What Is Conscious Consumerism? A Path to Social Change
Consumerism: The constant want to purchase and acquire.
Keeping up with the next big fashion trend, the new smartphone release. It seems cheap enough, right? And if it breaks, itâs well within your budget to buy another oneâŠI mean, if you want it, why not purchase it? After all, you worked hard to earn that money. So why shouldnât you be able to spend it exactly as you please? But thatâs just it.
Thatâs the big question we should be asking ourselves: Do we really need all these things?
In an economic climate fuelled largely by consumerism, many of us are seeking external validations for our internal struggles. In a way, we are seeking happiness through material possessions.
But how did it come to be this way?
And how did we become obsessed with buying all this stuff to amass all we possibly can?
And what is the true cost of these seemingly innocent purchases?
What Exactly Is Conscious Consumerism?
To really look into conscious consumerism, it makes sense to peek at unconscious consumerism.
For example, think back to the last time you went to Target. You probably went into the store with the intention of buying one thing, the thing you needed to complete whatever task. And then when you got to the checkout line, you had many things, none of the things that you intended to buy, overflowing out of your arms, your basket, or your cart.
Without much thought or effort, you somehow accumulated an entire array of things, none of which you really needed or even wanted when you first walked in. It was a completely unconscious process, guided by your attraction to a flashy object and trendy style. Imagine, then, what that experience would be like if it were done consciously.
Conscious consumerism simply refers to our awareness as consumers of the impact of our purchasing decisions.
Meaning, when I buy this product, how is it impacting not only my life, but also all of the lives around me?
And if you really dig deeper, you can easily see exactly how many lives around you are truly impacted. Consider who you are actually purchasing this product from, from where it is sourced, and under what conditions the product was manufactured.
A conscious consumer takes into account all these considerations and perhaps many more before they lay out their hard earned cash. Itâs with this consideration they hope to help the world and hopefully in their own small way make it a better place.
But the very first step begins with realizing what we want, a self-serving ego boost by way of an impulse purchase or a better, more equal world?
So What Do Consumers Actually Want?
Recent research by Cone Communications found what consumers actually expect from the companies they are purchasing goods from. Âč These findings include include:
63% of Americans are hopeful that the companies they are purchasing from will pick up the social and environmental inaction of government regulation
Over 3/4 of Americans want companies to address pressing social justice issues
Nearly 9 in 10 Americans will purchase a product because a company they purchased from advocated for an issue close to their heart,
3 out of 4 Americans will refuse to purchase a companyâs product or service if it supported an issue that opposed their beliefs
65% of Americans - and a whopping 76% of millenials - will do further research to ensure a companyâs claims of standing for a social or environmental issue is genuine
This last finding means that companies simply advertising that their products are âgreenâ isnât enough for a lot of consumers. Not anymore, at least.
Customers will research a companyâs sustainable or ethical claims and call them out if they feel like are being misled (thank you, social media). This is of integral importance as it holds companies accountable for not only their actions but also their claims of doing the right thing.
In this incredibly competitive economic market, companies are being forced, whether they want it or not, to do the right thing. After all, news travels fast. And if a company is demonstrating inaction on hot-button issues or is seen to be dishonest in any way to their customers, it could seriously affect their bottom line.
Which is, of course, sales.
The True Cost Of Consumerism
Consumers are finally waking up to the reality that most government officials arenât making the changes necessary to impact positive change on the world. Theyâre also perhaps realizing the devastating effects that this Capitalist market is having on the world, thanks to Netflix. What are these so-called devastating effects? Well, grab your tissues because itâs about to get soul-crushingly sad.
The Environmental Impacts of Consumerism
A new study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology demonstrates how the products we consume are responsible for up to 60% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions and between 50 and 80% of material, land, and water usage. ÂČ
Meaning, the stuff we buy â alone â is responsible for most of the global warming we can see happening today.
Around 80% of the environmental impact of consumerism isnât a result of direct behaviors, like driving carbon-fuelled cars. Instead, itâs the result of the entire manufacturing process that brings you your favorite steak, the newest smartphone, or the latest trend.
For example, the amount of water required to produce beef for your hamburger or the elements mined to make your smartphone battery are much more detrimental to this planet than your 10-minute shower. So go ahead and cut down your shower time. But maybe also stop buying so many things, too.
Consumerism is found to be much higher in wealthier countries when compared to poorer countries. Researchers found that the U.S consumes 18.6 tons of CO2-equivalent per capita (CO2-equivalent being a mix of all greenhouse gases affecting our atmospheric temperature)...which is the highest consumption rate per capita in the world.
Luxembourg came in second with 18.5 tons and Australia in third with 17.7 tons per capita. This is enormous when compared to the entire world average of 3.4 tons. Just as a comparison, China only consumes on average 1.8 tons per capita, a tenth of what Americans are consuming.
So as much as westerners like to hate on China for their booming population and human rights abuses, they arenât doing nearly as much damage to this planet as our trend-setting country currently does.
And what is that damage?
Greenhouse gases trap heat in our atmosphere, completely changing the natural weather cycle that the Earth would otherwise enter without our interference. Itâs happening so quickly, in fact, that many living organisms on this planet are struggling to adapt, leaving many on a path to extinction.
But thatâs just the environmental impact of a consumerist mentality.
The Social Impacts of Consumerism
So what about the social impacts of our consumerist ways?
There are a ton of different ways that we can break this apart, but the easiest and most relatable way is through our fashion industry. Iâm sure most of us have heard of fast fashion, the high turnover of fashion goods at alarming rates. Some garments are only being worn once, or not at all, before being tossed into the trash. Aside from the environmental impacts of these consumer practises, which we already touched on above, there are huge social implications as well.
