Breaking free from overconsumption

“where did all the nicknacks come from?”

We are all part of a massive wave of consumption that has become part of daily life in Western society. There is nothing wrong with consumption as such, but we live in an age of “too much” rather than “enough”. Most of us are blissfully unaware of the sheer amount of things we use without thinking twice, and this behaviour not only affects us, but the world at large. It is time to become aware of our personal impact and what we can do about limiting it in our own way.

Consider the life cycle of the typical consumer item: it is produced from raw materials that often are collected from around the world, it is assembled and packaged, sold, used, discarded and recycled or (more likely) destroyed in some way. Many of those steps involve transport item across large distances, multiple times, before it finishes its life cycle. All those steps involve raw materials, a work force, energy and time. All of those are costly resources.

Every item you purchase will cost you money, especially if they are for one-time use or turn out to be unnecessary. Either way, each item you bring into your home will add to the collection of things you own, it may end up cluttering up your home, and affect your mental well-being with overwhelm, too much time spent on tidying up, and a general feeling of anxiety.

This is where decluttering can have a feed-back effect on your behaviour: assessing your belongings based on your mental state can help identify patterns of overconsumption (“where did all these nicknacks come from?”) and you may even encounter items that trigger negative emotional responses.

Just becoming aware of such reactions can cultivate more mindful thought processes that may affect your choice of future purchases. Being aware of what goes on in your home can raise awareness when you are acting as a consumer in the world at large. As mentioned above, consumption in itself is not bad, but it has serious drawback – both emotional and financial – if it goes into overdrive.

There are some basic strategies that have proven useful to limit overconsumption:

• The "one-in, one-out" policy is simple to follow: for every new item brought in, choose an existing item to replace. It requires you to make decisions BEFORE you go shopping, and has the potential to make you think twice about impulse buys.
• If you are unsure, give yourself time to assess (go home and see if the new item actually replaces an old one). More often than not you’ll find that there was no need to buy it in the first place.
• Focus on quality over quantity. This will limit your impact on the environment, because durable, multipurpose items will serve you much longer than cheap ones that need replacing after a short time.

By identifying patterns of excess, making informed decisions, and adopting a minimalist mindset, you help create a more sustainable world. In the process, you may just end up happier and healthier yourself.