fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Series: Puntopia
By: Richard Mark Dobson, The Rmd Gallery
Tags: Longing, Consumerism, Desire, Street Photography, Ferrari

Series. Puntopia. Title: Under the Skin. Av. de Cotai, Taipa. Macau.

NB: Quasi-Fictional Street Photography Series.

©richard mark dobson

You see them wander Puntopia’s glitzy malls with ruddy faces, and you might think it’s a casino cognac flush! But no, it’s more serious than that. They’re overtaken with what’s known as a Puntopia induced ‘wanting’ flush. Not flush with cash mind you, but desire. This is lust so acute it gets under their skin, like scarlet fever. It’s a sort of foot down, full throttle craving for the shiny red object. An icon of style, with a name they can’t pronounce, with a price tag they can’t afford.

The punters here today, from Dingnan county with their cheap dolly birds, hoping to win the jackpot, have most probably never heard of Enzo, and sadly, Enrico from Manila, charged with keeping an eye on it, this objet d’art and desire, has to make sure they don’t scratch it. For while peering inside hoping to get a glimpse of it’s leathery interior is not banned, they, the punters, almost squatting down to see through low windows, at close quarters, often in a state of inebriation, does give the management reason to enroll Enrico to stand close and attentive. He doesn’t speak Spanish or Chinese, only Tugalog and English. The punters don’t speak Italian. It doesn’t matter to the management. Punters must be seen and preferably not heard. They can look but can’t touch, and unless they win the jackpot they can’t have either…..it’s Enrico’s job to enforce the house rules. 24/7, 365 days a year.

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to see more of this series and peruse the fine art giclee prints, please visit the artists website at;

https://richardmarkdobson.com/personal-work/existential/puntopia/1
How to avoid the evils of consumerism and live a better life
By: Harshil Modi
Tags: Society, Minimalism, Consumerism, Living

In a world dominated by jealousy and unhappiness, ‘Consumerism’ acts as a drug which will provide short term relief but will worsen the life in the long term. Advertisements are the primary vehicles for this consumerism. This consumerism is the child of corporate greed and human inferiority complex. ‘Use and throw’ products are the primary target of new business models.

It is time to break this shackles of consumerism and take control over one’s own life. This consumerism is like an abyss. The sooner you leave that abyss, the better will be your life. Many people want to break this chain of consumerism, but they don’t know where to start. Recently, I have begun my journey towards ‘Minimalism’, one of the best medicines to cure consumerism. I will try to provide a guide for how to be minimalist and stay on the path of minimalism.

You can not be minimalist within a second. It’s not like one day you decide to eliminate all the unnecessary things from your house and boom you are minimalist. Becoming minimalist is a step-by-step process.

Minimalism is a spectrum where at one end is a Buddhist Monk while on the opposite end is a maximalist like the character of Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. First of all, you have to decide where you want to keep yourself in that spectrum. To know your level go through every object in your house and decide which you need and which are unnecessary. Remove all the unnecessary objects from your house.

The E-commerce industry is a boon for companies. Now people can buy products 24x7. My rule is to wait 48 hours before purchasing any product. Think during this time if there is a real need for the product, or it is just an impulse buying behavior. If you think you need the product, even after 48 hours then you should buy it.

Try purchasing multipurpose products over specific purpose products will be beneficial. Don’t compromise with comfort. More you compromise on your comfort, more likely you will leave minimalism.

Minimalism will make you better at organizing things. It’s a paradise for someone who is suffering from mild OCD. It will increase your savings, which you can use for travelling or for providing your child(ren) better education. You will save time spent on cleaning & organizing your house, shopping superfluous products and envying & comparing with others. You can utilize this time to pursue your hobbies. Your life will be stress-free.

There are also certain disadvantages of minimalism. You are brought up in a world where material possession is the measure of success. So, people might consider your weird. You can be over content which might affect your drive to grow. Therefore it’s necessary to find where you want to be on that spectrum and live accordingly.
Thanks so much for your input, Michal!
By: Marta Brzosko
Tags: Spiritual Growth, Consumerism, Spirituality

Thanks so much for your input, Michal! I certainly have no absolute stance on whether spirituality should be paid for or not. But some of the consequences I see stemming from making it into a product bother me.

You mention that paying for something generates commitment — and in general, I think that is true. But maybe this is a part of what bothers me about selling spirituality: that in this context, people’s commitment to spiritual practices becomes money-induced (“I need to do it because I paid for it”) rather than driven by a more authentic, internal motivation (“I need to do it because I am so curious to discover the mysteries of life”). I fear that feeding the money-induced motivation may trivialise spiritual practices and turn them into another “to-do” to check from the list.

As for the “pay-as-you-see-fit” (donation) model, my intuition is that this may be the best (or least harmful) way to go about earning money from spirituality these days. It grants access to the teachings to anyone and, by default, it encourages a more authentic approach to teaching since there is no fixed “salary” that you can count on as a teacher….

