1 + 1 = 2. The new anti-consumption trend is just as simple. economically, things aren't great. The introduction of the euro has only made everything seem more expensive, as much as 50% more expensive in some european countries. Slowly but surely it's dawned on us that the shopaholic attitude of the past decade is a catastrophe for the planet. It's time for reaction. After the bo-bos (bourgeois-bohemians) of the 90s say hello to the millenium no-no's!

(Illustration note)

Consuming can be as hazardous to your health and the environment as smoking and drinking. So will the day ever come when luxury goods manufacturers will be required to include customer warnings with their products?

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Take fur coats for example. While once you could fearlessly flaunt your wealth wearing a luxurious skin, now you have to watch out for animal rights activists armed with spray cans looming up behind you. Soon the same backlash might target designer creations costing truckloads of money. While once the brand name couldn't be featured large enough, now the hippest of the hip can't get rid of big logos fast enough. LABEL WHORES ARE PASSE! We don't want to buy our identity and social status by maxing out our charge cards for luxury branding. By creating artificial value, fashion marketers are going back to the mantra of the 80s and 90s: 'Make sure your brand promotes an attractive image, a dream that the client believes he'll acquire as soon as he has the product.' Does buying Ralph Lauren, turn you into an aristo? And does pouring your buns into a pair of Calvin's Y-Fronts guarantee a score? Not any more! Say ciao to all those pricey must-haves---they didn't make us any happier. Ditto 80% of the world's population in the third world who only observed the buying frenzy from afar. What they earned from this consumer stampede was barely enough for a daily meal. Add to that the harmful effects of shopping culture on the environment. It's time to retaliate. Let's go No-No!