By Steven Sheerin

   We’re all shopaholics, but that isn’t our own fault, right? Consumer culture is when the goods and services we buy influences our lifestyles, activities and values.

   Ellen Swallow Richards, one of the founders of what is now family and consumer sciences, said, “Subject the material world to the higher ends by understanding it in all its relations to daily life.”

   With people, including students, purchasing more luxury goods over basic necessities, it is safe to say that what we buy dictates how we live. Thus, our thoughts of purchasing unethical and non-sustainable products without thinking of the consequences are justified in our minds as “ok.” With growth of some industries, like tech companies, others can fall short due to depleting resources and by trying to meet consumer demands.

   An example of this is the tequila industry. which brands had to raise their prices due to high consumption. As of last year, there has been an increased price of the agave plant per kilo, averaging about five times the price as it was sold at in 2016.

   As consumption increases and resources decrease, for sustainability, instead of buying that next bottle of tequila for the next party, try opting for a different liquor of the same quality or grade that is easier to sustain and limiting your tequila consumption can help save the agave plant, and other goods, from extinction.