CONSUMED WITH CONSUMPTION

What are the environmental impacts of the United States' culture of consumerism? 300 shopping bags of raw materials per person per week! The average North American has 30 to 50 times the environmental impact of an average citizen in the developing world.

Consumed_2Photojournalist and filmmaker Barbara Pyle travels to Los Angeles, a city known for its lavish lifestyle. She meets Cecile Andrews who is working to shift American minds from a focus on "quantity" to "quality" lives. Cecile is on a crusade to "de-consumerize" a society that shops more than any other industrial country. She says simplicity is the answer to keeping our planet and our personal lives healthy and happy. Pyle meets two celebrities who take centerstage as role models against over-consumption... actor Ed Begley Jr. and comedienne Phyllis Diller.

 

Consumed_3Begley and Diller go head-to-head in a "shop-off" at a local grocery store to show the environmental impact of everyday grocery shopping decisions.

 

 

Click here to view episode transcript