Feeding America's consumer appetite
Kai Ryssdal begins our series with a visit to the Port of Long Beach. You could say it's the mouth of a consumer economy that's getting hungrier and hungrier. He talks with the port's Art Wong about its continuing growth. (11/09/2007)
An average family? Meet the Simpsons
What if everybody in the world consumed like the "average" American family? Sean Cole went in search of that family to find out how much they consume in a given week or month. He didn't have to look too far. (11/09/2007)
How much longer can we 'overshoot'?
Our population is consuming about 30% more trees, fish and fossil fuels than the planet can regenerate. How big a hole can we dig before we can't get out of it? Kai Ryssdal talks with Jared Diamond, a geography professor at UCLA. (11/09/2007)
It's enough to take your breath away
Globalization's delivery of goods to consumers depends on intricate choreography of container ships, trucks, trains and other heavy equipment. The scale is breathtaking. But so are the side effects. Sarah Gardner reports, (11/09/2007)
What hungry consumerism leaves behind
If a port is the mouth of America's consumer economy, the landfill is the other end. Tess Vigeland reports on the people and places wrestling with the question of what to do with all the waste. (11/09/2007)
The fix is in decline
How did everything suddenly switch from repairable to disposable and what does that mean for your local handyman? Sean Cole visits fix-it shops to get some answers. (11/09/2007)
Tess' trash tour
We take our trash to the curb, but where does it go after that? Tess Vigeland rides along with her neighborhood garbage man to find out. (11/09/2007)
Meet the freegans
More than 10 percent of trash is food, but would you be willing to take a bite? Tess Vigeland trolls for the edible gems in the garbage of Manhattan with the freegans. (11/09/2007)
The invisible man
Is there any way to keep marketers from tracking you down? Steve Henn sees what it takes to make his family invisible to Madison Avenue. (11/09/2007)
Why buy new when used will do?
Meet the Mullens, a family of four who've sworn off buying new consumer goods for a year. Tess follows the family through their experiment in scrounging. (11/09/2007)
More tales from the trash challenge
In September, Tess carried all the trash she generated around for two weeks and challenged you to do the same. We bring you the stories of three listeners who heard the call. (11/09/2007)
Turning trash into cash
Landfills may be eyesores for residents, but they have money and jobs to offer communities. Amy Scott visits a Pennsylvania town stuck in the middle of the trash trade. (11/09/2007)
Garbage across the Pacific
One country's garbage is another country's gold. Scott Tong takes us across the Pacific to see how America's trash has spawned a whole industry in China. (11/09/2007)
Greed as a disease
America's consumer economy may be a symptom of a bigger illness -- and it could be killing us all. As a species, we simply don't know what to do with all this excess, says prominent UCLA researcher Dr. Peter Whybrow. (11/12/2007)
A well-traveled breakfast
Steve Henn figures his typical family breakfast journeyed 6,000 miles to his kitchen table. It's a symptom of the ever-growing global food trade, and the fossil fuel cost required to move commodities across the planet is growing with it. (11/07/2007)
Taxing ourselves green
Commentator Robert Frank says we don't need to transform human nature to do something about global warming, we just need to change people's incentives. A global carbon tax will hit folks in the wallet, and money is always a powerful incentive. (11/12/2007)
Speeding up the consumerism treadmill
Consumption has nearly doubled in the U.S., and fashion leads the way. One growing retail fashion chain, H&M, specializes in budget knockoffs of high-end clothing, with inventory coming in daily. Amy Scott reports from the shopping frenzy. (11/12/2007)
Crisco: A marketing revolution
Crisco is a staple in many American kitchens and a must-have for homemade pies. But it's also an invented food made by chemists, and the story of how the white stuff became a must-have has become a marketing legend. Sarah Gardner reports. (11/12/2007)
A marketing battle of wants vs. needs
Global consumer spending has skyrocketed in the past two decades. But is advertising to blame? Do we all simply want more stuff, or do we need it for our high-speed modern lifestyles? It's a little of both, says marketing expert Kit Yarrow. (11/12/2007)
Innovating our way out of crisis
Will our consumer economy eventually bury us as we deplete the Earth's resources, or will we innovate our way out of trouble? Stanford researcher Larry Goulder says it could go either way. (11/13/2007)
Priced out of the American Dream
Americans are increasingly tied down by debt -- that's nothing new. But Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren says the rising costs of bare necessities, not luxuries, might change the very nature of America. (11/13/2007)
Home-grown energy independence
The farming town of Reynolds is a potential Saudi Arabia of bio-fuel and it's looking to become energy independent. So far, it's still a big gamble, but town leaders think it will work -- if they can lure investors. (11/13/2007)
Public solutions or private enterprise?
