Tours and Tales

We all need to eat, have shelter, wear clothing (there are some who would argue this) and travel around. To do this, we buy clothes, houses, furniture, gas, water, vehicles, and the list goes on and on. However in undeveloped countries, this list is much shorter. “They’ve got warmth and sunshine” I’ve heard in rebuff as to why they “don’t have the same needs”. But this is changing big time now that India and China are becoming super-consumers.

The bad Western habit of buying, throwing away, buying, wasting, etc. is also catching on around the world as other people rightfully also want to enjoy the same benefits. They too are adopting a culture of consumerism. They are joining that vicious circle that not only consumes your hard-earned money, but also all of your time and energy leaving you with little to spend on your family and friends.

Just for the record, I am NOT in any way saying that buying stuff is wrong! I do however feel that we cannot carry on consuming goods at the rate we’re doing, especially using the current production cycles and methods. But the best thing … is that we can change it. We need to change it. Not just for the planet, but also for our own happiness.

Consumerology is the new religion that everyone is strongly encouraged to aspire to.

Marcel and I were walking through Amsterdam one Sunday this winter. One of my favourite past times is trying to interpret people’s body language and facial expressions. I was quite dumb-founded. There was hardly a smile, let alone a laugh. No one walking hand-in-hand relaxing in each other’s company. It was all so serious. Serious shopping. Serious lifestyles.

Gosh, this is the weekend! We live for weekends. They’re fun. Free time for being with friends and family and doing things that give us joy. We go on picnics or play Scrabble at home. We laugh. We cry. We argue. We make up. Most of all, we get to know each other. We give each other our time. And that is more than enough. You don’t need to impress or show off. We’re free to be ourselves!

Nowaways it seems that weekends are just reserved for shopping. We’re so busy during the week, that it’s the only time we have left. This treadmill’s exhausting and leaving us empty so we need to get a “quick fix” (sure, Amsterdam’s the right city if you’re looking for a fix, but that’s no recommended option either). It’s all so depressing!

Then amid dreary grey coats and wrinkle-inducing grimaces, the sun broke through and nearly blinded everyone. Most people scuttled off shielding over-sensitive eyes. To capture this mood, I broke the basic rule by photographing directly into sunlight. I love this photo. It depicts the new religion well. We’re consuming and buying things even on our day of rest and it’s not making us happy.

How did it get this far?

Contrary to what we might think, consumerism wasn’t an accident or a natural progression of the way humans have developed. Our roles in society were changed in the 1950’s from first being parents, teachers, nurses, farmers, … into one of first being a consumer and then a parent, teacher, …

We get bombarded by clever marketing (ads) that nitpick our faults and promise us perfect solutions. We’re told over and over again how to be better, how to improve, how not to be failures. And we all buy into it. The principles and the goods. The treadmill doesn’t seem to end.

We came across a brilliant video, called “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard. The full video on Annie’s website is 20 minutes long and describes how stuff is made, from cradle to cradle, and the cost it has on all of us. Naturally to get the full context of the video, you should watch the whole thing. But in the mean time, there are two excerpts below about extraction (sourcing raw materials) and consumption.

Chapter 2 Extraction (2.06 minutes) covers the sourcing of natural materials for producing the stuff we buy and the affect it has on the environment, especially in third world countries where miseducation is tactically used to plunder the natural heritage of local communities.

Chapter 5 Consumption (6.03 minutes) discusses the impact that consumerism has on us and how this modern throw-away society has been designed and marketed and we’ve been very obliging until now. It’s time to make changes.

What can we do about this?

The best way that we can make a difference is to speak with our wallets:

1. Only buy stuff that we REALLY need.
2. Don’t buy in to the latest fashion or gadget trends.
3. Demand manufacturers to build better-lasting products.
4. Be prepared and happy to pay more for durable goods.
5. Don’t buy unnecessary clothing, accessories, household goods and gadgets.
6. Recycle paper, plastic, clothing.
7. Avoid mass-produced cheap (plastic) products.
8. Buy handmade / recycled goods.
9. Use recyclable shopping bags.
10. Reduce packaging plastics on foodstuffs, clothing and goods.
11. Grow your own vegetables at home (they’re great in baskets!).
12. Find ways to replace fossil-fuels with sustainable fuels.
13. Support local communities in undeveloped countries: travel with responsible tour operators, buy local handmade art and crafts.

Habits are simply things that we’ve learned to do over time. Changing them can be painful, but normally this is much easier than we think or are told to be believe. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Gandhi

These are some of my suggestions as to how we can change our habits. What do you suggest? How we can live more sustainably? How do we reduce the cost and impact of consumerology on the environment?

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