The illusions of consumerism and the scarcity of natural resources

A concept product project as a strategy for dialectics

Abstract

Excessive consumption and the culture of fetishism around products have led to the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and severe environmental impacts. This paper proposes the use of a concept product project to raise societal awareness about this issue, highlighting the toxic relationship between consumerism and the environment. The objective of this work is to develop a concept product project that reflects on the scarcity of natural resources. To achieve this, it is necessary to analyze social interactions with the environment and understand the relationship between consumption, fetishism, and the scarcity of natural resources, as well as the life cycle of a product, so that these elements can be linked to the characteristics of a concept product project in design.

The research methodology is defined as applied, qualitative, and exploratory. Additionally, it employs a mixed technical procedure involving bibliographic and experimental research to formulate hypotheses based on published materials, determine a study object, define variables, and control and observe the potential influencing effects these variables may have on the project. For project development, the methodology outlined by Munari (2008) was used, adapted to meet the needs of this work. In conclusion, it was found that the objectives were achieved, and the results were satisfactory.