Are You an Unconscious Consumer?
We all are at some point. Who hasn’t gone into the supermarket for one thing and come home with extra things that we hadn’t gone in for? Or spotted an amazing online deal on a power tool that we just need to have for all those jobs we need to do (but it’s still in the box 6 months later)? Guilty. But change can be intentional. Read on for some inspiration…
Consumers are responsible for 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 50 - 80% of land resource and water resource. About four fifths of greenhouse gas emissions associated with household consumption occurs in the supply chains of products globally (Journal of Industrial Ecology 2015). Whilst that is quite shocking it also means we have an element of control.
It might be big business that produces fossil fuels and cars, but who drives the vehicles? Fast fashion houses are responsible for producing unethical, planet damaging clothes but who buys them? Cheap, mass produced food is created in environmentally damaging ways by some segments of agriculture, but who buys and eats it? These industries must take responsibility for their role in the degradation of the planet and as must we for ours.
Marketing tells us we'll be happy, handsome, fulfilled, the perfect family... if we just buy the product. But we all know this isn’t true. However they take advantage of our human capacity for self-doubt and the desire for self-improvement and we buy it anyway ending up with cluttered homes and empty bank balances.
Governments and big business do not make the rules when it comes to your buying choices. They do not need to change policy or production methods for you to change the way you think about consumption. You do. You have the opportunity to change the world.
Action = Change
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
Lil top tips to consume less
(c) Sarah Lazarovic
1. Weird as it might sound, step one of buy less is know and accept yourself. Be clear what your real personal goals are and note that there is probably little you actual need to buy to achieve them.
2. Be confident in the knowledge that keeping up with the ‘Jones's’ next door is seriously uncool and does not lead to greater happiness!
3. Consume what you need, leave the rest and that does include unnecessary freebies from the annual conference.
4. Be honest. Do you need it at all? Really? Or do you just want it? What is motivating the need?
5. Avoid unconscious impulse shopping – check point 4 again! The big chain stores and supermarkets use this as a marketing tactic - you went in for a loaf of bread and came out with a set of bowls, 3 books and a stepladder! Don’t let them con you out of your money. If you struggle with impulse buying try and no shop week/month/year[1]
6. Is there something you already have that could be used instead? It is now fashionable to be able to say you have worn this dress 30 times!
7. Is there a less damaging alternative? eg could you choose the veggie/vegan option? Could you staycate? Could you cycle to work or get a lift, could you buy a plastic free version?
8. Sleep on it – add online orders to a wishlist , not your basket, wait a week and run through the checklist again. Could you go a week or a year without it? If you think you could then maybe you could skip it all together.
9. Consider whether it is essential that you own it? We need a change of mind set away from individual ownership to pooled resources. From car pools to community laundry facilities folk are finding ways to share resources rather than all owning separate stuff.
10. Borrow it - ask friends, family, neighbours, and your local community if they have one you could borrow.
11. Hire or loan it - from tools to vehicles, posh frocks to books & films, it's all out there available to hire.
12. Swap it - maybe you have unwanted items someone else would like in return.
13. Make it. Get the skills or find a friend who has them to make your own - sewing, making plant based milk, woodwork, gardening…so many things we are more than capable of doing. Maybe if we stop chasing our tails making money to buy stuff we'd have time?
14. If you make it through the checklist and you still need to make a purchase of a new item make sure it is the best it can be.
· can you find a used or a refurbished version? Check freecycle and freegle, local facebook groups or ebay.
· Where is it made? Can you buy a locally produced product?
What materials is it made from
· How has it been made and by whom?
· How will you dispose of it at the end of its life?
· Is it natural, toxin free, fairtrade, plastic free, low carbon version?
· Buy to last not just your lifetime. Invest in the best you can afford. Look after it. Pass it on.
15. This process should reduce your surplus & waste but there will inevitably be some, especially as you start out. Find appropriate ways to pass on things you no longer need and share surplus food or produce. Use an app like Olio or Too Good To Go to share food or swish your clothes.
Remember the important thing is progress, not perfection! The fact you are here reading this is a great start. Do what you can and build on it. Everyone doing Lil things has a greater impact than a few people going all out.
Over the coming months we will be exploring some of these ideas in more depth and sharing local solutions we can all consider to do Lil things.
[1] Decide from the outset what are essentials (groceries, fuel...) and ban yourself from buying anything else. Keep a note of what you resisted and its value - at the end of the period add up how much you saved.
““Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.” ”