It is an interesting and multidimensional topic and I guess it is hard to give any definitive answers here. Thank you so much for your input and for making me think about it even more! :)
A Eulogy to the Spoils of Yesteryear
By: Ena Dahl
Tags: Consumerism, Spirituality, Environment, Nature, Life

I don’t know why the plight of the Christmas trees has always affected me so much, but back when I ran a small blog dedicated to sustainable design and conscious consumerism, I wrote a yearly post in their honor, each time with a different angle.

Once, I featured industrial designers who made objects and small furniture pieces from them, another time I listed ways to preserve or reuse the pine needles. A third-year I offered multiple alternatives to buying Christmas trees in the first place, and after that, I went on a quest to find out what really happens to the trees in my city after they’re thrown out:

It gives me some comfort to know that here, where I live, they’re mostly reused; ground to mulch, their remains are shredded and used to generate green energy as a substitute for fossil fuels — or to fill the city’s planters and line natural playgrounds. Unsold trees are donated to the local zoo as festive fodder for the elephants.

Given new purpose, the otherwise ephemeral existence of the superfluent shrub seems a little less senseless.

Of course, there’s a certain value in simply bringing joy, even if just for a short while. For so many, the rich smell of fir needles is a huge part of what brings the holiday feels to their homes.

Not surprisingly, it was Luther himself who started the tradition of chopping down the entire tree to bring inside for Christmas — because it “reminded him of Jesus”. Why that is, is unclear to me; are the trees sacrificed to save our immortal souls?
Consumer trends that are here to stay
By: Cinthia Alves
Tags: Millennials, Consumerism, Behavior Change, Trends, Fashion

Photo by Felipe Galvan on Unsplash

We have a new generation taking over and they are fast, smart and like most of us, want to change the world! And they have a big plus, they are super connected!

They can quickly work in an enormous group for a common cause just using a smartphone. More than that, they influence other generations to think the same, to demand the same. We all know for years that the biggest fast fashion brands use super cheap workforce that is very close to slavery. We also know that if clothes have a super low price and are produced in large quantity, it’s almost impossible to maintain a good level of quality. The result is a bunch of clothing that people will use a few times and throw it away, producing lots and lots of trash.

People are thinking about that for years, trying to make changes, but just recently these actions had an impact. Second-hand clothes are a big thing now in every part of the globe.

Why buy new things if we can just reuse what we already have?

The Millennials and Gen Z are leading this trend. There is a 37% rise of second-hand clothing consuming in 2017 and 46% in 1019. Gen X is also participating, they are responsible for 18% growth in the same period of time, according to the ThredUP research that analyzed data of two thousand women.

This also signalize the trend to have durable clothing, you can see many fashion YouTubers saying:

If you want to be always chic, invest in good quality clothing that will last a lifetime.

Photo by Dmitry Mashkin on Unsplash

Those clothing are more expensive, but it shows how people worried about the future and not searching for the immediate pleasure of buying.

It goes much deeper than just a dress, it shows the mind shift. People are concerned about what the future has to offer to new generations and how we’ll leave the planet to them.
Farm to Fork
By: Ishani J Patel
Tags: Startup, Consumerism, Venture Capital, Health, Food

In 2013 it was found that in parts of Europe, foods that were being advertised as beef actually contained undeclared traces of horse meat — and in some cases, 100% of the labelled ‘beef meat’ was horse meat. Such cases of food fraud aren’t unique to Europe. In fact, it happens worldwide where after Spain, and Italy — China has been reported to have the highest number of food fraud cases.

As consumers, we want to trust the companies we buy our food from. We want to trust the farm that produce our food, we want to trust the manufacturer of the food, and lastly, we want to trust the companies that distribute our food. But as the food system becomes more complex — in the interest of decreasing costs, and producing more to feed a growing population — the gap between farm and fork, along with our trust levels widens. Furthermore, global food production is controlled by a few conglomerate companies — that try to maximize profit. Where the health, safety, and necessary regulations are overlooked by companies and often times even the government in order to provide cheap food regardless of the dire consequences (Food Inc).

It becomes impossible for consumers to understand the processes that cluster to create the foods that we eat. This lack of understanding creates an environment where we have to trust to consume — but as seen time and time again conglomerate companies within the food system act in an untrustworthy way.

Food labelling is an essential process — not only is it a legal requirement, but it also allows consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing. When a food company is allowed to sell a product at a retail store it must include the name of a food product, a list of ingredients, a percentage of certain ingredients, expiration date, storage instructions, and contact details. And when companies deceive customers by mislabeling they are breaking the law and breaking consumers trust. Hawleys defines untrustworthiness as a failure to follow through on commitments. And corporations in the food system, break their commitment to their consumers by mislabeling to increase their bottom line. In doing so their actions and inherently the companies are deemed untrustworthy.

