What is overconsumption?
4 minute read
National Organising Week 2026 will be shining a spotlight on overconsumption, a challenge quietly faced every day by people throughout the globe. In a world where it’s easier than ever to acquire more, many homes - and minds - are feeling the weight of excess.
APDO member Bettina Trabant explores what overconsumption means and its implications for individuals in their homes and daily lives.
Overconsumption refers to the excessive use or purchase of goods and services beyond what is necessary or sustainable. It is a widespread phenomenon in modern society, often driven by consumer culture, advertising and technological advancements. While consuming is a natural part of life, overconsumption can have serious environmental, economic and social consequences and occurs when individuals, communities or societies consume more resources than they need or can sustainably replenish.
According to Earth Overshoot Day, humanity uses the equivalent of 1.75 planets each year to provide the resources we need. This means we are consuming resources faster than the Earth can regenerate them. The amount we waste is continuing to grow - from casually-discarded products to the excess packaging they came in.
The environmental impact of overconsumption and waste is a global tragedy, but what can we do at an individual level to counter this trend? How can we become more conscious of our impact and make a shift in our consumer behaviour?
The first thing we need to consider is our own awareness of our things. By carefully looking around our homes we can find and appraise everything we possess and thoughtfully consider its place in our home and lives.
For example, British research found that an average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily. (The Telegraph). Whilst with our clothing, Forbes reports that the average woman wears 20% of her clothes 80% of the time. So much of what we have remains unworn or unused. Surveys have in fact shown that we only use between 20-70% of the possessions we own. Even at its most conservative estimate that means nearly a third of all we own sits unused in our homes.
And as we bring more things into our lives, our homes are no longer big enough to contain them. As a consequence, the offsite storage market is now booming, with around 64 million square feet of self-storage across the UK, generating over £1 billion in 2024.
The factors contributing to overconsumption
What is driving this trend to produce, acquire and amass more than we can ever need or use? What has shifted in us and our environment to create this state of affairs? Understanding what has influenced us can help us challenge our thinking and alter some of our behaviours. Once again, we need to begin with awareness as we explore the factors contributing to overconsumption:
1. Consumer Culture: Societies that emphasise material wealth and possessions as indicators of success encourage people to buy more than they need.
2. Advertising and Marketing: Aggressive advertising creates desires for new products and convinces consumers that they need the latest items to be happy or successful.
3. Convenience and Technology: Modern technology makes shopping easier and more accessible, leading to impulsive buying and higher consumption rates. Online retail giants allow people to get what they desire almost instantaneously.
4. Economic Systems: Capitalist economies often promote continuous growth and consumption as measures of prosperity, encouraging overuse of resources.
5. Social Influences: Peer pressure, social media and cultural norms can influence individuals to overconsume to keep up with trends or social standards.
Mindful consumption is at the heart of our journey to freedom from overconsumption. Let’s work towards becoming more aware of what we buy, prioritising quality over quantity, reducing the volume of our purchases and choosing sustainable products where possible.
Releasing the things we no longer need or love for someone else to enjoy will also be part of this process. We might call this decluttering or editing our possessions and it’s a valuable way of ensuring precious resources find their way back into circulation through selling, gifting, donating, upcycling and recycling.
Tomorrow we will be exploring the consequences of overconsumption and as the week continues we will be looking at ways to combat overconsumption, ways to declutter responsibly and the ripple effects of decluttering. On Sunday we will close our NOW campaign by reflecting on what we have learnt about overconsumption. We do hope you will join us again.
In the meantime, if the thought of tackling your overconsumption feels too daunting and stressful to tackle on your own, visit the APDO member's directory to find a trained professional organiser in your area. Professional organisers support individuals to create peaceful homes and can advise on mindful consumption, meal planning and where to donate or sell your unwanted clutter.
