Is having the latest technology a want or a need?
How often do you get a new cel phone or mp3 player? Did you really need a new model? Do you consider the environmental impact of these purchases? If you are addicted, how can you break your addiction?
Wants or Needs? >
Wants and Needs
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.





