Ending with Over Consumption

For our last (yep, last!) blog assignment of the semester we were asked to choose what we believe is the most important environmental issue today. 
Consumption, referring to America being a consumerist society, is the most important environmental issue. I believe that our over consumption will be the biggest cause of future environmental issues. 
The dollar isle in Target, the 99 cent store, the Dollar Tree. They provide goods we need for nearly nothing... except that's not entirely true. Those cheap products we buy actually cost more than the dollar we pay for them. Market prices don't include the salary of workers to make said products, gas for trucks to transport, packaging, etc. Nor do they factor in disposal costs or the price we pay for pollution for disposal, or even pollution from the emissions from the trucks that brought them here, or the oil extraction for the gas for those trucks. As consumers, we don't even stop to think of the hidden costs to the cheap product that are constantly being advertised. Do we really need that tiny, plastic trinket that only costs us a dollar? 
Better yet, do we need that thing that is being offered to us for free? I know that on campus there is a banking company that gives out free stuff to students who sign up for an account. Is the little coin purse you get for free really necessary? How long will you actually use it before you toss it in the trash? Rarely do we think of anything other than the fact that its free so "why not?"
Americans are constantly being told we need more stuff. You have the iPhone 3 and it works perfectly fine, but you run out and buy the iPhone 5 because its the latest and greatest and billboards, commercials, store salesmen are telling you you need it. But do you? And what happens to the old phone? The same concept applies to just about anything we buy today. We consume more and more and more simply because its been drilled into our heads that we need the newest of something. Instead of fixing an old radio, we go out and buy a new one. 
But does anyone stop to think about what happens to our old stuff that we throw away? Or how much of our perfectly good stuff ends up in landfills? And how much of that stuff gets burned, or dumped, or even shipped to another country? Or how much it costs to make that stuff and to ship that stuff.
Water bottles are another example of a detrimental product we purchase because we are over consumers. Since I already went into detail about bottled v. tap water, I won't rewrite is all again. You can visit my post entitled "H20h?" here. 
A huge topic of environmental concern today is overpopulation. I believe that in this issue, again, over consumption reigns. Again, over consumption involves the extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal of things. We as Americans only ever consider the consumption aspect. 
Over consumption also encompasses energy use and food waste. 
This requires educating people on energy conservation and using Energy Star products. 
Every year in America we throw away 96 billion pounds of food and one half of all food prepared in the U.S and Europe never gets eaten. (facts from www.divethefilm.com) 
The biggest tool of support in over consumption is a video entitled "The Story of Stuff" by Annie Leonard. What was supposed to be a small, informative video about our consumption and production of trash, turned out to be the most watched video of environmental concern. It's a 20 minute video and I guarantee it will change your entire perspective on consumption. You can watch the video and others like it, as well as learn more about "The Story of Stuff Project" at www.storyofstuff.org 
After learning about consumption I have changed my pattern of thinking when buying things. I find myself stoppping and ""Do I really need this?" I think that if more and more people used the stop and ask method before buying it would be a start in the right direction for reducing our unnecessary consumption. The only way to make a difference here is on an individual level.  However, I think its going to take a change in business as well as advertising before our consumption is significantly reduced. After all, if consumption becomes more practical, those manufactures and advertisers are losing money. And it always comes down to money, right?

The most interesting thing I have learned this semester is about recycling. Last week two groups in class conducted a debate on whether or not recycling is the answer (that wasn't the exact topic... but the phrasing escapes me at the moment.) Someone in the debate told us that if you put something in the recycle bin (the blue bin) that is not something that can be recycled, the entire bin is considered contaminated. Actually, all of the bins in the group are contaminated. So, even if I recycle in the blue bin correctly, but someone else on my block does not, all of my efforts go to waste and its all shipped to the landfill. Crazy, right? Even more crazy is the fact that there is a secret 4th R. Before Reduce, Reuse, Recycle should come Refuse! Refuse the need to purchase things you don't need (if you're connecting this with the over consumption I mentioned above... you're smart!) Just say no to unnecessary packaging, free stuff, junk mail, buying less stuff, and so on. Waste reduction is even better than recycling!