As fascinating as I find consumer culture, it is hard to ignore the negative elements. I show the Story of Stuff to most of my sociology classes and really like how it describes both the cultural and environmental impacts of our consumer culture. Consumption is a necessary part of being a living organism, but the United States in particular has moved well beyond necessary consumption despite the fact that hunger and poverty remain issues throughout the world. Even environmental issues have been reduced from collective political action to the individualistic consumption of shiny metal water bottles and fashionable reusable shopping bags. We cannot escape this consumer culture entirely, but I think it is worth considering how deeply we participate in it and considering how to affect change in it. So, consider celebrating Buy Nothing Day after Thanksgiving. Hey, all you really need to do is nothing. For more info go to Buy Nothing Day 2011.
Adding to my list of tried-on-for-size majors, I was in Fashion Marketing Management in 2006/7 and an emphasis on eco-friendly/natural fabrics and designs were really starting to take off. So it's interesting to see how the trend has become much more prominent for pretty much all goods that we purchase - like the shiny metal water bottles and recycled material for bags. Interesting stuff!
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