"We have to stop consuming!" This is an answer that often comes up in discussions about sustainability. I have already written about this thesis myself. Consumption is described as the gateway to the end of the world, the pinnacle of human excess and a catalyst for climate change. Our greed is driving the planet to ruin - and with it ourselves. More and more for less and less money. The peak of the shopping frenzy? Black Friday! Followed by Cyber Monday. One offer after another, marked in red, pile up in our inboxes and scream at us from almost every website and shop window: BUY! BUY! BUY! Until we drop, until we perish.
Happiness in the shopping cart
Consumption seems to have been put into our cradle, if not our genes. According to evolutionary biologists, the roots of our purchasing behavior lie in human history. The more hunter-gatherers accumulated, the better they were able to survive. We still celebrate this today. It's just that we somehow lack the stop button. We find it difficult or impossible to say "no". The new functional underwear? Or maybe the new skis from manufacturer XY? Purchased. Today, we no longer need to accumulate in order to survive and yet studies show that shopping makes us happy. It stimulates the reward center and makes us dream of the next adventure for a moment - and feel even better prepared for it.
Or how else can we explain the success of Patagonia's "Don't buy this Jacket" ad? It was the year 2011, Thanksgiving. So, Black Friday. And one of the biggest outdoor manufacturers in the world - Patagonia - publishes an ad with the headline "Don't buy this Jacket". Underneath is a cozy fleece jacket and in the text Patagonia explains the environmental impact of producing this jacket and that customers should consider whether they really need the jacket before buying it. The result? Patagonia's turnover skyrocketed by 30 percent to 543 million US dollars in 2012. And by a further six percent in 2013. In 2016, Patagonia pledged to donate a full 100% to environmental organizations on Black Friday instead of the usual 1% (for the planet). Patagonia calculated with a turnover of 2 million US dollars, but ended up with 10 million!