ABSTRACT
Consumer capitalism encourages us to think of ourselves as independent beings in charge of our own destiny, which is made evident through the purchases we make. We aspire to have all that we want – a fully equipped kitchen, fashionable clothes, cars, recreational products and so on – all for our own personal use. We acquire all these things according to our income levels – they may not be the top of the range models, but they are the best we can afford at the moment. And we have to store all these things, which means we also need a big enough home. And this, too, requires maintenance and upkeep. To avoid clutter, we have to regularly dispose of older products to make room for more up-to-date versions. These discarded products will often end up in landfill – a scar on the landscape.
