Consumerism & Growth - Haggard Earth

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Consumerism & Growth; Hits: 65

Overconsumption isolates us’: how to start shopping less. Guardian Madeleine Aggeler Spending can be exciting – but how do you function outside of it? Experts share their tips for paring down buying. For years I have been caught in a tiresome, expensive cycle: when I’m bored (or sad, or insecure) I scroll through my phone, looking for stuff to buy. In those moments, it feels like the right purchase will relieve me of ennui or unpleasantness. These shoes will make my life more glamorous! This face wash will make me feel forever beautiful! Sometimes this rush lasts up to two days after I receive my item. But the excitement fades – sometimes as soon as I click “confirm purchase” – and I inevitably think: “Why did I do that?”So how does one start shopping less? We asked experts and people who have pared down their own spending.

Why do we overconsume?.......Struggling with some degree of impulse shopping is common in this day and age, says Alexa Brown, a musician with the Omaha Symphony who also runs the YouTube channel Conscious Consumerism.“I really think society has been optimized to fuel consumerism at every turn,” she says. Between insidious marketing that preys on our most vulnerable insecurities, data tracking that produces ultra-personalized ads, and online influencers hawking every product one can imagine, overconsumption is not just a norm, it’s an aspiration, Brown argues. Shopping can be an effective way to distract ourselves from stress, anxiety and boredom, says Nicholas Garofola, a content creator who posts about minimalism and frugal living.

Spending is “exciting”, Garofola says. “There’s a tangible novelty to having something new.”And sometimes we might not know what else to do. “Many people don’t know how to function outside of consumption,” says Shelby Orme, a sustainability expert and content creator. Orme says adults in her family didn’t have hobbies, so shopping became a major activity. It becomes a hobby for a lot of people, she argues, so choosing not to participate in the consumerist hamster wheel “can feel isolating”.

What is the problem with overconsumption?....Firstly, it can get expensive. Consumer debt is rising in the UK and US. The average adult in the UK carries £1,425 ($1,900) in credit card debt- in the US, the number is a whopping $6,715 (£5,030). Debt can take a toll on one’s physical and emotional health. Studies have shown that those with consumer debt who are in financial distress are more likely to report higher anxiety, lower life satisfaction, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as physical symptoms such as migraines and digestive tract problems.

Garofola says that in his own experience, owning a lot of things that he didn’t use felt “heavy”. He ultimately realized that shopping was an avoidance technique: “There’s probably some other problems that need to be addressed if I’m spending to feel happy.”You also risk damaging your future and your family’s future, says Dr James Grubman, a psychologist and the owner of Family Wealth Consulting in Boston. Besides preventing you from building up financial safety and security, overspending can also hurt relationships, either as a result of acute stress or asking for money from those around you For years, I have been caught in a tiresome, expensive cycle: when I’m bored (or sad, or insecure) I scroll through my phone, looking for stuff to buy. In those moments, it feels like the right purchase will relieve me of ennui or unpleasantness. These shoes will make my life more glamorous! This face wash will make me feel forever beautiful! Sometimes this rush lasts up to two days after I receive my item. But the excitement fades – sometimes as soon as I click “confirm purchase” – and I inevitably think: “Why did I do that?”So how does one start shopping less? We asked experts and people who have pared down their own spending.

Why do we overconsume?.......Struggling with some degree of impulse shopping is common in this day and age, says Alexa Brown, a musician with the Omaha Symphony who also runs the YouTube channel Conscious Consumerism. “I really think society has been optimized to fuel consumerism at every turn,” she says......read on https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2026/jun/08/how-to-shop-less-overconsumption-tips

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Consumerism & Growth; Hits: 68

Consequences of Overproduction and Overconsumption Net Impact As the world copes with an unprecedented global pandemic, many people are reconsidering their levels of consumption in relation to their needs. . For some people, a loss of income has caused them to reprioritize the things that are actually essential. For others, social distancing has caused them to eat fewer meals at restaurants, buy fewer clothes, use less gasoline, and find entertainment in things that don’t require as much money or waste so much time or energy. And in light of the effects of overproduction and overconsumption on the world economy and environment, perhaps this is not entirely a bad thing. As the world copes with an unprecedented global pandemic, many people are reconsidering their levels of consumption in relation to their needs. For some people, a loss of income has caused them to reprioritize the things that are actually essential. For others, social distancing has caused them to eat fewer meals at restaurants, buy fewer clothes, use less gasoline, and find entertainment in things that don’t require as much money or waste so much time or energy.And in light of the effects of overproduction and overconsumption on the world economy and environment, perhaps this is not entirely a bad thing.

