It's a fact - we buy too much stuff. We think we need it but we don't. It's a compulsion, a fix. A little down? Hit the high street for some retail therapy. A little insecure? Spank your savings and buy the latest thing to show the world you're as cool and happening as it is.
It's a buy-quick throw-quick habit that's got so bad that we only use 1% of the stuff we buy six months after we've bought it.
And making and transporting all that stuff, 99% of which we chuck out anyway, takes vast amounts of fossil fuel energy and produces huge amounts of CO2 and waste.
It also eats up raw materials. Rainforests are being logged, wildlife habitats destroyed, and indigenous communities displaced so we can carry on mining to produce the laptops, mp3 players and sweat-shirts that make us cooler (we think) but no happier.
More info from the Green Thing wiki >>
If a pushy salesman in a cheap suit accosts you and asks why you're Sticking With What You Got, stick it to him with one of these witty comebacks.
- Only try-hards buy hard.
- Did you study shallowness at university? You're good at it.
- Mo' stuff, mo' problems.
- Because I have a value system whereas you my friend have a value cistern.
- Confucius say, he with overflowing cupboards is a damn fool.
Got any better ones? Add a comment below...
