In a world where we can access everything, what do we want to keep?
What if ownership wasn't the only option
In the West, if you have the means to do so, you can get anything you want almost immediately. If a nearby shop does not stock it, Amazon Prime will bring it to your door tomorrow. We don’t have to fly to Peru for mangoes, nor do we have to have ever been to Mexico to have a quilt made by artisans in rural Mexican villages. In many ways, this unlimited access has led us to our overconsumption obsession. The ability to have everything all the time has meant many people do, because we can. We can have Amazon packages arriving almost endlessly and the idea of searching for a lost item seems like a complete waste of time when you can get a new one within 24 hours.
Of course, consumer behaviour is strongly influenced by income. This kind of consumption is only possible for those who have sufficient disposable income to buy whatever they want, whenever they want. Whilst those on lower incomes might spend a higher proportion of their household budget and save less, they spend it on meeting their basic needs. Middle and higher income households spend more on non essential consumption. According to the Office for National Statistics, in the UK households in the top income decile spend five times as much on recreation and culture than those in the bottom decile and proportionately more of their total spending is in this category, 14% compared with 10%
The more affluent people become, often the more money they spend on items that demonstrate their affluence - a behaviour termed conspicuous consumption. Our desire to show how affluent we are is partly driving overconsumption and is contributing to our destruction of the environment in order to own things we probably don’t need.
The culture of having everything ‘because we can’ is a psychological idea, persuasively encouraged by clever consumer marketing. No one wants to imagine themselves without, and the idea of buying something for ourselves can feel luxurious. However, so many of us sit in homes full of stuff we do not use. Lifestyle blogs by social media ‘influencers’ tell us that we cannot miss out on buying that new rug, that sixteen piece dinner service or that set of fifteen candles which burn for a year each. Glossy publications have become wise to this pattern of spending, giving curated guides of goods to their readers about what they think their readers should have in their homes. This is not to disparage the hardworking editors who put these collections together, but I’m not sure that someone I’ve never met would know the exact candle scent I want for my bath on a weeknight evening. It is all advertising by another name.
The rise of credit and easy payment firms like Klarna has promoted the idea of buy now, pay later. Interest free repayments remove some of the concerns about affordability and encourage spending beyond our means. This has contributed to a rise in spending, even during a time of recession.
Whilst consumption can definitely dig into our fears and joys about having and not having, could we envisage a world where we find the joy in appreciation rather than ownership? Having is causing a crisis beyond our homes, our neighbourhoods and our countries. Is it time to relish in the idea of appreciating from afar or for a short time rather than having sole ownership over something?
With the climate crisis bearing down on us, is it not the time to reflect on our fixation with ownership? Beautiful things are admired the world over, in museums and galleries and is fashion not worthy of the same treatment? The joy we take from beauty is the appreciation not necessarily the ownership. Or maybe we need to rethink ownership, and embrace it as a temporary or shared experience rather than permanent.
We can now see a push towards the rental market, where we have temporary ownership to fulfil a need - books in libraries, Uber or even ZipCar. Fashion is realising the value in this business model, with more and more clothing rental services and the rise in second hand resale sites. Communities are using local online platforms to share, recycle and reuse items more than ever.
So to conclude, why do we deem ownership as the only model of consumption. Whilst we cannot share everything, the next time you consider buying something new, think about whether you can appreciate it from afar or find it on a resale website. Beautiful things deserve our attention and appreciation, but not necessarily at the cost of the planet.
This week’s recommendations to read: (I forgot last week, apologies!)
The Atlantic’s Climate Crisis coverage
HuffPost’s This New World collection of reporting on environmental issues
David Wallace-Wells’s highly influential essay exploring the realities of climate change (annotated)
The Atlantic’s 5 Biggest Climate Stories of 2020
As always, please share, subscribe and have a good weekend!