The meaning of consumerism
The concept of consumerism is used to describe an analysis category that arises with mass production development and consumption expansion. It is basically a social economic order that emphasizes the need for consumers to purchase products in large amounts. It is the cultural expression and manifestation of the apparently ubiquitous act of consumption. It is basically use to refer to a way of life that is preoccupied by consumption (Mile, 2012).
In our society today, consumerism is seen as a negative aspect of the life of people and their purchasing behaviors. This is also believed to be the cause of materialism in the society. In simple terms, consumerism is a condition that arises when consumers buy goods and services without considering their true need, their quality and their consequences of their production on the environment around.
It is, therefore, a movement that is driven by spending of huge sums of money on such things as advertisements without taking in to account the true need, durability, and the origin of those products. It is an economic system that is driven not by the real needs of the consumers but by artificial wants.
For instance, in consumerism, it is believed that people no longer put on clothes in order to cover themselves but only for show off. If these clothes are expensive, they become attractive even if wearing them is not needed at tat time. It is, therefore, a result of greed but not need. The consumer must have met all the basic needs before consuming commodities that leads to consumerism. According to Toscan (2012), we normally tend to consume many products after we have met our basic needs.
These products may include luxury items and ethnological innovations. It is at this stage that the consumerism arises because when people are consuming the luxurious products, they are not being driven by actual needs but by artificial wants. Consumerism therefore arises in the course of consumptions of a variety of items that are beyond the basic needs.
Consumption maybe a cause of environmental damage because people may consume less than what is produces leading to wastage of surplus. The surplus will cause pollution if it gets to waste. If the consumers demand more than what can be produced, there will be over exploitation of resources.
When the commodities that the customers are demanding are being manufactured, there may be a lot of emissions and waste materials. These emissions pollute the air, water, and soil. This may cause death of aquatic organisms, those living in the air and soil. Even human beings may contract some diseases associated with this kind of pollution.
Effects of consumerism. Examples of known environmental effects
Although in modern society consumerism is believed to contribute to materialism, it also has positive effects. It is believed to have created a culture in which emergence of mass markets, industrialization and cultural attitudes increases the earnings of people, making it easier for them to meet ever-growing consumption needs. The main a basic tenet of consumerism is that human desires are infinitely expandable and there are many ways to produce products to satisfy them.
Consumerism has both positive and negative effects in the society. For instance, in most cases, it interferes with the normal functioning of the society. It denies the consumers a chance to buy adequate supplies for meeting their life necessaries and community life. Instead, they seek to gratify an insatiable desire for thing and means of buying them. They do not take time to observe the utility that would be obtained form the products bought.
This kind of attitude results to surplus productions of products which end up getting wasted. This leads to adverse effects on the environment. There are a number of ways that consumerism results to environmental degradation. For instance, there is air and water pollution.
There is also land contamination due to wastes from surplus goods. Land contamination might lead to forest degradation. The organisms living in the soil cannot survive when the soil is contaminated. The plants that need the same soil in order to survive and be fruitful will also dry up when there is soil contamination. Most of these waste products form acidic substances in the soil making it hard for that soil to support any form of life.
Forest degradations that results from soil contamination also makes the land prone to more harsh conditions. For instance, due to this degradation, soil erosion is very common. This escalates the problem of water pollution because the soil containing chemicals will be washed away into the river. This shows that if one problem is not solved, it will lead to the other. There are also industrial wastes that cause pollution and automobile emissions that affect air and water.
Water pollution mostly interfered with aquatic life and my result to deaths of aquatic organisms. According to Toscan (2012), the kind of lifestyle that people adopt determines the impacts that they will have on the environment. The kind of lifestyle in the United Kingdom, where Toscan based his research on, determines the amount of carbon dioxide that will be emitted.
Carbon dioxide emission has been the point of focus on most of the economies throughout the world. The emission of carbon is harmful also to the lives of people. If inhaled by human beings, there is likelihood of contracting some diseases. This becomes very costly for individuals and the states.
World bodies and governments action in protecting precious resources
In protecting the precious resources, various governments have put measures in place to ensure that these resources are guarded against. For instance, to protect the environment, most of the governments have put some laws that deal with pollution issues. Companies that are emitting some gasses that are harmful o the environment are fined heavily if they do not control the emission (Bostan, 2010).
his fine is put high so that the companies will find it hard to lose a lot of money by breaking such a simple rule. It is meant to discourage them from using some energy sources that produce such substances. The companies are also encouraged sources of energy that are environmental friendly.
Concerning pollution of water and soil, governments have also put in place some measures. The governments are imposing heavy penalties to companies that are polluting the water and soil through waste materials. According to Mcpherson (2012), the governments are also subsiding alternative sources of energy in order to make them affordable to the companies. This will ensure that the company will only use those sources of energy that that do not emit harmful gases.
Reference List
Bostan, I. (2010). The Consumerism and Consumer Protection Policies in The European Community. Theoretical and Applied Economics Volume XVII, (2010), No. 4(545), pp. 19-34.
Mcpherson, S. 2012. Protecting Precious Resources. Us: Foundation for Economic Education.
Mile, S. (2012). Consumerism: As a Way of Life. New York: SAGE.
Toscan, S. (2012). The Impact of Social Factors and Consumer Behavior on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United Kingdom. New York: SAGE.