Winter Consumerism

Everyone loves a good gift, a good deal, a cute new item that they just need to buy. Splurging during the holiday season is no new thing, but how much is too much? New trends arise every year leading consumers to do what they do best: consume. This consumerism picks up more than ever during the winter as companies and influencers press increasingly for the purchasing of their new products. Although this does not seem like a problem as increased consumption is expected during this time of year, the problem emerges through the process of product production, which causes environmental damage, and social changes by shifting the meaning of the holidays from spending time with people you love to materialistic ideals.

Increases in product production during the winter is connected to consumption. The more people consume, the more products need to be produced. It gets complicated once the finer details are looked at: transporting materials adds to carbon emissions, in addition to the manufacturing processes, adding to the already altered atmosphere with carbon pollution. Adding onto this, many companies don’t use sustainable production practices and churn out plastic products that are extremely harmful to the environment and cause even more pollution. Plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose fully, leaching chemicals into the earth every step of the way.

"With so much damage already done to the earth through unnecessary product consumption, I feel more of us, as people, are responsible for our impact on climate change and pollution should take steps during the holiday season to combat the increased pollution during this time," said junior Hennessey Owensby.

It is important to see how consumer culture has affected the holiday season. The holidays are a time for love and giving, but through the constant pushing of advertisements and products the new holiday spirit has been conditioned into a time of greed and want. This erases the spirit of the holidays to a solely materialistic stretch of money spending. With increased prices due to inflation and expectations from friends and family, the holidays can become a time of financial stress for many. Trying to keep up with the new, wildly overpriced micro trends that will be forgotten by winter's end just to make a friend or sibling happy until they get bored of what was given to them and the wanting for something newer resumes, causing unnecessary spending that won’t pay off in the long run.

"The holidays are a cause for overconsumption through the influence of media and advertising picking up during the winter. The overwhelming need to buy things for others whether it’s for a planned gifting event or a general positive gesture has been skewed into a concept of 'the more you give me the more you like me', which in reality is an unhealthy mindset," said junior Sophia Kampton.

The winter months are meant to be full of giving meaningful gifts to those you love and gratitude for the simple, important parts of life. The rise of winter consumerism has changed the meaning of the holidays towards greed and unnecessary consumption. Steps should be taken to cause a less negative impact such as buying from ecofriendly brands and taking a more mindful approach when making purchases during the holidays, which can help to better ourselves as consumers and better our planet as a whole.