[Book of the Week] Do You Really Need 8 Pairs of Pretty Jeans?

Environmental Activist Nunu Kaller Warns Against 'Shopping Addiction'
Explores Consumer Psychology, Evolutionary Biology, Sociology, and More
Critiques Fast Fashion's Resource Waste, Environmental Damage, and Human Rights Violations
Highlights Overconsumption Harms and Raises Questions About 'Good Consumption'

[Image source= Getty Images Bank]

# The amount of water consumed from irrigating cotton fields to the final washing process until a pair of jeans is displayed in a clothing store is 8,000 liters. This is about 53 times the amount of water needed to fill a bathtub, which is 150 liters. The water used to make one pair of jeans is enough for a person to take a bath once a week for a year. According to the fashion magazine 'InStyle,' the average number of jeans in our wardrobes is eight pairs.

# From 2000 to 2015, global clothing production doubled. The amount of clothing produced in 2015 reached 100 billion pieces. This means that every person in the world bought 13 pieces of clothing each in 2015.

This is an interesting statistic cited by environmental activist Nunu Kaller in her book The World of Water Desire. Kaller worked as a reporter for the Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse and served as a consumer representative at the international environmental organization Greenpeace from 2014 to 2019. In The World of Water Desire, she warns that we are exposed to serious overconsumption, which leads to severe resource depletion. Referring to the eight pairs of jeans, she points out that most people consume far more than they need.

However, Kaller acknowledges that it is not easy for humans to restrain consumption from various perspectives such as consumer psychology, evolutionary biology, and sociology.

When consuming, the human brain releases the happiness hormone dopamine. Consumption is an act of giving oneself a kind of reward, and the anticipation of that reward leads to dopamine secretion. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in the central nervous system. It is a precursor to adrenaline and causes excitement. Because of dopamine, humans feel pleasure when consuming.

Dopamine becomes the cause of bad consumption. For example, one might be shocked to see pigs raised in cramped barns but still buy pork sold at a bargain price in the supermarket. Although feeling pity for the pigs, the expectation of taste when chewing pork leads to pleasure from dopamine secretion, resulting in the purchase of the meat. This is cognitive dissonance, where one knows how to act but does not act accordingly.

Looking inside the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it can be confirmed that the nucleus accumbens in the limbic system is highly activated when people shop. The nucleus accumbens in the limbic system is the brain area responsible for the reward system. Happiness and consumption can be said to be one and the same.

From the perspective of evolutionary biology, consumption is a natural human desire. Historically analyzing human behavior, those who could consume more lived longer and were healthier because they could earn more money and eat healthier food. Naturally, humans evolved to consume more.

In capitalist societies, consumption can feel like a kind of obligation. Sociologically, consumption is the foundation that supports capitalism. German economist Albert Hirschman pointed out that the mysterious aspect of capitalism is that it constantly makes us buy. On the other hand, the thought that "I can consume just like others" functions to boost the self-esteem of members.

The author acknowledges that there are many factors making it difficult to curb overconsumption but argues that efforts to restrain consumption should not be neglected. This is because the damage caused by overconsumption, such as resource waste, environmental destruction, and violations of labor and human rights, is significant.

Not all of the 100 billion clothes produced annually are sold. Unsold clothes are mostly incinerated. The author reveals that fast fashion company H&M has burned an average of 12 tons of clothes annually in Denmark alone since 2013.

The author points out that companies, which must continuously pursue profits under the capitalist system, exploit human psychology to encourage overconsumption. In particular, the damage caused by fast fashion companies is severe.

Most products from fast fashion companies are made of polyester, acrylic, or polyamide. Polyester is the most serious environmental problem-causing material. Polyester fiber fragments are essentially pure microplastics, which escape all purification devices and pollute the oceans. Scientists estimate that nearly 16 million tons of microplastics are currently accumulated on the seabed. A 2018 study found microplastics in every one of over 100 sea turtles examined without exception.

The author also points out that globalization under the capitalist system typically involves production in low-wage countries. Goods are produced in countries with the cheapest labor, and labor and human rights violations occur in the process. Due to the lack of awareness of labor and human rights in low-wage countries, North American and European countries can enjoy an abundance of goods and luxurious lives. The author argues that such a globalized system is never sustainable.

There is no clear alternative. The author argues that simply paying attention to where and how the products one purchases are made can constitute good consumption. Just reflecting on consumption behavior is meaningful enough. The author also emphasizes the need for solidarity with the actual producers of goods by mobilizing political, economic, and social methods. Through solidarity, producers should receive fair treatment, and products should be produced in an environmentally friendly way.

The World of Water Desire | Written by Nunu Kaller | Translated by Ma Jeong-hyun | Hyunamsa | 18,800 KRW