As sustainability continues to move to the mainstream, consumers have become increasingly more aware of their environmental and social footprint and how they can use their purchasing decisions to drive change.
Most shoppers are now aware of their role in the industry’s future and are demanding brands clean up their environmental act by setting high expectations for the brands they engage with. From who they engage with on social media, to who they shop from, consumer behaviour is changing fast.
Despite the growing concern, there is still a gap between being aware of the issue and actually getting this transparency information from the brand right before the purchase. Not everyone is doing this. So how can we shift our consumer behaviour and encourage sustainable consumer behaviour change?
Humans are social animals and will follow the actions of others, especially on ethical issues. For brands, setting the right ‘brand ambassadors’ can be invaluable and the same goes for the audience that follows this type of influencers. By following someone highly regarded in the industry, we can benefit and actually start moving towards a change in our everyday life. By looking up to someone who is and acts like we would like to, we will eventually end up doing the same.
To build a new sustainable habit, we must first break bad habits. This might come easier when we’re going through a big life change, but it is also possible if we take it easy and start by building easy sustainable habits first. For example, start by building a list of ethical brands you would like to shop, from now on and go from there.
Staying consistent with the new habits we are building is essential in order to keep on growing these same habits. Often, one environmental commitment can snowball into other actions and changes over time. For example, someone who donates their old clothes is a lot more likely to shop preloved fashion.
In general, us human beings tend not to care much about abstract, future consequences. Therefore, it’s critical to keep sustainability tangible and focus on applying changes in our lives that will help keep in mind why we’re doing this. For example, patching up an old pair of jeans will remind you of how much waste you’re not sending to landfill by simply being a little creative.
By leveraging on our guilty feelings when reading about any fashion horror story or about a certain brand’s social or environmental footprint, we can actually help ourselves to stay on track and keep our sustainable consumer behaviour in check. Follow sustainable forums on social media, sign up to fashion magazines and read all the tips and tricks from your favourite influencers.
Sustainability and slow living are one of the latest consumer trends and at Cherchez La Femme, we want to make sure they don’t just stay a ‘trend’ but that, as a collective group, we translate our thoughts into actions, no matter how hard that may be.
[All images sourced on canva.com
Information sourced on thesustainablefashionforum.com and greenbiz.com and thinkwithgoogle.com]