Time to Give Up Materialistic Culture

Lots and lots of clothes that are bought and thrown out every year

According to a survey by environmental group Greenpeace, Hong Kong residents spend about HK$10,000 (US$1,290) a year on clothing.

This means the average person spends about HK$800 a month on clothes, and if every person in Hong Kong spent around the same amount, that would add up to HK$25 billion a year on new threads.

Hong Kong people spend twice as much on clothes compared to their Taiwanese counterparts, according to the survey of 2,000 people, half from Taiwan, the other half from Hong Kong.

Chinese New Year means new clothes to wear

Usually the third to last day of the lunar new year, or in this case January 25, is supposed to be for spring cleaning, making it a good time to take de-clutter. However, it is also the new year custom to buy new clothes, typically red ones to wear in the first few days of the Lunar New Year.

The survey also found 40 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed in Hong Kong could only resist the urge to shop less than a week, whereas for Taiwanese it was 22 percent.

Bonnie Tang Man-lam of Greenpeace said this was due to Hong Kong's focus on consumer culture, with people unable to resist two-for-one sales tactics or free shipping. She added friends and social media also influenced people to buy on impulse.

Some 60 percent of those surveyed admitted the satisfaction of shopping only lasted a day, creating a cycle to need to fill a void.

But perhaps it's time to de-clutter instead?

Another fact that came to our attention is that Hong Kong has 885 mini storage facilities. Imagine how many lockers that would be, and surely a number of them filled with personal items like clothes.

Folks -- it's time to be ruthless and really start paring down our closets and getting rid of what we don't need and giving them to the less fortunate who would appreciate extra clothing, or other items.

Maybe it's time for Hong Kong to stop its obsession with materialism and perhaps focus on the community? We'd all be better for it in so many ways.