By Arielle Nguyen
Have you ever gone to a store and thought to yourself, “Wow, I want everything here, even if it’s not on sale, even if it’s just a want, even if I’ll only use it once and never again!” Me neither.
But you can find people with this mindset everywhere, no matter the day, the month or the occasion Especially in businesses like HomeGoods or Target, where there’s a “seasonal aisle for every prominent holiday of the year.
The early preparation bothers me, but I can understand it. People just want to be ready for holidays by shopping early, and stores want to be the first to please the consumer. My problem is when people purchase things for holidays—inflatable Halloween decorations, Christmas lights, weird plates and wreaths to decorate their living room—and instead of using what they have or donating their items, they dispose of them. Where’s the holiday spirit of giving?
“What does the Earth get for Christmas?”
Coal! And carbon emissions, but hey, we only get one life, right? Why care about humanity’s future when you can buy another coffee mug?
Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the amount of household garbage in the USA can increase by 25%. Doesn’t that alarm you just a little bit? Don’t you realize that purchasing more wrapping paper and more decorations because “it’s cuter than what you have” affects your bloodline more than your aesthetic? Do you think your Earth wants to feast on trash? No! Obviously not!
The main contributors to waste production in the USA are wrapping paper and food waste. The other day, I went to HomeGoods, a furnishing company notorious for its “ever-changing mix” of decor, furniture, rugs and everything under the sun. It’s one of my favorite stores just because of the sheer amount of holiday decorations thrown in my face. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t solely blame HomeGoods for America’s overconsumption problem. I don’t blame stores for appealing to consumers—in fact, call me a hypocrite for buying two rolls of wrapping paper. They were cute and trendy, okay?
And that’s the issue. Honestly, I just bought the rolls because I saw similar ones online, and I thought to myself, “Wow, I want that!” And I bought it. With my money. But after reflecting I noticed that I still said, “I want that” instead of “I need that.”
No one needs wrapping paper. No one needs Santa-themed napkins to wipe cranberry sauce off their lips. No one needs any of the seasonal stuff at any store. What you need is to ask yourself, “a want or a need?” Treat yourself once in a while, but for wrapping paper that you’ll only use once? Are you hearing yourself right now?
Overconsumption as shown in stores
The best gift for the environment
When it comes to sustainability, remember that it isn’t something you can buy when it becomes trendy. Our Earth is already crumbling, and the process will only speed up in about 4 years. More waste due to excessive wrapping paper, plates, ribbon—you name it—means more garbage in landfills. Discarding plastic trees not only produces carbon dioxide but requires a good chunk of time to decompose. And also, they’re not very appealing to look at. The plastic, artificial greenery mixed with, most often, the black stem—I’m gagging just thinking about it. Talk about a lose-lose!
To reduce overconsumption, save your things!
Keep them in ugly and clear storage boxes in the attic. If you’re only going to see them once a year, and you’re going to take your pretty wreaths and ornaments and lights out of the ugly box, why spend more money on cuter containers?
Save your wrapping paper. No one cares what the stripes’ colors are—the most people would say is, “Cute! Time to rip it up and discard it immediately!” It’s not what’s on the outside that counts, it’s the inside. Just reuse wrapping paper and buy only what you need.
Or don’t. Treat yourself every day. Insulate your walls with rolls of wrapping paper. Buy specialty-colored napkins and toilet paper for $5 more. Watch the world burn—if that’s what you want.
