THE LANGUAGE THAT DESTROYS THE ENVIRONMENT: AN ECOLOGICAL LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN DISCOURSE OF CONSUMPTION

Abstract

While the discourse of environmental movements gains recognition, popular words that shape contemporary language continue to reinforce the culture of consumerism, increasing wastes and pollution that obliterates sustainable life. Ecological linguistics or ecolinguistics focuses on such language utilizing critical analysis to reveal the negative impacts of the prevailing language of consumerism. The purpose of this study is to examine the words and the ensuing stories of relentless growth in production-consumption cycle in order to expose the power of society’s capitalistic desire for progress as well as to show that the language and stories perceived to fulfill the needs for a sense of achievements actually destroys ecosystem and our future. For this purpose, this study collected and analyzed the uses of words, anecdotes, and stories from various Indonesian media containing keywords that enhance growth, production, and consumption to prove that the widely-used words constructing stories of social and economic progress actually enhance the ever-increasing consumption that degrades the environment. To help mitigate this problem, this study also provided some alternative terms and stories that can enhance more consciously cautious consumption for a better environment and sustainable humanity.