Consume less, live more!
When
was the last time you felt happy?
When was the last time you felt real happiness? Was it when you were together with people you like, when you were doing useful work that you’re good at? Was it when you were enjoying music, dancing, arts or sports? Or was it when you bought another
product advertised to bring you happiness?
Click below to watch 'Rat Race'! (46 sec)
http://polyp.org.uk/
the “need” for more
Every day we’re enticed to buy more. Advertising seduces us, declaring that some new product just beyond our grasp is exactly what we need to complete our lives, make us happy or earn others’ respect.
But will more possessions make us happier?
Advertising agencies and the companies they represent would certainly like us to think so. But is this really true?
What really makes us happy?
Everyone deserves the basic necessities of life. Yet what brings us true happiness can’t necessarily be bought. For many, the keys to contentment are spending time with friends and family, meaningful and rewarding work, and appreciating what we have. Click on the photos below and find out the secrets to happiness for these people!
To view the whole gallery click here
The pitfalls of “living to buy”
For many people, the urge to earn and buy more translates into longer work hours and more stress. And that means less time to actually enjoy life with family and friends.
Warning: True costs not as advertised …
Some of the things that you buy, use and throw away are dirt cheap, but they’re expensive for the environment. The energy used in extracting, producing, shipping and disposing materials to make stuff we buy is phenomenal, and plays a major part in climate change.
Our global economic system is set up so that the costs of pollution or environmental damage are rarely factored into the price of most products. For example, we burn fuel to extract raw materials, then burn more of it to manufacture, transport and dispose of goods. This creates massive amounts of greenhouse gas emissions that play a major role in climate change. The costs of climate change are rarely reflected in the price of things we buy, yet many people, most of them in developing countries, are already paying the price of climate change impacts. Read their stories here.
What’s more, the raw materials and labour that feed global consumption often come from poorer countries. In these places, human rights violations and lack of environmental regulation conspire to keep prices low. Over-consumption by the wealthy translates into sweat shops, child labour and environmental destruction for people who are already vulnerable.
Danger: Earthlings devouring their own planet
We chop down trees to produce paper and furniture, blow up mountains to make metals, drill for oil to make plastics and use a huge amount of fossil fuels to manufacture products. And the truth is that we are running out of all these natural resources.
Slower, simpler, better for all
Working harder to make more money and buy more “stuff” is no guarantee to a happy life. In fact, a slower and simpler lifestyle doesn’t just benefit us, it’s better for the whole planet, and those who depend on it.
You can find out more about the impacts of consumption by visiting our climate change pages and viewing our testimonies. Or watch the movie ‘The Story of Stuff’.
Want to re-think your buying habits?
What about when you really do need to buy something?
