The last few weeks of the year are always a special time for shopping.
According to the National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group, Americans will spend: Approximately 1 trillion dollars During the 2024 holiday season (defined as November 1st to December 31st), clothing, electronics, trinkets, and other goods will account for approximately one-fifth of all sales. annual retail sales In just 2 months.
Does that purchase make people happier? Probably not. More than half of Americans say they regret their previous Black Friday purchases. A national survey. Polls show that the high people get from buying things is short-lived. that disappears quicklyonly stimulate the desire to buy more.
But perhaps the biggest loser in the cycle of overconsumption is the planet. Externalization is masked by the low prices of online flash sales Climate and environmental costs – Climate pollution occurs in the extraction of raw materials, production and transportation, and in the form of waste generated when products and their packaging are ultimately disposed of. According to some estimates, the retail industry accounts for One quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The internet is littered with blogs and opinion pieces that argue that consumers are responsible.Our shopping needs are destroying the planet” But Flora Bagenal, producer of Netflix’s new documentary, buy now! shopping conspiracy I believe that there is an injustice in that framework. Why, the film asks, should ordinary people feel guilty when manufacturers and retailers are doing everything they can to accelerate the pace of consumption? These companies are Products designed to break quicklywe promise to keep the earth clean by recycling, Precisely designed advertising and marketplace By making the urge to shop irresistible, we simultaneously place the burden on the environment on the public.
“We always feel like we are not accountable to the company,” Bagenal told Grist. “I wanted to explore it from the perspective of someone who feels trapped in the system just like everyone else.” Bagenal lives in the UK and has several other publications on the topic, including: I am producing a documentary. anti-vaccine movement and mental health care.
Without explicitly using this term, buy now! We advocate an alternative paradigm called “.Polluter pays principle” argues that businesses, rather than ordinary corporations, should be financially responsible for disposing of the waste they generate. In more bizarre terms, this idea is expressed like this:extended producer responsibility” (EPR) policies typically require large companies to pay into a central fund for waste management and prevention. In the United States, 5 states The EPR law on packaging has been passed.
Through interviews with former executives from Adidas, Amazon, and Apple, buy now! They argue that consumer goods companies are deliberately abdicating their responsibility to the public interest. Mr. Grist sat down with Ms. Bagenal to discuss the film and how she and her executive producing team communicated the polluter pays principle to general audiences.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q. What inspired you to make a film about overconsumption and the role of major consumer goods companies in turning it into a crisis?
A. I knew that waste was a huge issue, but I was worried that the content would be so depressing that people would turn away. And gradually, we evolved our thinking to move away from garbage piles, landfills, etc. Instead, we thought: “So where did it all come from?” And when you start peeling back the layers and taking another step back, a movie about waste has to be about who’s making what actually becomes waste. I realize that it won’t happen. That was a real surprise to us. We realized we could tell the story a little differently and target companies that weren’t taking responsibility.
Q. The film’s subtitle is “The Shopping Conspiracy,” alluding to the strategies companies use to get people to buy more while denying responsibility for the resulting waste. However, one could argue that this is exactly what is expected of a company that is incentivized to maximize profits. Why do you think their actions deserve accusations of conspiracy?
A. We talked about this a lot, in the back of cabs, in the back of the studio, and in the editing room. There is no table where these hypothetical executives sat down and decided to do this and broadcast it to the world. But this conspiracy comes from the fact that you cannot work for any of these companies and do not know the truth. While we’re all doing our best here, feeling guilty, thinking about what we can do, these big corporations, they’re well aware of the impact they have on the planet, still aren’t doing enough. No efforts are being made. If you go to the store and decide not to buy a pot of yogurt because it might not be recyclable, nothing will change. But something would change if companies like Adidas, Amazon, and Apple actually decided to sell fewer products or make products that last three times as long.
Q. The philosophy you describe, that polluters must pay for their pollution, is popular among policy enthusiasts as “extended producer responsibility.” What strategies did you use to make that idea more viable?
A. EPR is very popular among NGOs. [nongovernmental organization] However, I found it very difficult to communicate and get people interested in the film. So we spent a lot of time crystallizing that into something that felt palpable and was hard to counter. And in fact, it was former Adidas executive Eric Liedke who hit the nail on the head at the end of the movie. He said, “Stop forcing it on us.” [the public]stop saying it’s our responsibility. Since you are producing this, you need to consider its lifespan after it is discarded. ”
We also called this movie “Buy Now!” To seize the moment when you press the button and decide to donate money to a company. That transaction is the money-making part, and that’s the part the industry is interested in. But once you press “Buy Now,” you’re entering into a deal you don’t know about. You are now the administrator of this contract. It is your responsibility until you dispose of it, but then it becomes the responsibility of the whole world. The only thing that is really not responsible anymore is the company.
Provided by Netflix
Q. Several countries and U.S. states have passed EPR laws, and environmental groups have submitted some ambitious proposals for new laws. But what are the broader solutions that need to be combined with these policies?
A. There are a lot of good things companies are doing right now. The fashion industry in particular has embraced the idea of EPR, and some consumer goods companies such as Coca-Cola are also discussing EPR. I think this is very important as a tool for governments to hold companies accountable and share the costs of environmental impacts. But that doesn’t mean the problem is completely resolved. I think we all still need to buy less and businesses still need to make less. You can pay taxes [companies] But there is no getting away from the fact that reduction is the ultimate goal.
Q. For all you say about corporate responsibility for the climate and pollution, it can still be difficult for people to imagine ways to resist beyond individual actions, such as buying less. What action do you want your viewers to take?
A. Well, not shopping doesn’t have to just mean forgetting something. “You know what? I’m not going to waste my precious time and money on this company. I don’t need another coat.”
But what I’m really thinking about are people who work within corporations and feel guilty for a long time. If you feel like something is wrong and you’ve tried to change it and no one is listening, or you’re not in the right job, but you’re trying to change it and you’re trying to change it, but you’re not in the right job. These are people who feel like their time and energy could be better spent. Those are the people I hope will watch this and change their minds. We’ve already seen some reactions to this trailer from people in the advertising industry, and they’re basically saying: And we all feel really sorry about that. ”I would be happy if some people saw this and thought, “Do I know this?” I can do more than this. ”
