Researching Environmental Problems Paper

In Chapter 8 and Module 5, we learn about environmental problems. In our society, following Thanksgiving, we even have a kind of ultimate consumerist holiday known as Black Friday, followed by Small Business Saturday, and then, Cyber Monday. The pressure to shop is real, and not just that week but year round. Chances are, if you ever bought anything online, your inbox is bombarded with ceaseless promotional emails. What does this have to do with the environment? As explained in Chapter 8, consumerism and conspicuous consumption help explain our contribution to environmental problems. 

After reviewing the relevant material and thinking of your own experiences and observations, please answer the following two questions (please note that there are two parts to both questions), making sure that you explicitly link your response to the chapter:

1. How does our textbook define the concept of consumerism and the concept of conspicuous consumption? (Remember to clearly specify the source of the definitions you are using, for example the page numbers in our textbook where you found them). 
2. Do you think engaging in consumerism and conspicuous consumption makes us happy? Why or why not? (Make sure to elaborate in detail on your rationale)