Tendler 1

Hutton Tendler
John Kubler
English 114B

The Negative Impact of Consumerism: Examining Spaces

Lets face it; our society relies on consumerism to supplement their happiness. Even
communities with less wealth are investing in material items. And, judging by the trend over the
last decade, consumerism will continue to grow in our society. However, in recent years, an
increasing number of Americans have turned away from making their own clothes and recycling
materials to buying new ones, and tossing old ones, ultimately creating more waste. As Car
Zimring, an American environmental historian and writer of Encyclopedia of Consumption and
Waste: The Social Science of Garbage puts it, Even though people are connected to their waste
because they produced or consumed what is eventually thrown out, reused, or recycled, they
somewhat ironically are often unable to accurately understand the significance of what they
waste and what is actually wasted (Zimring 301). By understanding what we are wasting and
how we are doing it, we might be able to reduce the amount of consumerism that goes on in
America today. Some people think consumption is a good thing, and it can be to a certain extent.
As Joseph Heath, a professor at the University of Toronto, explains in his article, The Structure
of Hip Consumerism, Popular criticism has become increasingly focused on what were once
regarded as more peripheral defects. Foremost among these defects is the problem of
consumerism. It has recently become fashionable, in some circles, to claim that the fight
against consumerism is the most important revolutionary movement of our time (Heath 1). This
problem is increasing everyday and the only way to stop it is by coming together as a community

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to reduce waste and consumption. Shopping centers, such as the Northridge mall, are leaving a
negative impact on our society because people are spending money to buy material items that
they will eventually throw away to buy new and updated versions of. Shopping centers are
ultimately a place to go to waste time and money.
However, this new idea of reducing waste and consumption raises a number of questions.
Is it possible to get a community to come together to raise awareness and gain support of the
results of consumerism to other communities? What can we do in our everyday lives to consume
less? Might the societies awareness raise other issues for America? These questions, in turn,
allude to a broader, more fundamental issue that all of us should care about that relates to the
basic rights of citizens in all free societies, namely, the First Amendment, including freedom of
press and speech because the government continues to hide these issues from the publics eye.
The answer to this last question should be obvious to people living a free society; of course it
will cause problems but as an American it is only natural to fight for our own rights. Our society
should be more aware of the negative effects of consumerism. The more important research
question that I would like to investigate is to what extent our society will go to for material items
when the land around them is falling apart. This is the real challenge in raising awareness to our
society as a whole. Will we destroy our surroundings to supplement our happiness?
As far as history dates back, consumption has always proven to be instinctual. In the past,
objects of possession were used to distinguish social classes. The poor class did not care about
material items because they were more concerned with having a peaceful after life. In the 17th
century things changed and the middle class was acknowledged. Jonathon Porritts YouTube
video The Trap of Materialism explains, In 1776, Adam Smith wrote a book entitled, The Wealth
of Nations, which argued, The pursuit of luxury worked as an economic driver that would make

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everyone richer. The best way to encourage economic growth is to encourage and unleash
individuals to pursue their own selfish economic interests (Porritt 8:50). This book changed the
way that society felt about consumerism and it became acceptable. Department stores and
factories soon started to pop up everywhere, which revolutionized production and the process of
buying.
Consumerism is harming the environment all over the world. The fast food chains are the
same all over the world because people prefer consistency. This takes away from the individual
culture of each society. In other words, people go to fast food chains for specific ethnic foods and
it has proven to be an unhealthy habit. People would rather go somewhere they are familiar with.
It is also the same with department and brand name stores, most people will spend extra money
to go to their preferred clothing store, which is ultimately leading to an unhealthy pattern. Which
brings me to the biggest issue of consumerism, waste. Porritt explains about the waste all over
the world, In Britain we get rid of our own body weight of rubbish every 7 weeks weeks. 1,200
land fill sights in the U.K. alone. 1.5 Million computers are thrown away every year.19
million phones are sitting in a drawer or a waste site, and 3 million fridges are thrown away
every year (Porritt 18:25). These statistics are quite scary in reality. To think that this much
waste is just sitting, taking up space, and ultimately polluting the environment is completely
unacceptable. Consumerism is a bigger problem then anyone ever could have imagined. Nothing
we do can reverse this problem over night. We cannot keep throwing things away when there is a
simple solution.
For our Ethnography project my partner, Brooklynn Early, and I went to the Northridge
mall to examine the space. We interviewed three customers to find out some more information on
consumerism first hand. We found that most people traveled in groups because they did not want

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to be alone. We also found that these people enjoyed the social aspect of being in a mall over the
consumerism. Most people go to the mall specifically to shop and/or eat. However, many people
go to the mall to be around other people; whether its to socialize or just to watch. The first
person I interviewed suggested that the mall give out directories upon arrival. This seems to be a
little out of hand because the shopping center is circular and fairly small in size and yet the
customers still need more direction when shopping. Another interviewee suggested that they
build a tram that circles the mall constantly so that elderly customers dont have to walk as
much. I think that these ideas are nice, but unnecessary. If we were to have trams and directories
on every corner, we would create plenty of waste and our society would become lazier then we
already are. This would create waste by all the directories that were thrown away and tossed on
the floor, and the train would let out some type of gases into the air that would ultimately harm
our environment. After interviewing these individuals, I was able to see that the mall has many
up sides to it, but I ultimately think it is a negative environment because it is designed to make
you spend money.
However, there are several ways to become conscious and reduce waste. At home, we can
reduce trash tremendously by being more aware of what we buy and toss. For instance, in the
Los Angeles county, plastic bags are banned which is reducing the amount of waste they were
creating. Many changes should be made everywhere to enforce how big this problem really is.
Before buying new clothes, people must start taking their used clothes to The Goodwill or reusing the materials for other items. It is essential for our society to learn how to re-use and fix
old items before buying new ones.
Overall, our society would benefit from the reduction of consumption and waste. It is
ruining our environment. Even though consumption is instinctual, we still have to be conscious

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of the amount we take in and throw out. We should be able to live on the bare minimal because
we are too dependent on material resources. It would also be helpful if people could learn to
value their appliances and electronics to reduce the amount of time they spend sitting unused. I
think that there are many ways to decrease the amount of waste, even if they are small. Every bit
counts. After having interviewed three different people at the Northridge mall, it is safe to say
that consumerism is affecting our society in a negative way. If more people come together to
support the movement of waste reduction, our society will benefit tremendously.

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Works Cited
Heath, Joseph. The Structure of Hip Consumerism. Sage Publications. November 2001. Web.
15 February 2015.
Porritt, Jonathon. The Trap of Materialism. Online video Clip. YouTube. YouTube. 2 December
2011. Web. 15 February 2015.
Zimring, Carl A., Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste: The Social Science of Garbage.
Sage Publications. 2012. Web. 15 February 2015.