Consumerism

Asia is experiencing one of the largestMastercard- How Asia’s emerging middle class is driving inclusive growth, 2025 middle-class expansions in human history. Rising purchasing power is accelerating discretionary spending and demand for the resources and energy needed to produce durable goods. Already the world’s largest factory floor, Asia is now taking a central role in global consumerism. But the quest for improved material standards of living has left little systemic questioning of consumption patterns increasingly insulated from ecological limits.
An advertisement promotes encounters with penguins in Dubai, a desert emirate in West Asia.

📷 An advertisement promotes encounters with penguins in Dubai, a desert emirate in West Asia. © Sebastian Castelier

Beneath the language of heritage and artisanship, the purchase of luxury goods is a material expression of the outsized environmental footprint of affluent consumers. Asia accounted for nearly four in ten luxury goods sold globally in the early 2020s.

Singapore dispatch: The imprint of luxury consumption

Beneath the language of heritage and artisanship, the purchase of luxury goods is a material expression of the outsized environmental footprint of affluent consumers.....
In the pre-synthetic fibres era, clothes were intended to last. With the rise of fast fashion, a third of Singaporeans acknowledged having thrown away a garment after wearing it just once. Singaporeans buy 34 pieces of new clothes per year, while discarding 27.

Singapore dispatch: When Peranakan craft met Mickey Mouse

In the pre-synthetic fibres era, clothes were intended to last. With the rise of fast fashion, a third of Singaporeans acknowledged having thrown away a garment after....
A shopping infrastructure expansion five times faster than population growth has overexposed consumers to a type of retail environment designed to stimulate unplanned purchases.

Qatar dispatch: Over-malling forced impulsive buying

A shopping infrastructure expansion five times faster than population growth has overexposed consumers to a type of retail environment designed to stimulate unplanned purchases.....
india-waste-piles-up-consumerism-edge

India dispatch: Waste piles up at consumerism’s edge

The vast network of landfills absorbing the waste generated by India’s embrace of a throwaway culture release methane into the atmosphere and toxic substances into soil and....
Beauty pageants have long played a role in the construction of beauty standards across Southeast Asia. Yet, they often failed to call out the mounds of waste the fashion industry generates. Garment lifespan fell by 36% during the first 15 years of the 21st century.

Indonesia dispatch: Beauty pageants in the age of disposable fashion

Beauty pageants have long played a role in the construction of beauty standards across Southeast Asia. Yet, they often failed to call out the mounds of waste....
indonesia-digital-age-waste-trail

Indonesia dispatch: Digital age’s waste trail

Indonesia, one of the world's largest consumers of smartphones, recovers less than one five-hundredth of the critical raw material the million tonnes of e-waste it generates contain.....
More than half of Southeast Asia's plastic waste is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills. Part of it, pushed by the Indonesian Throughflow, finds its way to the Indian Ocean where it disintegrate into microplastics.

Indonesia dispatch: Oceans’ plasticisation under a microscope

More than half of Southeast Asia's plastic waste is not recycled, incinerated, or kept in sealed landfills. Part of it finds its way to the Indian Ocean....
An estimated 300 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in Indonesia. Cigarette butts discarded each year in Indonesia are equivalent to the weight of about a hundred Airbus A380 fully loaded. The large waste stream leaches toxic chemicals.

Indonesia dispatch: The microplastic footprint of smoking

Cigarette butts discarded each year in Indonesia are equivalent to the weight of about a hundred Airbus A380 fully loaded. The large waste stream leaches toxic chemicals.....