Environmental Studies: Transforming Cultures From Consumerism to Sustainability

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Assadourian’s Critique on Consumer Cultures
How Assadourian supports his arguments
Reflection on Assadourian Recommendations
Works Cited

Introduction

On April 1900, Paris held a world trade fair, which brought people from different consumer markets together to celebrate past technological achievements and/or gain an insight on future potential technological developments. The trade fair portrayed the potential of the then and future civilizations to deploy technology, creativity, and innovation to create more consumables to boost the life of future generations.

Extensive use of fossil fuels in the production process and transportation implies more green gas emissions, which lead to the emergence of threats to the survival of future civilization.

This situation raises the question of whether increased consumerism is a benefit or threat to the current and future populations. This paper responds to this interrogative with reference to discussions offered by Assadourian in the article, State of the World: Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability.

Assadourian’s Critique on Consumer Cultures

Through technological and social changes, over the 20^th century, the American society recorded immeasurable changes compared to the ways of life during the period of 1900s. The society of that time mainly depended on agriculture to support its rural livelihood.

However, in the 20^th century, urban community that was dominated by technologically savvy individuals, service oriented economy, and technological product-consumer markets, has replaced the traditional agricultural production-based society. Assadourian is concerned with these changes claiming that, although they may seem beneficial, they have irreversible problems, which hinder environmental sustainability (5).

He sees failure of people to save environmental collapse as an issue that relates to culture, as opposed to their stupidity, destructiveness, or ignorance (Assadourian 3).

He compares culture with the issue of requesting people to stop breathing forever, not knowing they will only do it for seconds before inhaling again without necessarily being requested to do so. To him, this analogy reveals the difficulties that are encountered while telling people to curb their consumerism cultures in a bid to save the environment (Assadourian 3).

In the light of Assadourian’s claims on the innateness of consumerism in human beings, culture defines norms and values, which are hard to smash when they become normalized in a society.

Big houses, several cars, air conditioners, and other equipment constitute the norms for the American culture, which is now rapidly becoming a global culture. Assadourian criticizes this emerging culture claiming that, although it appears natural to many people, it is not only unsustainable, but also not an accurate manifestation of the nature of people (3).

He maintains that escalated consumption pattern does not increase the wellbeing of people (Assadourian 9). When a new culture emerges, the existing cultural values are eroded. Assadourian criticizes the consumerism culture claiming that it has created the belief that possession of more wealth coupled with material capability defines good life (10).

In my opinion, Assadourian criticism is warranted and accurate upon considering the currently experienced problems of waste accumulation in municipalities, which are attributed to increased consumerism. Consumer markets are dominated by influx of manufactured goods, including food products.

For instance, amid the emerging criticism on fast food consumer culture that is associated with health challenges such as obesity and the likelihood of hypertension (Assadourian 15), the culture constitutes a modern America mainstream. This culture is sustained through immense waste release into the environment.

The world population is rapidly growing. This situation has led to the emergence of more urban centers. As urban centers become more populated, municipal solid wastes, as one of the critical by-products of lifestyles that are associated with urbanization and consumerism, also increase.

World Bank states, “ten years ago, there were 2.9 billion urban residents who generated about 0.64 kg of municipal solid wastes (MSW) per person per day (0.68 billion tons per year)” (par.1). While this population has currently grown, the waste production capacity per person has also grown. This growth is due to the increased consumption of manufactured food products and other goods.

In fact, World Bank estimates that the world urban population currently stands at almost 3 billion people where each produces about 1.2 kg of wastes every day (par. 2). It also estimates that by 2025, the population will grow to 4.3 billion people who will then be generating wastes amounting to 1.42 kg per individual in a day. This figure amounts to 2.2 billion tons of solid wastes annually.

These statistical findings validate the criticism that the current culture of consumerism leads to the production of wastes to levels in which they will become environmentally unsustainable as confirmed by Assadourian (16).

How Assadourian supports his arguments

The central claim of Assadourian in his article State of the World: Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability is that consumerism culture, which is becoming a global culture, is not sustainable. He backs this argument by deploying data from various primary research findings conducted by various organizations and researchers.

For instance, while evidencing that the culture does not foster sustainable health for the urban citizenry, he uses CDC data to show how consumerism fosters growth of unhealthy rural and urban citizenry (Assadourian 9).

He also deploys data on the changing consumption rates for consumables in different nations such as India and ecological foot print indicators to explain the capacity of the rising consumption patterns to overcome the world’s capability to sustain human appetite for material needs (Assadourian 4). This position suggests that his evidence depends on credible sources. Therefore, I find the evidence provided highly convincing.

Tracking the history of consumerism, Assadourian asserts that people were technologically savvy enough when indulging in the current consumerism culture and its associated problems. Although it may take several hundred years or even centuries to return to the practices of 1900s and the environmental state of the preceding years, the damage is not yet completely done.

People still possess requisite innovation and technology to ensure sustainability of the environment while still taking advantage of the advancement in technological development. Cars and building-associated wastes are major environmental pollutants that often lead to more degradation of the ozone layer. The repercussion of this destruction is climatic change, which has led to global warming (Cegnar 5).

While the above situation seems hopeless according to Assadourian, people have made incredible steps towards mitigation of some of the challenges that have led to climatic change. For instance, new environmentally friendly cultures such as greenhouse technology and the development of electric cars that are charged by solar-powered installations are emerging.

Through its development of Model S and the expected Model X, Tesla Motors provided evidence of technologically savvy people who have the ability to overcome problems that lead to climatic change that is associated with consumerism.

Reflection on Assadourian Recommendations

Consumerism comes with ecological and social costs. Indeed, if consumerism of manufactured products constitutes a culture, which has replaced the culture of consumption of direct farm products, which have no negative implications on environmental sustainability, seeking ways of enhancing environmental sustainability comprises one of the most sensible recommendations made by Assadourian.

Specifically, he recommends a shift in consumerism patterns to encourage proliferation of values, norms, symbols, and traditions that push people to only consume just what is enough (Assadourian 16). He adds that the energy that is directed towards consuming excess foods should be channeled to practices that foster the creation of a sustainable planet.

This strategy calls for individual responsibility. As such, it is a sensible recommendation since restoring the natural state of the planet earth might call for collective effort, commitment, and cooperation.

Different interpretations of the concept of good life encompass one of the major issues that need harmonization in the effort to minimize excess consumption. Is it possible to lead a good life while incorporating ways of protecting the environment and/or upholding sustainability or do these aspects act in opposition? In my opinion, it is possible.

However, the definition of good life must incorporate the consumption of environmentally friendly products. This plan requires the input of technologically savvy people who are also responsible for development of the current products in the market, which have destroyed the people’s wellbeing.

For individuals who define good life as living in big highly powered houses, technologically savvy people must develop products that support environmental sustainability while still satisfying this group of consumers. Self-sustaining houses or driving a lucrative solar power car are some of potential products that can serve well this category of people, and yet encourage sustainability of the environment.

Since a good life is a function of people’s culture, a shift of culture to the one that encourages less consumption will imply that a good life means consuming and polluting less. When this change occurs, environmental protection through encouraging environmental sustainability practices and good life will become mutually compatible ideas.

Works Cited

Assadourian, Erik. State of the World: Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability. W.W Norton: The World Watch Institute, 2010. Print.

Cegnar, Timothy. “Effects of Global Warming on Climatic Change.” Human Systems and Policy 1.2(2009): 1-6. Print.

World Bank. Global Review of Solid Waste Management, 2013. Web.

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