With our series Eco HomeLife Explains we want to help you learn about sustainability and eco-friendly living. So we explain terms and concepts around this in short articles. In this edition, we answer how to be a conscious consumer in the UK.
Living in a consumerist society means we are constantly told to buy things, on Social Media, TV, radio, posters, etc. Adverts are everywhere trying to tell us that only new things can make us feel good.
This constant pressure to buy drives us to overconsumption, which is bad news for our environment. Not only does it fuel high demand for resources, but it also creates huge amounts of waste.
As a result, conscious consumerism has emerged to counteract this overconsumption. People all around the world are embracing being a conscious consumer and making a difference.
So here we explain how you too can become one and make a difference for our environment.
What Is A Conscious Consumer?
But first, let’s quickly look at what a conscious consumer actually is. Greenpeace defines conscious consumerism as an increased awareness of the impact of our consumption behaviour.
A conscious consumer will use this awareness as a driver to make more conscious buying decisions, that reduce their impact. They decide according to their values, which can be based on ethical treatment of employees, fair trade, sustainability, and other societal values.
This type of consumerism is also sometimes called mindful consumerism, which indicates that a change of mindset is involved in becoming a conscious consumer.
However, the terms shouldn’t be confuse with green consumerism, which describes buying eco-friendly products rather than a change in consumption. (Sachdeva et al., 2015)
So keeping all this in mind, here is my take on how to become a conscious consumer in the UK in 3 steps.
Step 1: Shift Your Consumption Mindset
Most people don’t think much about the things they buy, they just buy them. This can easily lead to overconsumption, which is a huge problem for our environment, as it is responsible for depleting resources as well as generating waste. (Princen, 1999)
There are different reasons why we buy things:
- Because they are necessary to live our lives
- Because we want to keep up with others/gaining status via our purchases
- Because shopping makes us happy (retail therapy) – thanks to releasing a hormone called dopamine
- Because clever marketing tricks us in believing we need certain things
As you can imagine, most of these reasons will lead us to buy things that we don’t really need, probably won’t use, and that might end up in landfill.
Because most of us don’t think twice before we buy something, this is where our mindset shift needs to start.
Before you buy somethings, ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Why do I want to buy it? – try to be honest to yourself
- Have I already got something that will fulfil the same need?
- What will happen if I don’t buy it?
Answering these three questions will help you to establish what the trigger for the purchase is and if the purchase is necessary. Once you know that your can make a conscious decision as to whether to buy it or not.
In some cases, this will be simple, like with food, personal care products like shampoo, toothpaste and the like.
But with other things it will be more difficult. Let’s take clothes as an example. You might see a new dress or shirt you really like. You might not technically need it, but you know you’ll wear it.
Whether you buy it or not, will be your decision. And if it makes you happy to buy that dress or shirt, buy it. The important thing is to be mindful and question your buying intentions. That’s what conscious consumerism is about.
Read our guide about slow fashion if you want to become a conscious fashion consumer.
From my own experience, I have realised that just asking myself the first question is very helpful and has stopped me from buying man things I didn’t need.
For example, not long ago I got an email from the company I buy my coffee from, telling me their cafetière is back in stock and that they offer a temporary 10% discount. And I was, oh, I should buy one.
I already have a cafetière that still works perfectly well, so I didn’t want to buy it because I needed it. Although I tried to convince myself that having two would be useful, as I could use one for my morning coffee and one for my afternoon decaf coffee.
I do that anyway, I just have to wash it out. In the end, I had to admit to myself that I was falling for clever marketing, and I didn’t buy it.
Once you have internalised these questions, it will be much easier to refrain from buying something unnecessarily.
Step 2: Put In Place A “Cooling-Off” Period
The next step is to start using a “cooling-off” period for unplanned purchases. If you see something you want to buy online or in store, leave it for 24 hours to see if you still want it.
Online that’s fairly easy, just add the item to your basket but don’t check out. After 24 hours, see how you feel. Do you still want to buy it?
