Now Many People Regard Shopping As A Hobby

Need help with IELTS writing? Get your essays, letters and reports corrected by me.

Sample essay

In the olden days people only bought what they needed. However, over the last few decades, their purchasing power has increased and now shopping has become the favorite pastime of many people. In my opinion, this development should be discouraged because excessive consumption is bad for both the society and the environment.

The society has become more affluent over the years. Consequently, they now buy just about anything they can find in the market. It does not really bother them whether they actually need the product or not. Shopping has become a hobby and that explains why people constantly upgrade their mobile phones and cars. To take advantage of this compulsive urge to shop, manufacturers release upgraded versions of their gadgets every six months. The changes could be superficial and yet people place their order months in advance.

A disturbing aspect of this trend is that it leads to competition among peers. Mindless consumption also lands people in deep financial difficulty. Credit cards are widely available now and hence people can buy even if they do not have money in the wallet. Unfortunately, when they default on the card payment, they fall into the debt trap.

Another major downside of excessive consumption is that it leads to the production of more garbage. Landfills are already overflowing with products that are still very much usable. This causes land and water pollution. Another disadvantage of this development is that it results in further depletion of resources that have already become scarce. For example, when the demand for furniture increases more trees have to be cut down. Production also requires electricity and this leads to the burning of more fossil fuels.

In conclusion, when shopping becomes a hobby it does not benefit anyone. It lands the shopper in financial difficulty and also hurts the environment. Therefore, I believe that this is a negative development and it should be discouraged.