As consumers become obsessed with the latest trend, the quick high, and the shallow ego boost, they turn to fast fashion conglomerates like Target, H&M, and Forever 21 to meet their insatiable needs. An easy $5 for a top and a totally disposable 20 bucks for a pair of sandals seem like harmless purchases for a good cause (ie âself-careâ). But the truth is that our need for validation at every turn of the season is quite literally destroying lives all over the world.
Letâs look at Bangladesh.
This tiny country located alongside the eastern border of India is the worldâs second largest garment production location. This is due largely to its low wages, low material costs, rapid manufacturing rates, and relaxed occupational, health, and safety regulations.
As the fashion industry competes for the attention and money of hungry consumers all over the world, the rate at which theyâre willing to pay manufacturers decreases to inhumane amounts. So low, in fact, that an entire month of work could hardly sustain a single person even in a third-world country.
Not only that, but these pay rates donât include the upkeep of the buildings from which the workers are literally slaving away to make your cute crop top or tan sandals. Tragically, on April 24th of 2013, the upper floors of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed, causing the entire building to crumble to the ground. The event killed over 1,100 people, leaving many more injured.
The worst part?
More than half of the casualties were women and their children who had accompanied them to work that day. This event was a tragedy in the making, with years of requests to fix the building and improve worker conditions met with neglect by bottom-line business dealers. The full story is detailed in a documentary, The True Cost. Âł If youâre interested in learning more about fast fashion and its impacts, the documentary is definitely worth a watch.
So How Does This All Affect Us, The Consumers?
Debt. Lots and lots of debt.
Despite our 9-5 obsession, where our hard-earned cash is scraped together to cover basic needs like booming rental prices and basic healthcare, we are spending ourselves into oblivion. And though we all bemoan that we want financial freedom, we continue to make impulse purchases in the name of self-care, fashion, or whatever other excuse we can come up with at the time of purchase.
We are burying ourselves under more and more financial burden for meaningless material possessions. But that seems to be the modern trend, a consumerist culture that tells us that we can have everything our heart desires this very instant without any consideration of the consequences.
And what does all this debt equate to?
Consumer debt is placing people under excess stress, anxiety, and poor health, resulting in an unhappy life (despite all those pretty things that fill the gaps). All this debt and the incessant need to purchase no matter the cost ultimately leads to debt fatigue. ⎠Debt fatigue occurs when a debtor becomes so overwhelmed by the amount of debt they owe that it begins to affect their physical and mental health.
This can bring some people so much unhappiness that they seek to stem their unhappiness with further purchases, placing themselves under even further debt. In a way, shopping has become our quest for external fixes for internal problems, giving âretail therapyâ a whole new meaning.
So Whatâs The Good News?
Are we all going to burn in some post apocalyptic wasteland and pay dearly for our consumerist sins?
Well, maybe. But probably not by the end of this century (so most of us should be safe). Seriously though, we should all be taking more notice of how we consume. We are witnessing the start of things to come. If we donât act, environmental issues are only going to worsen. The warming of the atmosphere and the severity of weather becoming more unpredictable.So, do we want to subject our children and grandchildren to a world that isnât as easy to survive in as it is for us?
Probably not. And it happens to be one of the biggest threats to the long term traditional retail sales, even bigger than a government shutdown, pandemic, supply chain disruptions or Brexit, isâŠMillennials.
It seems that millennials are leading the charge to changing our consumerist ways.
Consumer studies have been noticing this change of habits for a number of years. â” It seems people are purchasing less often and less overall. This can be seen particularly in the clothing ⶠand car industries â·, where there are declining retail sales figures. Even tech giant Apple has recently been the victim of profit decline, with people opting to buy cheaper smartphones or simply keeping their older model phones for longer periods. âž
It seems that the upcoming generations are tired of spending their low wages on these rising prices.
And since these latte-drinking, smashed-avocado-eating do-gooders will make up 75% of the workforce (and, therefore, the majority of the purchasing population) by 2025, it seems that the trend is finally heading in the right direction. âč
We may soon live in a post-consumer world, where consumers are mostly conscious of the purchasing decisions they make. So skip the usual visit to the mall this weekend, go out and spend your time and money cultivating fresh or meaningful experiences. Youâll be lessening your impact on our beautiful planet and be a happier individual for it.
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â2017 Cone Communications CSR Study â CoNE,â n.d. http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2017-csr-study.
Ivanova, Diana, Stadler, Kjartan Steen-Olsen, Richard Wood, Gibran Vita, Arnold Tukker, and Edgar G. Hertwich. âEnvironmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption.â Journal of Industrial Ecology 20, no. 3 (December 18, 2015): 526â36. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12371.
The True Cost. âThe True Cost,â n.d. https://truecostmovie.com/.
Kagan, Julia. âDebt Fatigue Definition.â Investopedia, February 13, 2023. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debt-fatigue.asp.
Da Cunha, LuĂs SimĂ”es, and Luis Borges Gouveia. âConsumer Behaviour of the Millennial Generation.â ResearchGate, April 1, 2008. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253085064_Consumer_Behaviour_of_the_Millennial_Generation.
Bloomberg.com. âThe Apparel Industry Has a Big Problem,â February 5, 2018. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-death-of-clothing/.
Sherman, By Natalie. âWhy Are US Car Sales Falling?â BBC News, July 11, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40523171.
Bris, Arturo. âWhat Is Really Eating Apple â and Why Steve Jobs Would Not Be Doing a Lot Better.â The Conversation, n.d. https://theconversation.com/what-is-really-eating-apple-and-why-steve-jobs-would-not-be-doing-a-lot-better-109377.
Brookings. âBrookings Data Now: 75 Percent of 2025 Workforce Will Be Millennials | Brookings,â March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2014/07/17/brookings-data-now-75-percent-of-2025-workforce-will-be-millennials/.