People in the past were living in conditions that required them to be more resourceful whenever they chose to throw something away. Nowadays, people of the current generation tend to replace old things like clothes or furniture in their houses, rather than figuring out a way to fix it like people of the past. This essay will discuss how this phenomenon has happened and the impact that it might bring.
Today’s fashion trend is always shifting towards newer directions that tries to meet customer’s taste. Clothes which originally served as a mean of keeping warm and protecting the body are now the defining factors of how others portray you. This introduces luxury clothes that are made from certain kind of fabric or people spending money to buy jewelries consisting of rare gemstones. Another reason for this change is because manufacturers have to provide goods in large amount; therefore; each item is created using materials that are suitable for the budget. For instance, electronic equipment used in household today are built to last around 4 to 7 years, whereas electronics in the past were designed to last as long as possible. By relying on this marketing methodology, companies are able to take advantage of the disposal and renewal cycle, which helps them sell more goods and generate more value from the products.
In today’s world, people are changing attitude when it comes to perceiving the quality of goods. We no longer have to stockpile things like people of the past who lived in harsh conditions. If an item does not look as new as when we bought it, we are more incline to purchasing other things to replace it. In addition, manufacturers have to increase their workload in order to fulfill customer’s consumption. This leads to factories emitting more non-biodegradable waste in to the environment. Contamination left untreated will harm our health and the environment overtime.