Sustainability and the Proliferation of “Stuff”

About once a month or so, I like to write a short piece on the proliferation of “stuff” in our affluent Western lifestyles, and effects that this explosion of goodies is having on us.  Mainly, I mention that our hyper-consumerism contributes directly to the decline of the natural environment around us, and I point readers to Annie Leonard’s wonderful project, “The Story of Stuff.”  Occasionally, however, I add the notion that, strangely, all these products are actually detracting from our happiness; we’re actually happier without the profusion of choices around us. 

No one understands this better than Dr. Barry Schwartz (pictured here), professor of social theory and social action at Swarthmore College near my hometown, Philadelphia.  Moreover, no one can explain it in a more accessible and entertaining way.  Here is his fabulous Ted Talk, called “The Paradox of Choice.”