Have you ever thought of buying something and then taking a second to recognize if it's a need or a want? About 40% of clothing that is unwanted and sometimes unused gets thrown away and 38% of Americans have unused Items in their house and usually end up throwing them away. There is a big difference between a want and a need. The denotation of the word want is, too "Have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for." For example, I want food (I can do without it for now.) I want a new car. (A new car would be nice to have, but I can live without it.) The denotation for need is, "require (something) because it is essential or very important." Ex. I need food. (I desperately require food. Food is a necessity to me right now.) I need a new car. (A new car is essential to me. I cannot live without it.)

Everyone has wants and needs, and it's usually hard to balance the two. Needs things and items that you usually need, while wants are just something that you desire. And a problem with wants is that usually it gets to a point where you have too many things that you want and you don't end up using them just because you wanted it at the moment which causes resources to used wastefully.

I agree with this statement. Overconsumption has caused major effects in our climate and there are many people who can learn the importance of identifying a want, or a need. Wants take up a lot of overconsumption because when you want it, you tend to buy it. There is no problem purchasing items you want for your pleasure. However, there are times when you want more than you truly need and constantly buy things that just begin to pile up. On the other hand, needs are resources that help with your survival, like food, water, and warm clothing. Needs should have priority to your purchases. While you start to only buy things you need, your carbon footprint might start decreasing, less money will be spent and your action will positively impact our climate.

I agree that it’s super important to be mindful of your wants and needs. This can help limit over consumption which alone can significantly reduce your carbon footprint. It will reduce the amount of fossil fuels release when transporting your packages, and the garbage thrown away after unpackaging your items. When we only focus on what we need it helps us live a sustainable life from conserving resources.

Hi there friend I totally agree with this statement because I've  experienced it. For example, this usually happens to me while buying clothes where I see something that I want. Something that has helped me is seeing myself with it in the future and seeing if I'll actually use it or if I'm even a little bit hesitant I won't buy it. I do think this is a problem though because for the people out there who don't have very big limits when it comes to money they won't even stutter when thinking of buying something they might like. This is bad for the environment because it takes a lot of carbon to manufacture all those clothing, gadgets, tools and other stuff.

I totally agree, you have to be super careful with what you purchase and think if it’s a need versus a want. For example, the dollar store you might see an item that is only one to two dollars and think oh it’s only one to two dollars that won’t hurt. However, what you don’t take in account why these  products are so cheap. They were probably made in an unfair working condition or the materials were harvested in a way that hurts the environment. Which  will increase the carbon emissions from producing these cheap products if they weren’t created in a sustainable way.

I notice that the internet is a  huge factor to the reason why people are such impulsive shoppers online, and thus leading many to purchase things that they don’t need at all.  Social media, such as tiktok, instagram  and other apps promotes new random gadget or new clothes to users that'll be forgotten about in a few weeks max. A study done by Earth Institute’s Research Program says that, "And in fact, across its life cycle, the average product results in carbon emissions of 6.3 times its own weight",not only meaning that these products are simply useless but that it causes harm to the environment. Not to  mention that the quality of these items promoted on these apps  are extremely cheap  and short-lasting  so much so that they really aren't worth your money.

I fully agree. The influence of social media is causing so many people to buy things that they don’t need. For example, new clothes, beauty products, electronics, etc… When we buy these things and realize we don’t need them, not only did we waste our money but also just created more garbage. When we decide to donate or trash the cheap products, it ends up polluting our environment. This is not good! Everyone needs to start thinking about the outcome of buying these useless products and where they are going to end up!

I completely agree. the large impact of influencers has totally forced us into buying way too many products leading to unnecessary amounts of waste. this is a huge problem in the way that we are always being told we need more but with that also comes the carbon footprint .

This is so true. Social media has become such a big part of our daily lives that we don't notice how much impact it has on our actions. We tend to buy anything we see online, just because it's trending or it looks cool, not noticing that in 2 months, you won't even remember that you bought it. A lot of these products on your for you page are visibly appealing, and its made for you to buy it because its aesthetic, or because everybody has it. Labubu's are a big example on this. People only bought them once it became a trend to have one, but nobody thinks of what they will do with it after it goes out of trend. When we think about it, they're just pieces of plastic that's pretty useless (sorry). Since the sales of Labubus significantly increased, the company started producing more and more, just creating even more waste.

Our items and belongings that we have, clothes, technology and such should be kept if it is able to be used. For example, the clothes that I have are good enough and I do not need or want to buy new ones. There is no need to buy new clothes if the ones that I have are already good, and it would just be a waste of money and it would damage the climate. The fashion industry already makes up 8-10% of the total global carbon emissions, and me buying new clothes would make it go up even more.

you're totally right about this, the fashion industry is insane for carbon emissions. i never realized it was like 8-10% of global emissions until i started researching. honestly keeping the clothes you have is way smarter than constantly buying new stuff. plus most new clothes are fast fashion that fall apart anyway so you end up replacing them more often. if everyone just wore what they already had and took care of it, the fashion industry's carbon footprint would drop so much. it's crazy how simple the solution is but nobody does it.

