There is a growing number of people who discard different types of products after only owning them for couple of months or even weeks or days, causing various issues that the society must face. In my opinion, two reasons explain why we have now come to the stage of the throw-away society.
The production development and the rise of people’s disposable income must be the root causes which enable the emergence of the throw-away society. Half a century ago, with a great proportion of the global population still living under poverty line, especially in third world countries, it was not likely that they were luxurious enough to, say, buy a new bike just because they don’t seem to like the color of their only vehicle in the whole family. Now, as we witness technological breakthroughs in a fast-ever speed and the economy has been booming over the last couple of decades around the globe, less cost is required for mass production to ensure we have enough to buy and waste, and it wouldn’t be a great deal for average Joes to go on a shopping spree.
Consumerism is the biggest factor which contributes to our use-and-throw habits. Giant manufacturers, in order to fulfill their annual profiting schemes, churn out millions of products, which will then be packaged and advertised by marketing professionals to reach the public with the support of commercials, leaflets, or even social media. These prevalent advertising is designed to trigger our desire to own them, either with low pricing or fancy features. A notorious example must be associated with fashion industry. By updating their product line to create new trends on a seasonal or even monthly basis, companies like Zara or H&M are able to draw us inside their fitting rooms and then check counters, who apparently did not realize how many fashion items are already in their wardrobe and how many they need to dispose of.
Whether to the environment or individuals, we cannot neglect the possible impact of the phenomenon of such nature. By depleting our precious resources, mass production is providing us with new products which will shortly be treated by consumers as refuse and transferred to the landfill to create pollution. Individuals will also suffer as our desire to own and throw not only wastes their money and time which can be spent more meaningfully, but also more importantly, enslaves them at the mercy of consumerism and capitalism.