Examining needs vs wants

The recession is horrible; there is no doubt about that.  I have countless number of friends, family members and acquaintances who have either been laid off or taken severe pay cuts as a result.  I am sure all of us have been affected in one way or another.  It is a scary, scary time.  However, every once in awhile I see glimpses of hope.  Hope for a new beginning, a new outlook and a new start.  This article, posted today by the Wall Street Journal reminded me of that hope.

The article, to me, gets to one of the underlying and foundational problems of global warming: overconsumption.  We are all guilty, myself included.  It is easy to get wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of things.  New iPhone for $99 (even if your current one works just fine)…why not?  Cute, trendy top on sale at Forever 21 I tell myself yes, I think I could really use this top for that party I have this weekend.  It is hard to force yourself to stop for a second and ask yourself: 

Do I really need this?  

There is a famous saying when conducting market research where you have to stop and ask yourself the following:  Do I need to know?  Or, do I just want to know?  The same is true with overconsumption.  Do I need this?  Or, do I simply just want it?  After all, do we really need 88 different types of Pantene products when we shop at Target? Or 24 different versions of tape measures available to us at Wal-mart? No, I am not making that up, just read the article.