Consumerism . what exactly is consumerism ?

well ,it is the belief that it is good to buy and use a lot of goods . Approximately 1.7 billion people worldwide now belong to the "consumer class"the group of people characterized by diets of highly processed food, desire for bigger houses, more and bigger cars, higher levels of debt, and lifestyles devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods. At present , consumption is increasing at an alarming rate , that is, today people often wish to increase their buying and spending power and buy more products so theycan keep up with others . Because of this huge , continuously increasing consumer demand, the planet itself has been out of balance for many years , and this imbalance is now showing itself in form of climate change . Climate change and its resulting effect will continue to worsen and is the the first sign of what is expected to become an environmental disaster around the year 2025

According to the Worldwatch Institute in its annual report, State of the World 2004. Americans and Western Europeans have had a lock on unsustainable over- consumption for decades. But now developing countries are catching up rapidly, to the detriment of the environment, Today nearly half of global consumers reside in developing countries, including 240 million in China and 120 million in Indiamarkets with the most potential for expansion. Globalization has greatly helped in making goods and services previously out of reach in the developing countrys widely available . Goods such as televisions ,cell phones ,computers etc which at one point of time were viewed as luxury items are now thought to be necessities .According to Christopher Flavin,President of Worldwatch Institute , increased consumtion has helped fulfil basic needs and create jobs. But the unparalleled consumer appetite has an adverse impact on the natural sytems .

On the other hand out of the three factors environmentalists consider responsible for pollution-population , technology and consumption consumption gets the least attention. The main reason is that it is the most difficult to change . Our consumtion patterns have become so much a art of our lives now that to change them would require a massive cultural overhaul in addition to severe economic dislocation. According to Richard Robbins, With the current economic system of perpetual growth, we risk being locked into a mode of development that is:

destructive, in the long run, to the environment a contributing factor to poverty around the world a contributing factor to hunger amongst such immense wealth and numerous other social and ecological problems

How land is used to produce food can have enormous impacts on the environment and its sustainability .Fast food chains of the likes of KFC and Pizza hut are on the receiving end of the wrath of major environmental groups due to their environmental impact. Rigorous breeding of livestock and poultry for such restaurants leads to deforestation ,land degradation and contamination of water resources and other natural resources . In the words of vandana shiva, author of the stolen harvest, For every pound of red meat, poultry, eggs, and milk produced, farm fields lose about five pounds of irreplaceable top soil. The water necessary for meat breeding comes to about 190 gallons per animal per day, or ten times what a normal Indian family is supposed to use in one day, if it gets water at all.

Consumption patterns in wealthier countries increases demand for various foods, flowers, textiles, coffee, etc. Combined with more harmful products such as tobacco and illicit drugs, and with input-intensive agricultural practices (including using herbicides and pesticides) the diversion of and misuse of land and the associated environmental damage in unsustainable methods adds up. Economic policies of developed countries and their consumption patterns imply that a large portion of the land is being used to grow cash crops for export to richer countries ,while the remaining land is used for non productive uses .additional land is being cleared to rear livestock for meat .looking closely at the uantities in which some of these things are consumed ,it can argued that a lot of this production is wasteful. The cost to the environment and local poulations is borne not by the consumers but local people instead.

AS Richard Robbins says ,Because food is a commodity, it is those who can afford to pay, that will get food.

Exporting Pollution and Waste from Rich Countries to Poor Countries

Pollution is also related to increased consumption. That is, the consumption itself, plus the production and waste of products used in consumption. Automobiles are a clear example. Other examples include industrial waste (especially when just dumped into the rivers and oceans), waste from the tourist industry (including cruise liners, air travel, etc.), waste from industrial agriculture, consumer waste such as household waste, excessive product packaging, our throw-away . Although pollution in the poor countries is on the rise ,it cant be fully attributed to rising populations ,because the figures provide by the UN suggest that about 86% of the worlds resources are consumed by the worlds wealthiest 20%.therefore ,even if

pollution is occurring in the underdeveloped countries ,a large portion of it is to meet consumer demand .

Increased consumerism evidently comes at a steep price. People are incurring debt and working longer hours to pay for the high-consumption lifestyle, consequently spending less time with family, friends, and community organizations. "Excess consumption can be counterproductive," said Gardner. "The irony is that lower levels of consumption can actually cure some of these problems." There is, of course, no easy solution to the problem. But first and foremost we need to reorient our way of thinking, says Gardner. "The goal is to focus not so much on sacrifice, but on how to provide a higher quality of life using the lowest amount of raw materials," he said. "We need to change the way we produce goods and the way we consume them."

Dr. Jorge Majfud says, Trying to reduce environmental pollution without reducing consumerism is like combating drug trafficking without reducing the drug addiction.