Overconsumption in the 21st Century
This week I wanted to talk about something that I have been trying to work on for years and try to teach my friends about. Overconsumption. Whether that be with clothes, wrapping paper, in general things that we could make. It is a privilege to be able to grow your own food, buy reusable materials, and make your own things. However, we need to be discussing this issue because even little things we can do can help change the world and our impact on the environment.
I read:
Common Ground: The Water, Earth, and Air We Share
Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes
Sorry it is so long. I got carried away and am passionate about this topic and the environment.
Here is the YouTube link <3
Hi Gayle! Thank you for sharing your book talk and the texts you read on overconsumption. This is a topic that I do think is important to bring into the classroom and, unfortunately, in many of our communities over consumption has become something that is "normalized" in many ways. For example, when you were speaking about the waste of food in schools, it reminded me: at my school (and I would think every school with our food provider) students are required to take at least one item from every food group, if they do not they cannot pass through the lunch line. Clothing is another very commonly over consumed commodity: much of fast fashion is not even designed to last longer than a couple of wears, despite the energy taken to produce and ship it across the world. I really enjoyed your inclusion of child-focused texts on overconsumption to introduce this topic in a way that doesn't promote blame but instead encourages responsibility for young people to take ownership of the things they do consume and think about what is not needed. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI loved this blog post and I really connected with what you said about overconsumption, especially with clothing! It's so easy to fall into buying things just because they're cheap or trendy, even if we don't need them. I thought your point about privilege also really stood out to me because while not everyone has access to sustainable options, small choices still matter and can make a huge difference. I also loved how you used children's books like "The Wump World" and "Common Ground" to show how these ideas can be taught in the classroom. I also thought the connection to environmental injustice was really important, especially how marginalized communities are more affected.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you got your hands on a copy of _The Wump World_. It is a classic text related to human relations with the world. You may also appreciate some of the work of Steve Cuts.
ReplyDeleteMan (2012, 3:00 Animation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU
The Turning Point (2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7LDk4D3Q3U