With the constant technological and economic advances in our modern society, it’s easy to get lost in the haze of life. We buy fast fashion and material goods from major companies so often that we are burning through more resources than the earth can regenerate. What we don’t realize is that following these trends can lead to severe overconsumption and overshoot, which leads to higher carbon emissions.

Overconsumption is when people use too many resources that hurt/damage the environment and then sell it to others. We live in a consumeristic society in which corporations are constantly pushing to normalize fast production cycles, and this is reinforced by “eco-friendly fast shipping. People often follow these trends of overconsumption because of social media influence. We normalize overconsumption because we see others doing it and think, “Well they’re doing it, so it must be okay if I do it too”. This isn’t the right mindset to have, we These overconsumption trends also relate back to the topics of society’s beauty standards, and how you must buy beauty. 

At this rate of overconsumption, we are burning through 75% more resources than the earth can regenerate.  The effects social media has on us is entrancing, and dangerous.  We can prevent this by shopping small/local, buying only necessities/not buying bulk, and not letting the negative effects of social media get the best of us.