The Cost Of Cool Youth Consumption And The Environment

The Cost of Cool: Youth Consumption and the Environment features teenagers discussing what it takes to be "cool", the pr... (more)

The Cost of Cool: Youth Consumption and the Environment features teenagers discussing what it takes to be "cool", the pressures of consumerism, and the environmental price we pay to have the latest, "coolest" stuff. The video begins with an examination of the growth of the world's population and the impact of our consumption habits on the earth's resources. The Cost of Cool looks at everyday items from t-shirts to sneakers and tracks the effect of their manufacture on the world's resources. "If every person alive today lived like we do," says host Alexandra Paul, "we would need three Earths to provide the resources." Teenagers grapple with their learned buying patterns, and question whether they actually need much of the stuff that they feel they must acquire to be happy and live well.. (less)