Editing Consumerism (section)

===Environmental impact===
Critics of consumerism point out that consumerist societies are more prone to damage the environment, contribute to [[global warming]] and use resources at a higher rate than other societies.<ref>[http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/co2.htm Global Climate Change and Energy CO<sub>2</sub> Production{{snd}}An International Perspective] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090228111224/http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/climate_change/co2.htm |date= 28 February 2009}}</ref> [[Jorge Majfud]] says that "Trying to reduce environmental pollution without reducing consumerism is like combatting drug trafficking without reducing the drug addiction."<ref>{{cite web|last= Majfud |first= Jorge |url= https://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2009/toprotectsucceedinggenerations/pid/21570 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130719034751/https://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2009/toprotectsucceedinggenerations/pid/21570 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 19 July 2013 |title= The Pandemic of Consumerism |publisher= UN Chronicle |year= 2009 |access-date= 6 October 2019}}</ref>

[[Pope Francis]] also critiques consumerism in his [[encyclical]] ''[[Laudato si'|Laudato Si': On Care For Our Common Home]]''.<ref>"Loss of Biodiversity". [[Laudato si']]: on Care for Our Common Home: Encyclical Letter, by Pope Francis, Our Sunday Visitor, 2015, p. 27.</ref> He critiques the harm consumerism does to the environment and states, "The analysis of environmental problems cannot be separated from the analysis of human, family, work-related and urban contexts, nor from how individuals relate to themselves, which leads in turn to how they relate to others and to the environment."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cssr.org.au/justice_matters/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=643 |title=Laudato Si' – Chapter One: What is happening to our common home |author=Pope Francis |date=18 June 2015 |website=Redemptorists |access-date=13 November 2018 |archive-date=18 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318031311/https://www.cssr.org.au/justice_matters/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=643 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Pope Francis believes the obsession with consumerism leads individuals further away from their humanity and obscures the interrelated nature between humans and the environment.

Another critic is [[James Gustave Speth]]. He argues that the [[growth imperative]] represents the main goal of capitalistic consumerism. In his book ''The Bridge at the Edge of the World'' he notes, "Basically, the economic system does not work when it comes to protecting environmental resources, and the political system does not work when it comes to correcting the economic system".

In an opinion segment of ''[[New Scientist]]'' magazine published in August 2009, reporter Andy Coghlan cited [[William E. Rees (academic)|William Rees]] of the [[University of British Columbia]] and [[Epidemiology|epidemiologist]] [[Warren Hern]] of the [[University of Colorado at Boulder]] saying that human beings, despite considering themselves civilized thinkers, are "subconsciously still driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion ... an impulse which now finds expression in the idea that inexorable economic growth is the answer to everything, and, given time, will redress all the world's existing inequalities."<ref name="Coghlan">{{cite web|last= Coghlan|first= Andy|title= Consumerism is 'eating the future' |url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17569-consumerism-is-eating-the-future.html |date=7 August 2009 |website=New Scientist |access-date= 12 December 2009}}</ref>

According to figures presented by Rees at the annual meeting of the [[Ecological Society of America]], human society is in a "global overshoot", consuming 30% more material than is sustainable from the world's resources. Rees went on to state that at present, 85 countries are exceeding their domestic "bio-capacities", and compensate for their lack of local material by depleting the stocks of other countries, which have a material surplus due to their lower consumption.<ref name="Coghlan"/> Not only that, but McCraken indicates that how consumer goods and services are bought, created and used should be taken under consideration when studying consumption.<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fp8WVG1S_QAC&q=consumerism&pg=PP10|title= Consumerism: As a Way of Life|last= Miles|first= Steven|date= 1998|publisher= Sage|isbn= 9780761952152|language= en}}</ref>

Not all anti-consumerists oppose [[consumption (economics)|consumption]] in itself, but they argue against increasing the consumption of resources beyond what is [[sustainability|environmentally sustainable]]. [[Jonathan Porritt]] writes that consumers are often unaware of the negative environmental impacts of producing many modern goods and services, and that the extensive advertising industry only serves to reinforce increasing consumption.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/big-ideas/consumerism.html
|title=Consumerism – Big Ideas
|access-date=20 April 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420040645/http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/big-ideas/consumerism.html
|archive-date=20 April 2010
|url-status=usurped
}}</ref>

Conservation scientists Lian Pin Koh and Tien Ming Lee, discuss that in the 21st century, the damage to forests and biodiversity cannot be dealt with only by the shift towards "Green" initiatives such as "sustainable production, [[Green consumption|green consumerism]], and improved production practices". They argue that consumption in developing and emerging countries needs to be less excessive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Koh |first1=Lian |last2=Lee |first2=Tien |date=2012 |title=Sensible consumerism for environmental sustainability |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711003983 |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=151 |issue=1 |pages=3–6 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.10.029 |bibcode=2012BCons.151....3K |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> Likewise, other ecological economists such as [[Herman Daly]] and [[Tim Jackson (economist)|Tim Jackson]] recognize the inherent conflict between consumer-driven consumption and planet-wide ecological degradation.

American environmental historian and sociologist [[Jason W. Moore]], in his book ''[[Anthropocene]] or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism'' points out that the challenge of addressing both underconsumption and overconsumption of resources lies at the heart of the world’s primary sustainability dilemma. While significant portions of the global population struggle to meet basic needs, the resource-intensive lifestyles of affluent societies — characterized by car dependency, frequent air travel, high meat consumption, and an apparently limitless appetite for consumer goods like clothing and technological devices — are key drivers of the unsustainable practices.<ref>{{Cite book|url= https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-11069-6_2|title= Capitalism, Consumption, and the Transformation of Everyday Life: The Political Economy of Social Practices|last= Hansen|first= Arve|date= 2023|publisher= Springer Nature|isbn= 9783031110696|language= en|pages=27–54}}</ref>