Is Consumer Society a Throw Away Society?
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TMA02
Is consumer society always a `throw-away` society?
By:
Gergely Varga
Consumer society, or the word `consumer` is a label used to refer to a society which is defined as much by how and what people purchase and use as by what they make or do. (Making Social Lives, OU, Page 13.) “Throw-away” society means that members of this kind of society just get rid of what they purchase and use in their everyday life. This is a word with a negative impact, and suggests a way of living that is unsustainable, and people don`t want to give up their easy, and “quickly replaceable lifestyle”, or to pay more for goods and services. Throw-away more means more rubbish, more waste, more pollution.
In the UK, household rubbish only, was 508kgs per person in 2007, and before, in 1983/84 it was “only” 308 kgs ( Defra, 2007). This is a huge increase, almost the double, and this means also, globally, an increase of using up our planet`s resources. In the 80s, it was just balanced, but in 2008 humankind was annually using up the biological capacity of 1.4 Earths (Global Footprint Network, 2008a;, nef, 2008). The reasons of these growing numbers are coming together with technologically developed, and more affluent society. Rising affluance also implies changing what are luxuries, and what are necessities. Very good examples are mobile phones, in the early 90s, only the richest possesed them, now members of the modern society cannot live without them. Most People can buy cheap, mainly disposable, and not durable goods made by faraway, exploited workforce. The price of labour, repairs are sometimes higher then to just replace goods, as the number of durable goods have decreased, and became also more expensive. In a way the change of gender roles supports mass consumption too, for example women are more carreer driven, better educated, work more not...
TMA02
Is consumer society always a `throw-away` society?
By:
Gergely Varga
Consumer society, or the word `consumer` is a label used to refer to a society which is defined as much by how and what people purchase and use as by what they make or do. (Making Social Lives, OU, Page 13.) “Throw-away” society means that members of this kind of society just get rid of what they purchase and use in their everyday life. This is a word with a negative impact, and suggests a way of living that is unsustainable, and people don`t want to give up their easy, and “quickly replaceable lifestyle”, or to pay more for goods and services. Throw-away more means more rubbish, more waste, more pollution.
In the UK, household rubbish only, was 508kgs per person in 2007, and before, in 1983/84 it was “only” 308 kgs ( Defra, 2007). This is a huge increase, almost the double, and this means also, globally, an increase of using up our planet`s resources. In the 80s, it was just balanced, but in 2008 humankind was annually using up the biological capacity of 1.4 Earths (Global Footprint Network, 2008a;, nef, 2008). The reasons of these growing numbers are coming together with technologically developed, and more affluent society. Rising affluance also implies changing what are luxuries, and what are necessities. Very good examples are mobile phones, in the early 90s, only the richest possesed them, now members of the modern society cannot live without them. Most People can buy cheap, mainly disposable, and not durable goods made by faraway, exploited workforce. The price of labour, repairs are sometimes higher then to just replace goods, as the number of durable goods have decreased, and became also more expensive. In a way the change of gender roles supports mass consumption too, for example women are more carreer driven, better educated, work more not...