Pollution:

 

Scientists have rounded off the amount of space needed to maintain the waste produced by a single human, and their answer was four to six hectares (40,000-60,000 meters 2) of land. Now think of yourself as 1 of 7 billion. So if one person needs that much space, how much space does SEVEN BILLION people need? The more people that are getting born the more space we need, but unfortunately one horrible day, we’ll run out of space, then what?

 

So if we think about it the more we bring on to this planet, and the more we consume, the more we dispose. Now this part is really starting to become an issue. If only consumers and factories would understand the word RUN OUT. Now this is not a thing to pull a blind eye towards and just think, “It’s a problem for another day. This starting to get really serious, and in years to come, earth will just become a massive trashcan.

Something that happens that seems to be becoming a new trend is that the rich think, “Hmm, we’re running out of space in our country, so why don’t we just ship it all to the poor, let them deal with our problems.”

 

 

 

Loss of natural resources:

 

Now if you think about it, it’s great and all that stuff is being made and consumed, but where does all this come from? How and where do we get all this “stuff”, and why is this becoming such a huge problem. Like I said earlier, people do not understand the word RUN OUT! All this stuff we find hidden beneath the earth is not just re spawning, it’s running out, and one day when everything is gone, then people only then will people realize that it was a huge problem.

Nowadays, fast food restaurants such as KFC, or Pizza Hut are in huge trouble from eco activists because of their production of food. But still, people carry one wolfing down these toxins without a care in the world. Now you’re probably wondering, what does KFC have to do with loss of resources, well I’m about to tell you why. You see fast food companies are using 863 litres of water per animal per day. So most people point out that this fast food is bad for you, but what they often don’t see is the fact of how much water they are using. So just remember these facts the next time you eat fast food.

 

 

Business and economics:

 

The huge down side of reducing mass consumerism is there will be a huge gaping hole where the word jobs used to be, which would be followed by masses of poverty and debt. After World War 2, jobs were everywhere, as this is where the root of the problem started. During those same years, young couples started marrying because of all the happiness of the war being over. This followed by having children, and these couples had to have enough money to support their children, which is also where this rat race for the most money began, and will probably have no ending.

 

 

 

Over population:

 

As I unfortunately have to back track here, but when these young couples were marrying, children were doubling and doubling by the second. It may seem fine, but in the time you took to read this, over 15 babies were born. It seems pretty obvious, but once you look at it at a serious point of view. The more people we have, the more supplies we need, but the fact of the matter is do we actually have those supplies? The Chinese have put up a law that you can either have one boy and one girl, but you cannot have a boy and a boy. But still, those laws aren’t going to make much of a difference in the long run. Going back to pollution, the more people we have, the more we consume, and the more we discard. The United States of America has only 5% of the worlds population, but uses a quarter of the world’s resources. So remember it’s not always the quantity of people, but the mind set.

The United Nations thinks that by 2050, the world’s population would be upped by 41%. That means by 2050, the world’s population would increase by over 2 billion people in less than 36 years. That means we would be sitting at almost 9 billion people.

 

 

 

Influences:

 

There are many people and things that in my mind have the ability to dig into your mind and change you as a person from the inside out. I’m going to start on children. That whining you heard from the end of aisle one, is your child banging on a bag of fruit loops, begging and pleading. Now if you’re a mother or father, think about how you reacted to something like this. Now you see, the majorities of people unfortunately give in, and let the child have their way. If you are a parent and you really want to help, the next time you go shopping, don’t be so flexible with your child, and give in to unnecessary consumerism.

Also other influences that fit in with consumerism is peer pressure and fashion. Now think of it this way, in 2007 the fashion was wearing thick high heels. Then it just takes one little mind change and all of a sudden it’s thin heels. Now all because of that you have to dispose of your old high heels and purchase brand new ones. This is becoming a huge issue, and the word popularity is not even close to being an excuse. So actually when adults tell you just be yourself, you are helping the environment as well.

 

 

 

Function (How it works)

 

Well, It all starts with a trend. Trends are like viruses, they spread, and it’s very easy to catch one. Now, trend’s has a massive power to influence and change others opinions, as its mission is to make everyone almost exactly the same. Once the trend has made its way into each and every person’s mind, it makes you just want to buy the same clothes, food, even books. This is almost actually like drugs, if you think about it. These trends make you think you are feeling good, but how good is it really in the long run.

 

So going back to influences, an influence drives consumerism. The more powerful influence someone has, the easier it is to force you to buy more. TV ads also have the power to influence your buying habits. Now a TV ad is just going to tell you that you suck. They tell you, you don’t have this so buy it now and you’ll be accepted by society. Now unfortunately whoever the sucker is, they go and buy it because they want to be involved with other people and be accepted. So all these things are the things that drive consumerism, and show deep down how it works. Social media such as facebook twitter and the internet influence our behaviour.