The need for increased economic motivation does not absolve companies from doing what is right. And as consumers, we can educate ourselves, and be aware. But at some point, we have to trust our food system because we have to consume. And we hope that there are some food companies out there that are capable of acting in a responsible, and trustworthy manner — to bring food from the farm to our fork.
A week of unexpected delight — my version of Valentine’s day.
By: Juanene Frydman
Tags: Lilies, Delight, Consumerism, Self Love, Champagne

Given that I’ve always rejected the notion of Valentine’s day; far too commercial for me. Why on Earth would someone choose to only recognize another person on one day a year or worse, on a day that primes most relationships for failure?

“They weren’t the flowers I wanted!”

“Priscilla got a trip to the Maldives, and we’re going to Durban!”

“Why can’t you get a hint; I left a trail of clues for you!”

The stores are filled with colours of red and pink and touches of white and silver. Jewellery stores start their ‘subtle, not subtle’ marketing to unsuspecting suitors early January in the guise of new year specials.

Florists are punting the significance of red roses and of course the obligatory box of chocolates and fluffy bear, to join all the other bears that get packed away or donated after this commercial event.

And again this day got me thinking about why is it that we spend so much attention on expressing our love to another on just one day. And what would it look like, sound like, feel like, if we expressed our love daily. And what if we expressed our love to ourselves first. Daily.

And this got me thinking.

How might I show me a little love? How might I see the love in everything and everyone around me for a whole week of ‘Valentine’?

I love acts of service first and foremost. Empty the dishwasher when you see that the cycle is done. Take the dog for a walk, even if it’s not your turn.

Gifts are somewhere on the list but not high up … Quality time is more important for me than a gift that your secretary bought for me ’cause she’d like it herself.

But I had to become clear on what ‘love’ is important for me, for now, and then communicate it to the people who I love and care for and equally be clear on what and how they want me to love them!

And then let it all go. ’Cause being seen, being truly loved by another for who you are, that’s what it’s all about.

Imagine my delight when I was loved in a myriad of way this past week. Each of them so special that my heart smiled.

I have new clients in my diary

My new corporate branding is coming together and I’m loving it

I’ve got a photoshoot booked with an incredible sister team who I already feel so supported by

The handyman whose services I’d only used once before, came out in the pouring rain to fix my indoor rain feature

Load-shedding hasn’t impacted me as it usually does

I’ve woken up at 04h00 to meditate and have been more energized than the days that I wake up at 05h00

My ex-husband brought me a beautiful bunch of lilies — of my favorite favorites

I’ve said no, and meant no and not waivered

Every day stuff you may say, but to me it’s been a wonderous week of seeing love in the most unusual places.

Perhaps when we change our story about love, about how it should be, from whom it should be and remove the constrictions we place on it, perhaps then we unlock the magic of everyday love … the love that is constant, that doesn’t have a colour to it or a plush toy dangling from it … a love that says simply ‘this is me loving you’.
Consumed by Consumption
By: Emily Galvelis
Tags: Sustainability, Consumerism, Creative Writing, Poetry

Sustainability is trendy.

It’s often a second thought in the second act of the play.

An occasional half ass attempt to wash away corporate sins,

and make more money.

Lil’ Dicky tried his best,

but the Earth is not fighting for an awareness of its life expectancy.

It’s fighting the laziness of a

Seamless, Postmateable, Grubhubbing consumerist nation.

Convenience is the new forbidden fruit.

The only thing between you

and a grande iced caramel macchiato

is five bucks and an oh-so-single-use plastic cup.

And after just one sip of Starbucks sugar drink,

Eve would not stand a chance in 2020.

Trash-men are the new magicians.

A government funded disappearing act,

where we can send Coke bottles to China and get back brand new Adidas.

The smoke and mirrors in this act smell terrible,

yet we pay no mind to the waste behind the curtain.

We are allowed to live in our play-like realities,

but we must become the heroes of the story.

The ones that don’t buy low-quality clothing from H&M,

the ones that actually use reusable bottles and,

rebrand sustainability past selling more products to young moms who ask,

if the world ends in 3 days, can I still get 2-day shipping?
Vaho: One Person’s Trash is Another’s Treasure
Tags: Creativity, Business Development, Consumerism, Entrepreneurship, Side Hustle Tips

Posted by Eric Lomax

Vaho transforms vinyl signs into purses, small luggage, and backpacks. It produces bags that are more than colorful and durable; they are one-of-a-kind. Vaho acquires banners that municipalities and companies hung for events. After the banners have served their purpose, Vaho hand-cuts each and stitches the pieces into distinctive products. They call the result trashion: fashion reincarnated from trash.

Obstacles block competitors

Weather and wear affect each banner differently and signs often contain trademarked and proprietary images. Vaho must process each by hand to avoid images and damaged areas. This ensures that every bag is unique and cannot be mass-produced.

There is no open market for used banners: no store that supplies them or manufacturers to call. Sellers have no idea what to charge. Buyers typically influence when materials arrive and what quantity that is provided but this does not occur with used items. Banners are not sold to Vaho until they are damaged or outlive their usefulness. Prices vary because there is no baseline for comparison and there is no predictable timeline.

