Assignment 02
Essay Plan:
Introduction:
* Outline what intend to explore in essay * Description of a consumer society.
Part 1 * What is consumerism * Mass consumption origins – include quote from R Williams * Affluence * Supermarket contribution to consumerism
Part 2 * Outline the impact of rubbish / wastage on environment – include statistics from reports shown in Making Social Lives text book. * Explain what unsustainability means and how does it refer to rubbish. * What is recycling and its role * Other ways to use rubbish i.e. charity shops, used as art
Conclusion
* Conclude whether society is a throwaway society.
Explore the claim that a consumer society is always a ‘throw-away’ society.

In this essay I will attempt to explore the claim stated above that a consumer society is always a ‘throw-away’ society and find examples to support this.

Before beginning to explore the claim stated above, it is important to understand what is meant by a ‘consumer society’. Many social scientists state that we live in times of a consumer which means “a label use to refer to a society which is defined as much by how and what people purchase and use, as by what they make or do.” (Hetherington, 2009, p.13).

Consumerism is a form of socialisation evolving from the Industrial Revolution and it has continued to evolve through the decades to the present day. With so many produces being so readily available it seems there are a number of reasons why society consumes as they do. These reasons include for pleasure, fun, habit or simply to feel that they belong to a specific group.

As society evolves, so our consumer habits change and material goods that were once perhaps only available to the wealthier of our society can now be seen as everyday essentials for the majority, examples of this could be things like the most technologically advanced mobile phones or a high definition television.

Mass consumption began back in the 19th Century with the development of department stores. These stores sold mass produced goods which made them cheaper to sell, thereby they were made available for a wider range of people. Rosalind Williams, a cultural historian and sociologist says “It was in such places as this, therefore, that modern consumer culture with its emphasis on consuming the social messages associated with commodities in order to create a lifestyle first took shape” (Williams cited in Hetherington, 2009, p. 41).

It is not just department stores that offer mass produced goods, there are nowadays supermarkets where you can bury anything from a pint of milk to a TV surround sound system. As well as supermarkets mass consumerism is rife all around us and one place that is an example of this is the internet.

Going hand in hand with mass consumption goes rising affluence (a high level of prosperity). This means that it is possible to afford a high or higher standard of living. This can mean that a higher proportion of a total household income may be spent on luxuries rather than necessities. In Chapter 3 (Rubbish society: affluence, waster and values) of the Making Social Lives text book, Table 1 shows us the difference in UK household expenditure in 1957 and 2006 and offers examples of this idea. The table highlights the difference spent on non-necessities in 1957 and 2006 an obviously there is a difference. Although the figures are only approximate, it does show that there is a link between rising affluence and mass consumption.

Rising affluence also affects the choice between labour intensive and labour saving activities. With rises in wages, people are able to move towards labour saving devices; this is true in both the home environment and within industry. Nowadays instead of labour intensive activities such as mending and repairing, society is shifting towards labour saving appliances which eventually lead to them having to be disposed of as they do not have as long a shelf life as something that has been repaired. Technological changes in consumer products, the switch to labour saving devices and rising affluence have all impacted on the growth of rubbish in recent years.

With mass consumption comes rubbish and also wastage. Wasting refers to using something up for no good purpose or to use something extravagantly. This could refer to a commodity such as electricity or food. A report published in 2008 The Food We Waste shows “that as much as one third of the food bought in the UK each year is thrown away – about 6.7 million tonnes of food”(WRAP cited in Brown, 2009, p.106). Obviously food is only one part of what makes up normal household rubbish, but it contributed to the 2008 report that households in the UK threw away approximately 30 million tonnes of rubbish.

New understanding on the implications of rubbish and waste link to environmental effects. This means that the affluence of our society helps to consume at rates which are seen as environmentally unsustainable, in other words “the degree to which the earth’s resources and waste absorption capacities are being used up faster than can be replenished (Brown, 2009, p.115). One estimation in 2008 suggests that we (the whole world population) were “annually using up the biological capacity of 1.4 planet earths” (Global Footprint Network cited in Brown, 2009, p.115). This means that resources globally are being used up faster than they can be replaced and waste is generated faster than it can be absorbed. This unsustainability could reach a point where it would tip over to the point where environments could be damaged beyond repair.

Awareness of the problems caused by mass consumption has made people realise that there needs to be a shift towards reducing waste and rubbish and also recycling. This shift in attitude can be seen in Table 2 Household Rubbish and Recycling Per Capita, 1983/4 – 2006/7 on page 117. In 1983/84 the total rate of rubbish recycled/composted as a total percentage of rubbish was 1%, this had risen to 13% in 2001/2 and up to 31% in 2006/7. It seems that gradually our society in the UK were beginning to throw less rubbish away and a higher amount of the total was being recycled or used for compost.

Even though recycling is becoming more popular there is another form of disposal which actually has become a major business. These are the companies which make money out of rubbish. Years ago a simpler form of this would have been ‘rag and bone’ men but nowadays these companies deal in international disposal. This industry of global rubbish disposal and recycling is able to give new value to rubbish as it can take rubbish, recycle it and make into new products. Another form of recycling is sending unwanted goods to charity shops to be bought and used by someone else as they say ‘ one man’s junk is another man’s treasure’. Nowadays another way to recycle unwanted possessions is to send them to online companies where they either recycle them or redistribute them back into the market place for a reduced price. The sender is compensated only minimally but it is another way to get rid of their rubbish for someone else’s use.

Rubbish can also be a form or art or help to make a social statement. An artist by the name of Chris Jordan has composed several works of art out of rubbish including mobile phones and a million plastic cups. This according to the artist depicts the number of cups used every six hours on domestic flights within the USA. Although this is a work of art, there is another message here regarding the waste that is generated by a society that indulges in mass consumption.

After studying the material regarding the links between consumerism and the throw-away society, I can conclude that although rubbish and wastefulness do make for a throw-away society it is not always a throw-away society. As the realisation sets in regarding the unsustainability of our planet regarding rubbish, there are numerous ways that are in practice where rubbish can be reused.
Bibliography
Hetherington, K. (2009) ‘Consumer society? Shopping, consumption and social science’ in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J and Bromley, S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University
Brown, V. (2009) ‘Rubbish society: affluence, waste and values’ in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J and Bromley, S. (eds) Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University
Word Count: 1230

Self Reflection
I have particularly enjoyed studying about the link between consumers and rubbish. However I have found it difficult to juggle my time as after a mistake regarding TMA 01 I had to rewrite it leaving less time for me to study for this assignment.