Consumption By Annie Leonard Summary

Annie Leonard, an American proponent of sustainability and a critic of consumerism, who has written many books, including The Story of Stuff, which describes the life cycle of material goods. In chapter 4, “Consumption,” Leonard distinguishes between “consumerism” and “consumption” to establish a foundation for her argument. Basically, she defines “consumerism” as the relationship to consumption in which we seek to meet over emotional and social needs through shopping, whereas “consumption” means acquiring and using good, and services to meet ones needs. Leonard describes the importance of “consumerism/ over consumption” and how it has negatively affected the American Culture. Even though this chapter was written years ago, the evidence within

Leonard explains the process of the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. Patriotism is usually the willingness to sacrifice for the good of the nation, however spending isn’t the right way to demonstrate patriotism. The American Culture has been negatively affected through patriotism because of the sanctity of shopping. Leonard states, people who challenge the ethic of consumerism are declared as unpatriotic. Patriotism also weakens the change through a beneficial system for the future generations. Consumers don’t look at the problems with quantity, and don’t realize the amount they are consuming. Another main point Leonard addresses in her article is the connection between consumerism and happiness. Consuming stuff in the world doesn’t make a person happy, a person could have all the money in the world and happiness is still not found. In Leonard’s article, she states “[even though we’re making and buying more stuff than years ago, makes us no happier,]” which is true because what really matters in life are the basic needs. Stuff can postpone the unhappiness from being hungry but when they are met, there will be an increase in a person happiness. A person could have the money to hire someone, and they still will not be happy. Consumerism is causing a negative