Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
dollars for dresses worn only one time to a movie premiere or Oscar
awards ceremony; a man buying a two-seat car that costs $150,000
because it boosts his ego and accelerates from zero to 60 mph in under
5 seconds, a useless but macho attribute; or the purchase of a thirty-room
mansion for a family of two or three people in an exclusive location. On
a smaller scale that most Americans can relate to, we have men paying
many hundreds of dollars for athletic shoes (called “sneakers” by an
earlier generation) because they have an athletic celebrity's name on
them; women paying hundreds of dollars for a fragrance they believe
will make them more desirable; and individuals and families buying
larger houses even as the size of the average household in the United
States decreases.
Perhaps the clearest and most obvious sign of affl uence is the uncount-
able number of weekly yard sales in the United States. Although there
are events of this type in other countries, their number pales in compari-
son with those in this country. Only in America do people have so much
stuff that they can give away in good condition mountains of it after a
few months or years for pennies on the dollar.
Certainly the people who do these things have the right to do so; they
earned the money and can dispose of it in any manner they choose. But
such purchases refl ect an ethical irresponsibility, aside from generating
waste and pollution. Think of all the good and worthwhile things that
could be accomplished with all the cash lavished on such pursuits.
Gimme More Stuff: The Growth Economy
During World War II, the federal government promoted slogans such
as, “If you don't need it, DON'T BUY IT!” and others, such as “Use
It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without!” Today's urging is
quite the opposite. A never-ending increase in consumption is a national
goal endorsed by both governments and industry. Governments benefi t
from increased sales tax revenues. Industry promotes consumption with
planned obsolescence and the production of items for one-time use.
But the quest to satisfy wants is doomed by human nature to be
unsatisfi ed, to say nothing of the limits of the earth's ability to provide
the resources. Thanks to incessant advertising, most Americans have
no problem justifying their excesses and consider it necessary to satisfy
even the most extreme wants as a requirement for the survival of the
nation's well-being. Dorothy L. Sayers, who invented the phrase, “It
pays to advertise,” expressed well the true meaning of the connection
