A few months ago I posted a great award winning video, The Story of Stuff, which looks at consumer lifestyle in the US. Given the average American has more than $9000 in credit card debt, materialism is not a relic of Michael Douglas’s Wall Street.
But you have to wonder, where do people put all their stuff? I know a guy who collects Legos; he dreams of one day building a Lego master piece and is painstakingly collecting all sorts of special Lego pieces for this grand oeuvre. Where does he keep the thousands and thousands of legos he has amassed? In a store locker on the East Coast. . . seriously.
My friend is not alone. Alternet’s Martin John Brown writes:
According to the Self Storage Association, an industry advocacy group, square footage of rentable storage has increased 740 percent in the past two decades; a billion square feet of storage space was created between 1998 and 2005; and there are now 6.8 square feet of storage for every man, woman and child in America. Chris Sonne, a storage expert at Cushman & Wakefield Inc., estimates there are 45,000 storage facilities today compared to zero 50 years ago.
I’m flabbergasted that people buy more stuff than they have space for. If you aren’t going to use it regularly, is there really a purpose in buying it at all? When shopping for clothes I aways consider the price:use ratio. If it’s an item I’m likely to wear weekly, I can justify spending more for it. But to have boxes of household goods and clothing in storage for perpetuity? Why do you have that stuff in the first place?
Average tenancies nationwide are somewhere between one and two years, say Scanlon and Sonne, and some renters simply never leave.
“I have one renter who’s been here since we opened — in 1990,” says Dawn Spencer, a manager at Clackamas River Mini Storage outside of Portland. “He pays automatically, by credit card, never comes in. Lives in another state now.”
“It’s an industry that builds on inertia,” says Paul Adornato, an analyst for BMO Capital Markets. “People would much rather have $150 withdrawn automatically out of their checking account every month than have to wake up on a Saturday morning, rent a truck, move out the stuff, do something with the stuff … see what I mean?”
Our nation’s obsession with “stuff” is rarely discussed, despite its impact, which is why I so thoroughly enjoyed the documentary What Would Jesus Buy? The film documents Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping on their holiday crusade to get people to give more and buy less. (The group has officially been banned from Starbucks locations globally after taking their act to a Starbucks venue.) The films looks at the community impact of excessive shopping at discount retailers, as well as the financial and social effects of reckless consumerism. Their tale is easier to swallow cloaked in humor, but it does address the serious realities of our shopping culture.
Though we have 198 days until Christmas rolls around again, I highly recommend the film, perhaps partnered with a money party for your closest friends.
No related posts.
The subject certainly resonates. I have to view the YouTube video. The American economy is driven by consumerism. But what needs are fulfilled by all that stuff? The trend in home construction is the three-garage house, so at least one car will get shelter.
http://madsilence.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/a-world-out-of-balance/
MadSilence
I have been thinking about this alot lately. Everything that goes into my hand will in turn result in a large amount of waste. It can be seen everywhere, from most everthing packaged to the little paper bag that your silverware (after being wrapped in the napkin) is placed in at restaurants. I grew up during the 70′s and 80′s and I am extremely amused at the comments I hear about the GOOD OL’ DAYS, such as “We did not have Playstations, XBoxes, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms….. WE HAD FRIENDS and we wento outside to find them!” (SenLiv June08) It seems this ride is getting faster and faster and all of our stuff is changing who we are becoming.
A very important topic! I have many reasons why I have tried to cut back on purchases. There are so many positive things to be had from buying less. There is the spiritual aspect, the financial aspect, the environmental, and on and on.
Here are some good shows for kids to teach them about materialism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj7RXxsv74s (WordGirl, episode, “Mr. Big”)
Veggie Tales – episode “Madame Blueberry/Stuff Mart rap”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQkdY_7Pet0
This is constantly on my mind: economic woes, record forclosure rates, gas prices. But out of all of this what bothers me the most is lack of media responsibility commercialism at it’s best. Though we need to take account of our personal responsibilities as well. Though the FCC does nothing that hinders the idea of the “Buy a new car” “refinance you house” mentality.
When and how did this idea of buy, buy, but enter our society: perhaps we should spend a week no a month in the slums of Africa to reevaluate want over need!
Healthy D — my mom told me when she was a kid, they played “pretend” sans toys and still managed to stay entertained all afternoon, every afternoon.
Tee, The word girl episode is adorable
bohemian: given we’re approaching a $10 Trillion federal deficit, the gov’t isn’t in very good shape to encourage fiscal responsibility
We can’t believe how much stuff we have and don’t need. Compared to lots of people we don’t have much at all…we’ve moved a couple of times in the last few years and that usually helps us get rid of a lot, but still, there is so MUCH of it. To think that a hundred years ago, a family of six lived in a house that was less than 2000 square feet and often less than 1500. How did they do it, we wonder. Well, they didn’t need space for flat-screens, treadmills, 5000 toys, overstuffed loveseats, individual computers, shoe racks, matching lamps, towel warmers, waffle makers…etc