This Conversation Guide was created to support the facilitation of a Climate Conversation. It contains background on the topic, suggestions for starting a group discussion and a list of the resources used.
What is consumerism?
Consumption is the action of acquiring, using and disposing of goods and services. All consumption carries an ecological footprint. Some consumption is necessary for our survival.
In countries like the UK, we consume far more than we need. At the same time, in other parts of the world, many people can’t meet their basic needs. We’re aware of the greenhouse gases, pollution, and waste created by many things being created, used, and disposed of. So why don’t we stop?
To understand why we have such high rates of consumption, it’s helpful to understand the idea of consumerism. Consumerism is a framework of ideas and practices that functions to maintain economic growth.
Our economy produces a vast amount of consumer goods and services. All these goods and services need someone to buy them for manufacturers to make a profit. To accomplish this consumption has been turned into a way of life to maintain economic growth. Encouraging and protecting consumer spending is a priority for governments and corporations.[ Story of Stuff 2009]
Definitions from Wikipedia:
Consumerism means a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for survival or traditional displays of status.[1]
Consumerism means excessive materialism and wastefulness.
Consumerism is a force from the marketplace. It harms individuality and society.
Conversation starters
What does consumerism mean to you?
There’s more than one way of understanding consumerism. A good starting place might be to think about what it means for each of us. Doing this will help avoid confusion and pin down the parts of the topic that we want to explore. Don’t worry if the word is completely unfamiliar to you, or if you struggle to put it into words.
What are your feelings about consumerism?
What are the problems and failures of consumerism?
One question we keep coming back to is what can we do to change things for the better. One of Donella Meadows answers is to keep pointing out the anomalies and failures of the old way of thinking. What are the problems, contradictions and failures of consumerism?
What good things could we look forward to if we abandoned consumerism?
Sources
The Story of Stuff, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM.
Barber. Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change and Consumerism. Octopus Publishing Group, 2021.
Cole, Nicki Lisa. “How Sociologists Define Consumption and Why They Study It.” ThoughtCo, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/consumption-meaning-3026272.
Higgs, Kerryn. “How the World Embraced Consumerism.” BBC Future. How the world embraced consumerism, January 21, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210120-how-the-world-became-consumerist.