Households are filled with large numbers of possessions, while home sizes have grown and storage is increasingly used for overflow. Consumer culture repeatedly promotes the idea that happiness requires more things. A historical perspective shows consumerism as a long-running international phenomenon that has reshaped households, cities, and the planet. Branding and corporate cultural takeover are examined alongside labor exploitation and the expansion of advertising into everyday screens. Fast fashion’s human and environmental costs are addressed through guidance on cleaning out, repairing, swapping, and rebuilding wardrobes to avoid funding textile waste. Happiness research is used to challenge beliefs that more consumption leads to lasting well-being.
"We are constantly bombarded by messages that tell us we need more stuff to be happy. The average American household contains around 300,000 items. The average home size has roughly tripled since the 1950s, and we still rent self-storage units by the millions to hold the overflow."
"Trentmann's sweeping 2016 history follows material culture from late Ming China and Renaissance Italy through to today's global supply chains. He shows that consumerism is not a recent American export but a centuries-long international phenomenon, one that has reshaped households, cities, and the planet."
"No Logo was a movement manifesto when it appeared in 1999, and its dissection of branding, sweatshop labor, and corporate cultural takeover reads as prescient now that nearly every screen on earth is an ad surface. To take the next step, pair this read with Klein's more recent argument about capitalism and ecological collapse, How To Change Everything."
"Cline first exposed the human and environmental costs of fast fashion in Overdressed (2012). The Conscious Closet is the practical follow-up: how to clean out, repair, swap, and rebuild a wardrobe without funding the industry that produces an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste each year. It is the most actionable book on this list for anyone with a closet."
Read at Earth911
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