Nowadays, advertisements surround us from every direction. We are constantly encouraged to purchase items we would never have considered needing. A simple online search on our mobile devices triggers an avalanche of offers and eye-catching images that eventually persuade us to make unnecessary purchases, whether they be gadgets, clothing, or accessories.
The 'AntiConsumption' online community fights against consumerism, one post at a time. Its members share insightful content that inspires us to change our habits and reduce the accumulation of goods simply because they were suggested, rather than because we genuinely need them.
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Why Have I Never Seen Anything Like This?
What's Yours?
Yes! You Should Wear Stuff For Years
In order to gain a better understanding of the psychological aspects of the consumerism issue that people face, we have reached out to a clinical psychologist based in the UK, Michaela Thomas. The founder of The Thomas Connection shared with us some insight based directly on her clinical experience.
We wanted to know if Thomas has encountered cases of compulsive or addictive consumption behaviors in her research or practice. We found out that: “Yes, I have clients in my clinic who can compulsively overspend or purchase items they don't need. It's important to understand the root cause behind this behavior, as it changes the treatment. If it is an acquisition behavior as part of hoarding, where someone collects more and more things, and at the same time struggles to let go of things they already have, even if they seem to serve no purpose to others, then that consumption builds up into other problems, like cluttering, unhygienic homes, and arguments with loved ones.”
Instead Of Polluting The Planet With Confetti, Hole Punch Leaves Instead! 🌎🎉
Ha Ha Ha Ha Sports
Spooky Reusables
The psychologist told us about other, more complex instances: “If overspending is due to lack of financial planning, or wanting the dopamine kick of how good it feels to purchase something, that can be linked to ADHD, depression, mania, psychosis, or other dopamine-related issues. In ADHD, it can be really hard to resist sponsored content like Facebook ads or TV ads, telling you to get this thing NOW, in order to feel happier, or because otherwise there is a sense of FOMO, if you don't have this thing NOW.”
This Small Act Of Kindness Can Make Such A Huge Difference! Love To See It
Climate Dad Knows Better
Meirl
Asked what the psychological benefits of adopting a minimalist or simple living lifestyle are and how individuals can cultivate contentment and satisfaction with less, Michela Thomas explained: “Psychologically, it can feel a lot less overwhelming in your day-to-day with less visual clutter. It is easier to organize ourselves and find things day-to-day with fewer belongings. If we keep buying more and more, we can find ourselves less satisfied with the things we already have, or now get. Often there is a mismatch between the pursuing and the consuming of something we buy - that we focus so much on acquiring things that we don't have enough time sitting in the appreciation of what we've got. If we buy something less rarely and learn the art of mindfully savoring something after we have got it, we might feel more content and grateful for what we have. Having less is more, and doing less is also more.”
Bioplastics Made From Avocado Pits That Completely Biodegrade In 240 Days Created By Mexican Chemical Engineering Company 🥑
Weddings Can Get So Wasteful And Polluting, So It's Always Nice To See People Embracing Reuse. This Idea Of Requiring New Things On Your Special Day Is Outdated And Promotes Unnecessary Consumerism, So Anyway Yes, Let's Appreciate Second-Hand Wedding Gowns!
I Came Across This Years Ago And It De-Programmed Me From The Consumerist Mindset. From Matt Haig's Reasons To Stay Alive
Lastly, we were wondering how parents and educators can teach children and adolescents about responsible consumption and develop their critical thinking skills regarding advertising and consumer culture. The clinical psychologist told us: “It's helpful to engage children in the eco perspective of how fast fashion or mindless consumption impacts the environment, understanding the impact of using non-renewable resources. We can do that without creating eco-anxiety by showing in a neutral way that we try to reduce single-use plastic, or borrow books from the library instead of just buying new ones, or taking them to second-hand shops for toys and clothes. It then becomes part of their normal, just like we brush our teeth or look both ways before crossing the street - ingrained habits. In my child's school, they have an eco council where children can volunteer to take part and review the school's practices around sustainability, and come up with bright ideas. The children are our future, let them be part of designing it (in an age-appropriate way).”
I Believe It Fits Here
Golf courses are rubbish for then environment, little scope for biodiversity and lots of water run off .
