We are using up the planet at almost double the rate it can regenerate. To support our economies, we’re told we must shop now like we’ve never shopped before, yet the scale of our consumption remains the biggest factor in the ruination of the world.

But what would life look like if we stopped? Visiting places where economies have experienced temporary shut-downs, artisan producers, zero-consumption societies and bringing together a host of expert views, this is both a history of our relationship with consumption and a story about the future.

‘Lays out a wealth of knowledge and wisdom’ Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

We are using up the planet at almost double the rate it can regenerate. To support our economies, we’re told we must shop now like we’ve never shopped before. And whilst we can do it more responsibly, the scale of our consumption remains the biggest factor in the ruination of the planet. Yet our reliance on stuff continues to grow.

But what would our world look like if we stopped? Would civilisation collapse? Would the planet’s ecology be reborn? What would happen to the way we think, make products, use time, express our individuality? Would life be better – or worse?

Visiting places where economies have experienced temporary shut-downs, artisan producers, zero-consumption societies and bringing together a host of expert views, this is both a deeply reported thought-experiment, a history of our relationship with consumption, and a story about the future.

Our private choices are putting the world in peril. The Day the World Stops Shopping is an essential exploration of who we are and what we use, and a vision of a more sustainable world.