Affluence and Over Consumption

Introduction

This article by Michael J. Hanauer, Director of Zero Population Growth makes the case that overpopulation more destructive to the earth’s environment than overconsumption.  

Read these FAQs on Buy Nothing Day.

 

Halfway down this web page there is a CNN interview with Kalle Lasn, founder of Buy Nothing Day.   Play the interview.   You’ll need a media player like QuickTime to run it.

  1. How does the interviewer treat Lasn?
  2. Is the interviewer correct when she suggests the average American shopper will never accept Lasn’s logic that overconsumption is harmful to the environment?

One of the primary antidotes to overconsumption is the Voluntary Simplicity movement.   Read this introduction to voluntary simplicity.

  1. In what ways is voluntary simplicity good for people and good for the environment?
  2. What are the barriers to the expansion of the voluntary simplicity movement?

Affluenza.org has about a dozen links to the impact of over consumption on society and the environment.   The one on the role that youth and over consumption is worth reading.

Scroll down this page on time stress and read the statistics they have accumulated.

  1.  Are you too busy?
  2. In what ways is your busy-ness and the lack of time you find to stop and smell the roses driven by our society, i.e., American Culture.

Go to buynothingday.org and click through all their links.   It’s a devilishly clever website.   Be sure to visit their Insecure Store to check out their tee-shirt offer.

Additional Cool Websites

Browse the New American Dream website.   You’re sure to find something interesting here.  

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material.html Material world photos and accompanying descriptions.

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/

TV Addiction.   It really does behave like a drug.

What you can do

Join the Culture Jammers network:  
e are a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs. We are downshifters, shit-disturbers, rabble-rousers, incorrigibles and malcontents. We are anarchists, guerrilla tacticians, neo-Luddites, pranksters, poets, philosophers and punks. Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century.

Check out the I Buy Different website.   It’s designed for youth that want to make a difference.  

Prepared by Eric Pallant and Terry Bensel 9/05.