“绿色消费”不会让你更快乐，但少买会让你更快乐

“绿色消费”不会让你更快乐，但少买会让你更快乐

At some point, buying a new pair of jeans just for the sake of having a new pair of jeans may become permanently etched in our actual genes.

在某种程度上，仅仅为了拥有一条新牛仔裤而去买一条新牛仔裤可能会永久地铭刻在我们的基因里。

Millennials who made use of what they had instead of buying new items reported higher satisfaction levels. (Photo: HollyHarry/Shutterstock)

After all, we've spent generations steeping in a culture that extols the joys of consumerism — regardless of how high we stack yesterday's iPhones and flat-screen TVs and designer jeans in landfills.

毕竟，我们几代人都沉浸在一种赞美消费主义乐趣的文化中——不管我们把昨天的iphone、平板电视和名牌牛仔裤堆得有多高。

Maybe we can have it both ways. Maybe we can buy responsibly — so called "green" products that don't take such a toll on the environment — while still abiding by the mantra of consumerism.

也许我们可以两全其美。也许我们可以负责任地购买——所谓的“绿色”产品，不会对环境造成如此大的损害——同时仍然遵守消费主义的咒语。

It turns out, when it comes to the environment, there's no such thing as feel-good spending.

事实证明，在环境问题上，没有感觉良好的支出。

In a new study published in the journal Young Consumers, researchers at the University of Arizona analyze our spend-happy ways and reach a sobering conclusion: Buying green is another variant of materialism. The world doesn't need any more materials, and they won't make us happy no matter how small a footprint they make on the environment.

在一项发表在《年轻消费者》(Young Consumers)杂志上的新研究中，亚利桑那大学(University of Arizona)的研究人员分析了我们快乐消费的方式，得出了一个发人深省的结论:购买绿色产品是另一种物质主义。这个世界不需要更多的材料，无论他们对环境造成多大的影响，他们都不会让我们开心。

Buying less, on the other hand, could actually make us happier.

另一方面，少买东西实际上可以让我们更快乐。

Specifically, the team looked at how environmental issues informed the spending habits of millennials, considered the most influential consumers in the U.S.

具体来说，该团队考察了环境问题是如何影响千禧一代的消费习惯的。千禧一代被认为是美国最有影响力的消费者。

No matter how small the environmental footprint, the world still has to find space for yesterday's new things. (Photo: FJAH/Shutterstock)

The researchers looked at data from a longitudinal study that followed 968 young adults from their first year of college, when they were between the ages of 18 and 21, to two years post-college, when they were between the ages of 23 and 26.

研究人员查看了一项纵向研究的数据，该研究对968名年轻人进行了跟踪调查，从大学一年级(18岁至21岁)到大学两年后(23岁至26岁)。

Researchers identified two different approaches to the environment. Some millennials tried to curb their spending outright, by simply consuming less. They might, for example, try to fix an item rather than replace it or head to a repair cafe, an increasingly popular option in a country that produces some 254 million tons of potentially salvageable rubbish.

研究人员发现了两种不同的环境保护方法。一些千禧一代试图通过减少消费来直接控制支出。例如，他们可能会尝试修复一件物品，而不是替换它，或者去修理咖啡馆，这在一个产生了约2.54亿吨潜在可回收垃圾的国家里是一个越来越受欢迎的选择。

The other option for millennials was to buy "green," essentially looking for products made from recycled or biodegradable materials.

千禧一代的另一个选择是购买“绿色产品”，基本上是寻找由回收或可生物降解材料制成的产品。

At the same time, the research team looked at the participants' overall happiness and sense of personal well-being by asking them to respond to an online survey.

与此同时，研究小组通过让参与者回答一项在线调查来观察他们的整体幸福感和个人幸福感。

Reduced consumption wasn't an option for some of the more materialist participants, notes researcher Sabrina Helm in a university press release. They may have felt an intrinsic need to buy things, but when they did, they opted for "green" products.

研究人员萨布丽娜·赫尔姆(Sabrina Helm)在一份大学新闻稿中指出，对一些更崇尚物质的参与者来说，减少消耗并不是一个选择。他们可能有一种内在的购买需求，但当他们这样做的时候，他们选择了“绿色”产品。

"We found evidence that there is a group of people that belong to the 'green materialists,'" Helm explains. "This is the group that feels they're giving satisfying both the planet and their own desire to buy things."

赫尔姆解释说:“我们发现有证据表明，有一群人属于‘绿色物质主义者’。”“这群人觉得他们的付出既满足了地球的需要，也满足了自己的购物欲望。”

The other group managed to overcome the "culturally entrenched" values of consumerism and simply make do with less.

另一组成功地克服了消费主义“根深蒂固”的价值观，用更少的钱勉强度日。

You might think the first group — those who were accumulating stuff and feel like they we're doing their part for the environment — would be the happiest.

你可能会认为第一组人——那些积累东西并觉得我们在为环境做贡献的人——是最快乐的。

After all, who's happy with less?

毕竟，谁喜欢更少一点?

But it turns out those who curbed their consumption reported feelings of more positive personal well-being. When it comes to life satisfaction, the study concludes, less really is more.

但事实证明，那些控制了饮酒量的人感觉更幸福。研究得出结论，当涉及到生活满意度时，越少越好。

"We thought it might satisfy people that they participated in being more environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn't seem to be that way," Helm explains. "Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, but we don't see that with green consumption."

赫尔姆解释说:“我们本以为通过绿色购物模式来提高人们的环保意识会让人们满意，但事实并非如此。”“减少消费对增加幸福感和减少心理压力有效果，但我们没有看到绿色消费的效果。”

The idea that you can't buy happiness is an oft-repeated refrain. We know, for example, that putting our money towards life experiences, rather than things, helps us feel more fulfilled.

“金钱买不到幸福”是人们常说的一句话。例如，我们知道，把钱花在生活体验上，而不是花在物质上，会让我们更有成就感。

But the idea of finding joy in having less? That may be a tough pill to swallow for some. But for the sake of our planet — and for ourselves — it may just be the medicine we need.

但是从拥有更少中找到快乐的想法呢?对一些人来说，这可能是难以下咽的苦果。但为了我们的星球，也为了我们自己，它可能正是我们需要的良药。

"We've been told since childhood that there's a product for everything and it's okay to buy, and it's a good thing because that's how the economy works," Helm explains. "We're brought up this way, so changing behaviors is very difficult."

赫尔姆解释说:“我们从小就被告知，任何东西都有对应的产品，可以买到。这是件好事，因为这就是经济运行的方式。”“我们是这样长大的，所以改变行为非常困难。”