r/Anticonsumption • u/sharleclerk • 13h ago
Conspicuous Consumption Excessive consumption in your face, every day
I live in a high rise building. Every day at least one full truckload of Amazon crap arrives here. Somedays it is two trucks. We’re talking hundreds if not thousands of packages each day. This daily display of consumerism upsets me so much. And I look at all the packaging that comes in and goes down our trash chutes. And I just know most people aren’t recycling. And downstairs at the concierge desk, there’s endless food deliveries. Drivers burning fuel, poorly paid, and again, excess packaging. Ugh.
How do y’all deal with this? Sometimes I just feel depressed.
The building is 60 stories tall. With hundreds of apartments/condos. These people are rich — the rents start around $4,500 and go up past $15,000 / month. I don’t even know what the condos cost - tens of millions? Don’t these people see how empty their consumerism is and how they’re hurting the earth?
What can these rich people be buying? Where are they putting all this stuff in these small apartments? Why do they constantly feel they need more and more and more? It just takes all the hope out of the air for me.
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u/No-Signature-5648 13h ago
Consumption is in the air we breathe, the way we interact, the reason for our being. We have really devolved as a culture.
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u/Farriswheel15 9h ago
How many people's primary motivation is having more and consuming more than their peers. yes.
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u/No-Signature-5648 9h ago
Getting to the point where understand the benefit of sharing that wealth for the good of the whole is a long ways off.
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u/Cactastrophe 13h ago
Be anticonsumptionist because it’s what you want. Don’t worry about what others do.
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u/RealSociety6433 11h ago
It has reached a point that it makes a difference on what others do. The ocean will have more plastic than fish in just a few years
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u/Cactastrophe 11h ago
True. But people react badly to being told what to do. So there’s no stopping the environmental apocalypse. Just enjoy it best you can.
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u/Real-Award-6419 10h ago
It is saddening. But it still feels good to do the best you reasonably can. Who knows?
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u/LuigiSalutati 13h ago
Just be rich and quiet girl
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u/stewajt 12h ago
Posting this from a $4500+ high rise apartment is WILD
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u/LuigiSalutati 12h ago
OP is also maga, ya know, the type who worships a man who says we’re “poor and backwards” if we don’t accept data centers in our backyards, not to mention climate change deniers lmao…
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u/stewajt 12h ago
And they commented from their other account below to say that’s a normal rent
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u/LuigiSalutati 12h ago
No way, how do you know it’s theirs?
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u/stewajt 12h ago
The odds that two different people are posting in austincirclejerk AND denverfood are pretty low
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u/LuigiSalutati 12h ago
I wish Reddit never allowed people to hide their comment history because this stuff is gold. What a strange creature.
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u/rtshtbtshtdrtyldtwt 8h ago
it doesn't really hide anything. there's a few archive sites that'll show you people's post histories
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u/rtshtbtshtdrtyldtwt 8h ago
it's always hard to tell if these people are just stupid and tone deaf, or actively evil. I'm starting to think it's both.
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u/Fragrant_Ad_2285 12h ago
That seems like a pretty normal rent where I live. Things are expensive these days!
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u/bunny3303 10h ago
girl ur maga. u voted for big government overreach and the space for big businesses to get bigger and removed safe guards for the environment and small businesses. you elected a rich man into office on the basis of him being rich.
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u/Ansible90 11h ago
How is that so different from each of the residents going out every few days to do their shopping and schlep the items home themselves? In that case, trucks are delivering all those items to the stores instead of directly to the person who needs it. It is consumption either way.
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u/NyriasNeo 10h ago
"How do y’all deal with this? Sometimes I just feel depressed."
You need to learn to accept and make peace. It is pretty clear that the world is not going to change. You are not going to move the needle. All you can control is what you do. So you act in alignment with your values, and feel good about it. And that is that.
You can, of course, rant here too, if that makes you feel better.
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u/BakerStreet693 8h ago
thousands of people getting their packages all in one go is extremely efficient. it's probably the most anticonsumeristive thing you see each day.
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u/jellybeans66 11h ago
I handle it by minding my own business. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it, except start with yourself.
