Every year, the moment Halloween candy hits the clearance aisle, America launches straight into its favorite winter sport –buying. Holiday music blares through the stores, flashing deals fill our notifications, and TikTok feeds turn into shopping malls. The intrusion of advertisement into every facet of our lives isn’t just a festive tradition, but a symptom of something bigger and more concerning – consumerism. Since the explosion of e-commerce, consumerism has become an increasingly pressing issue, and during the holidays, it goes into overdrive.

The Oxford Language Dictionary simply defines consumerism as “the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.” However, the topic of consumerism is much more nuanced. As the International Encyclopedia of Public Health explains, it’s a system that uses advertising, mass media, and social platforms to convince people that identity, satisfaction, and happiness can be purchased. Yet the word “consumerism” has become so common in public conversation that it is practically a buzzword. People throw it around as a catch-all explanation for everything from climate change to personal debt, often without exploring the deeper forces behind it. People often blame “consumerism” as if it’s a system that’s out of our control, but the reality is simpler – America has become a deeply materialistic society.

Fueled by the media, people are not just over-spending, they’re absorbing too much content that tells them to want more. Social media has made it nearly impossible to separate celebration from stuff, and online shopping puts it all at our fingertips. People tell themselves that online shopping is more convenient than traditional brick and mortar, but its environmental consequences are far from it. According to the National Environmental Educational Foundation (NEEF), Americans returned $816 billion worth of online products in 2022, producing 16 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from shipping. To make matters worse, NEEF reports that “many returns, especially clothing, ultimately end up in a landfill rather than mailed to another customer, because it can cost more to process, inspect, repack, and ship out a return instead of just tossing it.”

With the 164 million online shoppers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2022, and the unrecyclable glitter and foil that coat our wrapping paper and Christmas cards, the cycle of consumption reaches its peak during the holidays. However, not everyone is willing to allow their Christmas season to revolve around buying. Many are sharing their diy gifts and upcycled Christmas decorations on their social media under hashtags like #mindfulchristmas, #intentionalchristmas, #consciousconsumer, and #sustainablechristmas. In her viral TikTok about how she resists materialism during the holiday season, influencer Ebby Moyer shares that her practices are not only more sustainable, but more authentic to the true spirit of Christmas. “You don’t need to boycott Christmas or generosity just because you want to boycott big business and be wise with your money,” said Moyer. “A non-consumerist Christmas doesn’t mean no presents or no new stuff. It just means being intentional about what we buy, shopping local, and supporting small businesses – because so many of them depend on Christmas – and not giving into the idea that more presents means more love.”