Less More

When was the last time you saw something that was sold as "built to last"? Why don't things last more than a few years? Where do all those things we bought go to when we don't use them anymore? Can we go back to buying products that can last a long time?

Have you ever been to a supermarket, store, or even to a Netflix menu, and have had a very hard time choosing precisely what you want? Decision paralysis is a very real situation, that affects us all. Are we faced with just too many choices in our daily lives? How do you feel when you have just too many choices?

We, humans, are very efficient in transforming our surroundings, unfortunately, this means that more than often, we are also transforming our surroundings in very negative ways. We are polluting our environment in increasing amounts. Trash, deforestation, water pollution, and a constant elevation of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are transforming our planet. Can we change this? Why has it become so difficult to do so?

Not an easy question. We all have the right to create families. But can we do so, but at a slower pace? According to the Bill Gates foundation, this is already happening, and we will start seeing our numbers decrease slowly. So the essential question is: how can we sustain our population, while still preserving the environment? Can we find a balance? Maybe we can discover new technologies and procedures that will make this transition easier.

We all love having things. Some of us love having a lot of things! But how many of our possessions are really necessary? How many of these same possessions have a long-lasting, useful life? Many years ago, products were marketed as being "built to last". How many products today are expected to follow that ideal? Why don't they do that anymore? Do our things end up in landfills, or in rivers and oceans? Can we have less (better) things that last longer?

It is very agreeable that overconsumption and production are depleting the natural resources and contaminating the environment. The argument for less consumption seems rather straightforward, but on the other hand, consumption creates jobs and livelihood for all working classes. The question seems to be how to generate living conditions for the population while restricting the idea of constant growth. This is where the idea of Degrowth comes in. Can we create an economic system not based on growth, but the well being of its population?

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