It’s surprising how often you will say no. That’s because it was probably an impulse purchase you wanted to make. Scientists think that around 20% of online purchases are impulsive. (Repko 2020)
Those are defined as unplanned purchases for which you get a sudden urge to buy something and a purchase decision is made on the spot without any reflection. (Zheng et al., 2019)
These type of purchases are normally the ones where we buy things that we don’t need, won’t use and often throw away unused in the end. And it’s with these that a “cooling-off” period is most useful.
As we said, online it’s a bit easier to do this, but even if you are in a shop. If you really want the thing, you’ll come back. And if not, then you have saved yourself money and probably stopped yourself from making an unnecessary purchase.
These two steps will help you to shift your mindset to conscious consumption, where you think before you buy and assess why you want to buy a thing.
Next we look at what being a conscious consumer means when you do buy something.
Step 3: Values-Based Shopping
Conscious consumerism has two parts: buying less and buying ethical and/or sustainable products. This step deals with the second part.
A conscious shopper buys things according to their ethical values. This means they might look at the environmental impact of what they buy, whether the workers that make the products are treated well and paid a fair price, whether the products are cruelty-free, etc.
Which values are important will depend on each consumer, but often sustainable consumerism is based on a range of ethical values and include environmental and societal issues.
So here are the things to look out for to align your consumer behaviour to your values.
Environmental Concerns
There are three aspects to consider when wanting to buy according to environmental values:
- The company you buy from
- The product itself
- The packaging
If you want to live a more sustainable life because you are concerned about climate change and want to reduce your own carbon footprint, then buying the right products is key.
It starts with the company you buy from:
- What are their values?
- Do they include sustainability in their decisions/strategy?
- Have they got policies in place to reduce their environmental impact?
- Are they transparent and honest about their processes/materials/supply chains?
- Are they local? – the further away they are from you, the longer their products have to travel which means a higher carbon footprint
- Do they have any sustainability certificates? – such as B Corps, Leaping Bunny
In my experience, sustainable companies tend to be small businesses, with founders that want to make a difference for the planet. Buying from them allows you to buy with a clear conscience.
And there are such small businesses in most categories. These are some of my favourite sustainable businesses: Microbz, Sknfed, Homethings, Love The Planet, KinKind, Jungle Culture, LiveCoCo, Bower Collective, &keep, Georganics, Seep, Miniml, Shoreline, Truthbrush, re:gn.
They all aim at making a difference for the planet.
If you have found a business that aligns with your values, look at the product:
- Is it made from a sustainable material?
- Can it be recycled/composted once it’s no longer usable?
- Can you send it back to them to recycle?
- Can it be repaired if it breaks?
- Does it contain natural ingredients as opposed to synthetic ingredients?
- Has it been made locally? – the closer it’s been made the smaller its carbon emissions
- Can it be reused again and again? – single-use and disposable items aren’t environmentally friendly
The exact questions to ask will depend on the product you buy, but these should give you a good idea of what kind of things to look for.
Finally, the packaging is also important:
- Is the packaging made of sustainable materials? – ideally plastic-free, but if not at least from recycled plastic
- Is it zero-waste? – can it be reused, repurposed, composted, or recycled
- Are there refillable options?
This might sound a lot to remember but once you have assessed products and companies using these questions, it becomes second nature and you don’t have to think about it any more.
Also, you don’t have to buy new things. Consider buying second-hand and keep things out of landfill.
Societal Concerns
If you want to make sure that you are an ethical shopper your focus is mostly on the companies you buy from. Although the products are also important.
Here are the things to look for in a company for ethical shopping:
- What are their values? Are they taking their social responsibility serious?
- How do they treat their workers?
- Do they have ethical supply chains? – an ethical company only uses suppliers that don’t use unethical practices, such as child labour, risky/unhealthy working conditions, exploitation, etc.
- Do they commit to fair trade? – check if they are fair trade certified
- Are they transparent and honest about their materials, processes, supply chains, etc.?
- Do they embrace cruelty-free?
The same sustainable companies I mentioned earlier are also ethical companies. That’s because both concepts go hand-in-hand.
So now that you know how to be a conscious consumer in the UK, give it a go. But remember, it’s not about being perfect, it’s about doing your best.
