The Purge
From storage units to container stores, home organization industries are a double-edged sword for sustainability: They use resources while encouraging more consumption.
Episode 19
11/21/2024
Whole industries have emerged to help people cope with all the stuff capitalism has brainwashed us into accumulating. Driven by everything from conspicuous consumption to the disposable mindset, Jorden and Kimberly recount how consumers are encouraged to buy, purge, and repeat.
Key Topics Jorden and Kimberly discuss include:
Why governments need people to buy more stuff
How reality television shows at the turn of the century paved the way for the KonMari Method, IKEA, and the equivalent of 51,458 football fields’ worth of storage unit space
Why today’s furniture is unlikely to end up in an antique shop
What to do with all that stuff we’ve accumulated
How virtual clutter is also taxing the environment
Ways to avoid the trap of cycle repetition
Why you should check out previous episodes about Consumerism (E 2), The Clothing Industry (E 7), Sustainable Housing (E 11), and Sand (E 14) if you missed them
Recommended Resources
How to achieve a 1.5-Degree Lifestyle
J.B. MacKinnon’s The Day the World Stops Shopping
No Impact Man -book and documentary
Kimberly’s Substack latest newsletter post