I completely agree with you on this, I think that it will always be smart to keep your clothes till you absolutely can't fit them any more. I also think that many more people should shop at secondhand places and thrift stores when they need new clothes. Of course for some things you need to get them new but for most things thrift stores work just as well and are usually much cheaper. I knew the carbon admissions because of the fashion industry where high but I didn't know they where that high.

"Influences" online are paid to make ads promoting unnecessary products. This influence hurts not only the wallets of those who purchase such products, but also the environment. Many of these products have plastic packaging, this packaging will likely end up in landfills or waterways.

*influencers

I disagree. Sometimes the influencer might not be well educated on the product and might just think of it as a harmless ad for some quick free cash. They also might not be aware of how the product may be packaged. It is mostly the companys fault for plastic packaging so we shouldn't blame the influencer. I see where you are coming from though, as the influencer should've done some research on the product before advertising, but we can't blame the influencer for everything right?

to add onto ethanhe's comment, i agree that some influencers aren't aware of the products that they are advertising are harmful for the environment .however, instead of using their platform to influence buying random restocks and opening pr, they could use it to de-influence you. if there was a way to let people know that we don't need new iPhones every year, and that Shein produces mass amounts of pollution, i think that would really help the climate. these people who appear on your fyp, are very influential, they have the power to get a whole giant group of people, to do what they want. we need influencers who will tell their fans about climate change, and how to help.

According to Carbonliteracy.com the fashion industry is the second largest contributor to pollution (about 10% of global pollution). We in this generation spend around 5-6 hours a day on our phones, and more “doom scrolling” through TikTok, this is where companies thrive off of by paying your favorite influencers to promote their products, making them 2x as desirable just for them to lose “hype” after a few months; examples being clothes, water bottles, make up, etc. . All of these products that are being mass produced for every month long trends go to waste, as of 2019 H&M was known for having over 4.2 billion dollars worth of unsold clothing; according to Carbonliteracy.com 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions come from the fashion industry alone.

Exactly, companies make fast fashion items which get popular for a certain amount of time only to go to waste when it goes out of trend.

This is smart to notice, because people often buy things that are trendy and stop wearing them or throw them out when they are not in style/trend anymore.

I agree with your statement as well. Organic food is also harder to maintain, as it does not have preservatives and other chemicals to make it last longer. it is also common for humans to use substances to increase the growth of crops and vegetables. Meanwhile organic food takes much more time and care to nurture and grow. This is why if everyone starts a home garden, organic food will be more abundant and easier to access overall.

planned obsolescence is a business practice that involves making products break or become obsolete prematurely, this causes consumers to have to spend money to replace items more often than needed. for example, apple and other mobile device companies releases new phones annually and people are socially pressured to buy the newest model. due to this, people buy a new phone every year instead of when their old one breaks. this overconsumption causes more greenhouse gasses to be emitted because companies produce more phones per year.

The difference between needs and wants is simple, but difficult to make a choice between them. Needs are things you must have to live. This includes things like food and water. Wants are things you just really want, like a new phone or toy. A significant issue is that wanting too much stuff can cause an overconsumption of materials. Making all those extra items uses up lots of Earth's materials, and it wastes energy. Also, it creates pollution. If everyone focused more on just meeting their basic needs instead of always getting the new and trendy items, we would stop hurting the environment so much and save natural resources.

With social media like TikTok and Instagram being so prevalent today, there's a lot of content centered around the trendiest clothes to buy. Especially now with resources like TikTok Shop and SHEIN, poorly made "trendy" clothes aren't only being pushed onto you from every site, they're also accessible with a few clicks. If you see a post about a shirt that you just need, you might not even have to leave the app to buy it. It's almost too good to be true. But what happens after a few months? The clothes you just bought aren't just falling out of style, they're falling apart. Influencers sometimes make it seem like the trendy, fast-fashion apparel they're promoting is a necessity, but the truth is, the clothes you have now work just fine. Not participating in fast fashion helps slow the masses of thrown-away clothes that litter every landfill. It also means you're not funding the unethical work practices of most of the companies that sell them. So the next time you see a shirt on the internet you're convinced you can't live without, remember, the shirt you have on right now is just as good.

