Overconsumption can take many forms, from food waste to population to resources and more recently technology and trends.
As life expectancy has grown over the last 100 years food waste, population and resources have had to grow to accommodate our worlds aging populations. These problems have been well documented and established for many years and as a collective we as humans understand ways to cut down and reduce these problems. Simple things like meal planning or having a shorter shower are encouraged to help reduce this area of overconsumption.
As we established these areas were a problem and thought of ways to combat them, of course we had to go and develop fast fashion brands, fast food, new technology and social media…
Now social media has exploded everywhere we are constantly bombarded with other people’s opinions and lifestyles which fuels our desires for more. For the younger generations that are easily influenced this is a major problem.
New products, experiences, acceptance and validation from the people around us is now fully hard wired into our brains. We are tricked into needing all the newest technology and clothes forced upon us by influencers who are paid by large companies to squeeze every inch of money out of us. The saying by Mark Twain perfectly sums up the attitude that we should have towards things “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
These desires feed into our emotional areas of our brains where we just want to be included and involved to fit in with those around us. This now sadly drives us into making unnecessary purchases due too much social media screen time.
Back to the main question of is Overconsumption Normalized, I would say its normalized to generations such as Generation Z and Generation Alpha. Growing up with access to social media has influenced these young people into having a 10-step skin care routine and every new microtrend under the sun. Luckily with every negative there’s a positive, unlike the basic overconsumption topics (Food waste etc…) which took years to realise the repercussions of, youngsters of this generation have become climate and social media conscious. Trends like thrifting and the introduction of reusable bottles and hygiene products have amazingly become popular!
But why is Overconsumption normalised? For Generation Z and Alpha, it’s because that’s all they have known. Egged on by social media and friends if you simply don’t have newest iPhone or best clothes or go on the nicest holidays, you are made to feel unfulfilled and excluded by society thanks to social media.