Each year, approximately 140 tons of waste from the United States head to the landfills.
In today’s day and age, there are many technological advancements and global connectivity.
Our modern world is consuming unnecessary resources at an alarming rate.
According to the Global Footprint Network, as of 2024, humanity has been consuming resources at a rate of 1.75 times faster than the Earth can regenerate them.
Kootenai County has a community recycling program to help reduce the amount of waste that ends up going to the landfill.
Overconsumption is the product of consumerism, industrialization, and globalization.
Ever since the industrial revolution, there have been economic models, and many countries have been made around the ideas of continuous growth.
This can also vary from supply and demand. Over the years, consumers have become more materialistic and feel the need to buy, buy, buy.
With technological advancements, it has caused goods to become easier to manufacture, leading to overproduction and cheaper prices.
Fast fashion is inexpensive clothing that is produced rapidly by mass-market retailers to match the latest trends.
“I think a ton of people choose to get clothes that go along with the latest trends because the outfits can be cute for a little while, but then the clothes end up being thrown out.” Aryah Black Eagle-Seres said.
One of the biggest effects of overconsumption is environmental degradation.
According to Net Impact, it takes away the earth’s natural resources, increases pollution, and harms ecosystems.
With high demands for goods and services, this requires huge amounts of energy that are from fossil fuels, which are a non-renewable resource. Which means it can not be replenished within a human lifetime.
Fossil fuels from different industries release several types of pollutants into the atmosphere, which can cause acid rain and respiratory problems for humankind.
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction and happens when pollutant compounds are in the air and mix with water to become more acidic pollutants, which is known as acid rain.
It ends up hurting rainforests by damaging tree leaves and taking the rich nutrients from the soil.
This can also make it harder for trees to absorb water and grow at a healthy rate.
Air pollution can also be harmful directly to humans.
It can cause cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, irregular heartbeats, and potentially a stroke.
Certain air pollutants, known as carcinogens, can increase the risk of lung cancer as well as other cancers.
Overconsumption is also targeted towards the wealthier side of the population.
The rich disproportionately over consume resources compared to the poor.
The wealthiest 20 percent of the population consume the vast majority of the world’s resources.
Much of this can be from the wealthy owning private jets and mega yachts that end up costing an extreme amount of energy.
One’s air travel alone could be thousands of times greater of a carbon footprint than the average person.
In Kootenai County, there is public transportation for people who need it. This can reduce the amount of carbon emissions from being on a bus with multiple other people in comparison to driving in a car alone.
Those with larger estates require more amounts of energy, water, and materials to keep them maintained.
The overuse of vital resources like wood for building extravagant houses can lead to deforestation, which can affect future generations.
Another side of overconsumption is when people choose to buy too many things that are unnecessary and wasteful.
“Sometimes I have bought too many of certain things like Stanley’s and it can actually impact the world.” Chloe Neff said.
With the advanced technology we have today, products are just one click away from being in our hands.
Consumer culture has normalized constantly buying products that are unnecessary and unneeded.
Most of the modern economies are built off of over consumption. With the constant buying of things it causes companies to be encouraged to sell more.
Around Rathdrum, there is a Small Business Environmental Assistance Program.
This program helps small businesses become more environmentally compliant and might end up helping waste reduction efforts.
Over the years, shopping has changed from a necessity to a form of entertainment. When some people are bored, they choose to go to malls, most likely to buy products that will not end up being used.
The shops at malls are shaped to follow along with the “latest fashion trends,” which leads to fast fashion and cheap clothing items flooding thrift stores and landfills.
The lifespan of fast fashion is very short. It stays in the consumer’s closet for about a few months or even less than being worn ten times.
The fashion industry designed this to be disposable, and they choose quantity over quality.
Typically, material is cheap, stitching is messed up, the trend quickly dies off, and the item is disposed of sooner or later.
Some people feel guilty about buying these low-quality items and donate them to thrift stores to give them a second chance. But the harsh reality is that most people do not want trendy clothing items that do not even have good quality. After the thrift store, many items head over to the landfill, for them to stay until they decompose over time.
“I feel like when cheap fashion trends hit the thrift stores, it makes it less fun to shop because no one wants to buy low-quality clothes that are second-hand.” Jacqueline Gallus said.