Vaho navigates each issue to acquire the banners, incorporate them into products, and sell them at consistent and profitable prices. The company builds products from raw materials that may not be readily available, may vary in price, may comprise legal entanglements, and may be damaged to different degrees.

More than upcycled

Upcycled products are not always the most attractive; they can look unprofessional or dowdy but not Vaho’s. Vaho creates totes that don’t just appeal to socially conscious customers but ones who value distinction and durability as well. Anyone who selected the wrong black rolling bag from the airport carousel realizes that luggage’s value is more than cosmetic. Distinction ensures other travelers will not mistake your bag or you will not mistake theirs. While others mark their cases with ribbons or colorful nametags, Vaho bags are one-of-a-kind and vibrant. They are almost impossible to mistake.

Vinyl, in addition to retaining color and images for years, is an extremely durable fabric. It resists tears better than most comparable fabrics and is preferred on boats because it survives salt water, wind and sun.

A niche with a barrier

At first glance, Vaho is a socially conscious brand that repurposes goods headed to landfills. Upon deeper inspection, it creates unique products that serve a well-defined community, it provides value in multiple ways, it redefines views of upcycled products, and it establishes barriers that limit copycats. Transforming trash into something attractive requires a keen sense of creativity. However, the company’s most creative accomplishments may not be the way it manufactures bags but the way it manages the business. Vaho’s strategy is one worth copying even if their bags cannot be.
Why I focus on what I love, not what I hate
By: Diego Fajardo
Tags: Millennials, Consumerism, Success, Entrepreneurship, Happiness

Having aspirations is healthy and they probably make you feel unstoppable at times. But what about those other times when you feel like nothing is working out? You’re putting all of your time and energy into activities that rich people are telling you to pursue.

Yet for some damn reason, nothing’s working out. You keep scrolling through Instagram and LinkedIn Feeds for the formula for success, but it’s nowhere to be found. Gary Vaynerchuk keeps telling you you’re stupid and lazy, but mentally you try to convince yourself you’re not lazy and certainly not stupid.

Clearly, you must be doing something wrong. Are you posting enough pictures or videos? Is your profile picture making people click away? Maybe you’re just not putting enough passion into your work and that’s driving away potential followers.

F**k Gary’s advice. Occasionally, he has some solid advice, but a lot of the time, he’s just yelling profanities (oh, the irony) and telling you why you’re so awful. He attracts your attention, tells you what you don’t want to hear, and manipulates you to keep watching his content.

Is he really making your life more productive? Or is he just another source of entertainment that makes you feel more productive?

He constantly reminds his audience how much he just loves the process and not so much the outcome, but a process likely won’t grant you satisfaction; results will.

If you were the only person struggling with this frustrating dilemma, people like Gary wouldn’t be nearly as rich and famous. Those influencers you’re watching at all hours of the day claim they’re helping you, but mostly they’re just hurting you.

Personally, I find that watching someone else live out their dreams is not only unproductive, but also self-destructive.
The Price We Pay For Fashion
By: The Thinking Lane
Tags: Sustainability, Consumerism, Environment, Fashion, Lifestyle

Do you know the backstory of that new tee?

There was a time when shopping was a rare and exciting activity. Now, it is a hobby. Fashion brands are always looking ahead, designing clothes to meet the demands of fast fashion. But we need to look further ahead because the environment is suffering because of every single piece of clothing we buy on a whim.

In the trade-off between fashion and the environment, the mass is choosing the former. That has to change. Often, even people concerned about the environment and human rights fail to realize how significant the share of fashion is in environmental degradation and exploitation of labor.

The high-end fashion brands that we adore are exploiting labor in order to keep up with ‘fast-fashion’. That is how they are able to amass huge profits while staying in the fashion game. Workers have reported ‘slave-like’ conditions at international fashion giants like Zara, H&M and Primark. Women, men, and children in countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and India are employed by these big fashion labels for producing clothes at the lowest cost possible. They sometimes work for over 16 hours a day and get a meagre wage of around 13 dollars per month, which is barely enough for sustenance.

Have you ever wondered about the environmental impact of that plain cotton tee hanging in your wardrobe? Probably not. For starters, it takes about 2700 liters of water to produce the cotton for a single t-shirt. That’s enough to fill 22 bathtubs, or to sustain a human for almost 900 days! Its carbon footprint is nearly 7 kilograms.

Given that an average human buys 20 pieces of clothing every year, the cost the environment (and community) pays for our fashion is enormous. It is imperative that we reuse what we have, and resist the urge to buy more.

There will always be some new outfit that we wish we could have. But there’s only one earth. Degrading it in the process of buying what we want but don’t need, promotes not only pollution but also unethical and unfavorable working conditions for workers. As consumers, and as citizens of this planet, we need to make wiser decisions.

