Stop Useless Consumption

Translation :

Do : If you have to go to work, this is a useful tip. Make a fake doctor’s note and take sick leave for 1-2 days.
Don’t : Don’t write down a serious illness, otherwise you might actually end up with it!

The above picture is part of an ad by Metro department store announcing its big sale. It ran in Kompas (one of Indonesia’s top national newspapers) on October 16th.

I was astonished when first reading it : The ad actually encouraged people to lie about being sick so that they can go shopping instead?!

The whole ad was a 5 half-page full color ad with the tagline : "Do what you have to do! Prepare and execute your best strategy for Metro’s Big Sale."

Each ad contained tips on how to “prepare & execute” the strategy. Some tips were actually decent such as “Memorize your closet. Survey the store first so that you’ll already know where to go and what to get”.........but then.......you have tips such as in the above picture which encourages Indonesians to prioritize shopping above all! I wonder whether the people who go actually need half of the things they buy....

Of course purchasing and consuming things in excess of what you need has been done since ages ago, however considering Indonesia’s situation (many low educated consumers, many people are not even getting the basic needs for living) and the age we live in (natural resources are depleting fast, global warming is on the toll), we should be more critical to our consumption patterns.

Although recycling has now become a major movement, I am more in favor of the view that the best way is to prevent the need of recycling in the first place. In other words : Reduce consumption, Consume wisely.

I am not going to get into this seriously since my blog is intended for leisure reading, but if you are interested to know more about consumerism issues, please have a look at these links :
- Anup Shah, Consumption and Consumerism, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
- Why overcoming consumerism?

I thought I would try to tackle this issue by starting with myself. This is my pledge :

1. I recently just bought a new mobile phone & I will not buy a new one for the next 4 years.

2. I know I currently have all the shoes I need for every kind of situation, therefore I will not buy any shoes for another 6 months.

3. I also have all the blazers I need : I will not buy a blazer for another 6 months.

4. I’m going to wake-up earlier so that I don’t need to take a cab to work just because I’m running late.

5. When buying small things, I will just put it in my bag. No need for a plastic bag.

Now that I’m willing to consume less, are you? If you are & you have a blog, please post your list up & we can exchange links. Maybe your list will inspire new ideas for me to add to mine!

Also, for anyone of you who has a facebook account, please join the Stop Useless Consumption Cause & invite your friends to join also. On this application is a link to the video “The Story of Stuff”. Although I’m not quite sure whether all the facts & figures presented are correct, but it is inspiring to watch.

Let’s make people aware of this issue! :)