By Felix Yim
We have become wild in the way we consume products and items nowadays. It has become literally competitive, as survival has remained to be for the fittest. But this fast-paced consumer culture has come with both negatives and positives. In this article, we discuss some of the hidden costs of the fast-paced consumer culture – including the following:
Misuse of Land and Resources
Land and resources are there for humanity to take control of and use sustainably. But the fast-paced consumer culture has led to the misuse of the same resources that we are supposed to conserve.
Natural resources such as land and water are given to use by Mother Nature – without any of us having to contribute anything towards it. Therefore, the least that we all can do is to ensure that we guard and protect all of our natural resources.
Unfortunately, none of this is happening right now due to the immense misuse and pollution that’s taking place within our globe. The human intervention in wildlands that are solely meant for wildlife and the use of oceans and other water sources irregularly has led to the wastage of natural resources in a big way.
The land is a prime natural resource too. However, humans have misused it through pollution and reckless mining that ends up distorting what we all should use responsibly.
Exporting Waste and Pollution from Rich Countries to Poor Countries
This is something that we have witnessed more than once in this current age. Developed countries do export waste and pollution to the less-developed or third-world countries. You find that the immense consumerism of the developed countries creates a lot more waste than they can manage on their own. And this is what leads to them exporting such materials to underdeveloped countries.
As much as the importation of plastic seems to be a lucrative and viable business to third-world countries, it really isn’t the case. Rogue industries and companies find it better to dump the plastics in landfills and leave them there. And you do know how the burning of plastics leads to the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere. It affects the environment in a great way.
Due to the release of toxins from these plastics in landfills, the oceans and water sources also become contaminated. Once the waste is geographically taken away, you’ll notice that many start to distance themselves from any claims of pollution. And this includes the rogue companies that personally do the pollution. Even the third world governments that permit this to happen in front of their very eyes assume the situation is okay and do nothing.
The global ecosystem is the one that suffers most ultimately. And if we can’t help to conserve the ecosystem, then we are all setting a really bad precedence for future generations. They will only but emulate the things that we do as a generation. It’s important that we focus on avoiding such vices.
A Cycle of Waste, Disparities, and Poverty
The immense cycles of waste have had a huge toll on businesses and persons at large. The entire society has been affected by wastes. Either through the contraction of different diseases, different disparities, and even poverty.
Businesses are now realizing this and creating sustainable alternatives to items that would traditionally take a toll on the environment. Such as offering lab-grown diamond engagement rings over mined diamonds to the ever-growing wedding industry.
You’ll find that such alternatives are helping us preserve the environment, reduce waste and poverty. For instance, the lab-grown diamond alternatives are much better than the mined diamonds in terms of the preservation of natural resources. You can actually see that land, as a natural resource, remains intact.
Final Thoughts
In quick summary, these are some of the hidden costs of our fast-paced consumer culture. At first, it may seem to be a good thing. Well, until you dig deeper and discover that it is hurting us and the environment more than ever before. Now is the time to take charge and help reduce this problem on the planet. You need to ask yourself what you can do to help prevent and reduce pollution and overexploitation of natural resources. Maybe, it can be as simple as opting for a lab-grown diamond instead of a mined one.
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