F**k Better Learning Materials Or Whatever, Let's Build A Massive Shrine To A Couple Dozen Students That Do Something For A Few Months A Year
This applies to high school too. The football and basketball teams get the money for equipment when that money could be used to buy new books and supplies to teach kids.
These Bags Are Crocheted From Recycled Yarn. My Sister And I Make These Bags From Old, Unwanted Sweaters And Cardigans
Felt Like This Belonged Here
Gucci-Poochie Can't Go Potty
What An Idea!
Where Can I Buy A Card With This On It?
Regenerative Candles Creates New Candle As It Melts
Never Forget, The Electric Car Is Here To Save The Car Industry, Not The Planet
well and your very tweet is for your influence, not for the planet. Ppl in some countries tend to not see that there's something in between black and white when it comes to electric cars. And that there are many benefits of an electric car besides causing way less CO2 than conventional cars in their lifetimes (even if battery was produced with conventional power mix). Sure, car industry makes a good deal, too, what's bad about this? They employ many workers, too.
Bernie Showing Us All The Way!!
Things Used To Last For More Time
Oh, it's my old Kenmore! Yeah, that sucker broke in the early 90s. Think I've had my current one longer.
This Library Has Cake Pans You Can Check Out
Let’s Be Real
We Need A Different Economy
There Was Once A Time When
My Local Pizza Place Uses A Ball Of Dough Instead Of Those Little Plastic Tables To Prevent The Pizza Box Lid From Touching The Pizza
Capitalism Drives Innovation! The Innovations:
As A Pcos Patient Who Often Feels Bad About How She Looks, I Need This Reminder A Lot
Capitalism is just a form of power and power will twist anything. They've twisted beauty for power. However, ugly and beautiful are real things. No one made a dime off the beauty of a sparkling mountain lake or the hideousness of a blobfish. Regardless of how attractive each is, both are still vital to this world and deserve to be appreciated and respected. We need to refuse to let power tell us otherwise. Same thing with people.
A blobfish, for the record, is only "hideous" because it is pulled up rapidly by stupid ol' humans from its home in the depths, which causes tissue damage and probably severe pain. Here is a picture of a normal and healthy blobfish vs one that has been subjected to atrocity: 0z9w7b5a5k...cec90a.jpg
Load More Replies...Not really. Capitalism may pray on the concepts of ugly and beautiful, but they are not the ones who has invented it. There is a strong like between beautiful and useful, as making us think that certain things are beautiful and getting pleasure from that was nature's way to make sure that we did something that would spread our genes. E.g. beautiful proportions in a woman tends to be in line with what makes her body good at bearing children, and hence men who were naturally attracted to that kind of women tended to get more children. An assymetric face could be an indicator of some malfunctioning genes, and hence you don't want those in your children, and most people therefore find it "disgusting". Lush green landscapes is a sign of fertile land, and fertile land means a better yeild, so you can live a better life and feed more children etc. Capitalism has simply discovered our natural preferences and have found a way to enhance those to exploit them.
I assure you, the face has nothing to do with bearing children, the fact you're attempting to twist it into a "malfunctioning gene" argument just goes to show how deeply you and other humans, even after being faced with the truth of your own vanity will go to justify your bigotry. Wide hips? Good for birthing. "Meat" on the bones? Again. Less chance of starvation. Having ACTUAL GENE MUTATIONS myself, going through testing at the world's 2nd best hospital (number 1 in genetics) I can ASSURE ANYBODY READING THIS... your "ugly" argument is 100% b******t. My issues are INTERNAL you can't see them, oh except the fact I have flimsy fingernails... but they still grow just fine, and look MIGHTY PRETTY. Ffs.
Load More Replies...One Dutch comedian put it this way. "In my time, we did not know there was such a thing as a nose that was too short or thighs that were thick. They were WOMEN! Mysterious, exiting, Women!"
I don't know the Dutch comedian but I'm pretty sure no one is alive today feok before the time of beauty standards soooo no this quote makes no sense.
Load More Replies...The post makes the point terribly, and in a way that is factually incorrect, but I assume they were getting at the fact that modern beauty standards were influenced by pop culture and marketing rooted in making more money by creating and reinforcing a look deemed as beautiful, in the same was that Coca Cola made Santa look as he is now commonly perceived.
And that the more universal our media is, the ideals become narrower, less attainable, and completely widespread
Load More Replies...Nope. Ugly is ugly. Vanity and capitalism are what persuade you that ugly can be changed.
🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂 capitalism created ugly? Wow, stupidity and self pity here is deep.
Yes!!!!!! You wanna know why makeup is so expensive? Because makeup companies have convinced society that women are ugly without it, so they know they can charge that much and women will buy it! You don't need it honey! You are beautiful without it! Every line in your face is an experience well lived, a story I want to hear!
I hate the capitalist lifestyle. Everything is fueled by greed and money, there is no time to appreciate the gifts we have, or the plain beauty of life; the things money can't buy.
Capitalism says I am old, Funny I really don't feel that way, Couple of wrinkles maybe! That's Character! is what my loved ones tell me!
That's rubbish. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. The human race is based on how ugly/beautiful the opposite sex is, for procreation. It's part of being human. Got absolutely nothing to do with bureaucracy.
I can picture the magazine ad that tripped my eating disorder. I’m 54 now and nothing has changed in advertising.
Not really before even money existed there is “ugly” in every cultrure…different beauty standards existed than what we have today for sure but still… and if you dig into it..it was way worse than what we have today in some cultures…
We shouldn't have to feel like we have to compare ourselves to anybody.
Sure, back in the good'ole pre-capitalist days, there was no concept of beauty. It's well know that in the Soviet Union, all people were equally drab.
Wrong. Animals are attracted to the best looking and the strongest because it ensures survival.
Thaaaaaank you, ive asked female friends if they have taken pictures without makeup and if they do and are comfortable enough to show me they are the most beautiful women i see!
Sorry but such a nonsense statement like all women wear make up and actually look more ugly than without. But very pc to say i guess.
Load More Replies...I hate to say this but it's just not true. Ugly existed before corporations started selling us c**p. Now you can rightly argue that corporations categorised and monetized ugly but they certainly didn't create the concept. Whether you need to "fix" anything is on you and the people you interact with.
While i'll grant you beauty is subjective, and the idea can vary a little or a lot from person to person...it's not "made up" From a scientific standpoint, beauty is defined as symmetry, specifically the golden ratio as it related to the proportion of physical features. Common throughout most of the natural world, but not so much when it comes to people. From a psychological standpoint, people are generally more attracted to things that are uncommon....because from an evolutionary standpoint, our brains have evolved zero in on things that are out of place, and when it comes to reproduction, we're hardwired to weed out potential mates with any defects that could result in less than ideal offspring. While cultural ideals may differ from objective beauty, and impart influence....everyone still knows it when they see it. It shouldn't have any impact on how people are treated or appreciated, but that's different then trying to fight against base impulses that no one has any control over.
Eating These Corporations Is The Only Way To Truly Save The Earth
It Never Worked In The First Place. Ever Since The Pandemic Started, We Are All Collectively Realizing This
Street Sticker
“One-Time Use” Froyo Spoons That I’ve Been Using For 8 Years
Knew It Fit Here
They used to make things to last. Now they make them to wear out as soon as possible (and in the case of electronics, as soon as the warranty expires!)
On Black Friday 2008, 34 Yr Old Walmart Employee, Jdimytai Damour, Was Asked By His Employer To Use His 6’5 Body As A Barrier For A Crowd Of Over 2,000 People
He died that day after being trampled by the crowd. The shoppers did not concerned about his death, and even complained of waiting too long.
Trampled to death by the customer stampede. Noone was ever tried for this, but Walmart had to pay a fine of 7000$ for OSHA violations (that they spent more than 1 million dollars publicly contesting to state they had done nothing wrong). More: https://nathanveshecco.medium.com/jdimytai-damour-10-years-later-277706add1e6
Reminder That The Skincare Industry Is Predatory
Got Laid Off From My Job. I Have A Mug I Really Love But Has My Old Company’s Logo On It. Instead Of Throwing It Away, I Ordered A $3 Waterproof Vinyl Sticker To Put Over It. I Love The Mug Even More!
