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Consumerism Over Time in Nature

The choice almost everyone makes

Tammy Bergstrom
Better Humans
4 min readNov 25, 2023

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Photo by cottonbro studio on pexels

The irony of a Starbucks opening in Yosemite, right across from one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, got me heated.

People come here to enjoy nature and often to escape the city and all of its busyness and distractions. So why in the heck would they spend a whole hour of their vacation waiting in line for a venti iced caramel macchiato? A whole hour was taken away from the beauty and majesty they could experience if they walked through a meadow or hiked to a stunning waterfall.

It’s always silly to see their angry faces, as if they have no choice in the matter. I need my latte, and why is this line so long?

Yet it never fails. Every day, there’s a long line out the door of people waiting to get their fix. As if missing 2 or 3 days of espresso, milk, and sugar would absolutely kill them.

I’ve lived in Yosemite Valley for almost 3 years now, and it’s been quite the study of human behavior at large. The things we think about and prioritize show how far we actually are from solving the climate crisis.

Habitual behaviors can be so hard to break away from that when faced with a choice of experiencing awe-inspiring beauty in nature or getting that “first sip” feeling; most people choose the drugs.

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Better Humans
Better Humans

Published in Better Humans

Better Humans is one of the largest and oldest Medium’s publications on self-improvement and personal development. Our goal is to bring you the world’s most helpful writing on human potential.

Tammy Bergstrom
Tammy Bergstrom

Written by Tammy Bergstrom

Unique insights from a Yosemite Hiking Guide on personal, communal, and planetary health - and how they're all intimately connected

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