Learning about My Consumerism Habit

Living in this present day, we cannot be separated from the internet, social media and seeing the billboards when we are outside. Isn't it easy to wonder where our binge-consuming culture come from? Whether we are in the comfort of our home or when we are making our trip to the office, we are constantly bombarded with advertisement. I used to live in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and I was caught in traffic jam almost on a daily basis. So, what did I do when there was nothing else to do in the car? You guess it, I reached out to my phone and started to browse as my car was on a stand-still. I could had chosen to do something more useful, but yup 😲.

The search engine has figured the algorithm of our most recent and top search, so if I was to look at a certain online-shop a few days ago, this same / similar shop might pop up on the sidebar / box as I watch videos on Youtube or as I read online newspapers.

I believe that the most important key to lead a more sustainable life is to hold back our desire so that we can save some space in our mind, our home and hopefully then, we can avoid putting more waste into the environment and purchase something impulsively. There are many aspects in life that we can control such as when it comes to food, fashion, home products. Some of the ways that I try to make a habit of is that to cook food at home often, rationalize how much I buy fresh produce, be inside my wardrobe when I 'shop' for fashion items online to think if it's really a need or not, apply one-day rule before purchasing, and the tips can go on and on and each one of us could apply it differently. We have to think whether that item we want is love or just pure lust.

When we want to fill up our home or search for clothing item, it is great to first look at what secondhand stores nearby would offer, but we also have to think whether what we are buying is going to be a value to us long-term. If I make shopping secondhand an excuse to able to shop sustainably, we are still giving in to our desire to purchase something that we may not necessarily need which can lead to excessive buys. Saying this, there may be nothing wrong with being excessive if it fuels our passion and soul, but I believe we need to have more awareness for how much value that purchase will mean to us.

As an Indonesian, I am exposed to many handmade goods and the slow process in production and crafting. From seeing the process, it becomes natural that I feel so proud of wearing handmade goods because it has been made by human hands. Moreover, we also can support them by thinking what impacts these goods could have on the maker, their community and their environment? and isn't it nice wear something that is truly beautiful inside and out?


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food for thought for this post is have you given a discussion with yourself on consumerism habit? what trend do you notice these days on the issue of binge-consumerism in particular fast fashion? what ways can we take together as a collective to fight against excessive purchase?