Friday, July 10, 2009

Discount Distress



Today I was listening to NPR (a daily vice of mine) and I heard an interview with Ellen Ruppel Shell, author of the new book "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture."  I was fascinated with what she had to say about what the quest for low prices is doing to our society.  

There wasn't a lot of talk in the interview on the environment, but she did mention that the discount culture plays a negative role there as well.  There was a caller who brought up second-hand stores, which the author highly praised for the quality of things made in the past, as opposed to crank-em-out disposable products today.

That crank-em-out culture is definitely taking a toll on our Earth and the only way to end it is to educate ourselves and our children.  This book seems like a first step in doing that and I look forward to reading it.

Has anyone else read it?  Anything similar?  Any thoughts on the discount culture?  It's effects on the environment?

1 comment:

Pattyskypants said...

When I buy things at Walmart, I don't expect them to last a year. I hate throwing away things. Everything in my house gets recycled. I'm afraid, though, the more disposable income you have the easier it is to be indiscriminate. I don't have to listen to NPR to know this is a problem.