Living
in a Materialistic World
“But I
do know we’re deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic
things, and they don’t satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the
universe around us, we take these things for granted.”
― Mitch Albom
― Mitch Albom
How
many times a month or maybe even a week do you find yourself buying an item
just simply because it is there for you to buy and get immediate satisfaction
from it? We all do it; I myself am guilty of this. How did our society become
so materialistic? It is stated in ‘The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability’ that
historically, individuals were more closely involved in making all the items
they needed in order to survive as well as creating what they wanted to
entertainment and leisure; in other words making and using artifacts was more
important than buying and owning them.
Time
is of the essence in today’s society, no one wants to wait for anything.
Everything about design is speeding up, and now the product development process
can take a year or less according to ‘The Designer’s Atlas of Sustainability’. How
does this effect sustainability though? The quicker products must be produced
to meet consumers’ needs and demands means the quicker raw materials must be
produced and harvested which in turn releases more harmful chemicals and more
damage to the physical earth because more product are being needed to be
produced. If the speed of which consumers feel the need to buy new things is
slowed down then the speed things are produced can slow down which mean the
rapid speed at which we use up our resources can also slow down. How to do
this? Start making products that last longer! Reduce the need to buy new things
all the time!
Hi, Loren;
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be missing the incorporation of your research activities?
I am guilty, too. I've took it upon myself to start looking for local retailers who are apart of the sustainable movement.
ReplyDeleteThe rate which consumers demand the new and best has got to slow down.
I am with you Nicota!
DeleteI am terribly guilty of buying new clothes just because I think they look cute on the hanger! There is a good amount of new clothes in my closet waiting for the day that I will finally wear them. From now on before buying something new I think of three reasons of why I really NEED it.
I don't want shopping to be a chore or anything. It's sort of like using a program you've never experienced in your life. The more you learn about it and become hands on, the more natural it becomes. I look at shopping the same. The more we are knowledgeable about a garment we are buying, the more we can utilize it. Sustainability can be achieved with the Designer being the educator.
DeleteHi Loren,
ReplyDeleteThrough this concept of time and consuming faster than ever fast fashion evolved. We get bored of things too fast and demand new things immediately. But like you said, this is an issue because producing faster means that little thought and efforts are put into the production process. The outcome: low quality products. My dad has a pair of vintage 501 Levi redline jeans from 1971 that he wears on a regular basis. The quality of the jeans is obvious because even after the many wears they are still in great conditions. Sadly today, a pair of jeans form Forever 21 are like disposable dishes.
Yes, when will we be satisfied with what we already have? Products must continue to enhance in look and other qualities but when will it be enough? I hate that consumers, including myself, are always looking for the newest thing. This ties in very well with a slower paced life style discussed in our text, rather than the fast pace that we live daily!
ReplyDeleteWe are always in a rush! Our lunch breaks are sometimes spent in the car eating on the way back to work. However, this problem differs from culture to culture. I studied in Spain during the Spring of 2011 and I learned that the Spaniard lunch break includes the "siesta" nap time! So typically a lunch break is from 2:00PM- 4:00PM. I think America has the biggest issues when it comes to time.
ReplyDelete