On Christmas & Consumerism
As a veteran Black Friday shopper, I had never been one to miss out on a good deal. Whether it be free shipping or 50% off all sale items, I take never buying things for full price as a personal challenge. So when it comes to Black Friday, I’ve been known to add clothes to cart on Urban Outfitters, PacSun, and Princess Polly, amongst other fast-fashion retailers, weeks in advance.
While shoppers scroll miles on their phones, praying that those cargo pants do not go out of stock, I’m used to saving them ahead of time, so that I can purchase them at the click of a button and save myself the despair of seeing items I have wanted for weeks run out of stock.
So why did I only buy one pair of jeans, that I tried on in-store, this Black Friday? Was it watching Marie Kondo and realizing that my closet was varied enough? Perhaps it was my mother telling me that she’d throw out two pieces of clothing for every new one I bought. Or, most likely, it was me finally paying attention to the far-reaching consequences of my excessive shopping.
Oxford Dictionary defines consumerism as “the belief that it is good for a society or an individual person to buy and use a large quantity of goods and services.” This idea governs the excessive spending of the American public during Black Friday. The desire to save money and the momentary satisfaction of a “cheap” purchase overwhelms any notion of being satisfied with what we have. Basically, Thanksgiving is forgotten with the last bite of pumpkin pie.
Firstly, consider the idea of “savings.” While it may be easy to buy into the mindset that “buying this cotton shirt couldn’t hurt, its only $20,” there are always negative externalities to consider. Firstly, the environmental cost of producing that shirt. The process of making that shirt likely uses hundreds of gallons of fresh water to harvest the cotton. The textile dyeing process is also harmful. Textile dyeing is the world’s second-largest polluter of water—excess water is often dumped in rivers and streams. The effects aren’t limited to the production process; washing the shirt also requires water, and also sheds microfiber threads. These threads are often made of polyester, and make their way into the ocean where they won’t break down. The exploited labor of the people who produced them is another externality. Fast fashion offshores production in order to reduce costs, and despite its economic boost to countries like Bangladesh, it often negatively impacts workers in the process. Worker safety and the use of child labor remain concerns.
And maybe you’re a capitalist who just wants to have a good time. That’s fair. But is the item really necessary, or is buying it solely justifiable because of a good deal? American consumerism and the entire premise of Black Friday convince shoppers that they need things that they don’t. Becky, you’re not really going to use that nose warmer that you bought for $3.99 at Urban. You just bought it because you could afford it, and it was cool.
So if it makes someone happy, why shouldn’t they buy it? The fact that it’ll inevitably be donated and add to the millions of pounds of clothing that are being shipped abroad and burned, for one thing. In addition to the environmental impact of the production process, the clutter of the clothing after people are done with it adds to millions of pounds of global waste. Despite the twenty-minute satisfaction that comes from buyers high, the environmental impacts last for hundreds, and are quickly catching up to humanity. Buyers high motivates a lot of Black Friday sales, but it costs a lot more than its price tag says.
Maybe this article is unfair. Environmentally sustainable brands like Reformation and Everlane are often expensive to accommodate for labor costs and sustainable production. Thrifting can definitely help, but it doesn’t solve the structural issues surrounding fast fashion. So while I will thrift and recommend that we don’t go stir-crazy on shopping expeditions, each individual can only do so much. So yes, consumerism is a problem, but the companies that sustain it are what allow this culture to continue.
by SHWETA KONDAPI