America's Dopamine-Fueled Shopping Addiction

Consumerism in the U.S. has reached an all-time high. In 2017, we spent $240 billion on goods such as jewelry, watches, luggage, books, and phones—twice as much as in 2002, even though our population grew by only 13 percent during that time. This is not to mention the 81 pounds of clothes and textiles that each American throws away annually, or the 26 million tons of plastics we collectively dispose of each year.

In a new animated video, writer Alana Semuels describes why shopping is so addictive and emphasizes the urgency in finding an encompassing solution to the problem of wasteful consumerism.

For more on zero waste households:

For more on capsule wardrobes:

For more on doing a year of no shopping:

For more on minimalism:

For more on sustainable shopping / thrifting:

[swikfors]

Nobody knows this better than UPS drivers. They know where every shopper / hoarder on their route lives.

[soniao]

I think the core issue is that people look at shopping as an activity.. like going to the amusement park or going to the movies.. when I was younger and my fiends would ask me if I want to going shopping, I’d be like “I don’t have anything to buy”, then I realized, they went to the mall hopping to FIND something to buy. As a person who grew up lower income, that was mind boggling to me.

[elsajohnson]

How depressing!!! I heard a great saying once, you spend the first half of your life accumulating stuff and the second half getting rid of it. Man is that ever true.

[cartograp]

This is why I like to do "fake shopping" online. I look at products, decide which ones I want to buy, enjoy them for a bit, and then eventually just exit out of the website instead of buying. It's fun, saves money, and keeps my home from filling up with stuff I definitely don't need.

[cprivera]

I used to be very addicted to shopping. It was so bad we were living paycheck to paycheck. It was hurting my family. I realized its not everything is about materialism. Its about spending time with your family & making moments

[tehstormie]

"A year of no shopping" is known as "life" for an increasinng percentage of us.

[justineleconte]

Since a clip from my "capsule wardrobe" video appears in here, let me add one piece of info: it is 30-40 pieces of clothing per season (knowing that some pieces can be used in all seasons). Outerwear, accessories and underwear don't count towards the goal of 40 max. Having a capsule wardrobe helps curate and select what actually makes it into your closet.

[wustachemax]

Great but let's talk about the real reason why this is happening. Cheap-as-hell fast fashion outlets.

[dw]

I must be abnormal. I never get a dopamine hit when I spend money, I have a heart attack.

[vittoriacolona]

Shopping is a psychological issue. We buy products to fill the emptiness. And like the person said, getting a package in the mail, is like getting a Christmas present each day. So in order for me to be careful on my spending and to fill the craving. I just buy a used book every two weeks or so.

[WindTreeStudios]

I do professional property clean outs for a living and the amount of waste I've seen and handled is shocking. People often times just abandon mountains of items - residentially and commercially - and just move on. I've come to see this orgy of material acquisition as a form of collective insanity driven largely by advertising and irresponsible manufacturing and distribution practices.

[HeatherSierraVEVO]

Questions to ask yourself:
Will I use this on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis?
Do I already have something similar?
Didn’t I survive my whole life without this one thing I suddenly “need”?

[heathercameron]

The problem with textile recycling is that you can't keep the recycle loop on going indefinitely. It's not like glass that can be broken down and remade over and over again. When you break down the fibers of the clothing it loses a lot of it's strength and quality and you end up with sub-par clothing. It's also extremely difficult to recycle mixed fabrics. Often, when clothing is recycled it's broken down into a pulp called shoddy fabric and it's then used for blankets and furniture stuffing as that's what it's only good for. We have such a huge problem because there is no much waste out there from fast fashion that's already poor quality. Thrift stores/ charity shops are overwhelmed with crap that is too low quality to sell. And a lot of it gets sold onto third world countries which hurts their local economy by putting their own textile industries out of business. And that's not even going into the environmental impact both with manufacturing and disposal. Ultimately we need to change consumer habits. We need to buy less stuff in the first place. I think this is the hardest task because how do you make customers want less?

[harrisonwintergreen]

Almost everyone I know says "I can't afford to save for retirement" while simultaneously spending obscene amounts of cash on unnecessary disposable crap and/or eating out.

[michellemenko]

"Consumers want cheaper goods" is an interesting take, Atlantic. Perhaps the large corporations that supply these goods want to increase their profits and do so by making goods cheaper and under paying factory workers in other countries. Consumers should be aware of their shopping habits, but let's not pretend like the companies and corporations selling these goods are not at fault.

[junotisno]

Time for *m a r i e k o n d o* to step in.

[sandicampbell]

Appliances break after 3 years? I remember when a refrigerator lasted 30 years! I have one in my shed!

[Larry]

Humans didn't abandon Earth for another planet in Wall*E, they lived on spaceships until it was ready to return :S

[reigee]

Sometimes I feel like crap about myself for not having a big, beautiful wardrobe and a drawer full of makeup. Family and friends even make fun of me for "acting/looking poor" because I've had roughly the same wardrobe for 3 years and don't throw anything out until it's almost falling apart... then I remember the toxic industries of fast fashion and rampant consumerism for nothing other than perceived social status and I get over it.

[Quimper]

I get a dopamine hit from NOT buying excessive or unnecessary things.