In many countries today, people buy a range of household goods (television, microwave, oven and rice cookers). Is it a positive or negative development?

In a world of consumerism, home electrical and electronic appliances have become an integral part in our modern life. There is a controversial perspective heating a debate over the remarkable impact of purchasing a wave of household products. In my personal point of view, this phenomenon has both pros and cons. On the one hand, buying some pieces of household equipment may immensely benefit people in many aspects in life. Undoubtedly, these goods effectively facilitate people in terms of saving a myriad of time in a day. The rice cooker, for instance, rapidly provides us delicious and hot bowls of rice by simplifying the cooking process. Likewise, the refrigerator can preserve food for days, so people can not only keep enough food stocked in the freezer for future cooking, but also save time spent on shopping. Thus, the more free-time we save due to having such household appliances, the more other pursuits we are capable of doing at our will, including watching television in the comfort of our home. On the other hand, while the tremendous advantages are widely acknowledged, the development of consumerism in many parts of the world also has downsides. It is a common norm to state that modern consumerism has negative environmental impacts, either from the production processes or the disposal of the devices ranging from kitchen devices to television sets. Obviously, without safe and adequately efficient ways of recycling, electronic wastes may release toxic substance into the atmosphere, polluting the local environment. Nowadays, many people throw away or bury their own electronic appliances directly into the landfill without any processes. Consequently, the dramatic increase in purchasing such electronic household goods means the problem of greater carbon dioxide emissions, apart from rising energy demand. In conclusion, from my perspective, even though household equipment brings vast advantages for human life in daily basis, we should be aware of their negative impacts.