Staggering statistics......Recent studies have shown that 80% of the world’s natural resources are used by only 20% of the world’s population. The statistics for the United States are even more staggering. While they represent less than 5% of the world’s population, Americans: Consume 17% of the world’s energy. Account for 15% of the world's GDP.Additionally, more than almost any other country in the world, the United States: Consumes more calories. Emits more greenhouse gases. Produces more waste.

Overproduction and overconsumption Overproduction is the production of goods that exceeds the needs of the consumers who are consuming them. It was the leading cause of the Great Depression — factories and farms produced more goods than the people could afford to buy, so prices fell, factories closed their doors and workers were laid off, which led to a seemingly endless cycle of poverty and want. Overconsumption is what happens when an ecosystem can no longer sustain the use of its resources. It strips the earth of natural resources, such as forests, fish, soil, minerals and water, which collapses ecosystems, ruins habitats and endangers the survival of countless species that contribute to an intricate, vibrant circle of life.

Damage to the environment and the economy.......Overproduction and overconsumption add to the already-high levels of pollution and toxic gases that contribute to global warming. As has been reported in numerous publications in the past decade, the impacts of climate change transcend international borders, as well as levels of privilege and wealth. We have witnessed this phenomenon in real time as the wildfires on the west coast and hurricanes on the east coast have grown in intensity and severity......read on https://www.netimpact.org/blog/overproduction-overconsumption-consequences

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Consumerism & Growth; Hits: 105

From hotspot to flashpoint: how tourism pushed Barcelona to breaking point, and how social movements are fighting back The Conversation Claudio Milano Researcher-Lecturer and Consultant, Universitat de Barcelona Antonio Paolo Russo Professor, Universitat Rovira i Virgili Marina Novelli Professor of Marketing and Tourism & Director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Advanced Research Centre, University June 6, 2025 On April 27 2024, near the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, a touring bus was blocked, sprayed with water pistols, and a banner bearing the slogan “let’s put out the tourism fire” was stuck to its front. It was a headline-grabbing protest against the stranglehold tourism holds over the city, and underscored growing tensions between touristification processes and an increasingly vocal local backlash. Large-scale protests have made Barcelona synonymous with social resistance to the negative impacts of predatory and extractive tourism, but it is far from alone: popular destinations such the Canary Islands, Málaga, and the Balearic Islands have all seen massive protests against the excesses of tourism over the last year.

People are fed up, and the writing is quite literally on the wall – tourist apartments graffitied with the slogan “tourists go home” have now become an almost ubiquitous sight in many Spanish cities. However, it is not individual tourists that are to blame, but rather the excessive reliance on tourism which has, over several decades, gradually pushed countless residents out of their homes and neighbourhoods. But how did we get here? As international travel rebounded in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, Barcelona and other Mediterranean cities saw tourists return in remarkable numbers. This led to mounting social unrest, as local communities became increasingly frustrated with how tourism has reshaped urban spaces at their expense. Residents’ concerns range from housing shortages and job insecurity to environmental damage. The privatisation of public spaces is also high on the agenda in Barcelona, exacerbated by high-profile events, such as the 2024 America’s Cup and Formula One Grand Prix, which brought little benefit to local residents. The ongoing backlash signals a “we’ve had enough” moment that can no longer be dismissed as mere inconvenience or NIMBYism. Instead, it reflects structural inequalities and deeper conflicts over urban space, social justice, and the power dynamics that underpin the tourism sector’s unchecked growth.

Evolving activism......Anti-tourism activism in Barcelona traces back to the mid-2010s, when neighbourhoods like Barceloneta first challenged tourism’s role in displacing residents. Since then, groups such as the Neighbourhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth (ABDT) have pushed back against policies fostering excessive reliance on the tourism economy. The ABDT notably prefers the term “touristification” to “overtourism”. According to them, the concept of “overtourism” risks depoliticising the issue, framing it as a simple problem of too many visitors. Instead, they say, the problems are a result of the structural inequalities tied to capitalist accumulation, tourism’s extractive nature, and a sector that funnels community wealth into private hands. What distinguishes this current wave of activism from its predecessors is a shift from blunt opposition to providing organised, constructive proposals. At one major demonstration in Barcelona in July 2024, activists presented a manifesto calling for clear measures to reduce economic dependence on tourism, and for a transition towards an eco-social economy. Key demands included ending public subsidies for tourism promotion, regulating short-term rentals to prevent housing loss, cutting cruise ship traffic, and improving labour conditions with fair wages and stable work schedules. The manifesto also urged leaders to diversify the economy away from tourism, repurpose tourist facilities for social use, and develop programs to support precarious workers.....read on https://theconversation.com/from-hotspot-to-flashpoint-how-tourism-pushed-barcelona-to-breaking-point-and-how-social-movements-are-fighting-back-253975