In a nutshell, here’s how you can do your bit for the environment -

Don’t trash your clothes, donate them. You’d be helping the community and the earth. (it’s a win-win) Choose sustainable brands which use natural fabrics like hemp instead of synthetics like polyester (which harm us by entering the water supply and food chain) Choose slow and sustainable fashion, or green fashion, instead of fast fashion. Slow fashion consists of clothing that lasts several years, as compared to fast fashion, in which cheap and new clothes are introduced each micro-season (which can be as many as 52 a year!). Please repeat outfits. It’s NOT uncool. (trashing the environment is)

We can save the environment, one t-shirt at a time!
Package Free
By: A Well-Behaved Guest
Tags: Mindfulness, Minimalism, Consumerism, Saving, Environment

Some time ago, I felt so guilty about using a plastic bag from a bodega that I’ve been re-using it for quite some time. Cashiers look at me weird when I pull out a used plastic bag from clearly an establishment that’s not their own. While some people have their fancy cool shopping bags, I have my wrinkled used plastic bag. In a way, I’m kind of proud of it. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I took a bag from a store (both paper and plastic). It’s probably been 3–4 months now.

I’ve also been cautious of the packaging my purchases come in. Sometimes I go into a store wanting to buy something then I think about the packaging then the bag I don’t have to carry it in. Before I know it, I’m walking out of the store. These days all my shopping trips are more intentional; really buying only what I absolutely need.

Because of this I (1) eat better and (2) save so much money.

I eat better cause my snacks end up being fruit and nuts instead of chips just because of less packaging associated with fruit and some nuts. Just how much they compare in carbon footprint when you factor in transportation and storage, who knows? At least I try to buy seasonally and locally. I also tend to seek out artisan shops where I can bring my own bread bag or coffee tin. And I can buy from these places cause I save so much money not buying other things.

It’s been awhile that I’ve developed this outlook that I feel I have no need for Amazon Prime anymore. I recently (gasp!) cancelled it. When I need something, I go to the store. If I’m lazy, then I don’t need it that bad. If I can’t find it, I check my vital status and see if I’ll survive without it. If I can’t then, and only then, will I purchase online. Looking for things at stores also slows down my need to purchase. Before I know it, I realize I didn’t need to buy it after all. This way of shopping also turned me into an extremely lazy shopper. I started to not care if towels don’t match and I learned how to repair so many things rather than go and find a replacement.

I truly believe shopping is an addiction. Browsing online used to be my stress reliever without me knowing. Visiting shops with friends used to be a past time. It took me a bit, but I finally found myself actually feeling that purchasing anything at all is such an incredibly laborious act that I try to avoid it.

I find it really interesting that what ultimately broke my shopping addiction was my want to save the polar bears.

// We just went on a week-long vacation, and not a single time did we get a bag from any establishment. I was on the verge of using the laundry bag at the hotel, but I held it in my hand and I actually felt I was breaking a sacred pact with myself. I feel like a recovering alcoholic counting my days that I’m “sober”.
9 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint→
By: Shay Moran
Tags: Emissions, Consumerism, Envrionment, Carbon Footprint, Climate Change

We’re really busy. There is hardly time in the day to eat a proper meal let alone worry about how just trying to get through the day is impacting the environment. It is important to keep in mind though, that if we don’t show the earth a little love, monitor our contribution to greenhouse gasses, we’ll need to add pollution masks to our daily routine because of the smog that will encompass our future atmosphere.

So here are nine pretty simple things that you can do to help keep the world beautiful longer.

1. Carpool

Carpooling is one of the best ways to reduce carbon emissions. Try to get a group together from work or for common errands to greatly reduce your greenhouse gas contribution.

2. Use a Blanket

When you get cold throw a blanket on your bed rather than turn the heat up; it saves money and uses less electricity.

3. Roll out a rug

Like using a comforter on your bed, using a rug on a cold floor is a decorative way to keep a room insulated and keep emissions low.

4. Turn out the lights

Leaving on lights you aren’t using consumes a lot of electricity, and switching them off will also save on your electricity bill and help keep your house cooler in the summer.

5. Wash cold

It’s better for your clothes, the environment, and it makes your hair shiny.

6. Avoid disposables

If you drink bottled water, get a reusable bottle or a filter. Doing this will greatly reduce the waste produced as well as help you avoid estrogens that can contaminate water through plastic.

7. Unplug chargers

Even when they aren’t being used, chargers consume a huge amount of electricity, according to the US Department of Energy.

8. Buy less

Purchasing less creates less waste, which in turn creates less toxic chemicals being released into the air as all that waste breaks down. So next time you go to buy something ask yourself “Do I really need it and how long will it last?”

