Lesson 19 — Activity 3: Advantages and Disadvantages of Consumerism


Warm Up


So is consumerism a good thing or a bad thing? There are both advantages and disadvantages to living in a society that values consumerism. In this activity, you will learn about the pros and cons of consumerism.




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What are the pros and cons of consumerism?

Let's find out!

Remember, consumerism is the act of acquiring goods (and services) for our personal use. Just like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of consumerism.


Advantages of Consumerism

  • As a consumer, you have a lot of choice in the marketplace.
  • It is convenient. People can get what they need without the hassle.
  • Consumerism creates jobs.
  • Consumerism promotes innovation.
  • Consumerism allows big businesses to sell the same product under many different names. This makes big businesses lots of money and allows for competition in the marketplace.



Now let's take a look at some of the disadvantages of consumerism.


       

Disadvantages of Consumerism

  • Consumerism encourages highly wasteful behaviour. We waste our money on goods that we often do not need.
  • We waste our time searching for new things to buy rather than thinking up ways to (re)use the things we already have.
  • Consumerism leads to overproduction of goods, which wastes valuable resources and energy.
  • Consumerism contributes to increasing amounts of plastics in our oceans and landfills, which leads to a strain on our environment.


Here's a short video on pros and cons of consumerism.


      


Self-check!

Try This!

What do you think about consumerism? Do you think it is good that we have consumerism or do you think consumerism is a negative thing? On a piece of paper, write down if you are in favour or not in favour of consumerism and give two reasons why. Hand in your piece of writing to your teacher when you are done.