Can the profit motive solve our energy problems? Management professor Stuart Hart of Cornell University, and physics professor emeritus Marty Hoffert of New York University consider that question with host Kai Ryssdal. (11/13/2007)
We must reduce super-sized appetites
Some economists believe we can innovate our way out of the global problem of carbon emissions. But Boston College professor Juliet Schor says what we really need to do is go on a consumer diet. (11/13/2007)
Bhutan's falling happiness index
Once-isolated Bhutan glimpsed the rest of the world seven years ago with the arrival of TV and the Internet. Now happiness is an increasingly rare commodity, and young people dance in blue jeans. (11/14/2007)
Deep gladness meets deep need
Speaking of Faith host Krista Tippett says the globe should welcome the challenge of sustainability as an invitation -- a way to strengthen moral resources such as delight, dignity, elegance and hope. (11/14/2007)
Our e-waste comes back to haunt us
There's a thriving global industry recovering the precious metals in the millions of electronic devices we throw away each year. But the toxic by-products are showing up in cheap imported goods. Scott Tong reports from China. (11/14/2007)
Invest in a 'green-collar' future
Majora Carter is a community activist from The Bronx, a part of New York that's home to more than its fair share of waste and power plants that serve the whole city. She wants investment in a greener, more equitable future. (11/14/2007)
No packaging? No problem
British cosmetics manufacturer Mark Constantine is very critical of his own industry, and he's started a revolution in the world of marketing -- products with minimal packaging, aimed at a green market. (11/15/2007)
Spending our way to wealth
It wasn't that long ago that being thrifty was America's number-one virtue. But beginning with FDR, a string of presidents has extolled the virtues of Keynesian economics and spending our way to wealth. Sarah Gardner reports. (11/15/2007)
A local model for global sustainability
The northern Washington town of Bellingham may be the epicenter of a new economic model for a post-consumerist economy: Locally produced goods and services focused on what surrounding communities need and can sustain. (11/15/2007)
Learn a lesson from the Dark Ages
Commentator David Frum says that buying local is laudible, but globalization of the consumer economy has brought unprecedented wealth to more people than ever before. So, do we really want to repeat ancient history? (11/15/2007)
Zapping trash with man-made lightning
With landfill space at a premium, a group of scientists think they have a solution: a machine that turns trash into small pellets and fuel. But is it practical? Janet Babin explores the debate over plasma gasification. (11/16/2007)
Carpet king takes sustainable lead
Ray Anderson made his fortune manufacturing carpet. Now he's trying to convince fellow entrepreneurs to join him on a second industrial revolution and a march to "Mount Sustainability" -- this time, with a deeper shade of green. (11/16/2007)
Can Wal-Mart save the world?
Retail powerhouse Wal-Mart has been taking great pains to improve its image by adopting environmental standards across all of its stores. Kai Ryssdal talks to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. (11/16/2007)
Making waves of green
All Wal-Mart has to do to have an impact on green products is place an order. Reporter Sarah Gardner caught up with some of its 60,000 suppliers at a conference that the retail giant held to talk about sustainability. (11/16/2007)
About this special
We are what we buy — a glib adage to be sure, but it prompts an interesting question: Is our consumer society sustainable? Marketplace and American Public Media take on that question in this special series. We follow consumerism from its origins to its dominance in the world's economy and, arguably, its culture. And we examine how, and if, it might be adapted to reduce its destructive consequences while keeping store shelves stocked.
Video: Is consumerism sustainable?
Kai Ryssdal moderates a panel discussion on the consumer economy with faculty from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. View. (Courtesy Michigan Radio)
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