Search. Click. Add to Cart. Buy. Just four taps and a package could appear on your doorstep within a week.

With the rise of online shopping platforms, people everywhere have become wrapped up in a shopping addiction, clicking the “Buy” button without hesitation. Every single day, tens of millions of packages full of everything from vases to decorative pillowcases to coffee mugs land on front porches. Many don’t even realize the sheer amount of STUFF they accumulate in their homes over time, items that are often unnecessary and bought on a whim. 

Starting in the late 1940s, after the United States economy was pulled out of a depression by World War II, many Americans became eager and able to buy consumer goods due to readily available jobs and increased wages, establishing a habit of unsustainable overconsumption. Today, this habit has spread around the world, with at least one-quarter of the human population belonging to what is known as the consumer class: people characterized by lifestyles devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods even if they don’t realize it themselves.

As technology improves and online shopping becomes increasingly popular, it has become easier to influence prospective buyers, especially when it comes to unneeded products. By performing analyses of demographics, clickstreams, and markets, companies can easily distribute advertisements to those most likely to purchase their goods via television, social media, and the Internet. Unnecessary things suddenly become must-buy items that later end up stored in the corner of the basement or on their way to the landfill.

This has a remarkably negative effect on the environment. Most crises relating to planet Earth can be directly traced to consumer culture, from toxic pollution to global warming to the plight of endangered species. Factories that churn out goods day and night also churn out enormous amounts of toxic fossil fuels at an alarming rate. Waste from plastic containers and wrappers pollutes both land and sea. The proliferation of new products has been rapidly gobbling up vast amounts of natural resources and depleting wildlife habitats. The list of casualties is endless. 

In recent decades, people around the world have strayed from a “quality over quantity” mindset, instead finding themselves surrounded by items they don’t truly need or use. In the future, instead of immediately splurging on an overfilled Amazon cart, perhaps decide over the course of a few days whether each item is really useful. Instead of snagging a pair of cheap jeans, maybe research and find a brand with good materials that last longer and feel more comfortable. If everyone tweaked their spending habits just slightly, we could create a less chaotic and better quality of life for both ourselves and the Earth.