Serena Ahmad (9) | STAFF REPORTER
Purchasing excess amounts of unnecessary items has recently become a trend over the past year. As a result, excess clutter and waste from unused products accumulate. Social media has also played a large role in this trend by promoting these negligent actions and glamourising them. The normalization of this has continued to negatively impact us as a society due to our wasteful habits and lack of consideration for the environment.
As more products are purchased than needed, more waste is accumulated. This happens due to many products having to be used before their expiration date. However, even with certain things not having a time period for their use, they still end up becoming waste. This is often a result of our preference of using new things only a few times before completely forgetting about or discarding it because we no longer enjoy its use.
Another consequence of overconsumption is how it affects the environment. The buildup of waste means materials need to be thrown out more often. Too much disposal will eventually result in pollution of our land, air and water. This issue stems from our disposal methods in landfills, which release greenhouse gases, such as carbon emissions. The release of greenhouse gases from the carbon emissions contributes to climate change and global warming.
Consuming more products also means more must be produced, causing a depletion of natural resources. Products like jewelry, clothing, bags and cosmetics are all examples of things that are created from natural resources. Creating more of these goods will result in using natural resources faster than they can be replenished. As a result, it will impact our environment due to an increase of deforestation and habitat loss as well as cause a higher demand for products due to less availability to produce them.
One way we can reduce our consumption of products is by asking ourselves some questions. Will this product benefit me if I buy it? Will I actually use it? Do I already have a similar product that works just as well? Can I hold off onto this product until I finish a similar one I have at home? These thought provoking questions will allow us to understand what is necessary and unnecessary to buy, possibly resulting in less overconsumption.
