Consumer Culture In The United States

Consumer culture is incredibly fascinating because it is completely created and altered by easily mutable human habits. This culture has insurmountable power to change the way an individual makes choices. My discussion class decided it is necessary to delve into the woes of consumer culture and how consumer culture is interconnected with the environment and many environmental issues. Consumerist society has an immense impact on the environment by consisting of complicated feedback loops of growth, consumption, and the environment. I believe that an important question to further understand is how has consumer culture in the United States changed since 2015 and what societal improvements can be made to alter this culture to be more environmentally …show more content…
Even though gas prices have decreased, many car companies have opted to produce energy-efficient cars in order to comply with federal expectations and mandates. For example, Fiat Chrysler just “introduced a plug-in hybrid-electric version of its new minivan model, the Pacifica, making it the first hybrid vehicle in the Italian-American automaker’s lineup” (Vlasic). Many companies also greatly employ the cap-and-trade laws in place in order to meet emissions standards for the year. Also, new vehicles such as the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt are zero-emissions, a great example for the recent increase in production of electric cars and hybrids. Although these changes are still contributing to consumerism by producing cars rather than encouraging biking or public transit, they are attributing to a decrease in emissions and increase in MPH per car. Although not producing a sufficient amount of change in the automobile industry, these changes are necessary for improving the environment. Regulations such as those monitoring the emissions and average fuel economy have set a positive precedent for other large businesses that attribute as much pollution to the environment as automobiles. These regulations are a helpful step, a possible solution to current mass-production of only gas-guzzling trucks and …show more content…
Due to an increased presence of discount stores of large department stores such as Off Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom Rack, large department stores will glean more profit from the same supply of clothes rather than producing new goods (Tabuchi). This recycling of supply could encourage other big companies to follow similar trends, creating a ripple effect of decreasing overall supply which would decrease overall resource and energy use. Although this pattern does not discourage consumerism entirely, it is a positive step in the direction of decreasing energy and natural capital used for producing new goods. Also, raised consumer spending in experiences is a valuable step into more environmentally-friendly consumerism because these experiences could be to national parks or government sponsored events, such as a fair, where the money could benefit a local environmental cause. Spending more money in experiences is a positive step- a shift in values- to a more environmentally friendly society because joyful experiences do not have to be purely materialistic and people do not need to consume goods to enjoy themselves. A focus on experiences is the first step to decreasing unnecessary consumptive habits because once people discover the joy of various experiences, they can realize and engage in other experiences that are completely priceless such as spending time with loved