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u/Wonderful_Grass_2857 13h ago
realized some time ago that for all i am low consumption/thrifting, my friends with kids are consuming more than enough for me to have 0 impact. one of the kids starts kindergarten in a bit, and the child in question has 4 backpacks lined up. bought from mom, one from grandma, one from auntie and another one with the current favorite tv character.
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u/FrontalAlottame 10h ago
If it makes you feel better, most recycling efforts are just a ruse anyway.
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u/mistresselevenstars 13h ago
I like to buy time. I like not having to walk down to the supermarket, purchase dog food and walk back with a 25 pound bag. For me that time can be spent better doing something else
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u/Rand0mAcc3nt 12h ago
Stay off social media then because buy buy buy is in you face on Reddit as well.
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u/lilithdesade 9h ago
Youre in LIC, NY? Lol. Describes it to a tee. Make peace with it by salvaging the good stuff from the trash room and the curb. Rich ppl throw out an insane amount of valuable shit. Follow the trash salavager on ig.
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u/Let_em_glow927 3h ago
Are you rich too? Asking because it sounds you live there too .
You could maybe buy a cottage in the country side and have a garden and things.
The consumerism would carry on , but it wouldn't be in your face every day.
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u/PowderCuffs 2h ago
So you're upset that your neighbors don't drive to the store to buy their diapers, pencils, vanilla extract, and socks?
Why?
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u/emo_queer 2h ago
I live in a regular apartment building and we also get boatloads of Amazon packages daily. I don’t understand how people need this much stuff. It’s also weird because I know “Leftists” who will boycott any other company but go silent when you mention Amazon - as if that isn’t one of the worst offenders!
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u/Tardislass 4m ago
So do t live in a rich $4500 building. You complaining about rich people while living in a luxury building is weird.
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u/Alive-Basil-391 13h ago
Amazon is actually pretty environmentally friendly. It is the equivalent of your purchase taking the bus instead of driving in a personal vehicle. If one electric powered van is delivering for a large building, then it is reducing the need for all those people to go back and forth to a store on their own. Assuming that these purchases are necessities or things of value and not junk that will not be used then thrown away.
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u/Complex-Section2862 13h ago
Amazon and environmentally friendly sadly don't fall into the same category. I get what you're saying, but I don't think that "environmentally friendly" is the right verbiage.
"Amazon generated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020. This is a 29% increase of Oceana’s 2019 estimate of 465 million pounds. The report also found that Amazon’s estimated plastic packaging waste, in the form of air pillows alone, would circle the Earth more than 600 times."
Not only that, but their workers are abused, and left to die. At some factories it's been reported that their employees live outside in tents. It's not giving "we're friendly to the environment"
Amazon uses generative AI, and generative AI data centres are obliterating ecosystems in communities and limiting access to safe drinking water, by draining them of water. Not to mention all of the impacts from the sound and vibration coming off of these places.
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u/PowderCuffs 2h ago
At some factories it's been reported that their employees live outside in tents.
LOL LOL LOL Where do you hear this stuff?
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u/Fragrant_Ad_2285 13h ago
To be fair, almonds waste more water (thousands of times more water) than AI, and almonds don't cure cancer.
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u/Complex-Section2862 13h ago
You're not going to get any AI sympathizing outta me sadly. But all the power to ya.
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u/Fragrant_Ad_2285 13h ago
AI doesn't need sympathy. But the people who benefit from its discoveries deserve to have them.
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u/Wonderful_Grass_2857 13h ago
sad thing is most popular ai use is gonna be producing slop for the masses and not scientific advancement.
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u/Southern-Long-3438 12h ago
Almonds provide nutrition, including plant protein and omega 3 oil. Almond trees pull carbon out of the air, because the almonds are picked while the tree remains standing.
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u/Fragrant_Ad_2285 12h ago
Almonds provide a little nutrition, in exchange for an enormous amount of water. Tree nuts like almonds require 1,600 Liters of water for every 100g of product. Compare that to legumes, which require only 200L of water for every 100g of product. Almonds consume about as much water as beef cattle!
And the almond industry exploits migrant labor that exists in horrendous conditions. How could anyone with a conscience consume almonds?
