Conscious Consumption
Let's face it, we live in a world where we have to buy things. The art of conscious consumption is buying things in a way that takes into account the environmental impacts the product you want to buy has and the people that are affected by it.
A big part of living a sustainable lifestyle is supporting the brands that are producing products the right way. Insert conscious consumption. In order to successfully consume consciously, you have to be an educated consumer.
The thing is, no one wants to educate you on conscious consumption…because they want you to buy their stuff and once you learn about the environmental & people impact, you might look for a different product. So let's break down how to know if the products you are buying support the planet and people.
Buyerarchy of Needs
First thing to understand is what Sarah Lazarovic coined as the buyerarchy of needs. The buyerarchy of needs is something you can go through when you're needing to buy something. It goes through 6 different levels from the least impact on the Earth to the most impact on the Earth. This can help inspire you to think of different ways to have the product without the impact.
How It Works:
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
Do you have something that will work, might work, or that you could make work so you don't have to buy something new. This is such a good option because not only are you saving a product and money, you are giving another product a second life.
BORROW
This one is a call to action. You can send a text to your mom, dad, sisters, friends, etc and ask if they have whatever you are looking for. Ex: do you have this specific pan, do you have a dress I can wear for one night so I don't have to buy another one, etc. This is super good for those random things we need at random times but might never use again.
DO A TRADE
If you are in the need for something and might know someone else that needs something…maybe you could trade! This is such a fun way to 1. Connect with people and 2. Stop contributing to consumer culture. Some good people to ask are your family and friends, join a Facebook/online group thats for trading items, and reach out to people you know!
SECOND HAND
We all know and love a good thrift/second hand buying. Typically we think of doing this with clothes but we can also do it with household items too! When buying second hand, you can thrift, buy from an online thrift/vintage store, go to garage sales, join buy nothing groups online, buy things off your friends & family.
MAKE
This one can be hard but I like to think about it as a creative outlet. I always go through and see if I can make something that will work, can I edit something I already have to make it work, or can I makeshift something similar to what I am looking for.
BUY
After we have run through tiers 1-5 and we still really need the product, I like to think if I can buy the sustainable version/made sustainably and if it has a better end of life than other similar products on the market.
Now we are at the “need to buy something but not sure how to tell if it is a sustainable product” So without further ado…let's talk conscious consumption
It's not about finding the perfect product it's about finding the best available and thinking about how a product is made and when you think of the lifecycle it goes through you can go through it for other products
One way to look to see if a product is sustainable is the Life Cycle Assessment. The Life Cycle Assessment looks at the total impact an object has on all different parts of the product's life. Meaning, we are looking to see how much of an impact the product makes from sourcing the materials to making the product, through actually making the products to getting it to the stores where you buy it, and then the end of its life when it all ends up in the landfill
I always like to remember that It's not about finding the perfect product. It's about finding the best available and thinking about how that product is made and the life cycle that product goes through. When you are familiar with the lifecycle of a product, you can then look at other products and learn about their lifecycle to know how those products affect the planet and people.
The 5 Steps of the LifeCycle Assessment:
Raw Material Extraction
RAW MATERIAL EXTRACTION
This phase is when the raw materials (aka natural resources) needed to make the product are sourced or collected. Raw materials come directly from nature/the planet. Sourcing the raw materials/natural resources could include methods such as logging (cutting down trees), mining, drilling and more.
(!!) This phase can be pretty damaging to the Earth if companies aren’t taking precautionary measures like choosing renewable resources, sustainable sourcing methods, practicing regenerative farming, planting more trees in replacement of the ones they are taking down, etc.
Manufacturing & Processing
MANUFACTORING & PROCESSING
Once the raw materials are gathered, it is time to make them into an actual product. In this phase factories use machinery, chemical processing, human labor, and tools to turn the raw materials into products.
This phase requires energy… most of the time energy from fossil fuels. Typically there are many factories involved in the production of one product as factories specialize in one specific phase of the production process. The Manufacturing & Processing phase usually has a big impact on the planet.
Transportation
TRANSPORTATION
After the product has been made, they have to get it to the stores/retailers so that customers can buy it. For in store shopping, the factories can be overseas which would require a ship. Then they need to be transported to the warehouse either through plane, truck, and/or train. Then they need to be transported to the retail store also through plane, truck and/or train. Then you drive from home to the store and back.
For online shopping, they will usually be shipped from the warehouse to your house through plane, truck or train. This process, from leaving the factory to arriving in your hands requires huge amounts of energy and releases tons (literally tons) of carbon emission and pollution. It is crazy how much goes into the process of getting a product that we don’t see.
Usage & Retail
USAGE & RETAIL
Most products don’t create a lot of waste during this phase of a product's life. This phase can be looked at as the ‘side effect’ of actually using the product. This can look like the chemicals that come off/out of cleaning products, the microplastics that come off your clothes when washing or the short life of a plastic baggy. During this phase, you look at the products while you are using it and see if there are any ‘side effects’ that might be affecting you or the planet.
Waste/Disposal
WASTE & DISPOSAL
The last stage of a procuts life is referred to as the waste/disposal phase or “end of life”. So this phase is what are the environmental effects of where this product ends its life. Most products that you purchase end up in your trash and then shipped off to the landfill. In the landfill, the trash is put underground or burned and then put underground.
This can lead to leaching of toxic chemicals either through the ground or out into the air. It is also important to consider how long your product is going to be there. Plastic for example, never decomposes. It breaks down but it will last forever. Some products end up in the ocean and others can be composted right in your backyard.
Rapid fire questions I ask myself when buying a new product so I can understand & know if it is sustainable or not.
Is this an essential that I have to buy new?
What materials is it made out of?
Are the materials it is made out of harmful to the enviorment?
Is it natural fiber or synthetic fiber (aka: 100% cotton vs. spandex)?
Is it something that I am going to use multiple times or is it a one time use?
What happens to the product when I am done using it?
Are their third party verifications that raise the standards of the product?
How is it made? Is made US, local, overseas shipping it 17 different times, etc.