Nowadays consumerism is a pressing matter, since all the old things being thrown away is the source of plastic waste while the new produced goods are the origin of toxic emissions of enormous volume. This essay details the reason for this phenomenon and one of the possible ways to tackle it.
The main environmental unfriendly influence of never stopping industry is the positive feedback loop of consumption. In other words, shopping addiction tricks people into being willing to buy and produce more goods than is needed for survival. Due to the waste (like CO2, NO2, SO3, plastic, etc.) manufacturing harms the environment while also exploiting natural resources (occurring in deforestation, ecosystem fragmentation, etc.). Consequently, with the growth of the market the negative impact also surges. For instance, the wide demand of Coca Cola products and the impressive quantity of sales are strongly associated with the fact that 11% of world plastic waste was produced by this exact company.
Nevertheless, there are many possible solutions to restoring ecosystem health, one of which is recycling. Despite consumerism being the origin of the problem, it is nearly impossible to prove to one that they must not achieve fast satisfaction from impulse purchases. Big companies, with instrumentary like consumer insights and subliminal advertisements, persuade individuals that happiness equals possessing as much new, shiny and glamorous things as possible. Unfortunately, the activists propaganding minimalism are in the minority of the population. However, the governmental implementation of wilderness legislation, forcing companies and brands into producing only green products, is a less naive scenario. Instead of trying to change or stop the work of the capitalistic market (which failed in each case, like in the USSR) and banning the public from buying, it is easier to impose some restrictions over the manufacturing.
In conclusion, the rate of production is terrifying, even more so is the ecological footprint of it, yet it is still possible to reverse some of the consequences if action is taken towards reducing the number of pollutants, addressing the manufacturers themselves.