“綠色消費(fèi)”不會讓你更快樂，但少買會讓你更快樂

“綠色消費(fèi)”不會讓你更快樂，但少買會讓你更快樂

At some point, buying a new pair of jeans just for the sake of having a new pair of jeans may become permanently etched in our actual genes.

在某種程度上，僅僅為了擁有一條新牛仔褲而去買一條新牛仔褲可能會永久地銘刻在我們的基因里。

Millennials who made use of what they had instead of buying new items reported higher satisfaction levels. (Photo: HollyHarry/Shutterstock)

After all, we've spent generations steeping in a culture that extols the joys of consumerism — regardless of how high we stack yesterday's iPhones and flat-screen TVs and designer jeans in landfills.

畢竟，我們幾代人都沉浸在一種贊美消費(fèi)主義樂趣的文化中——不管我們把昨天的iphone、平板電視和名牌牛仔褲堆得有多高。

Maybe we can have it both ways. Maybe we can buy responsibly — so called "green" products that don't take such a toll on the environment — while still abiding by the mantra of consumerism.

也許我們可以兩全其美。也許我們可以負(fù)責(zé)任地購買——所謂的“綠色”產(chǎn)品，不會對環(huán)境造成如此大的損害——同時仍然遵守消費(fèi)主義的咒語。

It turns out, when it comes to the environment, there's no such thing as feel-good spending.

事實證明，在環(huán)境問題上，沒有感覺良好的支出。

In a new study published in the journal Young Consumers, researchers at the University of Arizona analyze our spend-happy ways and reach a sobering conclusion: Buying green is another variant of materialism. The world doesn't need any more materials, and they won't make us happy no matter how small a footprint they make on the environment.

在一項發(fā)表在《年輕消費(fèi)者》(Young Consumers)雜志上的新研究中，亞利桑那大學(xué)(University of Arizona)的研究人員分析了我們快樂消費(fèi)的方式，得出了一個發(fā)人深省的結(jié)論:購買綠色產(chǎn)品是另一種物質(zhì)主義。這個世界不需要更多的材料，無論他們對環(huán)境造成多大的影響，他們都不會讓我們開心。

Buying less, on the other hand, could actually make us happier.

另一方面，少買東西實際上可以讓我們更快樂。

Specifically, the team looked at how environmental issues informed the spending habits of millennials, considered the most influential consumers in the U.S.

具體來說，該團(tuán)隊考察了環(huán)境問題是如何影響千禧一代的消費(fèi)習(xí)慣的。千禧一代被認(rèn)為是美國最有影響力的消費(fèi)者。

No matter how small the environmental footprint, the world still has to find space for yesterday's new things. (Photo: FJAH/Shutterstock)

The researchers looked at data from a longitudinal study that followed 968 young adults from their first year of college, when they were between the ages of 18 and 21, to two years post-college, when they were between the ages of 23 and 26.

研究人員查看了一項縱向研究的數(shù)據(jù)，該研究對968名年輕人進(jìn)行了跟蹤調(diào)查，從大學(xué)一年級(18歲至21歲)到大學(xué)兩年后(23歲至26歲)。

Researchers identified two different approaches to the environment. Some millennials tried to curb their spending outright, by simply consuming less. They might, for example, try to fix an item rather than replace it or head to a repair cafe, an increasingly popular option in a country that produces some 254 million tons of potentially salvageable rubbish.

研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了兩種不同的環(huán)境保護(hù)方法。一些千禧一代試圖通過減少消費(fèi)來直接控制支出。例如，他們可能會嘗試修復(fù)一件物品，而不是替換它，或者去修理咖啡館，這在一個產(chǎn)生了約2.54億噸潛在可回收垃圾的國家里是一個越來越受歡迎的選擇。

The other option for millennials was to buy "green," essentially looking for products made from recycled or biodegradable materials.

千禧一代的另一個選擇是購買“綠色產(chǎn)品”，基本上是尋找由回收或可生物降解材料制成的產(chǎn)品。

At the same time, the research team looked at the participants' overall happiness and sense of personal well-being by asking them to respond to an online survey.

與此同時，研究小組通過讓參與者回答一項在線調(diào)查來觀察他們的整體幸福感和個人幸福感。

Reduced consumption wasn't an option for some of the more materialist participants, notes researcher Sabrina Helm in a university press release. They may have felt an intrinsic need to buy things, but when they did, they opted for "green" products.

研究人員薩布麗娜·赫爾姆(Sabrina Helm)在一份大學(xué)新聞稿中指出，對一些更崇尚物質(zhì)的參與者來說，減少消耗并不是一個選擇。他們可能有一種內(nèi)在的購買需求，但當(dāng)他們這樣做的時候，他們選擇了“綠色”產(chǎn)品。

"We found evidence that there is a group of people that belong to the 'green materialists,'" Helm explains. "This is the group that feels they're giving satisfying both the planet and their own desire to buy things."

赫爾姆解釋說:“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)有證據(jù)表明，有一群人屬于‘綠色物質(zhì)主義者’。”“這群人覺得他們的付出既滿足了地球的需要，也滿足了自己的購物欲望。”

The other group managed to overcome the "culturally entrenched" values of consumerism and simply make do with less.

另一組成功地克服了消費(fèi)主義“根深蒂固”的價值觀，用更少的錢勉強(qiáng)度日。

You might think the first group — those who were accumulating stuff and feel like they we're doing their part for the environment — would be the happiest.

你可能會認(rèn)為第一組人——那些積累東西并覺得我們在為環(huán)境做貢獻(xiàn)的人——是最快樂的。

After all, who's happy with less?

畢竟，誰喜歡更少一點(diǎn)?

But it turns out those who curbed their consumption reported feelings of more positive personal well-being. When it comes to life satisfaction, the study concludes, less really is more.

但事實證明，那些控制了飲酒量的人感覺更幸福。研究得出結(jié)論，當(dāng)涉及到生活滿意度時，越少越好。

"We thought it might satisfy people that they participated in being more environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn't seem to be that way," Helm explains. "Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, but we don't see that with green consumption."

赫爾姆解釋說:“我們本以為通過綠色購物模式來提高人們的環(huán)保意識會讓人們滿意，但事實并非如此。”“減少消費(fèi)對增加幸福感和減少心理壓力有效果，但我們沒有看到綠色消費(fèi)的效果。”

The idea that you can't buy happiness is an oft-repeated refrain. We know, for example, that putting our money towards life experiences, rather than things, helps us feel more fulfilled.

“金錢買不到幸福”是人們常說的一句話。例如，我們知道，把錢花在生活體驗上，而不是花在物質(zhì)上，會讓我們更有成就感。

But the idea of finding joy in having less? That may be a tough pill to swallow for some. But for the sake of our planet — and for ourselves — it may just be the medicine we need.

但是從擁有更少中找到快樂的想法呢?對一些人來說，這可能是難以下咽的苦果。但為了我們的星球，也為了我們自己，它可能正是我們需要的良藥。

"We've been told since childhood that there's a product for everything and it's okay to buy, and it's a good thing because that's how the economy works," Helm explains. "We're brought up this way, so changing behaviors is very difficult."

赫爾姆解釋說:“我們從小就被告知，任何東西都有對應(yīng)的產(chǎn)品，可以買到。這是件好事，因為這就是經(jīng)濟(jì)運(yùn)行的方式。”“我們是這樣長大的，所以改變行為非常困難。”