Overconsumption In America, What Are The Solutions?

Is there overconsumption in America today? The world knows there is massive overconsumption in America.

As I try to move towards a more minimalist lifestyle, I often wonder if the country would benefit from minimalism.

When I was over-consuming, most of my unnecessary purchases were for instant self-gratification.

I purchased it to want, not to need it. Individual wants and needs should be determined by the individual, not by me. It’s a personal thing.

I still over-consume in the food category, but I am working on that. LOL.

I still eat often for gratification and not a necessity, which I feel is out sometimes. I love food and plan my day around it.

Many of you know I work in field service and travel locally daily.

I plan my day and meals according to where my jobs are during the day. Whether hungry or not, I consume food if the location has an exciting selection. Nothing goes to waste when I am around 😉

I also belong to a Freegan group and have witnessed food waste firsthand. Food sold for top dollar hours ago could be had for free sitting in the trash.

Even during my travels in the middle of the day, I always look at what is thrown in the trash and what can be reused.

This habit made me more aware of our waste after Freeganism. The delicious food and things I witness being thrown away are staggering.

Over-Consumption in America’s Numbers

1. Americans consume twice as much food on average as most countries worldwide.

2. Americans consume, on average, 3,754 calories a day.

3.  America wastes over 100 billion pounds of food annually, which damages the environment, water, and soil.

4.  10% of energy is used to grow food.

5.  90% of water is used for agriculture.

6.  We are losing soil ten times faster than we can replenish.

7.  Wasted food is biodegradable and produces methane gas. Methane gas is 20 times more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

8. Disposing of food waste costs the country 1.5 billion dollars annually.

9. Over 9 million people a year die from hunger and malnutrition worldwide. About 5 million are children.

10. 1 out of 8 children in the United States goes to bed hungry. Most belong to working for poor families.

11. 19 million people live working for poor families in the United States.

12. Almost 16,000 children die of hunger every day worldwide. That is about one child every 5 seconds.

More Equals More is not Sustainable

Food waste in America is just a symptom of the more equals more mentality. The average new home in The United States is 38% larger than the average new home in 1975.

80% of what we use is only used once and thrown away. The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population and uses about 25% of the world’s resources.

In the United States, the average person is two times more wealthy than the average person in 1975 but no happier.

In America, people work more to pay for this overconsumption, which results in more stress and less happiness.

When I was a kid, television viewing and drinking water were free. The whole family only had one home telephone number to share. Gasoline was 80 cents a gallon.

What made us gladly pay for water and television once it was free? Why do we gladly pay so that every family member has a personal phone number?

Where do we get this extra money? Why does none of this overconsumption make us happier?

I have found that this over-consumption adds more stress and unhappiness to our lives. We seem to acquire more debt and stress, which is not sustainable.

There are only 24 hours a day, and the human psyche needs more than work to be healthy. We need our basic needs met: security, good relationships, and the possibility of pursuing growth. Our over-consumption does not contribute to those basic needs for happiness.

More work, stress, and debt have proven to be unhealthy, and our willingness to waste food on top of that is disturbing.

Overconsumption In America: What Are The Solutions?

Pursuing a minimalist lifestyle has helped me live a happier, healthier, uncluttered, and stress-free life.

I also believe that basic minimalist principles could help lessen the United States food waste problem.

Minimalism is all about reassessing your priorities so that you can strip away excess stuff, not just get rid of things for the sake of getting rid of them.

You are selecting what and when you eat and purchasing to eat should be a mindful choice.

Putting only what you can consume on your plate in one sitting would be best. You should only purchase what you need and can store and eat without waste.

You should not excessively consume food just for instant gratification. Excess food should be shared, frozen, used for compost, or recycled.

To combat waste, we should support locally sourced food more. We should also be more mindful of avoiding excess prepared or perishable food, and when we do have excess prepared or perishable food, there should be an established process for getting this food to the hungry.

Minimalist principles may lead to more excess food as less food may be consumed, but it will lessen wasted food, and the excess food will be used where needed.

The minimalist lifestyle is not a solution to America’s food waste, as the problem is social and institutional. I believe that using what you need and being mindful of what you use would help lessen overconsumption in America.

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