This is a collection of links for a project around changing the culture which links status with objects and drives hyper-consumption.
Here’s what we’re reading.. watch this space!

Values Campaigning / Framing

‘It’s public sentiment stupid’ - Campaign Central
‘Identity campaigning’ – Tom Crompton
‘Strategic Framing of public issues’ – The Framework Institute
‘Common Cause’ – WWF, Strategies for Change
‘The case for working with values and frames’ – WWF, Common Cause Working Group
‘Sell the Sizzle’ – Futerra Sustainability Communications
10-Rules for communicating sustainability – Futerra
‘It goes against our nature; but the left has to start asserting its own values‘ – George Monbiot

Projects

The Slow Movement
‘Time/Bank’ – Social Innovation for Sustainability Exhibition 2011
‘No Shop’ installation – Thomas Matthews & Friends of the Earth
‘Action for Happiness’ – ‘Doing good feels good’
New Economics Foundation – Wellbeing program
‘Downshifting in Australia: A seachange in the pursuit of happiness’ – The Australia Institute
WakeUp Sydney: A Kindess Revolution

Academic Resources

Why Ethical Consumers Don’t Walk their talk – Journal of Business Ethics
Sustainbility through anti consumption – Journal of Consumer Behaviour
Social marketing a pathway to consumption reduction – Journal of Business Research
Culture and Consumption – Journal of Consumer Research

Books

‘Affluenza: the all-consuming epidemic’ – John de Graaf
‘The Comfort of Things’: understanding materialism – Daniel Miller
‘Spent’: sex, evolution and consumer behaviour – Geoffrey Miller

Blogs

The Conservation Economy: a debate on what the marketing industry should do in a world NOT based on consumption
Becoming Green
Adbusters

Anti-consumerism

Freeganism
Dive, the film
Mark Boyle, ‘The Moneyless Man’
‘Buy Nothing Day’ & ‘Buy Nothing Christmas’ – Adbusters

Advertising

‘Six ads that changed the way you think’ – BBC
‘The Hughtrain Manifesto’ – or ‘The market for something to believe in is infinite’
‘Is it evil to work in advertising?’ – Jon Alexander

Spoofs of traditional advertising:

Buy Nothing Day.org
Nothing TM, & New Improved Nothing, available at Amazero
‘New Home Front‘ poster advertising competition

Ethical Shopping

Good Guide
Shop Ethical
‘Radical Transparency: the key to shopping our way to sustainability’ – Josh Dorfman

Shopping is not the solution / the distraction of ‘ethical’ consumerism

Anti (RED) campaign
‘Hypocrisy of champagne environmentalists is deceitful and distracting’ – Ed Gillespie

Status

‘From status symbols to status stories’ – Trendhunter
‘Why their status makes you uneasy’ – social media and status anxiety
‘Gucci sells sustainability’ – Solitaire Townsend
‘Harnessing the positive power of peer pressure’ – FastCompany

Film

The Century of the Self
‘The Psychology of Consumerism’ – BBC
‘A Guide to Happiness‘ – Alain de Botton (6 part series)
Dive
300 years of fossil fuels in 300 seconds
The Story of Stuff

Gaming

‘Gaming for Good’ – White Paper Google
‘Gaming can make a better world’ – Jane McGonigal, TED

In the mainstream press..

‘How much of your stuff could you do without?’ – News.com.au Money
‘What’s your consumption factor?’ – New York Times
‘Is rampant consumerism ruining our lives?’ – The Guardian
‘But will it make you happy?’ – New York Times
‘Get on board the non-consumption train’ – Mother Nature Network

Psychology

‘The Role of Psychology in Environmental Campaigning and Activism’ – FOE

Awake: Applying psychology to sustainability

Happiness

‘Happiness: the real purpose of economic development?‘
‘Authentic Happiness’ – Martin Seligmann
‘Maslow 2.0: a new and improved recipe for happiness‘ – The Atlantic

Stuff

‘Stuff‘ – Paul Graham
‘Let’s create less not more and get rid of the crappy stuff‘ – Uncluttered White Spaces

Infographics

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About the author

Sally Hill
Sally is into sustainability and digital media. She set up Sustahood in 2011 to advance creative and transformational thinking about sustainability in Australia. Find her on twitter @sallyrhill.