Includes bibliographical references and index.

In a brilliant work of imaginative non-fiction, prize-winning author and journalist J.B. MacKinnon asks what would happen--to our economy, our ecology, our products, our selves--if we stopped consuming so much? Is that alternative world something we might actually want? "We can't stop shopping. And yet we must. This is the consumer dilemma." The planet says we consume too much: in North America, we burn the earth's resources at a rate five times faster than it can regenerate. And despite our efforts to make our consumption "green"--by recycling, increasing energy efficiency, or using solar power--we have yet to see a decline in emissions. The economy says we must always consume more, especially as we work our way out of the pandemic: even the slightest drop in spending might bring widespread unemployment, bankruptcy, home foreclosure, economic collapse. Addressing this paradox head-on, J.B. MacKinnon asks, What would really happen if we simply stop shopping? Could we find a way to reduce our consumption to earth-saving levels without causing an economic catastrophe? This question takes him from America's big-box stores to the hunter-gatherer cultures of Namibia, to a centuries-old confectionery company in Japan, to Finland and Russia, which have experienced economic collapse, and to communities in Ecuador that are consuming at an exactly sustainable rate. Drawing on experts in climate change, economics, advertising, manufacturing and retail, MacKinnon investigates how breaking our consumption patterns would change us, our communities and the planet. Along the way, he finds out not only what we have to lose, but how much we stand to gain.