9. Print less

Though this can be a difficult one depending on your career, always see if there is a way to turn in that document electronically, print double-sided pages and avoid printing more than you have to.
Palm Oil, Consumption & the Sumatran Tiger
By: Nilmini De Silva
Tags: Travel, Consumerism, Climate Change, Food Systems

Dubbo is the first major stop after our meeting in Newcastle. We are camped by the Macquarie River and enjoying the outdoors. We have decided to spend two days at the Dubbo Zoo, donating a few dollars to conservation and learning about the work they do there. The Sumatran Tiger catches our eye partly because neither of us has seen this beautiful big cat in the wild. As we listen to the zookeeper talk, we learn a little more about how Palm Oil is destroying the habitat of animals such as the Sumatran Tiger and the Orang-utan.

We learn that Palm Oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet. It is also the highest yielding vegetable oil but its very efficiency is resulting in the loss of habitat for animals such as the Sumatran Tiger as land is cleared in Sumatra and Malaysia to grow more of this crop. I hadn’t realised that 50–60% of our supermarket products contain palm oil, from beauty products to pizza dough, packaged bread, detergents, paint and bio diesel. Most of us are unaware of the fact that even the shampoos we use daily contain palm oil — check the labelling for sodium lauryl sulphate.

More recently, some of the growers have committed to growing Palm Oil more sustainably and you can look for the acronym RSPO (Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil) identifying it as having been cultivated in an ethical manner. We learn there are many ways to being an informed consumer including installing the Palm Oil Shopping Guide application on your IPhone. Simply checking the labelling on the back of the products we buy is not sufficient as often in Australia Palm Oil may be identified as vegetable oil.

The talk at the zoo brings home to me once again how important it is to make conscious choices about everything we purchase. While most people would not condone destroying the habitat of the Sumatran Tiger, by not bothering to understand the labelling of the products we buy could mean we unwittingly do so. Choices such as this are always left to the consumer to figure out with little education in the press or media to highlight the problem. Wouldn’t it be great to have governments implementing serious policies that ensure we don’t have products on our supermarket shelves that are destroying the habitats of species such as the Sumatran Tiger?
Its the most ridiculous time of the year. Lets forget about the climate for a month.
By: Michael Deblasi
Tags: Joy, Consumerism, Christmas, Climate Change, Happiness

Use your creativity for the nativity

Its the most ridiculous time of the year. Lets forget about the climate for a month. Michael DeBlasi Dec 14, 2019·2 min read

Well and can also be the most wonderful time. When most people are screaming of climate demise we some how justify the largest yearly clearcut in the spirit of celebration of peace on earth. Am I missing something here?

Add on top of that firing up lights (led’s are ok?) of every square inch of our abodes both inside and out. Using too much energy? Bah humbug!

What if we redesigned Christmas to be a celebration of un-consumerism?

In the early family years when my energy seemed boundless, I only bought live trees and then planted them after use. I felt this was such a sensible thing to do. The cost was similar and I learned how to not shock the trees being replanted in the cold. For lights we did buy more but only lit them when we could enjoy. Useful presents and gifts that we really needed not just for the sake of giving. Where has that gone?

We decided not to do traditional Christmas this year, the kids are gone and we have more than enough stuff. Is christmas for the kids? Does Greta celebrate with presents and lights? Our traditions can seem so out of place in the modern time.

Ideas:

Make a christmas tree out of your recycle material

Go back to glitter and have a single light shine up the tree

presents? why? give a hug, a kiss a dance, bake a cake. tell a joke.

Spread the word of a light happy holiday.

Enjoy!

Michael
Your leisure can also benefit the environment; here is how
By: Sofia M
Tags: Leisure, Capitalism, Consumerism, Relaxation, Environment

I think I would not be mistaken if I say that the way you spend your leisure time can define your level of selfishness. And of course I am not the one defining it, but rather the capitalistic system almost all of us live in.

My observation is that if you spend your leisure time, for example shopping or doing some other activity that involves lots of spending, you won’t be considered selfish. In comparison, if you spend your time let’s say alone, in your room or somewhere in nature, reading, growing, meditating, discovering your inner depths and aspirations, and most probably spending less money, this type of leisure lands you in the realm of selfish people. This classification is mostly based on capitalist approach that the more money spent, the better, and so few people would dare to consider this as selfish (aka, going against the system). After all, many themselves fall in this category.

While anyone spending less and thus not spinning the wheel of the system, is criticized for not spending enough, and thus the reality is flipped and here comes the label of selfishness. But there is more to this type of “selfishness” that angers the system. Imagine a person enjoying some book and not spending money on cinema, or growing food and not going to supermarket, or relaxing by meditating, and thus not buying antidepressants or other advertised products. One leads to another and may significantly threaten the base on which capitalism resides: consumerism.

Obviously, buying a book may still cost money, as much as buying tools (or land) to grow plants, even though here may be many alternatives. And yet, this type of relaxing is inward, directed at satisfying and enriching the needs of our inner world. And once this happens, the realization comes that much less is needed to satisfy our outer world needs, and the urge to buy that 5th pair of shoes seems no longer relevant.

