LAHORE    -    As indicated by Brook­ings, around 4 billion individuals have a place in the worldwide customer class (2021). 

The essential princi­ple of consumer culture depends on the option to free personal choices. Living in a reasonably market-based world­wide economy pro­claims that most com­modities are purposed to pander to human longings and wishes. Various items are fed into individuals’ psyches to buy somehow. 

One of the most hor­rific results of this accepted norm is en­vironmental degra­dation. There is no denying that extreme consumption among individuals has unfa­vourably adjusted the entire direction of the Earth’s physical struc­ture. There are a few ways to illustrate how consumer culture af­fects the climate and contributes to environ­mental change univer­sally. This article will also be drawing atten­tion to Pakistan, where alternate points of view of this issue will be referenced. 

The worldwide wor­ry of ecological cor­ruption is because of various reasons that work overall altogeth­er. Alongside other reasons, customer culture is the premise of many causes that add to environmen­tal change including deforestation, carbon dioxide emissions, and changing ocean flows. The inquiry is limited to the grounds of consumerism; what are the explanations behind this excessive production and utilisa­tion resulting in the en­vironmental change? I have decided to discuss two parts of this issue: socio-economic sta­tuses and planned ob­solescence, due to their direct relationship be­tween consumers and producers in the eco­nomic world. 

Socio-economic sta­tus is the social standing or class of an individual, estimated through their schooling, occupation, and pay. With these dif­ferent class frameworks, the world falls into steady financial tensions at all times. Everybody wants to redesign their situation and notoriety in the public eye with objects like vehicles, cell phones, and marked apparel things. Despite earnings, individuals long for gratification that drives them to be survivors of conspicu­ous consumption. It is the act of buying prod­ucts to freely show them as a piece of overhauling their societal position. This is not restricted to only one social class but can be visible in all lower, middle, and high classes. Individuals stay anxious to parade their assets through virtual entertainment or com­pare themselves with each other. Brought about by renowned financial expert Thor­stein Veblen, his phi­losophy discusses how certain items satisfy no need but are considered a mark of prestige. 

A noticeable example of this could be the ris­ing demand for Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) in the vehicle indus­try throughout the long term. As per The Guardian, a recent ex­amination shows that SUVs multiplied their worldwide percentage from 17% to 39% over the years. “Around 40% of annual car sales today are SUVs, com­pared with less than 20% a decade ago”, says International En­ergy Agency in 2019. The insights could vary after 2-3 years, gener­ally due to the world­wide Covid pandemic. However, it does not stop the possibility of the radical expansion of SUVs worldwide. “I always wanted one.” speaks a newspaper article writer’s neigh­bour, discussing her Jeep Wrangler. This shows how individuals buy vehicles and other extravagant things to be satisfied and to update their status. Concerning the envi­ronmental perspective, the worldwide interest in SUVs ended up be­ing the second-biggest contributor of fossil fuel byproducts from 2010 to 2018. The yearly emissions rose to more than 700 mega tons of CO2. 

Another model is from the fashion indus­try, where individuals make a special effort to get their hands on ex­travagance and marked products, for example, Chanel bags, Gucci shoes, or Cartier gems. A perceptible expan­sion in fashion season collections shows how individuals are perse­veringly attempting to assess an individual’s income by observing what season garments they are wearing