Film And Television The High Price of Materialism: Would Eco-Entrepreneurs Encourage "Buying Less"?

Published on February 29th, 2012 | by Priti Ambani

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The High Price of Materialism: Would Eco-Entrepreneurs Encourage "Buying Less"?

via The MIT Press

In The High Price of Materialism, Tim Kasser offers a scientific explanation of how our contemporary culture of consumerism and materialism affects our everyday happiness and psychological health. Other writers have shown that once we have sufficient food, shelter, and clothing, further material gains do little to improve our well-being. Kasser goes beyond these findings to investigate how people’s materialistic desires relate to their well-being. He shows that people whose values center on the accumulation of wealth or material possessions face a greater risk of unhappiness, including anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and problems with intimacy—regardless of age, income, or culture.

Drawing on a decade’s worth of empirical data, Kasser examines what happens when we organize our lives around materialistic pursuits. He looks at the effects on our internal experience and interpersonal relationships, as well as on our communities and the world at large. He shows that materialistic values actually undermine our well-being, as they perpetuate feelings of insecurity, weaken the ties that bind us, and make us feel less free. Kasser not only defines the problem but proposes ways we can change ourselves, our families, and society to become less materialistic.




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About the Author

Hi there! I am Priti and I specialize in strategy and communications for impact organizations that aim to create social, environmental and economic wealth for all stakeholders. Working from the ground up, I help these do-gooders craft effective programs for community engagement, outreach and profitability. Follow my work covering do-gooders, cleanweb, start-ups and Web 2.0 businesses on Ecopreneurist and at Crowdsourcing Week. I enjoy traveling with my boys, cooking up a gourmet meal from scratch and entertaining! Join my community for Social Entrepreneurs on G+ Follow me on Twitter, on LinkedIn and Google+


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  • http://glueandglitter.com/main Becky Striepe

    This is so interesting, Priti, and something I struggled with a lot as an eco-entrepreneur when I was still selling my crafts. It definitely felt a little bit dissonant to write each week about reducing our impact, then turn around and churn out a big pile of products. Thanks for sharing this video!

  • Ale

    Love your page, Priti, and this issue could be the sense of my life ;)
    At the moment I´m looking for a topic in ecopreneurship for the master thesis. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
    Thanks a lot (from Germany)

  • http://www.greenmarketing.tv Lorna

    HI Priti,
    This is the exact question I am exploring with my Green Business Entrepreneurs Success Summit – how to market to green consumers, when eco conscious consumers and entrepreneurs alike have this aversion to money.
    http://www.greenbusinessentrepreneurs.com/
    One of the biggest challenges I find is that many green entrepreneurs and business owners have a difficult time taking their business to the next level. They are stuck in “poverty mentality” because they think money is evil and capitalism is destroying the planet, and won’t invest in themselves or their business to get to the next level. As the Managing Editor of Ecopreneurist, what do you think about this? Do you think that eco entrepreneurs are caught in a bind. They don’t spend money on themselves, and encourage consumers to spend less, and this the sector has a hard time really taking off?

  • Tricia

    This thought has occurred to me, as I’ve tried to brainstorm successful business ideas that would help the planet and reduce our economy’s dependence on materialism. The solutions I’ve come up with are: repairing, providing a service, greening a normally destructive practice, and reselling old items.

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