(1/2019) It’s the time of year when an endless stream of "New Year’s Resolution" advertisements take over the news and advertising media. They promise new beginnings and better versions of yourself, promises you’re actually going to keep this year, and to use the common phrases of the season, a "new you." The frustrating thing about the New Year’s message in our culture,
however, is that the vast majority of them are about weight loss. I understand – it is important to take care of your physical health. My frustration, however, stems from the emphasis this places on physical appearance over internal qualities and habits that affect not only yourself but others. This New Year, I would like to take a look at the impact I have on the world
around me.
I resolve to address a problem with the way I look at one of the most basic tasks of daily life: shopping. Until recently, I thought I had this all figured out. Material objects, I thought, are not very important in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, under the feeble banner of "frugality" I have spent my shopping time looking for bargains, usually buying cheaply-made
products over higher quality to save a few dollars. Then, inevitably, the product falls apart and the whole process repeats. I thought this was a responsible way to consume, but recently my perspective has changed. In a class I took last semester on Catholic social teaching, we read Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’. In this document, Pope Francis points out a flaw in the
developed world’s habits of consumerism. It is a culture he calls the "throwaway culture" which applies not only to our consumption of goods but also our attitudes toward other people. The throwaway culture has a negative impact on the environment, as frivolously discarded goods pile up in landfills, and human rights, as the laborers who produce the goods are unfairly
compensated. The reason this culture thrives is its positive impact on the economy – at least in the short term.
As ashamed as I was to discover this, my shopping habits are proof of my compliance with the throwaway culture. I was willing to ignore the wasteful way I was using goods in order to save money. As much as I try to use and reuse the products I buy, I find myself guilty of the flaw that I thought was a virtue: I don’t value material goods too much, I value them too little.
I was buying goods, as infrequently as possible of course, and, because they cost me little, they were of little value to me. I was not the one who spent hours in a factory stitching the fabric, or in the fields under the heat of the sun harvesting natural resources. I don’t have to see the faces of the exhausted workers whose wages barely make ends meet, or breathe the air
polluted by factory emissions. The product means nothing more to me than the amount of money that I decided it was worth.
For my New Year’s resolution, I would like to change my habits of consumption by renewing my concept of frugality. It is time to replace my short-sighted vision of frugality with a more sustainable one. I will have to think about spending in the long term, and acknowledge that my buying habits impact not only my bank account but also the lives of people whom I will never
meet, and the environmental conditions of the earth. While I admit that to consume only products that meet all the qualifications I would like would be impractical for a variety of reasons, there are practical ways I can improve the way I buy and use goods.
The first is to reuse. The easiest way to avoid adding to the landfills is to stop the constant cycle of buying new and discarding. Instead, buying used items like clothing, books, and furniture will be budget-friendly and environmentally friendly. I’ve also found that thrift shopping is fun, especially because you never quite know what you might find! I would also like to
start donating the items I can no longer use to places that either give or sell them to those who might need them. I owe many of the comforts of my life to the generosity of others. Reusing and donating unneeded goods is a way I can start to give back.
The second way I can be a more attentive consumer is, and this will be more difficult for me, buying higher quality, and therefore higher-priced goods. This will hopefully have two results: the most obvious is that I will take buying more seriously. If I spend more money on higher quality goods, I will be forced to buy less often, to make good use of the goods that I have,
and to take good care of them to prolong their use. If I buy less often, I will throw away less often and contribute less to frivolous waste. The second benefit is less certain, but higher-priced goods are better able to compensate workers fairly.
The third way I resolve to improve my consumer habits helps with worker compensation: buying items produced fair-trade. While the fair-trade movement is still a growing movement and the amount of goods that are available fair trade is still quite limited, there are certain types of goods that are almost always available fair trade. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar can be
found fair trade at Walmart, and gift items like jewelry, handbags, toys, and decorations can be found at fair-trade stores. While they are not labelled "fair-trade", food from local farmers’ markets and items made in the United States abide by local regulations, and have better control of workers’ rights as well.
I know this resolution will be difficult, and I will definitely not be perfect, but changing my habits little by little will help change my path. I can’t change consumer culture as a whole, but I can take steps to reduce its grip on me.
