While consumption of goods is necessary to survive, overconsumption well beyond what is needed has created a world where resource use has outpaced the sustainable capacity of the ecosystem. Overconsumption leads to:
- The loss of natural resources used to produce those goods
- Toxic pollution in the air and toxic waste in the ground from mass production
- An unprecedented amount of waste that harms our lands, our waters, and our wildlife
- Destruction of subsistence sources for communities in the underdeveloped world
- Exploitation of the most vulnerable: cheap offshore labor, forced child labor, depressed wages at home, diminished benefits, and a disappearing safety net
Video summary: Collective actions problems are a common type of problem in our society. Society as a whole would benefit from solving this type of problem yet on an individual level working towards a solution is a disadvantage.
Video summary: A stylized animation demonstrates how humans and industrialization have destroyed the environment.
Of the total material flow that goes through this system, only 1% of consumer goods purchased are still in use 6 months after the date of sale in North America [5].