Here I will discuss aspects of the overconsumption society today is steeped in. This discussion has been sparked by the seminar by Heather Laird in UCC. With our overconsumption of plastic not only in what we drink and eat but use and discard, we are all creating our own Garbage Islands. We, as a society are obsessed with overconsuming and eating up anything directed or advertised to us. Whether its media or material our goal is to consume more and more.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
After Heather Lairds incredibly insightful talk about overconsumption i thought of one dreaded thing. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Garbage Island. I am ashamed to say I first learned the extent of Garbage Island in 2024 in a lecture on extinction studies. Once the image entered my head I knew it would not leave. An indestructible pile of plastic ironically accumulated due to the natural waves of the sea. We have come to the point in humanity that we are now made of plastic more than ever. Not just by surgery or cosmetic procedures by choice, but by our consumption. Our consumption is taking a cynical cyclical turn to us. The more we consume and use, the more we are likely to ingest more and more microplastics. This study done in 2024 compared brains from 2016 to brains form 2024 and there was a significant growth of microplastics found in the 2024 brain. At this alarming rate, we have not slowed down the process of producing plastic and it will not stop. The general consensus among scientists, is that even if we did stop producing plastic and become strikingly more eco-friendly and not harm the planet anymore, its too late. Humans have hurtled the worlds existence into extinction through its own greed and inventions for better and faster, more, more and more. When the world stopped in 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid, and nearly every country in the world went into lockdown, nature revitalized. It was as if it had been waiting for this break for a long time. Smog and air pollution decrease allowing animals to roam more freely and thrive in the unpopulated world. Dolphins appeared to swim in Italy’s coast due to the lack of boats. This is an example of how nature will always adapt and at least try to overcome. Our movement as humans slowed during this period and certainly our consumption, which showed how beneficial it could be to the planet.
Heather Laird: ‘Leave as little trace as possible’: Ethical (Non-)Consumption in Cathy Sweeney’s Breakdown and Sara Baume’s Seven Steeples.
From attending Heather Laird’s seminar on Cathy Sweeney’s Breakdown and Sara Baume’s Seven Steeples, Heather explores the common themes of overconsumption in the modern world and abandoning a life of materialistic objects and how that drives us to live everyday. That timeless phrase popped into my head while listening, “Don’t live to work, work to live”. Society today seems to be stuck in a cycle of working to make money to buy things to then work more to buy more things. I believe the generation that grew up with access to the internet and social media have developed an innate sense of fear of the very thing many are addicted to, social media. It can scrutinize people on the smallest of mistakes and “cancel” them for the rest of their lives. Yet, people are still overconsuming media. Nowadays, with the introduction of AI, large retail companies have more of a grasp and control of what we buy than ever before. There is a current obsession within social media of social status. Many influencers can be seen flaunting their wealthy lifestyle to the point where they are actually deemed “tone-deaf” by their fans. The spike in live-streaming where people will be streamed live for sometimes more than 24 hours highlights the overconsumption issue within the younger generation. Heather spoke about the woman in Breakdown, written by Cathy Sweeney, when she left her middle class materialistic lifestyle. It shows that people can still search to find solace and meaning of life. Opting for a more truthful life is extremely idealistic as for many readers of Breakdown this cannot become a true reality and they cannot opt out for a new life.
It is hard to see where the line is. Whether to up and leave or stay and endure the day-to-day nuances of the world. Many people depend on these “plastic things” nowadays. I, like many, need to be able to see. I need plastic glasses and tiny plastic contact lenses, that come in plastic packaging. I order these at least once every three months accumulating to around 36 individual lenses packaged in plastic contact lenses cases filled with saline solution. This is one of many of my own contributors to the never ending pile of garbage on garbage island. I cannot help but think about my own life and the amount of plastic, specifically, that I have accumulated throughout it. I, like everyone else, have a personal garbage island.
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