By nature, when community resources are scarce, individuals enter competition with one another. Done so by animals and us humans alike, you’d think we’d know to respect our environment as wildlife does. Yet, with our consumerist actions, especially around holiday events like Black Friday, we treat precious Mother Nature like the neglected child of a toxic household.
The University of Leeds found that around 80% of Black Friday purchases end up in landfills or are incinerated. Further degrading the environment that’s already depleted by our ever-increasing carbon footprint.
Besides the damage to our precious Earth, the deals and flashy sales of the holiday season distort our focus on it from connection to abundance. At the height of consumerism, this year’s holiday season has reached another level of superficiality, with the festive spirit now completely buried under the snow.
With autumn flourishing during early October, the popular coffee company Starbucks announced a collection of holiday-themed merchandise to pair with their festive drinks for the holiday season. The morning of November 6, Starbucks cafes around the nation opened their doors to shoppers who awaited the arrival of the joyful merchandise since its website preview.
The key detail customers overlooked?
The limited supply of one particular item stands out as the most “un-bearable.”
The $30 Starbucks Bearista glass cold cup is the viral material desire causing the latest consumer craze. Shining with faux joy and plastic charm, the barista bear is this holiday season’s mascot of mindless excess.
Many have shared their ludicrous stories showing how far they’d go to get their hands on the coveted cup, with one TikTok user posting how they waited in line since four in the morning while indignantly watching employees sneak their loved ones in for early purchasing.
Why wouldn’t you want a comically large cup that won’t fit in your cup holders and you can barely drink out of?
The quirky style doesn’t seem to faze Starbucks and coffee enthusiasts though, them being too distracted by the novelty of the cup to consider the utter inconvenience of drinking out of it.
Whether it’s loss of gratitude or increased comparison from social media, shopping scarcity is draining society further than ever before. Everywhere you look, there’s pressure–pressure to buy novelty after novelty so as not to miss out.
Really, this abundance mindset is blinding to the spirit of the holidays and why we celebrate in the first place. When did we start to forget about homemade dishes and the shared laughter with loved ones at the dinner table? The comfort and warmth from watching a nostalgic movie, bundled up under a thick, cozy blanket? When did the real winter wonderland end?
It’s time to set aside the mindless shopping and materialist beliefs. Replace it with introspection and you realize the lack of reasoning behind these thoughtless actions.
By valuing creativity and community over consumption, we’re able to grow as people–especially important during our teenage years. Now is the time to develop these mindful spending habits. Though consumerist peer pressure (especially that originating from social media) makes this a challenging feat, we must remember our value isn’t determined by the price of our belongings. All of us are already rich in our youth. There is no need for material goods and frivolous excuses to spend money on items that won’t fill your cup like a genuine connection will.
