Mass consumption

On a human scale, consumption societies are the cause of unprecedented changes, due to their speed and magnitude. Today, this model is increasingly being criticised, from an ecological, social and ethical point of view... Do we really need to design a different world?

The consumer society: a brief history

The concept of a consumer society first appeared in the United States, in the 1920s. This lifestyle appealed to Europeans right after World War II, as Americans were in a position of strength due to their role in the Liberation.

The "cheap car for everyone", which allows people to access their workplace as well as shopping and recreational destinations, marked the beginning of the mass consumption era ⁽¹⁾. Housing units then become increasingly urban, and electrical equipment started flying off the shelves: in France, 11% of households had a refrigerator in 1954, 26% in 1960, 80% in 1970 and 96% in 2003 ⁽²⁾. Objects related to leisure activities (TV...) experienced strong growth in the 1960s. More recently, new information and communication technologies have taken over.

This sort of consumer society quickly became more and more prevalent in "conquered" countries: it is estimated that it took 40 years to become the norm in the United States, 20 years in France and 10 years in China (between 1995 and 2005) ⁽²⁾. During this period, distribution methods became standardised (supermarkets...), and the service and recreation economy developed significantly.

Predatory consumption

For European households, impacts on the environment arise primarily from four types of activities: food, housing, personal transport and tourism ⁽³⁾. Our individual lifestyles have a significant impact: food choices (the production chain, the quantity of meat consumed...); room insulation, furniture materials (exotic woods ...) and cleaning products; preferred travelling methods; tourism practices...

The current state of affairs is alarming. OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries represent only 20% of the world's population, yet they earn 85% of all revenues, use 75% of all energy and 80% of other resources, and they are responsible for 75% of all pollution ⁽⁴⁾. A citizen of the European Union consumes nearly 17 tons of materials each year. These materials are extracted in Europe but they also come from countries outside of Europe, and some countries even have a higher environmental impact abroad than in their own territories ⁽³⁾. Household waste continues to grow, reaching 27 million tons per year in France, representing over 400 kg. per inhabitant ⁽⁵⁾.

Of course, the technologies used in rich countries are improving, and some forms of pollution have gradually come under control... However, these benefits are offset by population growth, the multiplication of objects and the decrease of their useful life. In addition, the rise in the number of consumers in emerging countries is rapidly spreading this problem throughout the world.

Consuming or living well

Our consumer society has grown more complex with no hints of slowing down. The first signs of "progress", implementing simple, general solutions, led to significant economic and social benefits at a relatively low environmental cost. Afterwards, "progress" became increasingly difficult, less effective and even counterproductive. This can be illustrated through the growth of cities: by bringing together government agencies, workplaces, shopping and leisure destinations, mid-sized cities provide their residents with significant time savings; but by becoming megalopolises, they end up imposing distances and travel times that are significantly higher than those encountered in rural areas. Their growth becomes counterproductive. Similarly, although a consumer society can initially improve people's lives, taken to extremes it is neither synonymous with quality of life, nor a guarantee of individual happiness. Stress and suicides in industrialised countries are examples of this. The increase of social protests in China is another example (incidents have increased from 10,000 to 74,000 per year during the country's decade of transition) ⁽²⁾.

Furthermore, our society will have to adapt. The issue surrounding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is just one illustration of the magnitude of future changes. In order to stabilise the climate, GHG emissions must be cut in half worldwide, resulting in a tenfold decrease for a North American, a fourfold decrease for a French person and a twofold decrease for a Chinese person, without taking into account the increasing world population. For each inhabitant and using current technologies, the Earth can only tolerate one round-trip flight to New York, or the purchase of 1.5 flat screen computers ⁽⁶⁾. But nothing more!

The consumer society has managed to "convey upon the means the status of an end" ⁽⁷⁾. It has brought together the concepts of possession and happiness, and instilled consumption at the heart of people's lives. Faced with its inability to foster well-being on a widespread level and properly manage the environment, it must evolve extensively. The new society will need to bring together the environmental acceptability of all humanity as well as the welfare of each individual. The role of government is crucial: while keeping in mind the sociological complexity of the act of consumption, governments need to encourage businesses and consumers to embody this new type of society. Maintaining economic growth while protecting the environment requires investments, with an average negative impact of 0.03 points on annual global growth from now until 2030 ⁽⁸⁾. In an environment where leaders are judged on the short term growth of GDP and purchasing power, it is easy to understand why it is difficult to make the necessary decisions. However, the more we wait, the more the expensive the bill will be.

Written by Florent Planas for "One year for the Planet" (translated by Anyword).

Find out more…

1. Walt Whiltman Rostow, Les étapes de la croissance économique (1960)
2. Dominique Desjeux, La consommation (Presses Universitaires de France, 2006)
3. European Environmental Agency (EEA), Household Consumption and the Environment (2005)
4. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Planning for Change -Guidelines For National Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (2008)
5. Michel Barnier, Atlas pour un monde durable (Acropole, 2007)
6. Jean-Marc Jancovici, www.manicore.com
7. Benoît Heilbrunn, La consommation et ses sociologies (Armand Colin, 2005)
8. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 (OECD, 2008)
9. Hélène et Robert Pince, La biodiversité et moi (Plume de carotte pour Nature et Découvertes, 2009)
10. To better understand consumer systems and the issues surrounding them, please take a look at the reports put together by Edwin Zaccaï and Isabelle Haynes, La société de consommation face aux défis écologiques (La documentation Française, 2008).