Holiday Overconsumption
Children in a sea of gifts. Photo courtesy of Paisley Dailey.
By Aubrey Lewis and Paisley Dailey
For many, the winter holiday season is one their favorite times of the year. Unfortunately, the holidays can also be a time of great pressure and stress. Whether you’re hosting a big family, have younger children, or are celebrating with friends, there is often pressure to make sure it’s memorable for everyone. It’s not hard to feel as though you need to buy as many gifts as possible and 100 new decorations every year to keep the “holiday spirit.” Today’s society is not helping the situation, with almost every business putting items on sale or having new deals, and social media being a constant source of comparison. This leads to a significant inflation in the issue that is overconsumption.
Overconsumption generally is the overuse of goods and resources, leading to environmental costs, economic implications, and often psychological tolls. There is significant pressure placed on people by social media influencers who are buying, or even pretending to be buying huge amounts of often unnecessary gifts. Psychologically, this makes many people feel like they need to buy gifts too, using money on things they have no need for. Additionally, if and when Americans cannot buy everything influencers can, it leads to stress, anxiety, and feeling inadequate.
This clearly becomes amplified in huge proportions during the holidays. Everyone is buying gifts, decorations, and food, which businesses take advantage of by often having huge sales. This creates the mentality you need to buy it simply because it’s on sale, amounting to the surplus of gifts that no one will really appreciate, compared to the gifts that are more meaningfully chosen. Social media once again is a main cause of this, with December being taken over by Christmas hauls and baskets that can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Small children can be receiving hundreds of dollars worth of gifts they won't use, making many feel inadequate for not doing the same.
Decorations are another huge outlet of overconsumption, with many influencers showing their perfect Christmas with holiday themed decorations. Many consumers will buy all new decorations every year instead of reusing, or decide they need a different theme and throw everything out the next year. Christmasphiles can feel bouts of disappointment if their house isn’t filled inside out with brand new decorations, creating the notion that the holiday will not be “festive enough.”
Holidays were never about comparing who spends more and who has more stuff, but this unfortunately is the reality children are being taught in today’s society. Gifts can be just as good for much less money and environmental damage if you spend the time to find a quality gift that someone would actually love, especially if it’s reusable or useful rather than disposable. But as long as the gift is for the person and not for the sake of checking an arbitrary box, it carries much more meaning and will be much more beneficial for yourself and others. The holidays are whatever you make them, and it's your choice whether it’s about the appearance or the people.
