Back in the early 20th century, being a consumer was not a good thing. The disease Consumption got its name from a derivative of the word 'consume'. And to consume was to be overtaken with a deadly virus that was eating you from the inside out.

Check out any modern dictionary, and the original definition still stands. Only one definition of ‘consume’ refers to purchasing power. The other definitions are 'to devour', 'to expend', ‘to destroy’ and 'to engross'. In short, to consume is to squander.

So it's puzzling why retail giants began using the word 'consumer' as a sought-after title for their customers and patrons.

Maybe it’s simply one of the rare instances of truth in advertising. Most products today are built to be thrown away and repurchased. Basic electronics don’t last as long, appliances don’t last as long, even clothes don’t last as long… and we’re more likely to go out and buy something new than have an old item fixed.

While I don't particularly like this cultural trend, I only make a personal effort to subscribe to it as little as possible. I don’t go out of my way to curb my overall consumption. But I thought my efforts to reuse and recycle were at least doing something to off-set the larger problem.

And then I saw the 'Story of Stuff.'

‘Story of Stuff’ is a nice interactive online presentation by activist Annie Leonard about capitalism and its effect on the world around it. And in 'The Story of Stuff' Annie Leonard claims her research proves 99% of the stuff we buy today will be in the trash within 6 months.

I spent this New Years cleaning out my overgrown storage for the first time in a decade. So I knew how much useless stuff can pile up. But 99%? Within 6 months? That was inconceivable. That was infuriating. I was so certain that couldn't be true.

Even the American public wouldn't be that pointlessly wasteful. But, then again, this IS the American public we’re talking about.

This clearly needed some sort of a test.

So I started an experiment. I would track everything I threw out for two weeks. I counted every tissue, every wrapper and every piece of soggy newsprint. I figured since I hate to shop and don’t have room for most new major purchases, I could reach 50% disposal rate without a problem.

But, to my dismay, things added up quickly.

My runny nose? It used up 166 Kleenex.

Making a special soup for a family gathering? Onion peels, butternut squash peels, a box for the chicken stock and the plastic bag that I carried it home in… it all went in the trash. A box of breakfast sandwiches I’ve been nuking to spare myself from doing an extra dish? The packaging that I had to throw away was about half the size of the sandwiches.

Over two weeks I threw away over 232 items. That’s roughly a pound of garbage a week.

Granted few of these were big ticket items. They were wrappers, paper towels and food scraps. But that number doesn't change if you're talking about items destined for the dumpster.

And as much as I hate to say it, the percentage of purchased stuff that went right in the trash after I used it was right around 90%.

The last census counted 281 million Americans. If they’d only thrown out what I had, US landfills would be absorbing 281 million pounds of garbage a week. And that’s if everyone was watching what they put in the garbage. How often does that happen?

And that wasn't the most disturbing part. That belonged to a realization about why I bought.

The biggest thing luxury purchase I made – and quickly threw out – this week was a smoothie cup. The chain of smoothie shops down the street from my house makes jumbo-sized drinks in cups so thick you could carry hot glass in them without burning your fingers. I bought the smoothie when I had enough food to make something at home. And I only bought it because it was tasty, but also because it was convenient. I was slightly bummed about having to scrounge up a meal, and buying was a lot easier than making. It was an automatic response. Feeling down, or just too busy? Buy something disposable.

And that's no accident.

Story of Stuff quotes retail analyst Victor LeBeau when he advised Big Business and the US government to turn the consuming of goods into a ritual that would placate the spiritual centers of the brain as well and the ego and pleasures centers. Through tools like planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence, they designed it so our first response to personal, emotional or spiritual turmoil was to buy something.

So that urge to get a smoothie? It was the result of hundreds of people and hundreds of thousands of dollar that all wanted to make sure that was my first impulse.

Just half-way through this experiment I started getting sick.

But I wanted to find something that I could do. And the easiest way to make an impact – at least according to Story of Stuff – is to make an impact on what they call “the Golden Arrow”. Something I apparently wasn’t doing.

But where do you start when you’re looking to make a difference in your consumption habits?


Next Week: Websites that prove being lazy and broke actually improve your well-being and help you reach a deep, spiritual state.


http://www.storyofstuff.com/