It's amazing the kind of greed that has been proliferating so blatantly in the name of consumerism. From being frowned upon, it has become the norm. Do you remember the time when you got new clothes only on your birthdays, Diwali (Durga Puja too in my case) and weddings? That make a total of 4 times a year. Four fucking times. If you're under 20, you can't even imagine how little that is!
But we didn't find it little then. It was enough. And it made the clothes we wore that much more special. It made the watch we wore (when we got one only because we needed it for secondary exams) that much more special. That toy your father bought from another city that much more special. We loved it.
Fast forward to today. We buy crap, what, every week? Every month? And they hold far less value to us today than the 4 sets of clothes we got when we were kids. The Story of Stuff project puts so many things in perspective, on how this is such a cleverly orchestrated strategy that has literally created the rat race. It did not just happen this way. It was designed to. Believe it!
In 2011, my then-boyfriend-now-husband bought an LED TV which duly conked off in 2013. It is now an accepted fact that electronic devices have a shelf life - 10,000 hours, 40,000 hours, 60,000 hours. Have you ever thought to wonder why? Why did my first TV last for 16 years? Is it just the technology? Or it is how we have learned to control technology so methodically - to create consumerism? The latter. Planned obsolescence. Around 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is produces every year! More than 75% is not even recyclable.
But we won't stop it. Even though it's so simple. Even though we don't need a new touch phone. Because it's amazing the kind of greed that has been proliferating so blatantly in the name of consumerism.
PS - there's a brilliant initiative that has been undertaken to let us use technology without being responsible for this planned extinction of the planet. Phonebloks is an amazing idea that will let you have a phone that will always give you the best in technology and reduce electronic waste at the same time! It's solutions like these that give you hope because at least someone's paying attention!
But we didn't find it little then. It was enough. And it made the clothes we wore that much more special. It made the watch we wore (when we got one only because we needed it for secondary exams) that much more special. That toy your father bought from another city that much more special. We loved it.
Fast forward to today. We buy crap, what, every week? Every month? And they hold far less value to us today than the 4 sets of clothes we got when we were kids. The Story of Stuff project puts so many things in perspective, on how this is such a cleverly orchestrated strategy that has literally created the rat race. It did not just happen this way. It was designed to. Believe it!
In 2011, my then-boyfriend-now-husband bought an LED TV which duly conked off in 2013. It is now an accepted fact that electronic devices have a shelf life - 10,000 hours, 40,000 hours, 60,000 hours. Have you ever thought to wonder why? Why did my first TV last for 16 years? Is it just the technology? Or it is how we have learned to control technology so methodically - to create consumerism? The latter. Planned obsolescence. Around 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is produces every year! More than 75% is not even recyclable.
But we won't stop it. Even though it's so simple. Even though we don't need a new touch phone. Because it's amazing the kind of greed that has been proliferating so blatantly in the name of consumerism.
PS - there's a brilliant initiative that has been undertaken to let us use technology without being responsible for this planned extinction of the planet. Phonebloks is an amazing idea that will let you have a phone that will always give you the best in technology and reduce electronic waste at the same time! It's solutions like these that give you hope because at least someone's paying attention!
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