consumerism

My Spirits of Christmas Past and Present

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:22:07 -0500

by Antonia Zerbisias

Maybe it's because the youngest kidlets in my family are Jewish and don't celebrate Christmas that I am not feeling the ho-ho-holiday spirit.

There's none of the screaming excitement that my siblings and I would feel when we were finally allowed downstairs to dive into the monster piles of presents all around the living room.

Maybe it's because even the older children, who have everything and more, are blasé about adding to their stockpiles of electronics and other goodies.

As Consumer Debt Soars, Layaway Service Returns From the Dead

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:41:02 -0500

by Andrea K. Walker

With consumers leery of piling up credit card debt, more and more retailers are reviving a service that had been given up for dead: layaway.

Kmart began offering Internet layaway this year, and sister company Sears expanded its service to the Internet this year. Online site eLayaway.com has seen its business grow. Toys "R" Us announced last month it would bring back layaway on more expensive items such as bikes and cribs, though not yet in Maryland.

The Trap of Green Consumerism

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:49:35 -0500

by Raj Patel

I often get asked whether I think fair trade is a bad idea, and my response is usually "it's much better to buy fair trade than to buy unfair trade - but if you care about farmers, ask them what they want." In general, I'm not favorably inclined toward green consumerism.

The No Impact Challenge: Just Say Yes!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:03:07 -0400

by Kerry Trueman

Can you become rich just by changing the way you think? There's an entire sub genre of self help books dedicated to this premise, the best known being The Secret. The problem with The Secret -- well, OK, one problem with The Secret (there are others, but that's a discussion for another day) -- is that it promotes the fatally flawed equation that more stuff equals greater happiness.

A Reality Check From the Brink of Extinction

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:12:09 -0400

by Chris Hedges

We can join Bill McKibben on Oct. 24 in nationwide protests over rising carbon emissions. We can cut our consumption of fossil fuels. We can use less water. We can banish plastic bags. We can install compact fluorescent light bulbs. We can compost in our backyard.

It's Not Sex, It's Money

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:22:30 -0400

by George Monbiot

It's no coincidence that most of those who are obsessed with population growth are post-reproductive wealthy white men: it's about the only environmental issue for which they can't be blamed. The brilliant Earth systems scientist James Lovelock, for instance, claimed last month that "those who fail to see that population growth and climate change are two sides of the same coin are either ignorant or hiding from the truth.

World Consumption Plunges Planet Into 'Ecological Debt', Says Leading Thinktank

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:58:44 -0400

by Heather Stewart

Rich consumers are still voraciously gobbling up the world's resources, despite the worst recession in a generation, with their appetite pushing the planet into "ecological debt" from today, according to a report by think-tank the new economics foundation.

This "ecological debt day" marks the point in the year when consumption around the world exceeds the Earth's annual "biocapacity" — so for the remainder of the year, we will be eating into environmental resources that will not be replaced, according to nef's calculations.

Materialism on the Playground: Study Shows Power of Consumption Starts Early

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:35:23 -0400

by Misty Harris

The price of back-to-school shopping may be higher than parents think.

New research finds that children as young as five are already capable of judging who's "cool" and who's not based on their peers' consumption habits. The study, which will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, sheds light on what you might call popularity economics: social value as the sum of products and brands flaunted.

Consumption: The Root Cause of Climate Change

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:37:42 -0400

by Merrick Godhaven

Technology is part of the solution to climate change. But only part.

Ducking the Shadows of Suburban Life

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:48:50 -0400

by Stacey Warde

When the jets come, they start out like the shrill distant whine of a child, or with the deep rumbling sound of thunder in the mountains.

Each jet crescendos into an elephantine wail that fills the sky and all the spaces below it: kitchens, patios, bathrooms, bedrooms—there’s no escape. The wail turns to a sudden roar above the house, rattling the Victorian redwood timbers of mom’s home.

Finally, as the planes pass, their roar fades into a distant rumble….