Sustainable Belmont hosts 'Slowing Down the Consumer Treadmill'

By Derek McLean, Town Correspondent

Want to learn how to garden organically and avoid hyperconsumerism? Belmont resident Rick Heller will present “Slowing Down the Consumer Treadmill” at the next Sustainable Belmont meeting at the Belmont Public Library on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

“Americans are twice as prosperous as Americans were 50 years ago, yet no happier,” said Heller in a press release. “Once a person’s basic needs are met, it appears that having more possessions does not necessarily lead to more happiness. Yet we chase after them anyway. Psychologists call this the consumer treadmill, and it’s never in greater display than during holiday buying binges.”

Heller is developing a program called “Seeing the Roses,” which addresses "the hyperconsumerism that drives climate change,” said the release.

At the meeting, Heller will discuss strategies for slowing down the consumer treadmill and to learn how to be happy with less.

Also at the meeting, two local high school students will present their experience volunteering for the Food Project over the summer.

The Food Project, said its website, works with “over 140 teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 31 acres in rural Lincoln, MA, 9 acres in Beverly and Ipswich, 2 1/2 acres in Boston and 1 acre in Lynn. We grow nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating thousands of pounds to local shelters”

“Families with students who want to spend part of their summer learning organic gardening will appreciate this information,” said the release.

The meeting is free and open to the public at the Belmont Public Library in Flett Room, from 7- 9 p.m.

Derek McLean can be reached at dbmclean1@gmail.com.

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