Simple Sustainability-Affluenza: An “epidemic” to take notice of

by Sky Trombly –

The term “Affluenza” came into popular use around 1996 when a PBS special was released with this title. A few years later, in 2001, a book followed, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. 

Both these works use a metaphor of affluence as a disease to illustrate the negative personal, societal, and environmental consequences of our consumerist culture. 

While the technology and hairstyles depicted in the film seem dated, the argument remains as relevant today as it was when released.

Consumption used to be another term for tuberculosis. At the time that this disease was rampant, people also saw thrift as an important value. It is interesting that today we no longer remember the connection between consumption and tuberculosis and celebrate ourselves as “consumers”. 

Diagnosing Affluenza

Symptoms of Affluenza are many and varied. They include:

• Financial – greater debt, fewer savings, and living paycheck to paycheck

• Residential – stuffed and disorganized homes, which cause relationship strife, lost paperwork or possessions, unhygienic or unsafe living conditions

• Personal –  accumulation over introspection means we attempt to meet our non-material needs via material gain and thus miss the mark

• Social – shopping more often than playing with each other, treating relationships as disposable, the erosion of a sharing culture and community involvement

• Environmental – “islands” of plastic waste, wildlife choking on shopping bags, bursting landfills, high toxic exposures, deforestation, habitat loss, species extinction

Curing Affluenza

The good news is that there are cures available for Affluenza and you can take them without a doctor’s prescription. Side effects vary, but include: financial stability, tidier homes, greater satisfaction with life, happier families, and a healthier planet. 

Cure 1: Setting Limits

I tell this story often, but it was a key realization of my early days of minimalist journey. 

The morning before I came across the idea of capsule wardrobes and Project 333 (a specific set of guidelines wherein your wardrobe consists of 33 items for 3 months), I was bemoaning the number of jeans I had. They just seemed too sparse and some of them didn’t even fit quite right. I clearly needed more, right?

Later that same day, I was developing my first iteration of a capsule wardrobe and 6 pairs of jeans suddenly would be more than a 5th (more than 20%) of my wardrobe! If I wanted to wear anything else, including shirts, skirts, work pants, shoes, jackets, I needed to pare down those 6 jeans. I left behind the ones that didn’t fit and didn’t look back. 

I learned that, yes 33 is an arbitrary limit, but placing limits on our possessions is a powerful weapon against clutter. It also sets a limit on our wants. If I decide I only need 2 mugs per person in our household and I already have more than that, my desire for more coffee mugs immediately drops to nothing.

Cure 2: Redefining Enough

Our desires can be insatiable. We can forever be in a state of wanting. Striving for something better. Dissatisfied with what we have. Honestly, this seems like a foolish choice. Why should we choose to want when we can choose contentment? Easier said than done, right?

Actually, there have been a few easy techniques that I’ve found useful:

• Keep a gratitude journal for 30 days. Every day write 3 things you’re grateful for. I tend to write about the nice things people did for me and the material wealth that surrounds me. You’ll find that this practice allows for a mental shift, this is very helpful if you’ve been thinking negatively.

• Make shopping the occasion and not the rule. Don’t use shopping as entertainment. For example, you might go buy clothes and accessories once at the beginning of the new season. Or whenever something breaks. This saves you from spending your valuable time and energy thinking about the next purchase.

• Choose your media carefully. Television has a way of over-valuing material culture. Whether it is the swanky apartments and trendy clothes of your favorite actors or the commercial breaks, seeing these images has an impact. Remember: Affluenza is highly contagious! I am not saying that you shouldn’t watch TV, but I think it is important to make sure you consciously adopt some role models living true to your ideals. There are a lot of YouTube video influencers, for example, who can highlight the benefits of homesteading, tiny house living, minimalist living, and really this list could be endless. 

Cure 3: Getting in Touch with Ourselves

Journaling doesn’t have to be a summation of the day. We can journal about our values, our interests, our needs and our goals. Do you know what you’d like for your life? Where do you want to be in 5 years? If you want to be a globe trotter living out of your backpack, why are you saving money for a couch? Probably you have a different vision in mind, but the question is, are your purchases in line with that vision?

One of the powerful benefits of minimalism is that it leads to embracing more of the things that move you and ditching those things that just aren’t really important. 

Cure 4: Quality Over Quantity

$3.00 for a T-Shirt?! I’ll buy 5! 

This is the age of disposable clothing. For much of human material culture, the manufacture of the materials and the process of spinning, dying, weaving, and sewing clothes were so labor intensive that most people did not own more than 3 tops at any one time. Even in the first half of the 20th century, women’s clothing typically numbered within the range of 30 pieces. 

The manufacture of clothing is still intensive. The materials and labor needed to create garments are often invisible to the average consumer. And so the impacts of our consumption becomes an intellectual exercise. We use machines typically to weave our clothes and outsource the labor of sewing garments together to disenfranchised women and children. We cut corners, limit their safety and pay to provide the lowest possible prices to consumers (but not to CEOs). After purchase, we find that these cheaper garments fall apart or they outlast the latest fashion too quickly. We then have to deal with the consequences of an unsustainable system: the pesticides in cotton, the chemical bleaching, the transport costs, and the sheer volume of waste in our landfills. 

Alternatively, we can think about buying fewer items that typically will last much longer. We invest in an economy that produces real value and isn’t afraid of paying employees. Or, we can buy used items that have stood the test of time and keep good products out of the landfill. 

Though I have used the example of clothing, anything we consume can be a chance to vote with our dollar. We can choose to create a market for organic vegetables, non-toxic toothpaste and cleaners or whatever we might be buying. 

Bringing it Home

The relative ease of life for many of us in this age is remarkable! I certainly don’t mean to be all doom and gloom. I, for one, am happy to avoid tuberculosis. But in the face of this age of affluence, I would prefer to side step disease-level consumption in favor of some good, old-fashioned thrift. 

Until next time, live lightly!