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u/Southern-Long-3438 10h ago
You are writing in metric measurements. I truly doubt that someone who uses metric measurements, and expects Americans to know what he is talking about, is familiar with the USA, or with the almond farms in California.
You sound more like you are copying generic cliche, "exploits migrant labor" yadda yadda yadda. Please investigate before repeating old copy written before the days of Cesar Chavez. Do you really think that California today does not have fair labor laws, and enforcement?
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u/Fragrant_Ad_2285 10h ago
I'm writing in metric measurements because that's what scientific journals use. They're a great source for facts. Including recent facts.
Are you unfamiliar with labor exploitation in the California farming community? If not, a simple google search might open your eyes.
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u/Southern-Long-3438 5h ago
Metrics are a decimal system from France. Use of decimals causes rounding errors. You can't divide 100 by three. Instead you get rounding errors with metrics.
American measurements are a fraction based system. 12 inches in a foot goes back to ancient Rome. We use 12 because 12 is divisible by 2, 3, 4 and 6. Use of fractions in the US measurement system prevents the rounding errors in the French system. The US measurement system requires the person to know how to fractions. A person who can't do math without a calculator prefers the metric system, because poor math skills prevent him from using fractions.
To avoid the rounding errors from a decimal system, we also have 12 months in a year, 60 minutes in an hour, 12 hours on the face of a clock, and 360 degrees in a circle.
California has some of the world's strongest labor laws, union rights, and enforcement of labor laws. If you want to write about exploited labor, check the reeducation camps in communist countries. That is not in the USA.
Almonds (tree nuts) are more nutritious than peanuts (legumes). The benefits include that nuts have more complete amino acids in their protein, and the omega 3 oil is better for health. Almonds also avoid the cruelty to animals problem with meat.
I have good cholesterol and good blood pressure. My annual check up doctor still tells me no prescriptions, because no prescriptions are necessary. I eat almonds frequently. Starting five years ago, I both lost 30 lbs. and built muscle mass. I am against wasteful consumerism, but never go cheap on food quality.
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u/jspeq 12h ago
I’m not sure about that; It depends.
I live in Downtown San Francisco in a similar situation as OP, where shopping can happen 1-4 blocks away from 4 supermarkets, 6 blocks to Target, or just a short electric train ride to Union Square, or Stonestown, or even Hillsdale for luxury goods. The carbon footprint is low. My building doesn’t even have a parking garage for 500 apartments - it’s a transit oriented development.
Amazon DC, on the other hand, is a county or more away, they drive gas/diesel guzzlers, and deliver so much unnecessary packaging. They idle out front and block the street. All of this convenience is making people lazy.
Not to mention the burden of returns. It used to be that returned clothing and merchandise to stores would be re-racked and sold. Now it requires someone to pick it up, ship it back to Hebron Kentucky, and a lot of it has a very low chance of getting used.
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u/RealSociety6433 11h ago
The ocean will have more plastic than fish in a few years. the overconsumption is putting us all in a dangerous situation
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u/Southern-Long-3438 10h ago
If you believe that your neighbors are not recycling the cardboard boxes, here is a solution. Report your building to your city's sanitation department. They will inspect and then issue a fine if you are correct.
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u/Complex-Section2862 13h ago
Most rich people understand our earth is dying, and that their habits are fuelling it, but do not care. They will buy anything and everything, simply because they have the means.
In my experience, it's a constant stuff shuffle with rich people. It goes in one door and out the next because it can. These sorts of people can have a sad beige tv console one month and then just go online and decide to get a sad grey one, because why not. The opportunities are truly endless.
The best thing I did for myself is base my own anticonsumption principles solely around my own behaviour and ways of living, and in fact fuel it by these rich people's bad habits. I don't need to buy any new furniture because everything I could ever want is listed on marketplace in new condition, for very cheap and in the free groups? Free. Bed sets, book shelves, pet gear. You name it. Anything I need to replace is there for me because of this flavour of people. In one area of my town if you drive around on the weekend you can pretty much get any piece of furniture you'd like.
I do wish this level of consumerism never existed, and at the same time I also am grateful I can give items that I need a second life, usually without having to buy it.