In the last few decades, our society has witnessed the rise of the industrial revolution around the world, which in turn leads to the excessive mass production of goods growing beyond consumer demand. As a social and economic phenomena, it has had several impacts on the natural world and the living conditions of humankind. In this essay, I will discuss the main causes that give rise to the overproduction of goods and offer some measures to tackle this problem.
The root of an excessive supply of products lies within the evolution of human society itself. Among many possible reasons that cause the glut of goods, consumerism is considered to be the main culprit. Because of the belief that certain merchandise do not hold the same value anymore when it is out of style, in tandem with the ever-increasing appearance of advertisement in every household, modern citizens are convinced to believe that they must stay up to date with the ongoing trends by purchasing new products even though their old ones still function well. Recent researches have shown that today’s people have the tendency to buy the newest and the most fashionable smartphone models in the marketplace, despise the fact that their current mobile phone is not out of date yet. Another trend of human society that has helped create the excess of supply is the planned obsolescence. Modern companies intentionally design their products to be out of use after a short span of time such as clothes, shoes or smartphone batteries and thus force the costumers to come back to buy new ones. As a result, the two above reasons encourage people to keep buying unnecessarily new merchandise and therefore start the chain of overproduction. In the end, for the industrial production requires different resources which come from the natural world, the oversupply will eventually lead to environmental degradation, for example the unrestrained development of pulp and paper industry will lead to deforestation or the overfishing of seafood industry will result in the loss of marine life.
In response to solve this increasing adverse effect, some viable solutions must put forward. Firstly, the government should implement a law to ban manufacturers to plan the failure of their goods and encourage them to produce more durable products, so consumers do not have to replace their bought products too frequently. Secondly, the media should promote environmental programs that raise awareness of overconsumption and overproduction. For example, a tv program that shows the harmful effects of excessive unsustainable production on ecosystem health will inspire people to buy less and not contribute to the oversupply of goods. Once the buyers are aware of how their shopping habit can have serious impacts on the environment and decide to end this toxic practice, the excess of supply will not be a problem anymore.
In conclusion, it must be said that the overabundance of products is a contentious topic with no easy answers. However, in my mind, the most effective solutions would be to encourage the consumers to do shopping responsibly by not buying goods for unnecessary trends. It is not unrealistic to expect that raising consumers’ awareness will help reduce the increase of producing goods in the impending future.
In the last few decades, our society has witnessed the rise of the industrial revolution around the world, which in turn leads to the excessive mass production of
goods
growing beyond
consumer
demand. As a social and economic phenomena, it has had several impacts on the natural world and the living conditions of humankind. In this essay, I will discuss the main causes that give rise to the overproduction of
goods
and offer
some
measures to tackle this problem.
The root of an excessive supply of
products
lies within the evolution of human society itself. Among
many
possible reasons that cause the glut of
goods
, consumerism
is considered
to be the main culprit.
Because
of the belief that certain merchandise do not hold the same value anymore when it is out of style, in tandem with the ever-increasing appearance of advertisement in every household, modern citizens
are convinced
to believe that they
must
stay up to date with the ongoing trends by purchasing new
products
even though
their
old
ones
still
function well. Recent researches have shown that
today
’s
people
have the tendency to
buy
the newest and the most fashionable smartphone models in the marketplace, despise the fact that their
current
mobile phone is not out of date
yet
. Another trend of human society that has
helped
create the excess of supply is the planned obsolescence. Modern
companies
intentionally
design their
products
to be out of
use
after a short span of time such as clothes, shoes or smartphone batteries and
thus
force the costumers to
come
back to
buy
new
ones
.
As a result
, the two above reasons encourage
people
to
keep
buying
unnecessarily
new merchandise and
therefore
start
the chain of overproduction. In the
end
, for the industrial production requires
different
resources which
come
from the natural world, the
oversupply
will
eventually
lead to environmental degradation,
for example
the unrestrained development of pulp and paper industry will lead to deforestation or the overfishing of seafood industry will result in the loss of marine life.
In response to solve this increasing adverse effect,
some
viable solutions
must
put forward.
Firstly
, the
government
should implement a law to ban manufacturers to plan the failure of their
goods
and encourage them to produce more durable
products
,
so
consumers
do not
have to
replace their
bought
products
too
frequently
.
Secondly
, the media should promote environmental programs that raise awareness of overconsumption and overproduction.
For example
, a
tv
program that
shows
the harmful effects of excessive unsustainable production on ecosystem health will inspire
people
to
buy
less and not contribute to the
oversupply
of
goods
. Once the buyers are aware of how their shopping habit can have serious impacts on the environment and decide to
end
this toxic practice, the excess of supply will not be a problem anymore.
In conclusion
, it
must
be said
that the overabundance of
products
is a contentious topic with no easy answers.
However
, in my mind, the most effective solutions would be to encourage the
consumers
to
do shopping
responsibly
by not buying
goods
for unnecessary trends. It is not unrealistic to
expect
that raising
consumers’
awareness will
help
reduce
the increase of producing
goods
in the impending future.