#consumer consumption

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

Here is an inconvenient truth. For all the noise made by activists, journalists, politicians and even celebrities about the clothing industry destroying the planet, shoppers aren’t listening.

The information is out there if they want it. Google can produce more than 88 million search results on why fashion is bad for the environment, but the world remains in a state of cognitive dissonance, fueled by its voracious appetite for disposable trends. Global apparel consumption, currently at 62 million tons per year, is by some estimates projected to reach 102 million tons annually by 2030.

One problem, say many industry observers, is that much of the messaging about fashion and sustainability can be too boring, too preachy and too easy to ignore. So is it possible to change the way we talk about it?

This week, the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia released a quirky new film that reflects the company’s efforts to reset the conversation. “The Shitthropocene,” a 45-minute documentary directed by David Garrett Byars, is a trippy mock anthropological view of humanity’s consumption habits from our cave-dwelling ancestors through the trendsetting aristocratic court of Louis XIV, creepy fairgrounds, fishing waders with leaky crotches, mindless digital advertising and pretty much everything in between. It will be shown in Patagonia stores across the United States in coming months.

Here's the link to The Shitthropocene. It's about 45 minutes long. Or if you want to watch it now, here you go:

Back in 1945 department stores such as JC Penny’s and Macy’s made available for consumer consumption a small aircraft.  It was the spin-proof Ercoupe (otherwise known as ERCO) and the ads claimed that if one could drive a car, one could fly one of these planes.  “Every family can own one” was a popular tagline.  And to think one could have it all for just $1,000 to $3,000.  ...Uh, 1945 dollars, that is.