I did the same thing. Put gay pride stickers all over my covertly homophobic former company
McDonald's Has New Reusable Containers For Dine In Orders Now
You Can't Tell Me That Driving Through The Night Would Be A Better Option Than This
This Is Why I Despise “Collectibles”
Pretty Much Sums It Up
My Little '98 Camry Compared To 2 Modern Vehicles
This Entire Bin Full Of Brand New, Intentionally Destroyed Shoes, Destined For Landfill. All To Prevent Reselling And To Maintain An Artificially High Price
Kroger Potatoes All Individually Wrapped In Plastic. I Don’t Understand Why Potatoes Can’t Just Be Sold As-Is? Why Is The Plastic Necessary?
Anti-Medical System ❤️
Buy Nothing
Reduce consumption is a great idea but buy nothing is impossible. The thread on this cross-stitch required someone to grow cotton to make both the thread and the cloth. Someone else had to spin it into threads and then make it into cloth. A bunch of miners had to get the steel to make the needle for it. Someone had to grow food to feed all those people. That's a lot of people buying things just to survive and feed their families so one person can make an art piece on a wall. Art is what makes life worth living and a lot people depend on each other so an artist can afford both the materials and time to make it.
Am I The Only One Infuriated By Cooler Screens?? These Video Screens At Gas Stations Are Worse Than Just A Glass Door In Every Way
It's Worse Than You Can Imagine In Japan
This Aluminum Can Comes Wrapped In Plastic
The irony of this list appearing on Bored Panda, a website that bombards you with ads trying to sell you junk you don't need.
Really? I hardly see any ads at all, just one box in the right-hand column and an occasional banner within the scroll.
Load More Replies...Funny how anti consumerism always ends up anti capitalism. Consumerism is a global problem. The comments on here are more ignorant than the ones on fox news.
Some people here are a bit confused about what capitalism is
Load More Replies...These lists keep getting posted, but to what end? It's just complaining and virtue signaling. This menu is expensive! This shirt has a logo! This person bought an expensive purse!
Psychologically speaking, our thoughts lead to our actions. If we want a functioning economy, we need to remind ourselves that our current economy is completely dysfunctional. I know seeing this s**t is demoralizing AF, but if it's really causing so much of a mental strain that you felt the need to make this complaint, perhaps you should spend your energy elsewhere
Load More Replies...Shouldn't this have been titled "sorry kids, your futures funked!"?
Its official. I'm taking bored panda out of my morning routine. I used to love waking up in the morning and seeing recommendations for comics and fun pictures or questions. Now everytime an article is recommended it puts me in a bad mindset with depressing posts. Farewell all my fellow Pandas. I am removing myself from the environment.
In a society that forces people to have cars, I'd rather have an electric than a gas car. It's not my fault I'm forced to participate in the system, if I could work from home and walk to a farmers market for groceries, I gladly would.
Great article and wonderful installlments! Gives me hope to know we're all equally concerned.
If there is a passing bandwagon a government will jump on it, not to make things better because they know it means more expense in the long term mean more money for them.
The irony of this list appearing on Bored Panda, a website that bombards you with ads trying to sell you junk you don't need.
Really? I hardly see any ads at all, just one box in the right-hand column and an occasional banner within the scroll.
Load More Replies...Funny how anti consumerism always ends up anti capitalism. Consumerism is a global problem. The comments on here are more ignorant than the ones on fox news.
Some people here are a bit confused about what capitalism is
Load More Replies...These lists keep getting posted, but to what end? It's just complaining and virtue signaling. This menu is expensive! This shirt has a logo! This person bought an expensive purse!
Psychologically speaking, our thoughts lead to our actions. If we want a functioning economy, we need to remind ourselves that our current economy is completely dysfunctional. I know seeing this s**t is demoralizing AF, but if it's really causing so much of a mental strain that you felt the need to make this complaint, perhaps you should spend your energy elsewhere
Load More Replies...Shouldn't this have been titled "sorry kids, your futures funked!"?
Its official. I'm taking bored panda out of my morning routine. I used to love waking up in the morning and seeing recommendations for comics and fun pictures or questions. Now everytime an article is recommended it puts me in a bad mindset with depressing posts. Farewell all my fellow Pandas. I am removing myself from the environment.
In a society that forces people to have cars, I'd rather have an electric than a gas car. It's not my fault I'm forced to participate in the system, if I could work from home and walk to a farmers market for groceries, I gladly would.
Great article and wonderful installlments! Gives me hope to know we're all equally concerned.
If there is a passing bandwagon a government will jump on it, not to make things better because they know it means more expense in the long term mean more money for them.