Nearly every person owns at least a few items that they do not need, yet overconsumption is something that the majority of Americans don’t even think about. It wasn’t something that crossed my mind until the past year. It is woven into marketing techniques and social media, to always be buying better, newer, and shinier possessions. Entire college majors and careers are dedicated to making people want to buy more. Unfortunately, overconsumption is bad for the environment on nearly every level, and it should be a goal of everyone’s to try and reduce their personal consumption.
Two or three pairs of shoes; a few shorts, shirts, and pants; underwear and socks; pajamas and maybe a couple miscellaneous items are all a person truly needs for clothing. Nevertheless, next to no one has the bare minimum necessities in their closets. Now, do not go through and get rid of every piece of clothing that is not entirely necessary, but the next time you go shopping, be mindful of exactly what you want. If it was not on sale, would you still want it? Or is it the price that is alluring and not the item? Many thrift stores have to throw away or ship out pounds upon pounds of clothing every year because there is simply too much for them to sell. Fast fashion sites like SHEIN, ASOS, Romwe, and Fashion Nova only add to clothing overconsumption. This kind of overconsumption primarily targets young women. They are given these messages from society that if they wear the same outfit more than once then they are “not trendy”- or they are overly criticized by those around them. The Lizzie Mcguire Movie scene comes to mind- “Lizzie McQuire you are an outfit repeater!!” mean girl Kate Sanders says to Lizzie. It insinuates that Lizzie: is not cool, cannot afford “new” outfits, is not friend material, and much more. This is all because of a blue dress that is under her cap and gown, not even visible to most people. This leads to a never ending cycle of new clothes each season, so as not to appear uncool or poor, and now a new phenomenon of microtrends that only last a couple of weeks.
However, overconsumption is not limited to clothes: houseware and interior design are also a part of it. Furniture and the way a house was decorated used to last decades (except for the wealthy), it was built to stand time and it did not really matter what it looked like. For many, grandma had the same couch as far back as they can remember. She never felt the need to replace a perfectly good couch, even if the floral pattern went out of style twenty years ago. Now, there have been at least four major interior design trends in the last twenty years. Tuscan, modern chic, farmhouse, and a midcentury modern resurgence. Everyone has wanted at least two of these, and has likely participated in at least one. I’m sure a lot of our parents took these into consideration in the past few years. Not only is this costly, it’s also extremely wasteful. That is four couches to grandma’s one; it is a collection of items that have absolutely nothing wrong with them simply thrown out for newer items. Much of these housewares end up in landfills, only for the new items to be in landfills in five years.
Overconsumption leads to overloaded landfills, which in turn pollutes the environment. There is no reason for anyone to own thirty pairs of shoes, or to entirely redecorate every 4-5 years. It is causing harm to our planet, and if everyone reduced the amount of unnecessary items they consumed, a big difference could be made.