So let me wish that we all have this opportunity to be “selfish” so that one day we may finally be able to inspire all people to see the overturned reality we live in.
10 More Painless Ways to Live Below Your Means
By: David Asch
Tags: Frugal Lifestyle, Mindfulness, Consumerism, Health, Money

10 More Painless Ways to Live Below Your Means

Meadow versus Lawn. Photos by Photo by Freddie Ramm from Pexels (l) and Photo by Gibbon FitzGibbon on Unsplash (r)

You can live non-materialistically, richly, and generously by focusing on your core values and modifying your lifestyle to match. In the prequel to this article, I focused on some subjective biggies of living below one’s means, like inhabiting a small house/apartment with a small or nonexistent yard.

Surprisingly, many people responded, expressing similar sensibilities and adding their own $.02. I thought my wife and I were cultural outliers when it turns out we have plenty of company among people who embrace the real world while rejecting the trappings of opulence.

Here are some additional ideas that my wife and I espouse for living below our means. We didn’t fall into this by design or ideology — these ideas and habits emerged organically over the years. We may practice, but we do not preach. Not even our friends or family follow most of these.
The Fed Is Handcuffed
By: Prerit Das
Tags: Finance, Politics, Consumerism, Federal Reserve, Money

Economics | Money

The Fed Is Handcuffed

Jerome Powell testifying before Congress. Reuters.

Sometimes we all get stuck between a rock and a hard place.

But usually, the consequences of our tiny decisions impact not more than a few people, if any at all.

Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve (the American central bank that sets interest rates and is responsible for reacting to financial crises) appears to be stuck like few ever have before.

You’ve heard it a million times:

The COVID-19 pandemic raveled our economy hugely. But now what?

What happened was vastly more complicated than this overused cliche. Due to the viral spread, supply chains around the world were shocked, unable to fulfill orders, move products, or supply goods to their customers.

Even to this day, more than 14 months into our national lockdown, suppliers globally haven’t quite recovered.

But people have!

For the most part, economy-driving countries have resumed their consumerism, both online and in their grocery stores. Especially the United States.

Economically, this disconnect is a severe issue. Demand is free to soar, but suppliers are still shackled. And now inflation (the annual price increases of everyday goods) has reached more than double the Fed’s goal.

To counteract this, one would expect the Fed to raise interest rates to keep the economy in check, prevent bubble-like activity, and steer America away from a hyperinflationary future.

But they can’t.

On the one hand, the Fed knows they must take action to ground the economy and the goods it provides. On the other, they know that by doing so, interest rates will soar, and their friends in the government will no longer be able to fund any of their agendas.

Trillions of dollars of spending have been Congressionally proposed, almost all of which will come from taxpayers and printing money out of nothing (even more inflation).

The Quantitative Easing (injecting liquidity into the markets, buying bonds, buying assets, etc) the Fed has set their minds to lies on a scale of hundreds of billions of dollars per month.

And now, they’re stuck. To do what’s right for the economy, or to protect the interests of their government?
Website Audit Los Angeles Team Offer Consumer Theory-Based Services
By: My Marketing Auditors
Tags: Digital Marketing, Consumerism, Website Audit, Mymarketingauditors, Best Website Audit

Website Audit Los Angeles team, My Marketing Auditors, have developed a highly effective means for auditing a website. My Marketing Auditors pull from extensive marketing, digital marketing, and market research backgrounds to develop an effective website audit system that looks at the core fundamental needs of a website. At the heart of any website is the message that it conveys to its user and the user experience that the website visitor has when visiting a website.

At My Marketing Auditors, we do not solely rely upon our own intuition to develop our website audits. Rather, we often employ the opinions of several non-biased users to develop a baseline rating scale to which we can apply our own theory and practice to develop user-based website audits.

Having spent several years top Los Angeles marketing agencies, our website auditors have several hours of experience and in-depth customer relations experience that we utilize when interfacing with our consumer potential clientele. Once we have established a level of understanding and rapport with our clients, able to move forward with a relationship that is built around mutually beneficial marketing actions of our Los Angeles based website audit team.

Many of our digital marketing contemporaries use a much more profit-based model to enhance the bottom line for their marketing agency. However, as that system may not be the most effective for marketing, it is often our recommendation that our client search for marketing teams that can provide proper digital marketing results. For that reason, our website audits are systematically applied who are vetting process when analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a marketing team.

Website Auditors In Los Angeles

Our consumer psychologists have rigorous training and an in-depth understanding of web site Audits and how they can be systematically applied to enhance marketing efforts. Our formal training gives us the opportunity to move beyond subjective opinions of website effectiveness. Rather, we get to the core of user experience through market research and customer interviews. to learn more about how My Marketing Auditors can help grow your marketing campaign with a systematic website audit please contact us today at https://mymarketingauditors.com/services/website-audit/ .
Measuring the health of your B2C business
By: Sammy Abdullah
Tags: Startup, Ecommerce, Consumerism, Venture Capital, B2c

For any B2C business, cohort performance is critical. A cohort is a set of customers acquired during a certain time period — for instance the January 2018 cohort is all customers acquired in January 2018. Specifically, key metrics in evaluating cohort performance include looking at the marketing spend it took to acquire the cohort, the amount of money that cohort spends on their first purchase (initial revenue), and the amount of money that cohort has spent since that first purchase (retention rates or repeat revenue).

