December 13, 2024
Notes by Saamya Deo
Today, First Friends Anvita and Dwija did a workshop about consumerism and why it is horrible for our Prithvi Devi.
What is Consumerism and why is it really bad for our Prithvi Devi?Â
Consumerism is the idea that having more stuff makes us happier.
Things like the norms in society and what other people do to pressure people to buy more stuff.
To help us learn more about this, we watched a video on the life of a t-shirt. In the end, we learned that . . . .
- It takes a LOT of energy
- The chemicals and stuff they use to dye the t-shirt are really bad for us
- The people that make these t-shirts don’t have good working conditions and wages! Imagine working 12-14 hours a day getting maybe $50 a week!
- Things like deforestation, climate change, and species going extinct are directly related to American consumerism!
What can we do?
We can . . . . .
Research – Find out where the product comes from how the product is packaged, if the company cares for the environment, and whether they treat their employees well!
Rethink – Ask yourself: Do you really need this? Absolutely? Positively? 100% sure?
Refuse – Say NO!
Reuse – Use the same thing over and over again!
Repair – Fix something that you broke so you can use till the very very very end!
Repurpose – Make something into something else, like a ripped shirt into a rag, use your creativity!
Resell – You can resell your clothes so other people can use them, garage sale etc, you can even give your old things to thrift stores and such so that they can sell them, you won’t have to do any of the work!
Rent – Nowadays, you can rent something really fancy, something you won’t wear everyday clothing, use it and return it back!
First Friend Dwija’s Activity
She asked us to go count the clothes in our closet. Do we really need all of them? How many of the clothes that we have do we actually use? What do we do with our clothes after we grow out of them?
RAW – Don’t buy anything that you don’t need over the holidays, use the 8 R’s to help you!