Throw-away Culture

I. Definition of Culture and the General Understanding of the Throw-away Culture

Culture - the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or
organization
- it is the social behavior and norms found in human societies.
It is a culture where human society is greatly influenced by the mentality the everything is disposable,
replaceable and temporary. Even more deeply in human relations, people are treated as objects rather
than people. There are often treated as objects whose value is measured by the pleasure they bring to
people who are perceived as having more power. As a result, this culture places no value on everything
since it can be easily thrown away anytime one wants.
Throw-away Culture is greatly influenced by the phenomena of Materialism and Consumerism.
Materialism - it comes from a basic concept that we have purchase goods and services in order to achieve a
status in a society.
- 2 types of materialism:
 Planned Obsolescence - creation of material goods/services that break apart sooner
rather than later, in order for people to buy more things.
 Perceived Obsolescence - products are perfectly normal & good by working fine but
there is this mentality that it goes out of style, no longer cool/relevant.
Sociologically speaking:
It refers to a cultural value placed on the accumulation of material possessions, a process in which
people base their sense of themselves, their well-being, and social standing on possession.
Materialistic Mentality: emphasizes that we become who we are as a person because of the stuff that
we possessed.
Consumerism - it is a cultural model that promotes the acquisition of goods & especially the purchase of
goods as the vehicles for personal satisfaction and economic stimulation.
- promotes a mentality that “good life is attainable through the goods life by earning lots of
money and spending it on products to claim that would make us happy, loved, and
esteemed”
- it describes a way of life in which people place high value on material possessions, and
which people tend to consume more than what they need.
II. Factors that Cause the Phenomenon
 Government - promotes the importance of Consumer Spending for Economic Growth
 Capitalists (Marketers) - In order to increase their personal sales and gain more profit, the
promotion of different products come into play through many advertisements almost everywhere.
Their marketing strategy, eventually entice us to buy stuffs and making us believe that we need it to
be happy and satisfied.
Difference between Materialism and Consumerism
Materialism is more likely to be an individual characteristic while consumerism is the overall
characterization of the mode of acquisition in a modern consumer society. Consumers do not have to
be materialists -- most aren't; materialists will be consumers, indeed passionate consumers.
III. Its Effects to Humanity and Natural Environment
In the milieu of extreme materialism and consumerism, people tend to consume more than what they
need by basing merely on their wants and disordered desires.
Consequently, due to people’s high level of consumption:
 it generates larger quantities of waste products and in the long run, squeezes the environment
beyond its limit.
 It created most of the current environmental imbalances which have already caused ecological
disaster in different places all over the world.
IV. Catholic teaching and Response
Principle of Stewardship
 Pope Francis’ guide to avoiding a “throwaway culture”. The pontiff has challenged us to shun the quest
for more, more, more in favor of solidarity. In the quest for bigger, better, faster, flashier, we have lost
sight of what really matters. In order to combat the throw away mentality Pope Francis has asked us to
plant, tend and nurture through Stewardship.
 Stewardship is a way of life, a way that begins with acknowledging God as the creator and giver of all
and responding with generosity and the responsible management of our resources.
 As disciples of Jesus Christ, we choose to be caretakers of all God has given to us.
 Gratitude for these gifts and blessings is expressed in prayer, worship, offering and sharing our gifts out
of love for God and one another.
 Stewardship is a path to holiness.
 It is the humble awareness that all we have and all we are has been given to us freely from God. When
we offer our lives back to God in love, He blesses that generosity a hundredfold.
 Responsible Consumption
 “Everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of
God’s gifts!”
 The role as protector does not simply mean buying “green” or recycling plastic.
 It means that, it goes to a deeply Human level- respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the
environment in which we live.
 It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the
elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.
 It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect and goodness.
 Learning to be a protector starts within, the pope explained, urging people to first protect themselves
against hatred, envy and pride, which become the seeds for larger sins and bad intentions.
Culture of Encounter
 According to a Vatican statement it means giving the world “a more human face” by seeing each other
as brothers and sisters and not as burdens, especially those who are poor and in need of our help.
 “It is no longer man who commands, but money, money — cash commands,” Pope Francis said.
 This idea of fraternity, of solidarity is not separate from or added onto the notion of protecting creation
but is woven into the fabric of stewardship.
 Pope Francis even tied the care for others and this idea of “encounter” to the waste of food, saying that
throwing food away is like “stealing from the tables of the poor.”
 He encouraged people to address the issue of food waste as a “vehicle of solidarity” with the poor.
Culture of Solidarity
 “We must never allow the throwaway culture to enter our hearts, because we are brothers and sisters.
No one is disposable!”
 “The culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is not what builds up and
leads to a more habitable world: rather, it is the culture of solidarity that does so,” Pope Francis said
 Let us always REMEMBER this: Only when we are able to share do we become truly rich; everything
that is shared is multiplied!”
 True wealth, Pope Francis continued, is not found in things devoid of real meaning and value but in the
love of God shared with others.
 It’s not the smartphone that’s inherently bad, however, but rather the obsessive need to have the best
and latest version of it and to never have it far from reach.
 “Do not bury your talents! Set your stakes on great ideals, the ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideals of
service that make your talents fruitful.”