Consumerist culture is killing the planet.

I wasn't going to say it, but since maybe I haven't yet, let me write. It's one of the most obvious and easy ways to use your dollar-power to either decrease or increase problems on Earth. 

What are you buying?

Our US Capitalism is all about selling more to make more money to sell more to make more money to grow to make more money to sell more to grow more and on and on. 

But most of the things we purchase in our lives either aren’t necessary, or are items that should last decades, most-or all of our lives.

If we are healthy, even our clothing should last most of our lives. We shouldn’t be buying new clothing every year. It takes a LOT of resources to produce clothing. I mention clothing first because as a female, I am targeted with clothing ads everywhere I go. Every day.

Our household items should last a long time. They should be lasting decades.


1. As an artist, this can be a dilemma. I love practical things, but I also love self-expression. So the dilemma one has living in a rich and privileged society is this; how do I express myself, my full and ever-changing-self without discarding and purchasing new things multiple times a year. Especially, when those new-things should be things that are lasting us many years to decades or even our full-lives.

2. We should be thinking about how to take care of the things we have so that they do continue to last.

3. Food. Waste. If we learned how to cook, we would reduce a lot of waste in our kitchens due to the purchasing of not-just pre-made packaging, but also letting things spoil because we forgot we bought them and we didn't know how to cook them so the idea of trying was daunting. (this was definitely me and sometimes still is!) Most of the trash we throw out every week comes from our kitchen or our hygiene practices. Since there are many low-waste swaps one can make in hygiene that have become increasingly popular and common over the years, the kitchen is the second thing to turn to when we try to reduce waste in our lives.

But the reason I posted this is because we, I included, are bombarded with ads telling us to “buy fall____”, “buy Christmas____”, buy your winter, spring, summer, thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, Graduation etc etc etc etc __________ here and now!” “Sale. Sale. Sale.” Every day, of Every week, of Every year, here in the states. 

But the truth is that following this advertising, letting it guide is, is contributing to our depression, our loneliness, our isolation, our grief, and the destruction of the planet we call home.

 

As an artist who values reducing waste and impact on the planet, and as someone who also values self-expression in every aspect of their lives, thrift stores are an extremely important if not totally essential part of my life. If I have too many things, I should be able to donate it somewhere. If something of mine breaks or I need a new one for some reason, I should be able to get something somewhere without adding to the problem. Thrifting is a beautiful asset and resource to our communities and I highly recommend you consider using one next time you need to shop or reduce your household item quantity. If we don't use these resources, they may eventually disappear and that is not something I think we can risk allowing to happen.

~Later~

Rosem