away with it.
Overconsumption also has huge environmental costs. Every year, we consume 1.7 times as many resources as the earth can provide, and this trend is seemingly worsening. The issues with high demand and short usage for products span across everything you buy. A third of all food is wasted annually, including a quarter of animals killed for food never being eaten. In light of such waste, it seems astounding that 1 in 11 people starve each year.
Another developing waste sector is digital or e-waste: roughly half a billion pieces of small tech and five billion phones are thrown away. The issue is that e-waste contains raw chemicals like lead and mercury, which are released into the environment when thrown away, especially with unsafe discarding practices. Local, usually low-income communities where these products are often dumped are exposed to these dangerous toxicants and can have injurious consequences, especially for pregnant women and young children (increased rates of stillbirths, neurodevelopmental issues and reduced respiratory functions, to name a few). These chemicals also have to be mined, so being able to recycle the chemicals properly would be hugely beneficial.
The fashion industry is even worse — it emits more carbon than the aviation and shipping industries combined. This is not only due to the production costs; even returning clothes is dangerous. Few returned clothes are resold, many are sent to landfills or even destroyed. This is a devastating loss for reusability and highlights the profits-driven mantra of these companies, as it is often more costly to pay someone to repackage an item than to just incinerate it. Our propensity to buy adds up. If one person does a big haul from Shein, it might not seem like such a big deal. However, that behaviour is normalised across society, especially internationally, which means that fashion and clothes shopping have become one of the worst, if not the most, environmentally damaging sectors.
So, what’s really the big deal? Unnecessary landfill waste not only takes up space but also results in toxins from plastics and e-waste leaching into the soil. This can then be washed away into local fields and rivers, adding unhealthy, toxic chemicals to crops and meat. Growing demands in consumption mean a bigger carbon footprint, with all the fun problems of global warming and climate change that come with it. Production having to meet demands means that our oil reserves may be depleted by 2052 (we need oil for pretty much everything – no country produces all of their energy through renewable sources). It’s not just a problem for 2052 because increased oil extraction in the Niger Delta has resulted in it raining acid, which has increased the cancer rates in the population.
It’s just as bad in the ocean: by 2050, it is estimated there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, with the biggest contributor of plastic waste being single-use plastic like straws and bags. In areas deeper than 6000m, over half of the debris found was from single-use plastic, including in the Mariana Trench. Likewise, 75% of the plastic waste in the Great Pacific Garbage Dump comes from fishing gear! Our excessive consumption literally reaches the deepest parts of the earth.
Overconsumption also hurts sustainable skills like sewing, and shopkeepers who would do these for you (think cobblers and seamstresses) are rapidly going out of business, partly because often, buying new clothes from Temu and Shein is much easier than having to go and repair your clothes. Especially when trends change so much, you would often rather just donate and buy again. But bear in mind even if you donate your clothes, 84% still ends up in landfills. Even more so, the thrifting trend has allowed second-hand shops to dramatically increase prices so that, for many, it is no longer a cost-effective alternative to fast fashion brands.
It’s understandable why buying excessively is tempting – businesses promote fast-moving trends and prioritise quick production over long-lasting products. Likewise, the government and how economic success is measured favour consumption and output over self-sustaining attitudes. It’s a complex system to escape because even when governments try to regulate with environmental concerns in mind (which doesn’t happen nearly as much as it should), companies move production elsewhere for lower costs, which often come with environmental damages. Ethical business practices are few and far between in a modern, overconsuming world.
Whilst these big corporations may be “the big bad”, it is our greed and belief that we deserve to have a new wardrobe every season to keep up with the changing trends that can keep them in business. Just because a capitalist system rewards consumption through economic growth does not mean these rewards trickle down to the people consuming. Rather than everyone getting richer there is a growing wealth disparity, with wages in the UK have stalling for the past 17 years, despite all these emerging billionaires. (Remember, it’s not meritorious if it’s built on unfair working conditions and the cost is the planet.)
So be careful with your next purchase. Think: do I really need this? When you’re at the shops, is there anything you need later in the month to prevent last-minute purchases with next-day delivery? Is there anything you can repair or reuse instead of just replacing it? And what damage are you doing by buying and supporting this company? A little extra planning from everyone could do the planet a world of good.