Eventbrite, which recently went public in 2018, provides good examples of cohort metrics every B2C business should track. Eventbrite is a platform which helps you create, plan, and produce a live event. They make money on each ticket you sell to your live event. According to their S1, “in 2017, we helped more than 700,000 creators issue approximately 203 million tickets across approximately three million events in over 170 countries.” Net revenue (ticket fees) was $202mm in 2017, up from $133mm in 2016. Specific measures of their business, which can be applied to any B2C business, are below.

Initial revenue of a cohort. Eventbrite tracks the initial fees collected from a new cohort, and as you can see, it’s growing which is the trend you want. “The gross ticket fees we have generated for the first year of each creator cohort has more than doubled from 2013 to 2017. Gross ticket fees of each creator cohort in year one are set forth below:”

Retained revenue of a cohort. As importantly, Eventbrite needs to make sure the cohort keeps coming back and spending with them. “We have demonstrated a consistent track record of retaining gross ticket fees from creator cohorts over time. For example, we retained 78% of the gross ticket fees from our 2013 creator cohort in 2017.” As impressive, their net retention from the prior year is a whopping a 97% (calculated as Measurement Year Gross Ticket Fees divided by the Prior Year Gross Ticket Fees).

Freemium versus paid users. Eventbrite has a free product and paid product. If your business has a similar freemium model, it’s important to see the blend of paid versus free users. As you can see, Eventbrite’s paying users are growing and according to their S1 “Our success in serving creators is measured in large part by the number of tickets that generate ticket fees for us. We consider this an important indicator of the underlying health of the business. We refer to these tickets as paid tickets.”

Eventbrite is a B2C business which does a wonderful job of showing us the key metrics to monitor for any B2C business. Cohort performance is critical, and if you measure your numbers the way Eventbrite does, so long as the trends hold strong, you’ll be well on your way to going public like they did.

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The Ironic $64,000 Question
By: Jenni Brannan
Tags: Debt, Consumerism, Happiness, Personal Development, Money

The Ironic $64,000 Question

(This was originally asked and answered on Quora.)

It’s tough, isn’t it? And just when you start to make some headway, something really expensive comes along, that isn’t a choice, and you’re back where you were or even deeper in debt.

My own experience, not only having run businesses and worked for financial institutions for a long time, but having been both in and out of debt at various times in my life, is that money is actually very emotional. It’s obvious from a practical standpoint, everyone needs the basics in life — food, clothing, shelter — all of which require money. When you don’t have those, or they are threatened, the emotions crank up.

Getting a handle on the internal forces that drive our decisions and choices that get us into debt is key to changing the perception about whether it’s “easy” or “hard” to get out of debt. There is no fairy godmother that appears one night and erases all your debt with one flick of her wand. But the notion that we would even wish for something like that (don’t kid yourself, what do you think the lure of the lottery and Las Vegas is?) gets to the heart of why we’re in debt in the first place and then want a quick and easy solution to make it go away.

We each have a money story. It often is one handed down to us by our parents/up-bringing. Remember, how we grew up is the basis for our “normal”, so rather than assuming your ideas and beliefs about money are truth, be willing to reflect on what your money story is. Do you believe money/wealth is the defining by-product of a virtuous life? Do you believe money is the root of all evil?
Those Who Play
By: Clayton Cooper
Tags: Oligarchs, Consumerism, Influence, Aristocracy, Corporate Culture

Those Who Play

Corruption was the cousin of the country. For the freedom could only be known by the contrast it came from. The aristocracy lathered over the democracy to white wash the color of the beaten body.

All in preparation for another Sunday battle.

The crowd roars like a lion who’s need to eat, puts fear in the prey without a peep. All while the thunderous bass clouds judgement. Pumping the blood with the ferocity of a winning fist.

In the quiet confines the fluorescent lights light the tunnel. The anxiety stews like hot soup. All while the echoes of insanity are heard from the outside. Until the fog rolls out for the players to run through.

The two teams come together. To flip a president to elect a new direction to go in. Whistle blows. And the brains are ready be bashed.

Pigs finally fly, over the field into arms and bellies. Before time expires a victor will be declared. Through the blood that is spilled. The sweat that drips. And the tears that flow.

From the thrill of victory to the denigration of defeat. Two people stand tall in the owners box. Looking down at the game.

Smiling; even though their team lost.

They themselves won.

Fans pockets were loosened. Bellies were fattened with food faster than the players, to slouch in the stands. Rooting for their favorite team and opposing the undeniable rival.

To keep those focused on the game they are being played.