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Consumerism & Growth; Hits: 68

Big emitters: how growth in consumption drives climate change It seems obvious that the more people there are on the planet, the more the pressure on planetary resources and the larger the emissions of greenhouse gases.IIED Briefing 2009 So it also seems obvious that population growth must be a major driver of global warming. But it is just as obvious that very poor households contribute very little to greenhouse gas emissions. So if most of the world’s population growth is among very poor households, population growth is not the culprit. The greatest human driver of global warming is the number of consumers on the planet and their consumption level. Individuals and households contribute to global warming by consuming goods and services that cause greenhouse gas emissions – for instance, by owning a refrigerator or a car. Through this they are responsible for all the fossil fuels that go into making, distributing, advertising, selling, using and disposing of it. It falls to middle- and upper-income households and high-income nations to show how high living standards can be delinked from high greenhouse gas emissions.

The lowest-income groups and global warming A significant proportion of the world’s urban and rural populations – perhaps as many as one in five people – produce very low levels of greenhouse gas emissions because their incomes, and thus their consumption levels, are so low. There are no precise figures for their numbers. But studies of resource use and consumption among low-income households show that most do not use fossil fuels (they rely on fuelwood, charcoal or agricultural wastes) and most do not have electricity (and so they have no household appliances that use electricity) (see ‘Low income, low consumption, low carbon’). If they do use electricity and fossil fuels (for instance, kerosene for cooking and lighting), their consumption levels are very low. Their diets are dominated by food with low carbon footprints (unlike high-income households whose diets are very land, energy and carbon intensive). If households are so constrained in their income that family members are severely undernourished and often have to resort to only one meal a day, it is hardly likely that their consumption patterns are generating much greenhouse gas emissions. It seems obvious that the more people there are on the planet, the more the pressure on planetary resources and the larger the emissions of greenhouse gases. So it also seems obvious that population growth must be a major driver of global warming. But it is just as obvious that very poor households contribute very little to greenhouse gas emissions. So if most of the world’s population growth is among very poor households, population growth is not the culprit.

The greatest human driver of global warming is the number of consumers on the planet and their consumption level. Individuals and households contribute to global warming by consuming goods and services that cause greenhouse gas emissions – for instance, by owning a refrigerator or a car. Through this they are responsible for all the fossil fuels that go into making, distributing, advertising, selling, using and disposing of it. So it is not the growth in the world’s population that contributes to climate change, but the growth in consumption. This is growth not just in the number of consumers but also in consumption levels. Stable or shrinking populations may still be rapidly increasing their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, London today has fewer people than it had 70 years ago, but the consumption levels of its population (and thus their contribution to global warming) have grown dramatically. The contribution to global warming of a person born today depends on the circumstances into which they are born and their life possibilities and choices. To take an extreme example, an infant born into a very low-income household in Africa or Asia that dies before the age of one contributes almost nothing to global warming. Such infant deaths are not unusual; it is common for one in 10 children in these regions to die before their first birthday. Even if a person born today avoids premature death, they may still contribute very little to greenhouse gas emissions – for instance, living a full life as a farmer with a small plot of land, or as an agricultural labourer, or as an individual living and working in a ‘slum’ . Low income, low consumption, low carbon In many low-income nations, most rural and urban households do not have electricity – and thus also lack household appliances that use electricity (which is often generated with fossil-fuelled power stations). For instance, in more than 15 countries, less than 10 percent of the rural population and less than half the urban population have electricity. In many low-income nations, fuel use (for cooking and, where needed, heating) is dominated not by fossil fuels or electricity derived from them, but by charcoal, firewood or organic wastes such as dung.

