BeyondConsumerism
Providing tools and support to families, citizens, and activists to counter our consumerist culture and to create new social norms about how to have a high quality of life and a reduced ecological footprint.
Avoiding Advertising
Every day, we’re bombarded with hundreds of ads encouraging us to consume more, more, more. Explore this section to find some ways to get a handle on marketing—on the phone, in your mail, on the Internet, on TV, and in society at large.
Did You Know...
- Companies spent $148 billion advertising to Americans in 2010.
- The average American adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year (about 560 pieces), 44 percent of which goes unopened, according to the group 41pounds.org.
- Americans spend more than four hours a day watching television and are exposed to 52,500 TV ads a year—that’s 15.5 days of advertising annually!
- In 2005, 5.8 million tons of catalogs and other direct mailings ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream—enough to fill over 450,000 garbage trucks.