This post effectively illustrates the relationship between social media consumption and unsustainable consumer behavior in the fashion industry. The accessibility of fast-fashion platforms like TikTok Shop and SHEIN creates a cyclical pattern of overconsumption and waste. When garments deteriorate rapidly due to poor manufacturing standards, they contribute significantly to landfill accumulation. Additionally, the carbon emissions generated from manufacturing, shipping, and disposing of these low-quality items represent a substantial environmental cost. By maintaining existing clothing items rather than participating in trend-driven purchasing, individuals can reduce their personal carbon footprint while simultaneously decreasing demand for unethical production practices. The data supports that extending the lifespan of existing garments through conscious consumption is one of the most effective strategies for reducing fashion-related carbon emissions and textile waste in landfills.

What is a Need?
A need is something essential for survival or maintaining a healthy life. Without it, a person's physical health would be significantly harmed or compromised. Example: food, water, and shelter.
What is a Want?
A want is something that is desired but not essential for survival or basic well-being. Wants are things that improve the quality of life, provide entertainment. Example: new phone, new car, and LEGOs.

I completely agree,Understanding the difference between wanting something and needing something could make all the difference in helping the environment because say you just want to buy (EX;LEGOs) that is not a need, and you're using CO2 to rather get to the store to buy LEGOs or paying someone to deliver those LEGOs to your house. But needing to go buy groceries for your home to feed your family is different and I think knowing the difference could be a big help to the earth.

Social media constantly advertises new products and clothes which encourages users to purchase more than what they need. The more people consume, the more they throw away. The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water every year. Water is important to wildlife and humans. We use it to survive. Over 400 million tons of plastic are produced each year, and only 9% is ever recycled. The rest ends up in landfills. All the products that we buy are created in factories that produces lots of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are the main causes of climate change and rising temperatures.
Sources: https://greenly.earth/en-gb/blog/ecolog … a23ede52a0

To be honest, I don't think it's worth it to get new things just because they're in style. For example, a friend of mine always purchased the newest iPhone model, even when his previous model was working flawlessly. After purchasing it, he continued to brag to everyone. Like many others, I am readily swayed by others to purchase items. I usually ask myself, "Do I really need it?" before making a purchase. In the majority of cases, the answer is no. I believe that the issue with overconsumption in today's society is that people find it difficult to distinguish between needs and wants while making purchases. I frequently see videos on social media of people—usually Americans, in my case—doing a "restock my fridge with me" and then filling the refrigerator full of tiny packaged products. These little packaging materials generate a lot of garbage. I've seen people purchase milk in tiny packaging simply because it had a nice cow sticker on it. Of course, that isn't true for everyone. According to what I've heard, Black Friday also leads to a lot of overconsumption because consumers typically purchase unnecessary items just because they're on sale.

Yes, I totally agree. While it may seem like getting the newest gadgets is appealing, it is a waste of resources when you already have perfectly working ones. In these kinds of cases, having the latest technology is definitely a want. You need to ask yourself, "Is this really going to let me complete my goal that is impossible without this? Is this really going to change my life in such an influential way that I will die without it?" However, sometimes medical devices require the newest technology in order to prolong lives. In these kinds of cases, having the latest technology is most likely a need. This is the difference between want and need, whether it will affect an individual's survival or a task's successful completion.

Hi Paula, I totally agree because getting the new iPhone is fun and the new features are cool but it wastes money and the environment. Something peple do to minimize costs is to trade in their phone every 2-3 years to be able to get the new phone for free with a Black Friday and not have their phones stop working and they don’t have enough money to get a new one. Something I do is to not buy things i need until Black Friday so I get what I need and I might forget the unnecessary things I wanted.

Although this is a true statement, the products are being mass-produced. The need is usually higher than the want. The example you gave about the new iPhone and how your friend buys it every year because he wants it isn't a valid example for everyone. Not just the iPhone, but in general, most sought-after items such as the iPhone are mass-produced. If these items' demand goes down, the product will go to waste. So the supply is created per the demand. So if an item is mass-produced just because one individual does not purchase it, only one item that the individual would have bought goes to waste. In short, one person restricting their wants won’t affect the overall climate.

I agree because we shouldn't be buying such products unless we truly need them, if they are being mass produced then we as a population could lower our purchasing rate for iPhone which would knock some sense into the company iPhone to lower their production rate due to less sales. I agree and disagree with Paula because Black Friday is basically just a day where the stores are selling out a bunch of stuff they don't need or have had for a long time and want to somehow get it out from their stores so they can have space for newer better items which have a much higher demand. But then people do purchase more than they need, like somebody could have a perfect set of kitchenware but they might buy new ones because its cheaper, but we also need to consider the fact that during Black Friday, most people buy stuff to gift to other people, because its a smart thing to stock up on items so you don't have to buy gifts when its more expensive. Something I would too personally.

Android better, battery life very excellent. big battery mean less charges mean less pollution mean better earth mean happy us.

I also agree, I get huge buyers remorse when i'm about to buy something. This would be better for me as I and many other people would not have to feel bad when they're buying something.