The most recent surveys, for instance, showed that more than three-quarters of the rural population in 28 countries still relied on these traditional fuels. This was also the case among urban populations in 15 low-income nations. Where access to fuel is commercialised, as in most urban centres, total fuel use among low-income populations will be low because fuel is expensive and difficult to afford. Even if low-income households shift from fuelwood or charcoal to kerosene or natural gas, their consumption of these is generally very low – implying carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per person per year of around 0.2 tonnes, which is very small by global standards. When low-income households obtain electricity, the few studies available suggest that their consumption levels are very low – typically one-twentieth to one fortieth of the per person average in most high-income nations. Low-income households also use transport modes that produce no greenhouse gas emissions, such as walking and bicycling, or low emissions per user, such as buses, minibuses and trains, mostly used to more than full capacity. Hundreds of millions of rural and urban people may have zero or negative greenhouse gas emissions per person. Among them would number many low-income urban dwellers whose livelihoods are based on reclaiming and reusing or recycling waste, where the emissions ‘saved’ from their work equals or exceeds the greenhouse gas emissions that their consumption causes. This group would also include tens of millions of small farmers able and willing to engage in sustainable agriculture and in maintaining or increasing tree cover on their land......read on https://www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/17077IIED.pdf

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Consumerism & Growth; Hits: 100

04-29-2004*****CONSUMERISMExtreme ways countries are combating overtourism BBC Lindsey Galloway 19 February 2026 As global travel surges toward 1.8 billion arrivals, destinations are testing controversial new measures to control the crowds. The cherry blossoms are still blooming beneath Mount Fuji, and the tourists are still coming – but this year, the festival is gone. In Fujiyoshida, Japan, officials have cancelled the city's annual sakura celebration – an event that typically draws 200,000 visitors – after residents complained of littering, trespassing and even tourists wandering into private homes. It's the latest sign that as global tourism surges toward record highs, patience in the world's most popular destinations is running low. In 2025, Japan welcomed nearly 43 million visitors, its highest number ever. Meanwhile, Europe hosted more than half of the world's 1.5 billion international arrivals. With global travel projected to hit 1.8 billion arrivals by 2030, governments are scrambling to manage the pressure.

And some are reaching for measures that would have seemed extreme just a few years ago: deploying AI crowd control, erecting physical barriers and charging triple entry fees for foreigners, as well as cancelling iconic festivals. While many of these countries still welcome visitors, they just want them spread out, better behaved or visiting at different times of year. We spoke to tourism boards and industry leaders in countries trialling some of the most assertive approaches.

Japan: Blocking and restricting......The cherry blossom festival cancellation is just the latest in Japan's escalating efforts to manage overtourism. In 2024, the town of Fujikawaguchiko erected a physical barrier blocking a popular Mount Fuji photo spot after visitors were climbing roofs, ignoring security guards and ignoring safety rules. Kyoto, which has long struggled with overcrowding, has banned photography of geisha and restricted access to certain alleyways in historic Gion, one of the city's most popular sightseeing districts. It has also lately turned to technology, launching digital crowd-management tools to try to work together with tourists more sustainably.Its new Congestion Forecast tool predicts the best days and times to visit major sites; while a Smart Navi app provides real-time updates on crowd levels. Its Hidden Gems initiative promotes six quieter districts beyond the famous temples; and Hands Free Kyoto offers visitors luggage transport and storage services to reduce crowding on public transportation.

"While there is no silver bullet for overtourism, we intend to continue implementing measures to protect citizens' daily lives while also ensuring visitors can enjoy a comfortable stay," said Kousaku Ono, manager of Kyoto's Sustainable Tourism Promotion Division.

Tour operators are adjusting too. B-Corp operator Inside Travel Group has deliberately shifted its Japan focus towards five under-visited regions, including Toyama, Nagoya, Nagasaki, Aomori and Yamaguchi. "Overtourism is one of the biggest threats facing the future of travel, and it's something the industry needs to confront head-on," said Tim Oakes, the company's managing director. "These are places that actively want visitors, just not overcrowding."

United States: Charging international visitors.......The US has taken a more overtly financial approach. Its vast US National Parks system, comprising 433 parks across 85 million acres, is a major draw for visitors, but half of all recreation visits to national parks are concentrated in the 25 most-visited parks, which has led to overcrowding, long lines and an excess of litter............read on https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260218-extreme-ways-countries-are-combatting-overtourism

Overconsumption Isolates Us’......how to start Shopping Less

Consequences of Overproduction and Overconsumption- Net Impact

From Hotspot to Flashpoint: how Tourism pushed Barcelona to Breaking Point,

Big Emitters: how Growth in Consumption Drives Climate Change

CONSUMERISM.......Extreme ways countries are combating overtourism

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