We have to fight advertising’s influence to turn us into consumers. Here in America the size of our houses are three times bigger than they used to be. You’d think with all that space we could store all our stuff. The 22 billion, 2.2 billion square foot industry of personal storage suggests that we do indeed need extra space even with our bigger houses.

Corporations create advertising to turn us into consumers for more profit. This can and often leads to debt and a bigger carbon footprint for individuals. Even with more purchasing, happiness levels here in United States have been flat-lining in the past fifty years. Think about the extra clothes in your closet that you don’t wear, or the books you don’t care for that simply collect dust. What if we were to edit our lives and get rid of the stuff we don’t use? What if we had few things but the things we did have were ones that we really loved?

We need to think before we buy and ask ourselves how necessary the things we buy are. If we can limit how much we buy we’re taking up less resources, we’ll have more money for more important things, and we could really love the few things we own. Would you rather own a huge home with a bunch of random objects you don’t like or small, cozy home that you’ve really personalized with things you love? I know I’d go for the second option. What about you? And what are you doing now?