The Climate Change Collective is an initiative where the blogging community unites behind a common goal. Today, the conversation continues with the fifth post in the series. As we put another holiday season behind us, Krista and Alison from A Sustainably Simple Life look at what our shopping is doing to the planet. In response I ask, can we save the Earth by stopping or reducing our shopping?
This post was originally published in January 2023. It was updated in December 2025.
Can we save the Earth by stopping or reducing our shopping?
I read the latest post in the Climate Change Collective series just as I was finishing up reading The Day the World Stops Shopping by J.B. MacKinnon. The book is a frightening and thought-provoking analysis of what would happen if everyone in the world reduced their consumption by even 25%. The answer isn’t pretty.
It’s no secret that consumption is out of control in a society driven by greed and capitalism. What’s really scary is this isn’t a new problem. We saw early signs that things needed to change in the days of the energy crisis in the 1970s. At that time, U.S. President Jimmy Carter made an insightful statement that still rings true today:
Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.
Jimmy Carter
Profound words indeed. Yet, 50 years later we haven’t learned our lesson and our consumption has increased exponentially. As President Carter reached the end of his life at age 100, I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of the world in the 2020s.
Key learnings from The Day The World Stops Shopping
As I read the book, I jotted down some key points that highlight the problem we’re facing:
- Consumption, not population, is the biggest threat to our planet. Consumption in rich countries is 13 times that of poor countries. That means having one child in a rich country is the same as having 13 children in a poor country. So while it may be convenient to blame our world’s problems on people in poor countries having too many children, we need to look closer to home.
- Year-over-year carbon emissions have declined only four times since World War 2. Each time, it was the result of a widespread economic downturn.
- Technology shows promise but our typical response to new technology is to consume more. When the washing machine was introduced, we started to wash our clothes more often. Similarly, electric vehicle owners tend to drive more. And when LED lights entered the market, sales of decorative and other lighting exploded, essentially cancelling the potential energy savings.
- Economic growth and consumption don’t lead to a more satisfying life. The negative effects of materialism are seen across all age groups, income levels and cultures.
- Most of the world’s consumption is driven by marketing, not consumer demand. This is especially true in the fast fashion industry.
- Consumption isn’t just about shopping and physical possessions. We also need to consider the impact of invisible consumption of things like energy, along with the environmental cost of our experiences. Replacing things with high-end experiences may increase our ecological impact.
So how can we save the Earth?
Sadly, the book points out that if everyone stepped off the spending treadmill by reducing consumption by 25%, the result would be economic disaster and widespread hardship. Instead, MacKinnon proposes a humble starting goal of reducing consumption by 5%. It’s a change that would only take us back a couple of years in terms of lifestyle, but it could be the catalyst we need for lasting change.
Ultimately, there is no silver bullet to solve our environmental issues and save the Earth. It will take effort, and even a little hardship. But isn’t our beautiful planet worth it?
If you’re serious about making a change, I suggest three things.
- Start by understanding your footprint. Check out Carbon Hero’s Climate Calculator to learn more.
- Rethink your relationship with the things in your life and resolve to keep them for longer. The Japanese word aiyosha loosely translates to a person who uses a product lovingly, or who has a deeper relationship with material goods. Be aiyosha!
- Be more mindful about your shopping. (See Mindful shopping tips to save you money for more information.) When you do buy, commit to buying less, buying higher quality and keeping your things for longer.
To learn more, please check out A Sustainably Simple Life’s post.
Saying that money is the root of all evil is for another conversation, but saying it is a root of our environmental problems is a reality. Am I saying we need to abolish all of our current systems? Not necessarily. But we do need to change the conscious consumer catchphrase from being a marketing target to an actual practice.
A Sustainably Simple Life
How our need to shop is ruining our planet
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About the Climate Change Collective
The Climate Change Collective was born out of an exchange that took place when I left a comment on a blog post by Jamie Ad Stories. Jamie and I wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone, so I put out a tweet to see what kind of interest there would be in a climate-change-related blogging collaboration. The Climate Change Collective was born!
The members of the collective take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group keeps the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas.
If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. More voices joining the conversation means more attention to the problems plaguing our planet!
More Climate Change Collective posts
Check out Two years of the Climate Change Collective series for a recap of the posts we published in the first two years.
Latest posts in the series
- Meet the Climate Change Collective members and learn about the topics we covered in year three in Celebrating 3 Years of Climate Change Awareness and Environmental Education.
- Food storage tips that will reduce waste and save you money
- Racing Towards Green: How Formula 1 is Embracing Sustainability
It’s clear that we must change our habits for the Earth to survive. But are we willing to make the change before it’s too late? I would say time will tell but we are running out of time. We need to act now!
What else can we do to reduce our consumption and save the Earth? Tell me your ideas below.
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Thank you, Michelle, for updating and re-sharing this blog post. So maddening that new innovations often (aways?) seem to lead to more consumption not less. I write in one of my songs that “convenience sings a siren song.” I also write in a couple other songs about how much of our spending decisions — and thus our lives and our health — have been shaped by the appropriately nicknamed “Mad Men” at Madison Avenue advertising agencies. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Didn’t Jimmy Carter put solar panes on the White House (which were then removed by the Reagan administration)? He was a wise man in so many ways, bless his soul! As you know, I almost always think about the consequences of my purchases (infrequent, local if possible, organic if possible) even though this often leads to things costing more in the short run. In the long run, however, I may be helping to improve an entire ecosystem somewhere which is no longer flooded with pesticides and herbicides and fossil-fuel-based fertilizers. And I may also be contributing to the ongoing health of all of the people who work on that particular organic farm. I could go on and on, but will end here with deep gratitude for you and (m)any other human beings who are thinking about and caring about these profoundly vital issues!
Thanks, Will. Yes, the advertisers and marketers have a lot to answer for. I remember the promise that technology would give us more leisure time, yet we have in many ways become slaves to it. Instead of simplifying our lives, it has just driven greed and the desire for more. And AI has just accelerated the pace of our collective greed and taken away our ability to think and question things that don’t make sense. Sigh.
It is crazy that the more technology we have to make our lives easier, the more we use things and energy.
It is crazy. When I was young, we never had a washing machine. We used to lug bags of clothes to the launderette on Saturday mornings. To this day, I’m very conscious of not just tossing my clothes in the laundry hamper after one wear. Now if only I could get my daughters to learn that habit. Sigh.
I’m making note of this book as it sounds really interesting and informative; perfect for my collection of climate reads! When I was doing my own research for my response post about sustainable consumerism it was really eye-opening just how impactful industry and individual shopping practices and habits are on the environment — time to make some changes. Thanks for sharing this!
It’s an excellent read. I think you would really enjoy it. It opened my eyes to the broader aspects of consumerism beyond physical goods. Thanks for dropping by, Molly.
I love the thought-provoking nature of the book and these conclusive thoughts on the overall message of the book. 5% does not seem like much but, collectively, it goes a long way.
You’re right Layla. 5% should be within all of our reach without creating too much hardship.
The book sounds like an excellent reminder to be more mindful about consumption. Thank you for sharing this!
It is a very worthwhile and eye-opening read. Thanks for reading and commenting.
That book sounds fascinating! I’m very intrigued (and not at all surprised) by the stats about consumption rising with new inventions that are supposed to be “greener” like LED bulbs. One of the reasons I think about this topic a lot is because of how intertwined the economy and our planet’s health are. It so interesting to hear the difference a 5% vs a 25% cutback in spending would make.
It is a great read. It was recommended to me by another blogger and I found it fascinating. I think you’d really enjoy it. Thanks again for being part of our Climate Change Collective!