Perhaps it’s a bit of a pat on our own back, but we like to end the year each year by revisiting our favorite articles, lists and memes for the year. Perhaps you’ve missed something that we consider our best of the best for the year, and we want to point you to it. Or, alternatively, we think this is a great exercise for reflecting back on what we did this year and getting inspired to bring you more great content in 2017. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can revisit our list of our best articles from 2015 right here and 2014 right here. And now, without further ado, here are our top article picks from 2016.
January: Take a Quiz to Learn if You Assign Emotion to “Stuff”
Our featured New Year’s resolution for 2016 was to learn to begin to separate emotion from “stuff.” We were surprised in our research about exactly how many people didn’t even realize that they were equating emotional value with inanimate things. That’s why we developed this quiz to help you assess the level at which you fall into this trap. We’re awfully proud of it. Take the quiz now >>
February: A Three Pack!
We’re actually picking three articles from February this year. We split the month between talking about relationships and consumerism and exploring the millennial generation and consumerism. We’d like to point you to these three articles that stand out to us.
- What is Ethical Consumerism? It’s a hot word among millennials, but does it really impact the epidemic of addictive consumerism?
- Millennials and Consumerism: An Overview. What aspects of addictive consumerism are millennials shunning, and which are they falling prey to?
- Connections: Making Them Real Instead of Manifesting Them in Stuff. We displace emotions and emotional connections unto material things in this era. How do we break that habit and make human connections?
March: The Difference Between Anti-Consumerism and Postconsumerism
This is such an important concept and one that’s always being asked of us. Postconsumerism and anti-consumerism share some fundamental beliefs, but they are ultimately very, very different. How so and why is one more right for you than the other, depending on your core beliefs? Read the article and find out >>
April: The Relationship Between Consumerism and Global Warming
As usual, we celebrated Earth Day in April with a month of content that focused on environmental issues. While not every environmental issue facing the planet can be linked back to addictive consumerism, many of them can be. We created this article to explain the connection. Read more >>
May: What Do Labor Day and Memorial Day Have to Do with Sales and Shopping?
It’s one of those strange glitches of consumerism. Somehow, holidays that have absolutely nothing at all to do with shopping become about …. shopping. How did this happen and what can you do to help restore the real value of the holiday instead of turning it into a tool for consumer sales? Read more >>
June: How Eco-Friendly is Your Summer Fruit?
We all want to eat healthily and seasonally, but is the fruit you’re indulging in all summer actually the eco-friendly choice? The answer may easily be that it’s not. Most fruits absorb a high food-miles carbon footprint impact. How are your summer food choices helping or hurting the planet? Read more >>
July: Be sure to visit our favorite “lists” of the year to see our top picks from July!
August: The Singularity and the Future of Consumerism
These are the things that we think about here! We devoted August to talking about technology, science fiction and consumerism. We couldn’t resist speculating on what will happen to addictive consumerism when the machines gain consciousness and the singularity occurs. Read more >>
September: How Trends are Created to Keep You Shopping
In September, we did a series of marketing awareness articles to teach you more about the tactics that marketers are using on you. One of the biggest and most effective tactics? Convincing you that trends are important – or even real. Read more >>
November: Our Favorite Meat-Free Thanksgiving Menu
Of course we had all the content that you could ever want for finding creative alternatives to shopping on Black Friday, but our favorite November article was actually our meat-free Thanksgiving menu. Because we love food. And we think that you love food. See the menu now >>
Did we miss an article that you thought was outstanding? Tell us about it on the social media outlets below.
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