Is convenience culture undoing environmental progress? As this generation continues to become more reliant on technology, people are having a hard time differentiating when technology helps you and when it takes over your life.
Imagine it like this, parents of children who were born between the years of 2014-2023 are more likely to have one or more devices. For parents, it’s convenient to them because their kids are occupied and not bothering them, which allows them to get work done. However, it becomes a problem when the kid is unable to function without the device. You may have seen online or seen firsthand how kids from toddler stages to preteen stages will freak out if their iPad or phone is taken away from them. The tradition of having your kid play outside has died and TikTok is used as a form of entertainment instead. The problem with this is that the ‘convenient solution’ is damaging kids and their social lives. Having social media as a means not to parent is heavily restricting them. Buying electronics and the kids using resources like AI for companionship is slowly destroying the environmental progress of the world, second by second.
But let us think differently, how about the fashion industry? You may get TikTok’s or reels about clothing, but just how much of it is meant to be something you can wear for a long time? People are preferring fast fashion, especially around the holidays. Now, really, fashion fast in itself isn’t wrong unless you only intend on wearing it once. You can make fast fashion somewhat ethical if you plan to wear it multiple times. Think of SHEIN. A lot of people go to it looking for a fast solution to an event they didn’t plan for and something that looks cute and be here on time. If they toss the clothing away afterwards, then the children who worked in a sweatshop for the clothing to be made basically just received a slap in the face. However, if the outfit is worn more than once, then it isn’t technically considered fast fashion, despite the brand you got it from.
Another example would be disposable items that go viral for a month, then are forgotten. Think of Needoh. They’re super popular, and people go store to store trying to find them and even fighting over them. But since they’re so in demand, the value is high, but the supply isn’t. That calls for resellers to buy up a stock, then resell it for 10x the original price. Aside from resellers, the trend will eventually die out, which means companies such as Target, Five Below, etc will have them in stock and yet no one will buy them. This makes the entire process of making them pointless and wasteful of energy. Yet no one seems to notice this because the repetition of these trends continues to happen. Think of Labubus, those were popular because of the wide ranges of different varieties you could get and also the possibility of getting the rare one. People brought so many of them for the trend, then when they were out of style, they got tossed. It’s a pattern that not a lot of people noticed.
Which is why convenience culture is practically dumbing us down; we’re doing what we find helpful or cool, which makes us unable to rely on our own skill for a solution that’s right in front of us. It’s not saying to deny yourself the pleasure of getting something done, worker, but when you completely rely on it all the time, then it becomes a problem. Think of the usage of AI in school. It’s a fast solution to have AI do everything for you when you’re on a strict deadline, but then your teachers aren’t seeing your true knowledge growth and understanding of the lesson they taught you. Even adults who are past school level use AI, they’ll tell professionals who have dedicated their lives to their careers that they’re wrong because CHATGPT told them.
If we keep relying on things that slowly smooth out our brains, then how will we ever set an example for the younger generation to be able to be educated and have the skills to function on their own? Convenience culture is a quick fix, but it shouldn’t always be there. Sometimes, in a situation, you need to depend on yourself and not let other things influence you. You don’t always need to buy something you seen online, you don’t always need AI for an assignment, and you don’t need to get outfits from companies that support child labor and abuse.
